Chapter – 29
Greedy Females…
Among the seven tribes of the Cursed Land, sky-domain beastmen had always been popular.
Before Lu Liufeng arrived, the unmarried sky-domain beastmen in the tribe constantly received the favor and invitations of many females.
But ever since Lu Liufeng came, more than half of that admiration vanished instantly.
Especially because Lu Liufeng’s female was that vicious female—one everyone believed unworthy of him!
Two days ago, when they heard that Lu Liufeng had voluntarily taken on a duel at the tribe’s entrance for his female master, they thought it was only a rumor—impossible.
But after seeing the scene today, everyone realized… maybe it was true.
Lu Liufeng and his female master had reconciled.
It seemed the tribe’s females no longer had any chance.
Thinking this, the unmarried sky-domain beastmen felt conflicted—uncertain whether to feel relieved or stifled.
Relieved because they no longer had to worry about finding a mate.
Stifled because they only got their chance because Lu Liufeng didn’t want those females.
The voices of the young beastmen drifted on the wind. Lu Liufeng heard everything.
The corners of his lips curled slightly. He hoped this news would spread even further.
That way, no one would bother him and his female master anymore.
After half a day’s journey, everyone arrived at Hot River Valley.
Hot River Valley grew larger in their view bit by bit.
Before they even landed, Jiang Xi froze.
Because on the riverbank lay countless piles of food—piled like mountains. Potatoes, taro… stacked so high they nearly formed a wall.
An eagle cry sounded as figures of snake-clan beastmen gradually appeared in the valley.
After two days apart, these normally lively snake-clan beastmen were looking rather grim.
When they saw Jiang Xi, they no longer approached enthusiastically as before. Instead, they turned away coldly.
Only a few still came forward. Eve was one of them.
Lu Liufeng landed and set his female master down.
Seeing the heaps of food, Jiang Xi couldn’t help asking:
“What… is this?”
Were they trying to empty out the entire Hot River Valley?
Eve, with two small green snakes hanging from him, was just about to speak when a middle-aged female voice sounded.
“Jiang Xi, the female master, is here?”
The next second, a gentle-faced middle-aged female walked out from behind a pile of potatoes.
Jiang Xi recognized her—Rupert’s female master, the tribe’s chief female, responsible for leading the females to collect food this time.
“Chief Female.” Jiang Xi nodded to her.
She looked around and found that only a few females remained in the valley—most of them must have gone deeper into the forest.
Among the ones present were a few middle-aged females sitting beside the food piles, constantly looking around warily, as if guarding their loot from anyone daring to touch it.
Jiang Xi couldn’t make sense of it.
“Did all the tribe’s females come?”
She knew many young females didn’t believe her words and had refused to come.
Under the chief female’s persuasion, the ones who came were mostly older females who had lived in the tribe many years.
The scene proved this—most of the females Jiang Xi saw were middle-aged.
But if not all the tribe’s females came, how did they harvest this much food?
Chief female Natalie shook her head with helplessness.
“It’s my fault. I failed to restrain them.”
“Originally, the agreement was to collect some food using contribution points. After we bring them back and cook them, each family could taste them at the bonfire gathering. If they liked the taste, they could come pick the food themselves later.”
“But Saina, Muli, and several others—because their snake beast husbands, their daughters’ husbands, and their sons-in-law live in Hot River Valley—came here and just started grabbing food for themselves. They’ve nearly emptied out all the types of food you discovered here.”
“I could only tell everyone else to pick as much as they could too.”
But clearly, such greed had already angered the snake-clan beastmen who lived here.
Jiang Xi frowned slightly.
The chieftain and chief female had good intentions—they wanted the tribe’s beastmen and females to expand their diet and solve the food shortage.
But they forgot about the diversity of beastmen and females.
Most young females didn’t believe Jiang Xi and stubbornly refused to come.
Some elder females were greedy—to the point where even if the food would eventually spoil, they still wanted to hoard as much as possible.
Based on Jiang Xi’s judgment, even considering winter storage, those greedy females’ piles of food could not be finished even if their households had more than ten people—most of it would spoil.
Natalie, as the chief female, had lived in the tribe for decades. She was long past the age of scheming among females or fighting over beast husbands.
She looked at the female before her, whose face she could not clearly see. Though she had heard countless stories of Jiang Xi’s cruelty, it was her first time seeing her.
Natalie trusted Rupert’s judgment, so she didn’t look at Jiang Xi with suspicion. Instead, she expressed sincere gratitude.
“But regardless… with your discovery, the tribe can survive this winter.”
“Otherwise… who knows how many beastmen would die.”
Jiang Xi waved her hand.
“Chief Female, you give me too much credit.”
She had already been awarded contribution points; she wouldn’t claim additional merit.
But she also couldn’t stand the greed of these females.
After thinking for a moment, Jiang Xi offered the chief female a suggestion.
After hearing it, the chief female froze for two seconds.
“This… isn’t this a bit inappropriate?”
Eve, listening nearby, clapped his hands.
“Great idea!”
“The snake-clan beastmen can’t deal with these females—but females can deal with females!”
Lu Liufeng also smiled. “My female master always has the best ideas.”
Jiang Xi’s idea was:
The chief female should send someone back to the tribe and announce that Hot River Valley had already harvested enough food. No contribution points needed—everything was free.
Each family’s female master could bring one beastman to carry food. They could take as much as they could carry. First come, first served. When the food was gone, anyone who wanted more would have to collect it themselves.
Beastmen and females were still humans. And humans could not resist the temptation of free goods.
Young females refused to come earlier because they thought Jiang Xi was tricking them into a useless trip into the forest.
But if they were told they could take food for free without effort?
Jiang Xi believed—they would come.
And when they did, those greedy older females would naturally be dealt with… and maybe they would even pull each other’s hair out right here in Hot River Valley.
That would be a show worth watching.
Seeing the chief female still hesitant, Jiang Xi smiled.
“This is only a suggestion. Whether you use it or not is up to you.”
With that, she prepared to enter the forest to look for oil-bearing plants and flowers suitable for extracting essential oils.
As an eagle-clan beastman, Lu Liufeng couldn’t go in with her.
He wanted to find Duans, but Jiang Xi stopped him.
“No need to bother him. I’m just looking around casually.”
Lu Liufeng pressed his lips together. He scanned the surroundings but did not see Nakan—the one who had dueled him for Jiang Xi’s sake the other day. Displeasure flickered in his eyes.
Beastmen of the Cursed Land… had no perseverance at all!
Eve, seeing Lu Liufeng searching, guessed what he was thinking and looked a little awkward.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to explain—Nakan simply didn’t allow him to.
“Jiang Xi, if you don’t mind, I can accompany you into the forest.”
“My two little ones like you very much. They’ve been whining about wanting to see you.”
Soft hissing sounds echoed.
Two small green snakes peeked out with round, curious eyes.
“Female master smells nice.”
“Female master smells nice.”
