Chapter – 28:
The Ancestral Eagle’s Pressure
Before bed that night, Lu Liufeng invited Jiang Xi to sleep together again.
Jiang Xi, of course, refused.
She returned to her own charcoal-burning clay house. The wooden door was ventilated through its gaps, and she slept warmly the entire night.
Early the next morning.
Jiang Xi drank a steaming bowl of honeyed goat’s milk and set off for Hot Valley.
Mu Ling and Yi Yuexi wanted to go too.
But both were land-dwelling beastmen. By the time they reached Hot Valley, Jiang Xi and Lu Liufeng would already be back at the tribe.
Jiang Xi assigned them to continue making tables and stools.
They had spent most of the previous night working, producing a pile of defective products.
She sketched the shapes on a stone with charcoal, reiterated some details, and then followed Lu Liufeng, ruthlessly leaving the two behind.
Yi Yuexi leaned lazily against the doorframe, arms crossed, watching their雌主 (female master) and Lu Liufeng depart, his eyes narrowing.
The雌主 seemed to be distancing herself from him and Mu Ling, growing closer to Lu Liufeng.
It gave the impression she wanted to cleanly break ties with the two of them.
Mu Ling glanced at the variously twisted, wasted bamboo in the fire room and picked up his stone knife.
“I’ll go cut some more bamboo.”
The aerial beastmen of the tribe had already gathered outside.
Seventeen or eighteen of them, mostly young beastmen.
They were startled upon seeing Jiang Xi, then quickly averted their gazes.
Even though she had discovered food and contributed to the tribe, that didn’t erase her past misdeeds.
Chief Rupert stood outside the tribe and promptly greeted Jiang Xi when he saw her.
“雌主 Jiang Xi, you’re going too?”
Jiang Xi nodded.
Rupert was a land-dwelling beastman and wasn’t joining this trip. He was there just to assemble the group.
He smiled and pushed a tall, thin young man forward.
“雌主 Jiang Xi, this is my second son, Jiaxi. Kite tribe under the Eagle clan. His beast form isn’t as large as Lu Liufeng’s, but he looks very graceful flying in the sky.”
The chief’s enthusiastic attitude made it obvious to Jiang Xi that he was matchmaking, introducing a beastman to her.
She glanced awkwardly at Lu Liufeng, but Lu Liufeng only looked back at her with gentle, smiling eyes.
Ever since visiting雌主 Jiang Xi’s home, Rupert knew that marrying雌主 Jiang Xi guaranteed a good life!
If his own blood-related beastman son wasn’t still at least two or three years from transforming, he wouldn’t be introducing a child from his雌主’s other beast husbands to雌主 Jiang Xi.
As chief, his intuition was sharp.
He sensed that if he didn’t quickly establish a marital connection with雌主 Jiang Xi, he might never get the chance later.
Get Jiaxi married to her first. With that connection, he could have his own boy marry her in a couple of years…
Rupert’s plan was good, but Jiaxi frowned, stepped back impatiently, and stated bluntly.
“I already have a female I want to marry.”
Jiang Xi breathed a sigh of relief.
Good, good, it’s good that he has a female he wants to marry.
At that moment, Lu Liufeng, standing slightly behind and to the side of Jiang Xi, suddenly spread his enormous wings, blocking out the sky.
The pressure of the Ancestral Eagle bloodline made Jiaxi’s face turn pale. He stepped back repeatedly, the impatience on his face replaced by fear and respect.
The Eagle clan beastmen from Eagle Strait carried the Ancestral Eagle bloodline. They were the royal family among the Eagle clan. Those with strong bloodlines could suppress other Eagles, preventing them from flying, through pressure alone.
As the former young chief of Eagle Strait, Lu Liufeng’s bloodline was naturally far stronger than that of ordinary Eagles.
In the Cursed Land alone, no Eagle bloodline could surpass his.
Jiang Xi wasn’t a beastman and couldn’t feel the pressure.
Among the other aerial beastmen, those of the Eagle clan trembled. The non-Eagle aerial beastmen, even without the bloodline pressure, faintly sensed the oppression.
Everyone subtly retreated, making space.
Because, judging by the pressure, it was quite possible Lu Liufeng would challenge Jiaxi to a duel.
Cold sweat beaded on Chief Rupert’s forehead. He hadn’t expected things to develop like this, hadn’t expected Jiaxi to disdain his雌主 right in front of Lu Liufeng.
He was about to order Jiaxi to apologize when Jiang Xi spoke.
“Shall we set off now?”
Jiang Xi saw that Lu Liufeng had already transformed, and the other aerial beastmen had all stepped back and separated, thinking everyone was about to transform and depart.
Lu Liufeng gave a low “Mm,” not refuting it.
Jiang Xi didn’t look back because, since last night, she had felt a bit hesitant to meet Lu Liufeng’s gaze.
Even though those amber eyes were gentle and sweet, she sensed a vague, indescribable aggressiveness in them—the aggressiveness of a beastman.
Jiaxi took a deep, shaky breath and apologized tremulously.
“雌主 Jiang Xi, I’m sorry. What I said earlier wasn’t intentional.”
Jiang Xi looked at him, puzzled.
“Did you say something earlier?”
She thought for a moment. Didn’t he just say he had a female he liked?
She didn’t understand.
“You have a female you like. Isn’t that a good thing?”
Jiaxi was stunned. Rupert, catching on quickly, hurriedly spoke.
“Let’s set off! Let’s set off! The首席雌性 (Chief Female) has already taken the females to Hot Valley to wait for everyone!”
首席雌性 (Chief Female), meaning Rupert’s雌主, the雌主 of the tribe chief, was generally called the首席雌性. She was responsible for managing affairs related to the tribe’s females.
Jiang Xi took a deep breath. This time, she had to look back.
She looked up at Lu Liufeng and suggested.
“Could you transform into your full beast form? Would you fly faster that way?”
Compared to the awkward princess carry, she’d rather sit on his eagle back.
Lu Liufeng’s spread wings folded slightly, closing behind his back. He looked at his雌主’s flickering eyes but didn’t point it out.
“No need. If I take my full beast form, they won’t be able to keep up.”
“This is a collective trip for the tribe. It’s not convenient to break from the group.”
With that, Jiang Xi couldn’t find any other excuses.
The young beastmen transformed into their full beast forms one by one, soaring into the sky.
Lu Liufeng bent down, picked his雌主 up in a horizontal carry, spread his wings, and flew into the sky.
Jiang Xi wrapped her arms around his neck. The embrace of an adult male was broad and powerful, his heartbeat “thump, thump, thumping.”
It had been two days since she was last held flying in his arms.
But clearly, both their mental states had changed, so the atmosphere was naturally different too.
This time, Jiang Xi didn’t need to be curious; Lu Liufeng proactively pointed out the snow forests passing beneath their feet.
“That bamboo forest is where Mu Ling goes to cut bamboo.”
“There’s a lake ahead. In the summer, the beastmen in the tribe like to come here to bathe… wash up, swim.”
“Below this mountain, there are many fruit trees. In summer, you can come here to pick them.”
“…”
Lu Liufeng told her everything he knew.
Told her about this world, told her about tribal life.
Within it lay hidden beautiful expectations for the future.
These were all things Jiang Xi didn’t know. Gradually, her attention was captivated, no longer entirely focused on Lu Liufeng himself.
Lu Liufeng showed her many sights, occasionally falling a few steps behind the young aerial beastmen, but quickly catching up.
Some aerial beastmen flew clustered together. Seeing this scene, they discussed in low voices.
“Wasn’t it said that Lu Liufeng doesn’t like his雌主?”
“My younger sister kept pestering me to find Golden Soul Fruits, wanting to marry Lu Liufeng.”
A large bird sighed.
“My雌主 also likes Lu Liufeng. She nags us every day to find Golden Soul Fruits. She dislikes that my beast form isn’t majestic or imposing enough among the aerial beastmen….
