Que Yu wanted to confront Fan Zhou.

But he quickly calmed himself. If Tu Zhou was truly reborn, he surely wouldn’t have been so upset about being abandoned by his fiancé and move out of the tribe.

After all, Tu Zhou must have known long ago what a scumbag Bao Su was.

Damn it, he had spent too little time on the Sacred Mountain. Moreover, Tu Zhou wasn’t very noticeable. If Tu Zhou hadn’t stepped forward at the end to criticize Bao Su, he wouldn’t have known that this bad rabbit had once been engaged to Bao Su.

He didn’t even know something as significant as a marriage contract, let alone other things about Tu Zhou.

Or, could it be that Tu Zhou learned how to make salt in the Xiaotan Tribe?

After thinking for a while, he decided to go find Bao Su.

The previous day, Bao Su had explained that he didn’t actually want to drive him out of the tribe; he just wanted to get his hands on the Beast Spirit Flower. Que Yu didn’t believe that explanation and didn’t intend to be involved with Bao Su any longer, so he had been cold to him.

But the fact that Tu Zhou could make salt needed to be clarified by Bao Su.

When Que Yu sought out Bao Su, Bao Su was very happy. He thought to himself, “Of course, someone as outstanding as me couldn’t be truly rejected by Que Yu.”

It must just have been a petty quarrel.

After hearing Que Yu’s question, Bao Su thought for a moment and shook his head: “I don’t know when he learned how to make salt.”

“But it’s a good thing that he can make salt.”

Since leaving the Xiaotan Tribe, he hadn’t tasted salt in three months!

He was really looking forward to today’s dinner.

“You were supposed to marry him. Didn’t you find out everything about him?” Que Yu asked, dissatisfied.

“I didn’t.”

He wasn’t serious about marrying Tu Zhou, so why would he take the initiative to inquire about Tu Zhou’s background?

Que Yu: “……”

He was furious.

After some hesitation, he still didn’t go looking for Fan Zhou.

Maybe he was overthinking…

With doubts in his heart, Que Yu actually wanted to monitor Fan Zhou, but finding that man was more important.

Fan Zhou was unaware of Que Yu’s frustration. Since Lang Tian planned to send more beastmen to transport the red stones, he also intended to go along.

He had searched everywhere within dozens of miles around the tribe but hadn’t found much of use. He was planning to take a longer trip this time.

Of course, the reason he gave Lang Tian was that he wanted to search for Beast Spirit Flowers.

It was a reasonable excuse. Plus, since he was no longer part of the gathering team, Lang Tian readily agreed.

One thing was certain—beastmen in this world were truly simple. He didn’t even need to come up with complicated excuses; the others would believe his explanations easily.

The leader of this group was once again Niu Shan.

Xiong Jing also wanted to go, but both Fan Zhou and Lang Tian refused. Though Beast Spirit Flowers were miraculous, her wound had been a deep, life-threatening injury. She still needed proper rest.

Seeing Xiong Jing looking so dejected, Fan Zhou reassured her, promising to do his best to find Beast Spirit Flowers so she could also transform into a human.

Although Xiong Jing had eaten two Beast Spirit Flowers, neither had fully bloomed. Their medicinal effect was insufficient, and since all the healing properties had been used to treat her wounds, she still couldn’t transform.

Dangling the prospect of becoming human before her, Xiong Jing’s disappointment instantly vanished. She really wanted to take on human form!

The stone-transporting team consisted of five beastmen, including Fan Zhou, Niu Shan, Niu Shan’s mate, Niu Li, a brown bear beastman, Xiong Li, and Mao Yu.

All four beastmen had strong beast forms, well suited for heavy labor.

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━_______

The Waterfall Tribe was five days away from the valley, though if they moved quickly, they could reach it in three.

Keeping a steady pace, they traveled for a day and a half, passing through dense forests.

Beyond the forest lay rolling hills, now lush and green in the height of summer.

After another day and a half, they arrived at the valley.

At first, the valley had been ordinary, surrounded by mountains. But after the great earthquake years ago, a massive fissure had appeared in the northern mountainside, revealing the red stones.

Additionally, a pond had formed in the valley, and it was when Xiong Jing went to drink from it that she discovered the red stones.

Mining the red stones required physical labor. Since the other four beastmen saw Fan Zhou as weak, he wasn’t expected to do the heavy work. He was free to search for Beast Spirit Flowers instead.

Fan Zhou didn’t argue—after all, he had come here precisely under the pretense of finding Beast Spirit Flowers.

On flat ground, with people and beasts coming and going, even if Beast Spirit Flowers existed, they would have been discovered immediately.

If anywhere had the best chance of housing Beast Spirit Flowers, it would be the most remote and untouched areas.

Of the four mountains surrounding the valley, the eastern one was the tallest, with dangerously steep terrain that made climbing difficult. He fixed his gaze on the towering peak.

That’s the one.

Fan Zhou had excellent physical endurance. He had become famous online because of a video of him running three thousand meters. Now, as a beastman with enhanced abilities, he could climb even the steepest cliffs.

Wherever there were rocks, he climbed using handholds. Where there were none, he simply lashed out a water whip to secure himself to higher ledges or cliffs, using it to pull himself up.

He climbed steadily while scanning his surroundings. His pace wasn’t fast, but his efforts weren’t fruitless. On the first day, he found a wild beehive.

For other beastmen, collecting honey was difficult. But he simply encased himself in a water sphere as protection, easily retrieving the honey without getting stung.

That night, when he returned to the camp, he generously made honey water for Niu Shan, Niu Li, Xiong Li, and Mao Yu.

“Tu Zhou, you’re amazing!” Xiong Li held his stone bowl with a blissful expression. Honey! It had been so long since he last tasted it!

“Exactly! If Bao Su finds out, he’ll definitely regret it. Last time, he tried to get honey and ended up covered in bee stings.”

“Tu Zhou, you have to find a mate way better than Bao Su—make him regret everything.”

Mao Yu took another sip of honey water, completely delighted. So sweet!

Fan Zhou chuckled. “I’m not planning on finding a mate.”

Mao Yu tilted her head, puzzled as she looked at Fan Zhou.

“Why not? You can’t beat Bao Su in a fight. If you really want to surpass him, the best way is to find a mate who’s much stronger than him.”

“…You have a point.”

Fan Zhou nodded and agreed but didn’t bother explaining further.

Instead, a thought crossed his mind—the Beast God of this primitive world was surprisingly progressive.

The seventh commandment of the Beast God’s Ten Commandments was “Love your mate, regardless of gender.”

He had originally assumed that in this kind of primitive society, beastmen would prioritize reproduction above all else…

The next day, Niu Shan’s group continued mining, while Fan Zhou resumed climbing.

Since he had already searched part of the area yesterday, he didn’t need to spend time covering the same ground. As a result, his pace quickened. Before noon, he had already reached the mountain’s peak.

The summit was completely barren, but Fan Zhou didn’t feel discouraged.

A treasure like Beast Spirit Flowers wouldn’t be so easy to find.

He chewed on some salted dried meat and drank a stomachful of spiritual spring water, then energetically started descending from the other side of the mountain.

After descending less than five hundred meters, he noticed a small mountain spring, about the size of a bowl.

The spring’s opening was hidden beneath dense vegetation—he wouldn’t have noticed it if not for the birds perching there.

Pushing aside the undergrowth, he saw a single tiny Beast Spirit Flower, only about the height of a finger.

Fan Zhou was thrilled—he had actually found one!

He immediately watered it with spiritual spring water. Then, he carefully searched the surrounding area, but this was the only one.

Gently, he dug up the young Beast Spirit Flower and placed it in his basket.

Now that he had successfully obtained one, he didn’t linger in the mountains. He wanted to replant it at the camp—his main objective for this trip was already fulfilled, and now he could keep his promise to Xiong Jing.

But just as he reached the foot of the mountain, he noticed a beastman lying on the ground not far away.

The beastman wore only a simple beast-hide skirt, his hair messy, and his left calf stained with fresh, crimson blood.

After hesitating for a moment, Fan Zhou walked over.

When he got closer, he froze in place.

The beastman was lying on his stomach, half of his face pressed against the ground, obscuring his features.

But even with just one side of his face visible, despite its paleness, it was so strikingly handsome that Fan Zhou was momentarily speechless. Long, arched brows, a straight nose, and strikingly well-defined, perfect features.

Fan Zhou crouched down and extended his fingers to the beastman’s nose, confirming that he was still breathing. Carefully, he lifted the man up.

Since he was still alive, there was no way Fan Zhou could just leave him to die.

He shifted his basket to his chest and carried the beastman on his back, heading back to camp.

The intense pain jolted Feng Xun out of unconsciousness. As his awareness slowly returned, he immediately noticed something was off.

Before he had blacked out, he had been lying face-down on the ground. But now, he seemed to be lying on a straw mat.

He opened his eyes in confusion, and in the golden glow of the sunset, he saw a fluffy white ball moving back and forth nearby.

He blinked, then opened his eyes again, finally seeing clearly—the white ball was a tail…

And the owner of that tail was humming an unfamiliar tune, clearly in a good mood.

He had been rescued.

But he felt no joy—a beastman with a crippled leg could not survive on the Wild Continent.

His left leg throbbed painfully, and he instinctively lifted his head, pushing himself up on his arms to sit. But at that moment, his peripheral vision caught a hint of green.

Hmm?

He froze for a second and then turned his gaze to the foot of the bed. When he saw the plant, his pupils contracted sharply—Beast Spirit Flower!

But then, recalling the white tail, his expression darkened.

The tail’s owner needed that Beast Spirit Flower too—he couldn’t even fully transform yet.

“Oh, you’re awake.”

Fan Zhou turned around and, seeing the handsome man trying to sit up, immediately put down the bone knife in his hands and walked over to help.

“Thank you. My name is Feng… I mean, Lang Xun.”

Feng Xun snapped back to reality and expressed his gratitude seriously.

He had been cast out from the Holy Temple—he could no longer use the name “Feng.”

Along with his name, he had also lost his abilities. His gaze dropped. “I… have nothing to repay you with.”

“I’m Tu Zhou. You don’t need to repay me.”

Helping others was just the right thing to do. But Feng Xun was stunned. 

No need to repay?

At that moment, Mao Yu’s voice rang from outside, “Tu Zhou! I caught two Mud Beasts and a Snow Chicken!”

Today was Mao Yu’s turn to hunt, and after an entire afternoon, she had a pretty good haul.

“Alright, I’ll be right there!” Fan Zhou called back. Then, turning to Feng Xun, he said, “Rest for now. I carved a walking stick for you—let me go grab it.”

Just as he finished speaking, Mao Yu rushed into the cave entrance:

“Tu Zhou! I also found a beehive to—huh? Tu Zhou, you picked up a man?”

Mao Yu’s round eyes stared at Feng Xun’s face for a few seconds before she looked back at Fan Zhou.

“You’re amazing! I only told you yesterday to find someone better than Bao Su, and today, you’ve already found a man who’s way more handsome than him!”

“Huh?”

Fan Zhou was momentarily dumbfounded.

Suddenly, Mao Yu’s nose twitched. Her round eyes landed on Feng Xun’s injured leg.

“His leg is hurt.”

She could smell the blood.

The cave was dimly lit, so she hadn’t noticed the injury immediately.

“Yes, it’s a pretty serious wound.”

It looked like a bite wound—not only was the flesh torn, but the bone was also injured.

And it wasn’t a fresh wound. The surrounding skin had scabbed over, but some pus remained—it seemed that the wound had become infected, and he had carved out the infected flesh himself.

“This…”

Mao Yu’s tail brushed the ground anxiously as she spoke:

“Tu Zhou, he can’t hunt. You really shouldn’t take him as your mate.”

Tu Zhou was already so frail, barely able to support himself—how could he take on a crippled man?

Such a shame—he was so good-looking.

Feng Xun remained silent. Mate?

Was he saved just to become someone’s mate?

No—by common practice, a beastman who had lost his ability to survive was a burden. Most tribes wouldn’t even accept him, let alone take him as a mate.

“It’s fine. I can afford to take care of him for now.”

There was no way Fan Zhou could leave such a good-looking man to die alone in the wild. He’d take him back to the tribe first—they could figure things out later.

“Huh?! You actually want to take him as your mate?”

Mao Yu looked utterly shocked.

Even Feng Xun’s head snapped up, eyes full of surprise as he looked at Fan Zhou.