Bonus chapter thanks to SweetLittleBunny on Kofi, thanks for your support!
___
Compared to Feng Xun’s outright dismissal of Que Yu, Fan Zhou actually believed some of what Que Yu said.
Que Yu must know of a place where the Beast Spirit Flower grows.
As a reincarnate, he definitely had more information at his disposal.
But why didn’t Que Yu go and collect it himself?
When Fan Zhou thought about where he had found the Beast Spirit Flower, a guess immediately formed in his mind.
The remaining Beast Spirit Flowers must all grow on high mountains. Although Que Yu’s beast form could fly, he couldn’t fly very high, so it was highly likely that Que Yu alone wouldn’t be able to reach those flowers.
Que Yu needed someone to help him gather the Beast Spirit Flower.
But Que Yu hadn’t turned to Bao Su for help. Instead, he had come to his roommate.
In truth, Bao Su wasn’t weak—he was a leopard, and recently, he had even wanted to reconcile with Que Yu.
But Que Yu didn’t even show any interest in Bao Su and went straight to his roommate.
What was even more important was that Que Yu was an outsider.
A reincarnate, who, after being reborn, specifically came to the Waterfall Tribe and didn’t even know that Beast Spirit Flowers grew around the tribe. This meant that Que Yu had come specifically for the beastmen of the Waterfall Tribe.
Considering Que Yu’s grand confession, Fan Zhou was sure that Que Yu had come for his roommate.
Only his roommate could help Que Yu get those Beast Spirit Flowers.
…
But his roommate had a lame leg!
However, since Que Yu had come to him, it meant his roommate could indeed get the Beast Spirit Flowers Que Yu mentioned.
Also, when Que Yu had incited Bao Su to break off their engagement, Que Yu only called him “Su-ge” but he hadn’t said anything about wanting to become mates with Bao Su.
Yet now Que Yu had outright confessed to his roommate.
This meant that in Que Yu’s past life, his roommate must have been someone important!
After thinking about all this, Fan Zhou didn’t dwell on it further.
He didn’t feel the need to interrogate Que Yu for more details about what might happen. In the beast world, things were still primitive, so what major events could there really be?
It was better to focus on improving the quality of his life.
However, he couldn’t help wondering if, in his past life, his roommate had ever noticed the Beast Spirit Flowers around the Waterfall Tribe…
He glanced at Feng Xun, who was currently focused on eating fried small fish.
The small fish had not been coated with egg batter or flour; they had been cleaned and fried directly. The only seasoning used was salt, but the meat was firm and flavorful with a satisfying chew.
Feng Xun kept his head lowered, eating with great concentration. His mouth had a bit of oil on it, but his face still looked strikingly handsome.
Suddenly, Fan Zhou remembered the first time he had met Feng Xun.
He remembered teaching Feng Xun how to stand still and hunt.
In his past life, if Feng Xun hadn’t been found by him, hadn’t received his encouragement, perhaps he would never have found the Beast Spirit Flower to heal his injured leg. But in the end, Feng Xun still became an important figure in the beast world.
Fan Zhou didn’t know how Feng Xun had come to the Waterfall Tribe or how he had pulled himself out of his depression. But one thing was for certain—Feng Xun must have endured great hardships, dragging his injured leg while searching for food and struggling with hunting.
His roommate must have suffered a lot.
For some reason, Fan Zhou felt a pang of sadness in his heart.
Suppressing this emotion, he smiled gently and asked, “Is it good?”
His tone was softer than usual.
“It’s good.”
Feng Xun looked up, his eyes bright.
“Then, in the afternoon, catch some more, and we’ll fry them all. You can have them as snacks.”
“Snacks?”
“It’s food that can’t fill you up, only satisfies your cravings.”
“Alright.” Feng Xun nodded eagerly. He understood now—snacks were foods that took a lot of effort to make and were small in quantity but delicious.
He liked snacks!
In fact, he hadn’t been fond of snacks before. He used to be able to eat enough every day, rarely thinking about food.
The rabbit was really impressive. He always seemed to make dishes he had never tried before, and now he couldn’t stop thinking about all sorts of food.
But snacks, after all, couldn’t fill you up. He had eaten most of the small fish and shrimp he had caught this morning, but his stomach was still hungry. So, he had to roast a large piece of meat.
The weather was hot, and after eating, he became sleepy. He returned to the cave to take a nap.
Fan Zhou didn’t have the habit of napping. He went to the end of the bed, to the deep part of the cave, to check on the dozen or so Beast Spirit Flowers.
The few that had been wilting and yellowing had already recovered, thanks to being watered with the spiritual spring water three times a day. Their stems were now green again.
He had been able to save the nearly dead Beast Spirit Flowers, so it was certain—he could indeed cultivate them.
The one he was planning to give to Xiong Jing had already grown a bud. If nothing unexpected happened, it would bloom in about a week.
Once the Beast Spirit Flower bloomed, the stamen, like a dandelion, would scatter its seeds with the wind, spreading them across various places.
If he couldn’t find any other Beast Spirit Flowers, he would have to collect seeds from these flowers.
In the afternoon, Feng Xun continued to catch fish and shrimp by the stream while weaving hemp cloth, and Fan Zhou went into the forest to hunt.
The beastmen had exchanged their grass seeds for hemp cloth, and since he and Feng Xun wanted to eat meat, Fan Zhou had to hunt.
He brought along tools like a bone knife, spear, and slingshot, just in case Feng Xun became suspicious.
The slingshot was a tool Fan Zhou had specially made for Feng Xun after they had eaten the “Beggar’s Chicken.” The rubber on it was made from beast tendons, and when hunting birds, the slingshot worked better than a spear.
After more than an hour of walking, he didn’t encounter any large prey but stumbled upon a group of gray birds perched on the branches.
In the beastman world, birds with dull feathers were all called “gray birds.” The gray birds in front of him were a little like sparrows, plump and round. Thinking about the meal they had eaten last time, Fan Zhou quietly swung out a water whip.
The water whip reached the tree and suddenly turned into a large water ball, trapping all the gray birds on the tree inside.
There were more than twenty of them, enough for him and Feng Xun to eat until tomorrow.
Dragging the birds back, Feng Xun was surprised. After the slingshot had been made, Feng Xun hadn’t had a chance to try it yet, and now he found out how useful it was.
Seeing Feng Xun eager to give it a try, Fan Zhou handed him the birds and asked him to go to the stream to pluck and clean them.
“Today, we’re not only having roasted gray birds but also chili bird stew.”
His roommate had it tough, so he wanted to make something delicious to reward him.
“Are those the small fruits Xiong Jing gave you?” Feng Xun asked.
“Yes.”
Hearing this, Feng Xun skeptically grabbed the gray birds and went to the stream. He had secretly taken a bite of one of those green chilies before, and after eating it, it had felt like he was poisoned…
Fan Zhou pretended not to notice Feng Xun’s doubts. He himself was a bit unsure. There wasn’t much seasoning, and he couldn’t guarantee that it would taste great.
First, he boiled some water and added wild onions to blanch the gray bird meat. After taking them out, he placed the meat in the stone pot and stir-fried it, then added salt and chili.
Once the spicy aroma of the chili wafted out, Feng Xun’s doubts grew—could this really taste good?
He watched as Fan Zhou chopped the hard nut into pieces and tossed them into the pot. Then he mixed the hard nut paste with grass seed flour and shaped it into little cakes to place into the pot. Feng Xun almost reached out to stop him—this was ruining the food!
But looking at the beads of sweat on Fan Zhou’s forehead, he stayed quiet. Well, the rabbit had worked hard to make this, so even if it poisoned him, he’d eat it.
Soon, Feng Xun’s nose twitched twice, and he looked at the stone pot in disbelief.
The meat had a fragrant aroma mixed with a strange scent, but it wasn’t unpleasant…
After a bit of an agonizing wait, the gray bird stew was ready. When Fan Zhou lifted the large leaf that covered the pot, the aroma immediately spread throughout the grass hut.
The broth had thickened, and the hard nut pieces were almost dissolved. The little cakes on top of the meat were soaking in the broth, looking quite tempting.
Fan Zhou was a little surprised. The appearance wasn’t bad at all.
He picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. The spiciness of the chili was balanced by the sweetness of the hard nut, making it only mildly spicy.
The level of spiciness was just right for someone who wasn’t used to eating spicy food. Overall, it tasted better than he had expected.
“Try it,” he urged Feng Xun, handing him chopsticks.
Worried that Feng Xun might not be able to handle the spice, he also picked up a small cake and handed it to him to eat with the meat.
Feng Xun took the cake and placed a piece of meat in his mouth. Hmmm, it tasted a little strange, with sweetness mixed with…?
Was this spicy?
Before he knew it, he swallowed the first piece, then went for the second, third, fourth… By the time he came to his senses, the small cake in his hand was untouched, but half the meat in the pot had already been eaten.
Feeling a little embarrassed, he glanced at Fan Zhou.
Fan Zhou, who wasn’t any slower, immediately urged him when he saw Feng Xun looking his way, “Hurry up and eat. After this meal, who knows when we’ll have the next one.”
Xiong Jing was busy hunting every day. She only rested when there was enough game, and he was also busy planting grass seeds. She didn’t have time to take Fan Zhou to pick chili peppers.
Upon hearing this, Feng Xun immediately slowed down while eating. Of course, the next meal wasn’t guaranteed to come anytime soon, so he had to eat slowly and savor it.
After finishing the meal, both of them were satisfied. The next morning, they woke up full of energy.
Fan Zhou led the five beastmen to plant the grass seeds.
Feng Xun continued catching fish and weaving hemp cloth.
The grass seeds were quickly planted, so Fan Zhou told the five beastmen to return to the village to rest, with plans to irrigate in the afternoon. However, just around noon, a heavy rain suddenly poured down, saving Fan Zhou quite a bit of work.
Once the rain had stopped, he returned to the grass seeds field and watered the crops with spiritual spring water.
Not needing to irrigate again, he settled up with the five beastmen. Originally, he had promised them one piece of hemp cloth after they finished planting, but after understanding how hard they had worked, he decided to give them two pieces of cloth instead.
The five beastmen were very happy and thanked him repeatedly.
It wasn’t clear whether it was the soil’s fertility or the effectiveness of the spiritual spring water, but three days later, the grass seed sprouts broke through the soil, a delicate layer of light green covering the ground. Seeing this, Fan Zhou was in great spirits.
Grass seed planting? He could do it!
He went to find Lang Tian and brought him to the grass seed field. He wanted the beastmen in the collection team to plant some grass seeds as well.
Lang Tian looked at the neat green sprouts in surprise. “Before winter, can we harvest a lot of grass seeds from these little plants?”
“Yes, it’s very easy to plant. I can teach everyone how to do it.”
“That’s wonderful! You really are the Beast God’s blessing sent to the Waterfall Tribe,” Lang Tian said happily.
When he was younger, Lang Tian had led the tribe’s beastmen to distant places to trade salt. He had once overheard other tribes’ beastmen talking about planting seeds, so he knew that seeds could be planted.
But he didn’t know how to do it.
He never expected that Fan Zhou would know. The Beast God really had blessed them!
Lang Tian joyfully returned to the village, gathered the collection team, and took them to clear land right next to Fan Zhou’s grass seeds field.
The collection team had already harvested all the grass seed spikes around. These last few days, they had been searching for food as usual, and at first, they didn’t believe Lang Tian. Why would they bury the hard-earned seeds in the ground?
No way!
It would be a waste of food!
But after seeing Fan Zhou’s grass seed field, they believed him.
This was the seedling of the grass seeds they knew.
With so many seeds, Fan Zhou definitely wouldn’t go hungry in the winter.
With the thought of “not going hungry in winter,” they were motivated and eager to work. Following Fan Zhou’s instructions, some beastmen worked to thresh the grass seed spikes while others cleared the land.
Even the hunting team’s beastmen joined in. They needed grass seeds for the winter, too. When there wasn’t enough food, they would go hungry as well, so planting grass seeds was a big deal!
Just like when they had worked together to make salt, the whole tribe was busy with planting. Fan Zhou’s name was mentioned repeatedly, which frustrated Que Yu to no end.
Damn it, he was good-looking and knew so much! He was the center of attention in the tribe, not him…

Leave a Reply