Chapter – 18
The Matriarch Is Really Amazing Contribution Points?
It took Jiang Xi quite a while to react before she dug this information out of her mind.
Beastmen exiled to the Cursed Land were not completely without hope of leaving.
As long as an individual accumulated 1,000 contribution points for the tribe, or a family of ten or fewer members accumulated enough contribution points, they could leave the Cursed Land.
For families with more than ten members, each additional beast husband reduced the required contribution points in sequence—from 1,000, 900… all the way down to 100.
Based on current experience, a single female could form at most twenty marriage bonds.
In the Cursed Land, contribution points were generally earned by resisting cursed beast tides.
- Participating once in resistance: 1 contribution point
- Killing a cursed beast (counting repeated kills): 1 contribution point
However, contribution points from cursed beast tides could only be earned by beastmen.
Females usually could only gain contribution points through tribal collective gathering tasks and activities, or by giving birth to offspring.
Therefore, it was nearly impossible for a female to personally accumulate 1,000 contribution points on her own.
Most females exiled to the Cursed Land accumulated contribution points as a family unit.
They would take in as many beast husbands as possible to build up contribution points.
But even the most capable beast husband—participating in every cursed beast tide—would still need three years to personally reach 1,000 points, assuming he couldn’t consistently kill cursed beasts.
If calculated as a family, the contribution points also had to be averaged among the matriarch and the other beast husbands.
In addition, injuries during cursed beast tides required recovery time, and not every beastman could successfully kill cursed beasts. As a result, most beastmen could not contribute even 300 points per year.
Thus, for a family of ten, it would take at least five years to accumulate enough contribution points.
But due to all kinds of unexpected situations, most families couldn’t even gather enough points after ten years.
Over time, they stopped obsessing over leaving.
Because as contribution points and years accumulated, both beastmen and females could compete for important positions within the tribe, gain a certain amount of influence, and improve their quality of life.
The 200 contribution points granted by the tribe were equivalent to killing two hundred cursed beasts, or the contribution from giving birth to two offspring.
Due to the influence of the curse in the Cursed Land, even though females traveled every spring to large tribes in the Great Tree Forest to cleanse the curse from their bodies using the Mother Tree of Life, it was still extremely difficult to conceive.
And even if a female laid a beast egg, it might very well die during incubation by the father due to contamination from the curse.
Therefore, 200 contribution points was an extremely generous reward!
According to Jiang Xi’s knowledge, even Mu Ling—currently the strongest at hunting cursed beasts—only had 260 contribution points.
Naturally, she had no reason to refuse.
“Thank you, tribe.”
An unexpected gain—quite nice.
Not long after the chieftain left, Mari’s beast husband came by and delivered them a basket of fruit, saying he had traded for it while passing through a tribe in the Great Tree Forest.
This time, Jiang Xi didn’t refuse. She really did want to eat fruit.
And besides—good neighbors deserved courtesy in return!
Because it was winter, the fruits in the basket were all very fresh, though some of the juicier ones felt slightly frozen.
She didn’t recognize any of the fruits. She took some out, washed them clean, and placed them in a wooden bowl on the ground.
As she casually picked one that looked like a peach, she thought about making tables and chairs the next day.
Sitting on grass mats with food placed on the ground was just too primitive and inconvenient!
The fruit was sweet and refreshing—but freezing cold on the teeth.
Jiang Xi took one bite and her teeth trembled, letting out a sharp “hiss.”
Lu Liufeng and Mu Ling were still eating heartily, clearly intent on wiping out every dish.
Noticing the matriarch’s reaction, Lu Liufeng lifted his amber-colored eyes and looked at her with concern.
Jiang Xi shook her head.
“It’s nothing—just too cold on the teeth.”
Still, after the initial shock, eating icy fruit by the fire had a surprisingly pleasant charm.
Lu Liufeng reached out and placed the remaining fruits onto the embers.
“Roasting them will warm them up.”
Jiang Xi was about to stop him, but then thought—she didn’t even recognize these fruits. Who knew? Maybe they’d taste even better roasted.
Mu Ling couldn’t stop eating. While stuffing braised pork into his mouth, he spoke with his words muffled.
“If the matriarch likes it, I’ll go trade for some more in the Great Tree Forest in a few days.”
Jiang Xi found it hilarious. Mu Ling’s attitude toward her had done a complete one-eighty turnaround.
“No need to go through that trouble. There might be some in the Hot River Valley too. Once we finish the food at home, I’ll go gathering for a day and look around.”
The nearest tribe in the Great Tree Forest took four days for flying beastmen to reach—and twelve days on foot.
With thick winter snow, traveling on foot would take even longer.
Way too exhausting.
The stone bowl of roasted pig brain on the embers was ready, its aroma filling the air.
Neither Lu Liufeng nor Mu Ling had ever eaten such a thing before, and for a moment they doubted—was this really edible?
Jiang Xi smiled. “Try it. If you don’t like it, no need to force yourselves.”
She hadn’t liked pig brain in the past either.
That was until she once tasted someone’s roasted pig brain—after that, she was completely hooked and even begged them to teach her the secret recipe.
Though conditions were limited now and seasonings incomplete, ginger and garlic were enough to remove the odor, and with chili and a few spices, it still turned out delicious!
Mu Ling tried it first.
After all, he’d already doubted countless times today—only to be proven wrong every single time.
The moment he took a bite, his eyes lit up.
“So this is what it tastes like. It’s not strange at all.”
The reason they didn’t eat many parts of their prey was because no matter how they processed them, they tasted awful.
But who would’ve thought—after being handled by the matriarch, all those parts became delicious food!
Mu Ling’s wolf ears and tail—ones he’d just barely managed to tuck away—popped out again uncontrollably, drooping to the ground and swaying from side to side.
Jiang Xi pretended not to notice.
After all, they’d already popped out once while she was cooking. She still remembered how flustered Mu Ling had been when he noticed and hurriedly tried to hide them.
Tsk.
Worthy of being the ancestor of dogs—wolves wag their tails at the slightest bit of good food.
Yet he also had a human’s sense of embarrassment—proud and stubborn.
Lu Liufeng tasted it too. His amber eyes shone just as brightly.
He looked at the matriarch and smiled gently.
“The matriarch is truly amazing. You can do anything.”
Caught off guard by his sudden gentle gaze, Jiang Xi felt her heart skip a beat.
And she didn’t know if it was just her imagination…
But she always felt that sometimes, Lu Liufeng acted a bit ambiguously toward her.
The moment that thought surfaced, Jiang Xi quickly shook her head and rejected it.
Wasn’t that way too self-centered?
They couldn’t wait to find the Golden Soul Fruit and解除 the marriage bonds.
And besides, changing one’s attitude because of good food was completely normal.
It wouldn’t affect their eventual decision to part ways.
Seeing the matriarch shake her head, Lu Liufeng’s amber eyes gleamed as his smile grew even gentler.
“The matriarch is too modest.”
