The more Feng Xun thought about it, the guiltier he felt. Just then, Fan Zhou’s tears rolled down his cheeks and splashed onto his face, deepening his remorse.

This was the first time he’d seen the rabbit cry like this.

The rabbit must really, really like him.

Logically, discovering this fact should have made him ecstatic—he had always hoped the rabbit would grow fonder of him.

But now, listening to the rabbit’s sobs, his chest tightened unbearably, so much that he ignored the bitterness of the Beast Spirit Flowers and the pain in his body, silently drinking the spirit spring water.

He drank until his stomach was full and he couldn’t take another sip, then raised a paw to push away the next water bubble Fan Zhou offered. “I’m fine. The bleeding’s stopped. If you don’t believe me, wipe me with a cloth and see.”

He had already swallowed two Beast Spirit Flowers. Though they couldn’t completely suppress his pain, they had some effect.

He wasn’t bleeding anymore.

His voice was steady now, devoid of its earlier weakness, and his movements while drinking the water were strong—all signs that he wasn’t seriously injured.

Fan Zhou exhaled in relief, using the spirit water to rinse the blood from the wolf’s back.

After a pause, seeing no fresh blood seep out, he finally relaxed.

He rubbed the white wolf’s ears. “Does it hurt? How do you feel now?”

“A little, but I can bear it. I’m fine.” Hearing the hoarseness in Fan Zhou’s voice, the wolf’s heart grew heavy, and he lowered his head. “I’m sorry. I should’ve gotten your permission before using extreme speed.”

Fan Zhou was taken aback.

Earlier, he had been too shocked and dizzy from crying to think deeply about why Feng Xun had suddenly appeared or why he was bleeding.

Now that he’d calmed down, his brain started working again. The answer to the second question was obvious.

Frowning, he tugged one of the wolf’s ears. “Didn’t I tell you not to use extreme speed? Were my words just wind in your ears?”

“I’m sorry.”

The wolf hung his head, his attitude penitent.

“…Then why did you come back so suddenly? Where are Hu Sheng and the others?”

“They’re behind me. I came ahead. We were at the Siguo Bridge…” The wolf briefly recounted what had happened—including his recent reckless experiment.

At first, entering extreme speed had been unconscious, but realizing his body could handle it, he had boldly tested it. It was his fault.

He was in the wrong.

His gentle eyes fixed on Fan Zhou’s expressionless face, and he swallowed nervously. He had explained everything, so why was the rabbit silent? He’d rather the rabbit yell at him…

“Hit me, scold me—just don’t stay quiet,” he whispered.

“What’s the point of hitting or scolding you? Would it work? Last time you left, I pinched you hard enough, didn’t I? But did you remember?”

Feng Xun: “……”

This string of rhetorical questions was too frightening. He lowered his head again, “I’m sorry.”

“If ‘I’m sorry’ were enough, what would we need an Enforcer for? When other beastmen make mistakes and you go arrest them, if all they have to do is say ‘I’m sorry,’ then would you not arrest them?”

Feng Xun: “……”

He stared blankly at the cold-faced person before him, completely unable to come up with a rebuttal.

But he also didn’t dare say those three words “I am sorry” again.

Fan Zhou stared at the helpless expression on the white wolf’s face in front of him, feeling nothing but weary and more weary.

What kind of adult knew their body had problems and still went courting death like this?

This wasn’t like knowing that smoking was harmful to health but still smoking anyway—that kind of slow suicide. This was the kind of courting death where one bled all over and passed out on the spot!

What kind of adult dared to do that?

And yet, this white wolf right before him had done it.

Thinking back to the heart-wrenching moment he had just seen the white wolf covered in blood, he closed his eyes and let out a long breath: “Feng Xun, have you ever thought, what if, just like last time, you ended up bleeding all over and passed out on the spot, and you were far from the tribe, in the dead of night, with no beastmen passing by—what would you do? What would I do?”

“Just like when I went out to look for beast spirit flowers—if I had ignored my own health just to find the beast spirit flower, then when you finally found me, all you’d see was my cold corpse—how would you feel?”

“…That won’t happen!”

Feng Xun’s heart trembled, and he immediately shouted.

“How would it not happen? It’s the middle of the night, and no beastmen are passing by. Other than lying there and letting the corpse grow cold bit by bit, is there a second possibility? Oh, there is—maybe your corpse would get eaten by wild beasts.”

“……”

Mist welled up in the pitch-black eyes of the white wolf. He reached out his front paw and hugged Fan Zhou, his voice already choked with sobs: “Tu Zhou, I know I was wrong. I really won’t do it again.”

“Believe me, alright?”

Fan Zhou met his gaze for a few seconds, then reached out to stroke his ears: “Then be steadier in the future, okay?”

He just wanted to enjoy the sweetness of love—he didn’t want to raise this person while dating him…

Sigh.

“Okay!” the white wolf answered very quickly and nodded hard: “From now on, I’ll think more and be more careful before doing anything!”

“Then I’ll wait and see how you behave in the future. Tonight, you’ll sleep under the thatched shed,” Fan Zhou said as he pushed away his big paw and stood up from the ground.

The white wolf was dumbfounded, completely in disbelief: “I’m sleeping under the shed?”

“What else?” Fan Zhou snorted: “Go stand outside and let the wind cool down that overheated brain of yours.”

As he spoke, he walked into the cave and immediately set up a water door at the entrance.

This time, the water door was set up thick.

Of course, no matter how thick the water door was, it couldn’t stop the white wolf’s claws—he just wanted to tell the white wolf that, without his permission, he was not allowed to enter the cave.

Feng Xun still couldn’t believe it. He knew the bunny would get angry, might even kick him, pinch him, or hit him, but he absolutely never expected that the bunny’s punishment would be to forbid him from entering the cave!

He had rushed back in such a hurry because he wanted to hold that soft, fragrant bunny!

He couldn’t help but stand up and slowly walk to the entrance of the cave.

Through the transparent water door, he could see the scene inside the cave. The bunny had already lain down on the dry grass mat. When he left, the dry grass mat was just a dry grass mat with two large beast hides on top.

But now the dry grass mat looked completely different!

This must be what the bunny had referred to as quilts and bedding—it looked much thicker than beast hides and was very soft! After the bunny lay down, the middle obviously sank down.

It must be really comfortable to lie in…

Let alone the fact that the bunny was inside!

He raised his paw, didn’t dare speak, and just lightly tapped the water door.

“You can’t sleep in the cave tomorrow night either.”

The bunny inside suddenly said.

Hm?

Feng Xun was surprised and puzzled. He patted the water barrier again.

“You’re not allowed to sleep in the cave tomorrow night either. Want to try patting it again?”

“…”

Understanding dawned on him, and he quickly lowered his paw.

He lay down beside the water barrier.

There was no way he’d sleep under the thatched shelter—it was pitch black, and he wouldn’t be able to see the rabbit at all. At least here, by the barrier, he could catch glimpses of the rabbit’s adorable form nestled in the bedding.

After staring at Fan Zhou’s head for a while, regret surged over him like a tide, drowning him bit by bit.

He could’ve been holding the rabbit to sleep tonight, but because of his recklessness, he couldn’t even enter the cave tomorrow night…

Agonizing.

And so, wallowing in regret, he fell asleep.

He was exhausted. Though he hadn’t dared to use his extreme speed on the journey back, he had skirted its limits the entire way. On top of that, he had slept very little each day, and after the recent ordeal of excruciating pain and bleeding, even his robust body couldn’t take it anymore.

Hearing his steady breathing, Fan Zhou rolled his eyes. See? He was so angry he could explode on the spot, yet this guy could just sleep like nothing happened!

Unbelievable!

Grinding his teeth fiercely, he closed his eyes too. Why should he be the only one stewing in anger? He’d sleep as well!

_________________

Song Li woke up before dawn as usual. After washing up, he headed straight for Fan Zhou’s cave. But as he climbed up, he suddenly spotted a white wolf lying at the entrance and jumped in fright.

When did Feng Xun return?

And why wasn’t he sleeping inside the cave?

Before his little brain could figure it out, Fan Zhou got up.

The water barrier dropped, and Fan Zhou stepped out—but the white wolf didn’t stir. This wasn’t normal.

Given Feng Xun’s alertness, even the sound of Song Li climbing up should’ve woken him, let alone Fan Zhou moving around. For him to sleep this deeply…

Fan Zhou gritted his teeth again. Fine, maybe he’d misjudged the wolf last night. It wasn’t that Feng Xun was carefree—he’d just been utterly spent.

Hmph. Serves him right.

Thinking this, he motioned for Song Li to stay quiet. Once beside him, Fan Zhou whispered instructions to keep the cooking noises minimal.

Song Li nodded obediently.

However, when Song Li snapped a log as thick as an arm, Feng Xun woke up.

Song Li immediately greeted him politely: “Feng Xun, why did you come back early?”

Rubbing his eyes, Feng Xun glanced around but didn’t see Fan Zhou. Just as he was about to ask, Song Li volunteered: “Tu Zhou went to catch a giant-horned beast.”

“…Got it.” Feng Xun blinked, then trotted to the edge of the rock to look down. Spotting Fan Zhou leading a giant-horned beast back, he tossed a “I’ll explain at breakfast” to Song Li and hurried down.

“Tu Zhou, let me handle this. You go rest,” he said, stepping forward to take the beast.

Fan Zhou dodged his paw. “You’re the patient. You rest.”

“I’m fine now, good as new.”

“Then sit and wait for breakfast.” Fan Zhou wasn’t buying it.

Feng Xun: “…”

Though the rabbit was icy, he was still concerned about him.

He really knew he was wrong…

For this breakfast, Fan Zhou didn’t let him lift a finger. After eating, Lu Xin and Hou Yan arrived to ask about the Divine Sacrifice’s exact date.

Seeing Feng Xun, they were astonished, so he repeated what he’d told Song Li earlier.

Hearing the story, they were awestruck. Thank the Beast God, Feng Xun had rushed to the Holy Temple—otherwise, Xiong Ye and the others would’ve died.

Once their admiration subsided, they turned to Fan Zhou to discuss the ceremony.

Since this was their first time attending, they were brimming with excitement, not only wanting to know the date but also the procedures and how they could assist Fan Zhou.

Fan Zhou then shared the idea he had come up with the previous night. Rather than performing a high priest dance, it would be better to hold a hot pot festival. Everyone could gather around and enjoy a hot pot in a lively atmosphere—it would be a festive and unforgettable experience.

“This idea is great!” Lu Xin couldn’t help but clap his hands. He loved eating hot pot!

And this idea totally outshone the high priest of the Holy Temple. That high priest was way too stingy. At least over a thousand beastmen were attending the Divine Sacrifice, and yet in the end, they had to share three prey animals. Who would that be enough for?

It wasn’t even enough for a taste!

Tu Zhou was still the generous one.

“Xiong Wu will definitely be very happy when he hears this. After he came back to the tribe, he even went looking for chili peppers because he wanted to make hot pot, but it didn’t taste as good as yours.”

“There are also the other tribespeople who have never had hot pot. They’ve only heard Xiong Wu and Xiong Xing describe it, and they’ve been craving it badly for a long time now.”

Lu Xin said enthusiastically.

“That’s right. I’ll have everyone go hunting in a bit. We need to hunt more, or else it won’t be enough. They could absolutely eat a big-horned beast between just two people!”

Hou Yan also said excitedly.

He was craving it too!

There were too many beastmen who came this time. He hadn’t even had the chance to eat food personally made by Tu Zhou. He had thought he wouldn’t get to eat it this time, but he didn’t expect Tu Zhou would let all the beastmen eat hot pot!

This trip was worth it.

Lu Xin and Hou Yan were both very happy, but the smile on Fan Zhou’s face suddenly became a bit forced. Two people could eat a big-horned beast?

…He had overlooked this problem.

Beastmen had large appetites to begin with. If they encountered delicious food, they could eat twice as much at once.

But there weren’t that many prey animals around the Waterfall Tribe.

He secretly took a deep breath and said, “Let’s set the Divine Sacrifice for three days from now. Meat doesn’t keep well. First, dig up wild vegetables—dig up a lot. Also, dig up some big stone pots.”

If there wasn’t enough meat, then they’d have to make up for it with wild vegetables.

He really wanted to postpone the Divine Sacrifice even further. Before, he didn’t know, so it was whatever. But now that he knew Hu Sheng, Xiong Ye, and the Holy Temple’s group of beastmen were on their way over, it wouldn’t be good to not let them participate.

But the Shell Tribe and the Kelp Tribe had been away for too long. If he kept delaying, the beastmen from those two tribes would definitely start to worry.

So, three days from now it would be.

He carefully instructed Lu Xin and Hou Yan and had them pass the message along to Lang Tian, Quan Zhi, and the Shell and Kelp Tribes.

Each tribe was to prepare food for its own people. There was to be no fighting over anything. If they couldn’t catch enough prey, then they should dig for more wild vegetables. Wild vegetables were also delicious in hot pot—mix them with sesame oil and sesame paste, and they’d be extremely fragrant.

Lu Xin and Hou Yan strongly agreed. Yes, sesame oil and sesame paste were just that magical!

After Hou Yan and Lu Xin left, Fan Zhou called over Song Li and had him follow to the storage room.

Feng Xun immediately asked, “Tu Zhou, what can I do?”

“You rest,” Fan Zhou said two words.

“……”

It hurt.

He looked at Fan Zhou and Song Li’s backs, and still followed along.

Fan Zhou was going to make sesame paste and sesame oil.

Originally, he had thought the sesame paste he and Xiong Jing made would be enough for this hot pot festival, but after hearing Hou Yan’s words, he wasn’t so sure anymore.

Also, the seasoning for the broth base was insufficient—the flavor was a bit bland. To make the hot pot delicious, there had to be enough sesame paste.

So, he planned to make some more sesame paste and sesame oil.

It was a rather tedious task. Feng Xun really wanted to help, but Fan Zhou called over Lu Hua and Shi Bao, mother and child, and firmly refused to let him get involved.

When it was mealtime and he wanted to cook for them, Fan Zhou didn’t allow that either.

At this point, unless one was a complete fool, all the beastmen understood that Feng Xun had done something wrong.

Song Li and Lu Hua, along with Shi Bao, were all extra cautious and worked even harder. They didn’t dare talk to Feng Xun much either, for fear of upsetting Fan Zhou.

Feng Xun thoroughly understood what it meant to be ignored and isolated.

When night came, Fan Zhou once again set up a water door and didn’t let him into the cave.

It was the same on the third day.

All the beastmen were bustling about, so excited they practically floated as they walked—yet every single one ignored him, neither speaking to him nor letting him help with any tasks.

This made him wish he could travel back to the night before last and slap his overexcited self. What was the point of experimenting? Why be so damn curious?

Extreme speed was nothing compared to the rabbit!

Thinking he still couldn’t sleep in the cave tonight, he slumped listlessly under the thatched shelter, gazing gloomily at the distant forest.

On the way back, he had even imagined that if he made it in time for the Divine Sacrifice, he could hold his wedding ceremony with the rabbit in front of all the beastmen and the Beast God…

“Jing Jing, have dinner here tonight.”

Just then, Fan Zhou’s voice drifted up from the foot of the mountain, and his ears perked up. Xiong Jing was bringing the rabbit meat again.

“No, I need to roast meat for rations and get up at midnight to hunt,” Xiong Jing refused.

“Midnight?” Fan Zhou sounded surprised.

“There are too many beastmen in the tribe now. If we don’t go farther, we won’t catch enough prey. And with the Divine Sacrifice coming up, we have to hunt more.” That way, when everyone gathered for hotpot, it’d be lively.

Such a rare chance to eat hotpot—they couldn’t just fill up on wild vegetables.

“…Alright. Come by later, and I’ll give you some sweet water first.”

Soon, the Waterfall Tribe’s hunting team arrived to collect their sweet water. Only after distributing it did Fan Zhou start cooking dinner. By the time they finished eating, night had fallen. After washing up, he retreated into the cave to sleep.

Feng Xun padded to the cave entrance and lay down, watching Fan Zhou in bed. Tentatively, he asked, “Can I go hunting tomorrow?”

“Why are you butting in? Rest,” Fan Zhou said coldly.

“I’m already healed. I’m fast—I can catch more prey so Xiong Jing won’t have to work so hard.”

“…”

Fan Zhou’s temper flared. Was this about how hard Xiong Jing was working?!

“I know you want me to rest more, but I’m really fine now. I want to do something for you—for the tribe.”

Feng Xun’s voice grew quiet. “Tu Zhou, I’ve been thinking over and over about what you said that night. I’ll never make you worry about my health again.”

This lesson had been carved into his bones.

He’d remember it for life.

Fan Zhou opened his mouth but couldn’t find words. His anger slowly ebbed away.

It was clear this guy was sincere—he truly understood his mistake…

“Tu Zhou, I missed you so much. Every second after I left, I missed you. But I didn’t dare think about you too much—I was afraid if I did, I’d turn around and come straight back.”

“Only after Xiong Ye and the others were safe did I let myself think of you freely. You don’t know… after capturing Hu Rong, I wanted to break their legs, dump them on Hu Sheng, and rush back to the tribe immediately.”

“I don’t know where such a vicious thought came from. In that moment, I was no different from the High Priest.”

Here, the white wolf flopped fully onto the ground, flattening into a wolf pancake, utterly dejected.

Then, Fan Zhou’s voice came from the cave: “So did you break their legs?”

“No. Bao Cheng and Ying Xiao came out then.”

“You’re saying if they hadn’t, you would’ve broken Hu Rong’s group’s legs?”

“I don’t know,” the wolf muttered.

“With your strength, how could Bao Cheng or Ying Xiao stop you? You didn’t act—that proves you’re not like the High Priest. Every beastman alive has desires. The difference is, you can control yours. The High Priest can’t.”

“…”

The white wolf’s tail gave a faint wag. Propping himself up on his front paws, he slowly sat up, his dark eyes burning with fervent light as he stared at Fan Zhou.

The rabbit was right. The difference was control.

He had missed the rabbit madly—but he hadn’t lost his mind.

Lying in bed, Fan Zhou frowned when the wolf fell silent. “Why’d you stop talking?”

“I want to kiss you.” So badly. He wanted to hug the rabbit and kiss him senseless. How could there be such a perfect, brilliant rabbit?!

“…”

Fan Zhou couldn’t help rolling his eyes.

Seemed he’d figured it out. No need for more lecturing.

Feng Xun saw that Fan Zhou didn’t answer, blinked, and then lay back down again. But this time, his mood was much better than just now. Wagging his tail, he said, “Hu Sheng, Bao Cheng, and Ying Xiao walked too slowly, so I found some bark paper and recorded the novel plants I saw along the way. I also drew a map.”

“After leaving the boundaries of the Waterfall Tribe, walk for fourteen days, and you’ll encounter a continuous stretch of low mountains. Those might be the hills you mentioned.”

“There’s a kind of grass seed that grows there, very similar to glutinous rice. It’s also white, but not as round as glutinous rice. I picked some—it tasted really good.”

Fan Zhou: “?”

That was clearly just regular rice!

This man went on a trip and actually discovered rice?

“At the time, I was rushing to Siguo Bridge, so I didn’t pick much. Next time, when we have time, we can go there together.”

Seeing that Fan Zhou didn’t respond, the white wolf just went on talking about what he had seen this trip.

This journey, since it had been in a straight line and hurried, only stopping to eat and sleep, he hadn’t actually encountered too many novel plants.

But he wanted to share everything he saw with Fan Zhou, so that it would be as if Fan Zhou had come with him.

As Fan Zhou listened to the white wolf’s narration, his body slowly shrank into the blanket, and as he breathed in the scent of sunlight from the bedding, he pursed his lips.

Actually, no matter how great the anger, it would be worn away by time. Besides, he knew that the white wolf in front of him was a beastman, not an adult from Earth.

Beastmen were all playful. This man wanting to experience high-speed running again was completely normal. These past few days, he had kept ignoring the white wolf. With the white wolf’s elementary schooler-level mind, he had surely been miserable.

He turned over, stretched his leg out from under the blanket. Maybe… maybe he should just forgive him like this.

This man had missed him to the point of obsession. And it wasn’t like what he thought before—that although he missed him, he was easily distracted by other things…

“Feng Xun,” he interrupted the white wolf.

“Mm?” The white wolf turned his head and looked at him.

“Come in and sleep.”

“!” He instantly stood up and reverted to his human form.

At that moment, the water gate vanished, and he immediately rushed in.

“Hey, wait a minute.” Fan Zhou moved even faster than him.

Fan Zhou reached out a hand and pressed against his chest, not letting him press down.

“What’s wrong?” Feng Xun’s eyes widened slightly, a bit nervous. Had he still not been forgiven?

“Go take a bath. After dinner, you only had eyes for me—you haven’t washed up yet.” Since he was already letting him into the cave, what followed would inevitably be a bit inappropriate for children.

They had roasted meat for dinner—he didn’t want to kiss a greasy mouthful of roast!

“Okay.” Feng Xun dashed like a whirlwind to the wooden rack, grabbed a bunch of liangliang grass, and bolted to the stream. When he came back, steam clung to his whole body—he had taken a cold-water bath.

The creek in late autumn was already icy cold, so Fan Zhou quickly used his ability to dry himself off.

The handsome man he had longed for sat clean and fresh in front of him—how could he bear it? He cupped Feng Xun’s cheeks and kissed him, but very quickly, the handsome man turned the tables and pinned him to the soft bedding.

The water gate rose again, blocking out the autumn chill. The temperature in the cave rose sharply, making Fan Zhou a bit dazed.

It was comfortable. Extremely comfortable.

But looking at the red rims of the handsome man’s eyes, hearing him call “Tu Zhou” again and again beside his ear, the comfort he felt in his heart far surpassed what he felt in his body. When he was tormented by longing to the point of tears, this man’s yearning for him had been no less.

He had fallen into this relationship because this man had long since willingly jumped to the bottom of the pit.

So what if he couldn’t pull away gracefully? He was dating a primitive man—did he still need to plan an exit strategy, calculate wins and losses? If word got out, it would be laughable. There was no need. Really, no need.

Accompanying this man as he grew up wasn’t impossible either…

After all, from the moment he agreed, he already knew exactly what kind of person he was dating.

Thinking this, he hugged the man tighter, letting the rising heat completely sweep him away.

All things considered, happiness still outweighed everything else.

Fan Zhou had figured it out, so the clouds parted and the skies cleared. The next morning, when the other beastmen saw the two of them chatting and laughing, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

The atmosphere had been so weird the past two days! After breakfast, Feng Xun wanted to go hunting. Tomorrow was the Divine Sacrifice—he wanted to catch a lot of prey.

This earned him a glare from Fan Zhou. If he went hunting, he’d be gone all day. After being apart for a month, they’d just reconciled for one night, and now he wanted to run around again?

Wooden-headed fool!

Being fiercely glared at, Feng Xun tilted his head, then a few seconds later, he started laughing: “Are you reluctant to let me go hunting?”

“Go if you want.” Fan Zhou rolled his eyes. Who said he was reluctant?

The smile on Feng Xun’s face grew even bigger: “Then I won’t go. I’ll wait until after the Divine Sacrifice to go.”

“?” Fan Zhou looked at him in confusion.

“Since there are so many beastmen here now, let’s hold a wedding, okay? Let’s get married—how about it?”

Fan Zhou: “……”

This guy was still thinking about that?

He had already forgotten. After all, they were already living together, and all the beastmen knew they were mates.

But looking at the sparkling light in this man’s eyes, he nodded: “Alright.”

“Great!” Even though Song Li was right beside them, weaving linen, Feng Xun couldn’t help pulling Fan Zhou into his arms and giving him a fierce kiss.

He was definitely going to give Tu Zhou a wedding he’d never forget for the rest of his life!