The next morning, the five beastmen who had signed up yesterday gathered at the base of Fan Zhou’s cave.

Two of them were disabled, while the other three were half-beastmen. They couldn’t transform into humans, and their beast forms were weak—unable to hunt and inefficient at gathering.

Fan Zhou came down from the cave and led them into the forest.

Upon reaching a clearing, he instructed the five beastmen to work together to clear the trees and weeds he had chopped down the day before, pushing everything to the side.

He then gave each of them a small hoe made of stone, asking them to turn the soil and loosen it. He also assigned them specific areas of responsibility. The one who finished first could leave early.

This task was simple—whether missing an arm or a leg, anyone could sit on the ground and swing a small hoe.

Fan Zhou also grabbed a hoe and began loosening the solid ground with some effort.

The sun was high overhead, and without the shade of the trees, he was quickly covered in sweat.

He took a cloth from his pocket to wipe his sweat and casually checked on the other five beastmen.

The fastest was Niu Shu, whose beast form was a fierce ox. Last month, he had lost an arm in a hunting accident when a giant beast bit it off, so now he ate in the communal cave with the other beastmen.

He was responsible for about an acre of land and had already turned half of it.

The slowest was Song Li, who could not transform into a human. His claws weren’t as dexterous as hands, so he had only turned a quarter of his area.

However, he was only thirteen years old, a true child laborer.

Though slow, he didn’t slack off. His left paw wiped sweat from his brow while his right paw continued swinging the heavy hoe.

Fan Zhou stood up and entered the forest. He returned shortly with several large leaves in his hands.

He went to Song Li’s side, made two holes in the leaves, and placed them on Song Li’s head.

The holes snugly fit around his large ears, so the leaves wouldn’t fall off even when he bent down.

“Thank you, Tu Zhou,” Song Li said gratefully. It was cooler now.

But he felt a little guilty. He worked slowly, yet he would still receive the same food and cloth as the other beastmen…

“It’s fine, take your time. No rush. If you’re tired, rest for a bit and go drink some water by the creek,” Fan Zhou said with a smile to comfort him.

Song Li let out a sigh of relief upon hearing this. He nodded a couple of times and continued swinging the hoe.

Fan Zhou gave the remaining leaves to the other four beastman and returned to his own area to continue loosening the soil.

While Fan Zhou worked diligently, Feng Xun was also busy.

He and Fan Zhou paid the beastman with fish. These past few days, they hadn’t eaten many fish, and the fish basket still contained several.

But it wasn’t enough. Last night, he and Fan Zhou had stayed up late to make a fishing net.

They tied the net to two wooden sticks and placed it in the creek next to the cave.

The net was like a fence, blocking the fish from swimming through. However, the fish could swim back upstream.

So, Fan Zhou made a scoop net for him to catch the fish.

He had never seen a scoop net before, but once he understood its purpose, he instantly fell in love with it—it was perfect for his current needs!

He moved his work to the creekside, peeling the stalks of wild grass while keeping an eye on the fish in the water.

Whenever a fish tried to swim back, he quickly threw the scoop net and caught it with precision. It was much easier than using a fish spear.

He was so caught up in his fishing when suddenly someone called out from below: “Lang Xun, are you there? I need to talk to you.”

He frowned, put down the scoop net, grabbed his walking stick, and walked toward the rocks.

Peering down, he saw it was the peacock from yesterday. He asked impatiently, “What do you need from me?”

“You’re not able to walk well, so I’ll come up to find you.”

Que Yu was very happy. Now, it was his alone time with Feng Xun.

But just as he raised his foot to climb up, he heard Feng Xun’s stern voice from above: “You’re not allowed to come up.”

His smile immediately froze. After a brief pause, he asked, “Why?”

He had figured out that the other beastmen were allowed to come up.

Feng Xun didn’t answer. He frowned for a moment, then dropped the walking stick and slowly climbed down from the cave.

Que Yu was confused, but when he saw Feng Xun coming down on his own, he cheered up again.

He raised both hands and let the sunlight shine on them. His hands were pale, tinged with pink, and they looked stunning.

Today, he wasn’t just wearing a bone necklace; he also had a flower crown!

Unfortunately, he hadn’t gotten any hemp clothes yet. If he were wearing them, he’d look even more dazzling!

When Feng Xun stood on the ground, he suppressed his excitement, just about to speak, but Feng Xun spoke first: “How do you know me? Did you come from the Central Continent too? What crime have you committed?”

“?”

Que Yu’s smile instantly cracked.

What did he mean, “What crime have you committed?”

Feng Xun must have thought he was one of the criminals exiled from the Central Continent!

He involuntarily placed his hands over his chest, feeling a tightness and shortness of breath as if he might faint.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Feng Xun asked seriously, not receiving an answer.

“I—” Que Yu took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. Well, Feng Xun didn’t know he had been reborn due to the Beast God’s blessing, so it was understandable that he misunderstood.

It was just a matter of clearing things up.

“I’m not from the Central Continent. You went to the Siguo Bridge before; I was hiding by the shore and saw you there.”

He brought out the excuse he had prepared in advance.

The Wild Continent and the Central Continent were separated by a large river called the Siguo River. On this river stood the Siguo Bridge, the only point connecting the two continents, and it was built by the Beast God. Beastmen guarded the bridge, and when Feng Xun became an exiled beastman who had committed crimes from the Central Continent, he would go to the bridge. He could easily explain that he had seen Feng Xun there at that time.

“You weren’t exiled to the Wild Continent?” Feng Xun didn’t quite believe it. “Then why did you turn and run when you saw me yesterday?”

“…Because I was dirty and didn’t want to embarrass myself in front of you. I’m originally from the Wild Continent!” Que Yu quickly responded.

“You like me?” Feng Xun sized him up from head to toe. This wasn’t a situation he was unfamiliar with—many beastman had confessed their feelings to him before.

“Yes!” Que Yu admitted generously, though a little nervous. He wanted to confirm his relationship with the man in front of him as soon as possible because Fan Zhou had made him feel a sense of urgency.

“Oh. I don’t like you,” Feng Xun replied plainly, rejecting him without hesitation.

Que Yu’s face immediately froze.

In his previous life, when he had known Feng Xun, he had already passed his prime and was weak due to long periods of hunger.

But now, he was beautiful, radiant. When he stood by the water and examined his face and beast form, he felt so mesmerized that he almost fell in love with himself.

But Feng Xun didn’t feel a thing for him?!

Grinding his teeth, he threw out his biggest card, “I can cure your leg. I know where there’s a Beast Spirit Flower, and I can take you there. We can leave the Waterfall Tribe today.”

That place was the Sacred Mountain!

“It’s a bit far from the Waterfall Tribe, but I know herbs, and I can treat small injuries and illnesses. We’ll definitely be able to find the Beast Spirit Flower safely!”

Que Yu spoke passionately, but Feng Xun didn’t react with the excitement he had expected. In fact, Feng Xun didn’t seem excited at all, just slightly surprised.

“I’m not going,” Feng Xun said, shaking his head, his tone neutral.

“Huh… You don’t believe me?” Que Yu was a bit confused.

“I believe you, but that place is very far. If I walk there, even if we find the Beast Spirit Flower, my leg won’t be healed.”

Que Yu: “…”

He stood there, dumbfounded, staring at Feng Xun.

Because Feng Xun’s reasoning made perfect sense. Even if they found the Beast Spirit Flower after traveling so far on foot, his leg would most likely be ruined in the process.

“If you want to dig up the Beast Spirit Flower, find someone else to go with you. I’m not going. And also, don’t tell the other beastman in the tribe about my past, and don’t bully Tu Zhou again. Even though I’m lame, I can still beat you,” Feng Xun warned seriously.

Que Yu: “…”

He stared at Feng Xun in disbelief. What was he hearing?

Was Feng Xun actually going to fight him?

The man he had been thinking about constantly since being reborn actually said such harsh words to him!

His beautiful face instantly turned pale.

But Feng Xun didn’t seem to care for his feelings. Thinking about his newly acquired toy, the scoop net, he turned and began to climb back up the cave.

As for the five beastmen working, they didn’t need breakfast, just lunch and dinner. Each meal would be three fish per person, meaning thirty fish a day. He had a heavy workload!

Que Yu stood at the base of the cave for quite some time. In the end, he couldn’t stand the sun beating down on him and walked away, feeling dejected.

How did it end up like this?

Feng Xun and that bad rabbit hadn’t known each other for long, yet now he was warning him because of Tu Zhou… It almost made him cry his eyes out.

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━_______

Niu Shu quickly finished his section of the field. According to the original plan, once the soil was turned, they were supposed to plant grass seeds.

But it was too hot, so Fan Zhou decided they would plant it tomorrow. He led Niu Shu back to the cave to settle his wages for the day.

Having only worked for less than half a day, three fish was enough.

However, once they climbed up to the cave, Feng Xun gave Fan Zhou a surprise.

By the creek, two wooden barrels were placed. One barrel contained a large fish about a foot long, and the other barrel held small fish—some were flat, while others were like loaches.

There were even some freshwater shrimp!

The previous fish basket could only catch big fish but couldn’t catch these small shrimp. Fan Zhou had been so busy that he never had time to sit by the creek and catch them, but here was Feng Xun, catching all this in less than half a morning!

Feng Xun held the scoop net proudly. “I caught every fish and shrimp that swam by. Not a single one got away.”

“Wow, that’s amazing! Let’s have these small fish and shrimp for lunch.”

How tempting!

Feng Xun had never been a fan of eating even big fish, let alone these tiny fish and shrimp, but seeing Fan Zhou’s eyes light up as he stared at the barrels made him a little excited, too. “Alright.”

With these fish and shrimp, Fan Zhou became generous. He took four fish from the barrel, strung them together with a grass rope, and handed them to Niu Shu.

Niu Shu was happy. He got an extra one! Tu Zhou was so generous!

After Niu Shu left, the other three beastman finished their work one after another, and Fan Zhou gave them each four fish.

By the time Song Li finished, it was already noon. Since Fan Zhou didn’t have any more big fish left, he gave Song Li some of the dried meat they had sun-dried in the past two days.

Song Li was also very happy and skipped away while holding the dried meat.

Fan Zhou climbed back into the cave, quickly prepared the small fish, shrimp, and big fish, then started a fire, getting ready to fry them.

Frying these little fish and shrimp would taste the best.

Feng Xun was in charge of the fire, and while he worked, he remembered what Que Yu had mentioned about the Beast Spirit Flower. He then told Fan Zhou about Que Yu coming to see him.

Fan Zhou laughed so hard he almost rolled on the ground.

What a twist! Que Yu had come to confess his feelings, all full of joy, only to be mistaken for a criminal by the person he liked.

“He must be lying. I heard from Mao Yu that he likes Bao Su. He’s trying to trick me into going after the Beast Spirit Flower. I don’t know what he’s really up to.”

Feng Xun said seriously to Fan Zhou, “Stay away from him. He’s really strange.”

“…You’re right.”

Fan Zhou stopped laughing and nodded seriously.

The handsome man’s analysis might not be entirely correct, but there was definitely something wrong with Que Yu.