Look, That Female Is So Ugly

Feng Rumeng thought that if there really was no other way, she would move to another tribe after the cold season.

She cared about looks, and rather than take a pig as her mate, she might as well freeze to death.

Complaints aside, she really didn't want to go through those scenes again. She knew kung fu, but this was a beast world where wild beasts ran rampant.

After thinking it over for a long time, she decided to try her luck when the time came and hope that a beastman with unusual tastes would take a fancy to her.

There was a reproductive barrier between them anyway, so she didn't have to worry about getting pregnant.

At that thought, she glanced at the fox mark on her abdomen again. If I meet him again, I'll have to question him thoroughly. If his answers are good, I'll demand more beast crystals as compensation. If they aren't, I'll make him one of the sisters.

Perhaps it was thanks to the fox that she had survived her fall from the cliff. In ancient times, people offered themselves in marriage to repay a life-saving favor, let alone in the beast world, where chastity wasn't all that important. She laughed at herself after saying it.

Forget it. Thinking so much was pointless. The most important thing right now was to recover from her injuries. If her blistered face was still swollen like a pig's head on the day of the mate-seeking event, even a disabled beast probably wouldn't want her!

(Disabled beasts were male beastmen who couldn't transform into beast form.)

It was already late autumn in the beast world, and the food in her space wouldn't last six months. She had to find a way to stockpile food.

After finishing the fruit, Feng Rumeng rinsed her mouth and lay back down on the bed.

She had nothing to do, and she couldn't go visiting with her poisoned face. Beastmen were highly territorial, so it was better to lie low in the cave.

She slept restlessly. The cave entrance was wide open, with nothing blocking it, and she remained afraid that a wild beast might come in and devour her.

Besides, the whole tribe was like a pond after a summer rain, with the grating croaks of toads all around.

Feng Rumeng grumbled, Isn't there anything else to do at night in this beast world besides hanky-panky?

In the morning, Feng Rumeng had dark circles under both eyes, hair like a bird's nest, and a face utterly devoid of the will to live.

She got out of bed unsteadily. Just as she finished washing up, Hu Yu arrived. He stood at the cave entrance, holding a piece of roasted meat wrapped in leaves.

"Little female, I heard from Jianyue that you were awake, so I brought you a piece of roasted meat."

Feng Rumeng walked out of the cave and looked at the cool, stern-faced young man before her. He was much more appetizing than the meat.

The piece of roasted meat was palm-sized and still warm. "Thank you, Hu Yu."

"How do you know my name?" Hu Yu asked, somewhat surprised.

"Jianyue told me." Feng Rumeng took a bite. The roasted meat had a strong gamey smell, and clearly no seasoning had been added. Since a handsome man had given it to her, she would eat it to do him the honor, no matter how gamey it was.

"Little female, what's your name? Where's your fox mate? How did you end up alone in the Mist Forest?" Hu Yu fired off three questions in a row.

Feng Rumeng swallowed the meat in her mouth. "I hit my head in the forest and can't remember anything from before. I only know that my name is Feng Rumeng."

"I see. Then settle in here without worrying. I'll share some roasted meat with you every day until your injuries heal." Hu Yu looked at her face. "Why is your face still like that?"

The corner of Feng Rumeng's mouth twitched. "The toxins won't go away that quickly. By the way, Hu Yu, do you have a mate?"

Hu Yu's blue eyes held a smile. "Not yet. The female I like said she'd become my mate after the cold season."

"I see. Your female is really nice," Feng Rumeng said in praise.

Hu Yu's smile grew even brighter. "She's the gentlest, kindest female in the beast world. I'll introduce you to her when the flower season comes."

Feng Rumeng gave a hum of acknowledgment. "Hu Yu, thank you for saving me. As for your payment, it'll be a few days before I can give it to you."

"All right, there's no rush. Focus on healing," Hu Yu said before leaving.

Feng Rumeng leaned against the cave wall, watching the beastmen going about their business in the distant square. They had howled until the second half of the night, and she'd thought they'd lie around like corpses all morning. She hadn't expected them to be up earlier than the birds. Tsk, tsk, with that kind of stamina, it was a waste not to put them to work turning a millstone.

A male suddenly transformed into a giant tiger over two meters tall at the shoulder. Feng Rumeng's heart began to race without her noticing; she still wasn't quite used to it.

The thought of spending the rest of her life eating and living alongside male animals wasn't thrilling. It was genuinely frightening.

Beastmen also had such keen senses of smell. If they discovered one day that she was a foreign species, would they subject her to every kind of punishment? And after she died, would they drag her off for research?

The more Feng Rumeng thought about it, the more a chill crept down her spine. What if the beastman mate she found dreamed of having an extra meal at night and gnawed on her long legs like they were the bones of his prey? Ahem, ahem, ahem. Maybe she should just stay single.

Near noon, Feng Rumeng saw that there were no beastmen left in the square and went to Aima's cave.

After examining the wound on her back, Aima said kindly, "It's healing well. I'll put some more medicinal paste on it."

Feng Rumeng nodded. For some reason, she trusted Aima.

After bandaging her, Aima gave her five black, foul-smelling pills. "Take one every three days to purge the poison. Come back to me when you've finished them."

Feng Rumeng cupped the pills in her hands. "All right, Witch Doctor Aima. I'll pay you in a few days."

"All right." Aima nodded.

Feng Rumeng returned to the cave, ate a few biscuits, wrapped herself in a beast hide and lay down on the bed to catch up on sleep.

She had just woken up when Jianyue came that afternoon, bringing her several green fruits and a piece of roasted meat. "You didn't go when the hunting team distributed the meat, so I collected your share and roasted it for you."

A look of realization flashed in Feng Rumeng's eyes. She hadn't expected to gain a good sister in another world.

Jianyue was also a female from elsewhere and wouldn't come of age until the next day. Because she was beautiful, she had many suitors, and the other females in the tribe were jealous and ostracized her.

When the witch doctor asked her to help care for this pitiful female, she agreed without hesitation, since they were both outsiders and life wasn't easy for them.

On the day of the mate-seeking gathering, Feng Rumeng had just opened her eyes.

"Rumeng, hurry up! The mate-seeking gathering is about to start!" Jianyue's cheerful voice came from outside the cave.

"Coming!" Feng Rumeng got up and pulled a black, fleece-lined, two-piece, long-sleeved dress set from her space, then put on a pair of black sneakers. This way, they won't be able to tell I'm dressed strangely, right?

She quickly rinsed her mouth, wiped her face and walked out of the cave.

Smiling, Jianyue came forward and linked arms with her, heading toward the tribe's fighting platform.

"Rumeng, when I changed your beast hide for you, I thought what you were wearing was really strange." Jianyue tugged at her sleeve as she spoke. "What kind of beast hide is this?"

Feng Rumeng glanced at what Jianyue was wearing today: a gray, fluffy beast-hide bandeau and an ultra-short beast-hide skirt that would expose her if she sat down.

Then she looked at herself. She even had thermal long johns under her skirt, and she was still cold. Side by side, Jianyue was walking hormones, while she was a walking thousand-layer pancake.

"It's a special kind of beast hide," Feng Rumeng explained, then muttered inwardly, Jianyue won't suspect I stole these clothes, will she? After all, I didn't have any luggage when I was brought back to the tribe.

She wasn't sure whether every beastman had a space.

"Look, that female is so ugly!"

"Heavens! She isn't going to take part in the mate-seeking too, is she?"

"Doesn't she know how ugly she is?"

"Won't her face scare the tribe's cubs into crying?!"

"I think she'll scare wild beasts unconscious and send males running!"

"Hahaha!" Several females burst into laughter without the slightest attempt to hide it.

Feng Rumeng looked at the females pointing and gossiping about her.

"What are you looking at?" Qingqing's face was full of disgust. "Never seen a beautiful female before?"

"Jianyue, have you lost your senses, making friends with such an ugly female?" Lina said scornfully from the side.

"Mind your own business. Who I make friends with is none of your concern!" Jianyue shot back, her face cold.

Lina refused to let it go. "She's that ugly and still wants a mate? What kind of daydream is she having?

"The males of our Fierce Tiger Tribe would never want an outsider female like you who can't reproduce."

She folded her arms across her chest. "Jianyue, hanging around with an ugly thing like that, you'd better watch out or her bad luck will rub off on you and drive away all the males courting you."