Chapter – 45
Squeezing In Among You
After finishing her bath, Jiang Xi came out and found Lu Liufeng at home.
She was a little surprised.
“So you’re back so soon?”
Lu Liufeng shook his head.
“There’s something I’d like to get the mistress’s opinion on.”
Jiang Xi rarely saw Lu Liufeng in this state.
She sat by the fire pit and asked curiously,
“What is it?”
Lu Liufeng first raised his hand, letting the wind pass over the warmth of the fire pit and brush against the mistress’s damp hair, then recounted what had just happened and gave his opinion.
Yiyuexi watched Lu Liufeng’s skilled movements and clicked his tongue in admiration. Following Lu Liufeng’s words, he spoke:
“The status of a sacred-favored female is already enough to attract the attention of the entire Cursed Land, and even the Great Wood Forest.”
“If the matter of unlocking the Fourth Great Stage gets out, it could attract the attention of the Holy City or even the ancestral great clans.”
Holy City…
Jiang Xi’s lips parted slightly, whispering the words silently.
Her memories of the Holy City were already gradually fading.
Although, if she had the chance later, she wanted to see this sacred city of the beast world.
But she did not want to return in her original identity, nor get entangled with the original beast males or females there.
So, she didn’t want to attract the Holy City’s attention.
“The Fourth Great Stage matter probably won’t be leaked.”
“But…” Jiang Xi paused, “…the external manifestation combing might be harder to hide.”
“When I first performed combing for Duan Si in the Rehe Valley, the snake-beasts of the valley saw it all.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Liufeng’s expression turned serious.
Yiyuexi, however, thought that compared to the Fourth Great Stage, the external manifestation combing wasn’t such a big deal.
“At most, it just means we’ll face a few more duels.”
Whether it was her status as a sacred-favored female or the external manifestation combing, it meant that countless beasts would flock to seek the mistress’s favor in the coming days.
Right now, the mistress only had five beast husbands. Duan Si would be stuck in Rehe Valley all winter, and Huo Lun’s whereabouts were unknown. That left the three of them to bear the burden.
Yet, how many sacred-favored females have only three powerful beast husbands? Usually, there are eight or ten strong ones.
If there were truly powerful beasts, they would also be willing to accept them.
“Look on the bright side—it’s still winter, the roads are impassable, and for now, we only have to deal with the beasts from the Lion Roar Tribe.”
Once spring comes, when the news spreads, the Lion Roar Tribe would likely face the largest influx of beasts in history.
Jiang Xi didn’t think the external manifestation combing would be a problem.
After all, combing the beasts’ abilities also benefited her.
As her healing powers grew, she could comb for more and more beasts each day. Eventually, she would inevitably perform combing for beasts outside of her beast husbands.
“Hmm… maybe I can just say that when I was in the Holy City, my external spiritual power suddenly disappeared because of an accident with the Convergence Stone?”
“The rest, let them guess.”
Secrets always needed some mystery to make them truly intriguing.
“But…” Lu Liufeng looked at the mistress.
“In that case, the alpha female might want to have the mistress help the beasts without a female in the tribe by offering contribution points.”
The thought made Lu Liufeng somewhat unwilling.
Yiyuexi, with no stake in the matter, also didn’t want it to happen.
“Wanting the mistress to comb for them? Not happening!”
Jiang Xi told Lu Liufeng that her spiritual power could increase through combing.
“Right now I can’t comb for too many beasts, but in the later stages, the more beasts I comb for, the better it is for my spiritual power.”
Lu Liufeng pressed his lips together.
But… if that happened, those beasts would cling to the mistress for life.
Yet, no matter what, he would follow the mistress’s decision.
“Liufeng understands. I’ll explain the situation to the alpha female and the leader.”
Lu Liufeng stood and prepared to leave.
Jiang Xi wanted to tell him about the memories she had seen but decided to wait until it was just the two of them at night.
For now, Yiyuexi was still in the firehouse, and some secrets weren’t appropriate to reveal to him.
After Lu Liufeng left, Yiyuexi saw the mistress sitting by the fire, lost in thought, and he couldn’t help but stare at her as he drifted into his own daze.
The whiteness on the mistress’s face had increased. After the scabs from the poison packs fell off, only black marks remained. The intertwining of white and black created a contradictory, mysterious aura.
It made him want to see clearly, to sketch her image.
Jiang Xi’s thoughts were chaotic, yet her mind felt empty, unable to retain anything.
She stood and looked at Yiyuexi.
“Shall we cook?”
When the mind is in turmoil, doing something that doesn’t require thinking can help fill the emptiness.
Yiyuexi looked into those jet-black eyes and nervously lowered his fox-like eyes.
“Okay, okay…”
Damn it!
He was completely mesmerized!
There’s nothing even worth looking at!
Yiyuexi muttered repeatedly in his heart.
Because the water tank in the yard was used for bathing, the two of them could only carry the vegetables to wash on the ice river behind the yard.
The cold wind outside made Jiang Xi shiver.
She wrapped the beast-hide tighter and waited for Yiyuexi to break the ice.
He had ice-snow abilities, and his control over the ice river would naturally be stronger than that of ordinary beasts.
Yet Jiang Xi saw Yiyuexi raise his hand and send out several ice-blue snowflakes, “crunching” along the ice as it cut through.
She was momentarily stunned.
“Isn’t your ability supposed to be ice-snow?”
Yiyuexi replied, “Only snow, not ice.”
Jiang Xi’s eyes widened with confusion. “Aren’t those the same thing?”
Yiyuexi’s fox-like eyes lifted to look at her.
“Does the mistress think I’m too weak?”
Jiang Xi hurriedly waved her hands.
“No, no.”
In apocalyptic times, abilities of the same system are often interconnected.
She had once seen a massive snow ability. The next day, the zombies in the ruins had all turned into ice sculptures.
It was magical.
Combined with the weather, it could kill without leaving a trace.
So she subconsciously assumed Yiyuexi’s ability worked similarly.
But Yiyuexi was different from Lu Liufeng, so Jiang Xi let the matter drop and didn’t continue.
Lu Liufeng returned quickly. By the time they finished washing the vegetables, he was already back in the yard.
He took the bamboo sieve with the drained vegetables from the mistress and first shared something amusing.
“The alpha female’s place is full of beasts who went to ‘seek justice.’”
Jiang Xi was surprised. “They’re back already?”
Lu Liufeng smiled, “I went in, and they arrived right after me.”
Seeing the two of them chatting and laughing as they headed toward the firehouse, Yiyuexi felt inexplicably unhappy.
They’re all beast husbands, why is there a difference in treatment?
Thinking this, he acted naturally, walked over, and squeezed between the mistress and Lu Liufeng, speaking casually:
“What are you two talking about? Let me hear too.”
Jiang Xi looked at Yiyuexi, who had barged in, and remained silent for a moment.
“…About the Rehe Valley incident.”
Lu Liufeng scrutinized him with a glance, his eyes flickering.
