Fan Zhou, seeing the two beastmen staring at him intently, hurriedly clarified:

“I don’t want to take him as my mate.”

“Then why are you taking care of him?” Mao Yu’s fluffy face was full of confusion.

“He can work—he’s not freeloading.”

Fan Zhou pointed at Feng Xun’s perfectly fine hands.

“He can weave grass ropes, carve wooden barrels, and tend to the fire. My cave is outside the tribe, and I have a lot of valuable things inside. If no one watches over them, what if they get stolen?”

An unguarded home was worth a fortune.

Most importantly, Fan Zhou was sure he would eventually find more Beast Spirit Flowers.

Before, whenever he left the cave, he had to dig up and carry the Beast Spirit Flower with him. Now, he had a guard—it was perfect.

Just by looking at Lang Xun’s well-defined muscles, it was obvious—even if he was crippled, he still had some level of combat ability.

“That’s true.”

Mao Yu thought it over seriously and nodded. She hadn’t considered those things before.

Feng Xun’s emotions were complicated.

Betrayed by his own kin, cast out from the Holy Temple, and crippled—he had already been waiting for death. But now, listening to this fluffy-tailed beastman talk, he realized there were actually quite a few things he could still do…

“Lang Xun, just rest for now and wait for roasted meat.”

Fan Zhou handed over the freshly carved walking stick.

“Don’t put weight on your left leg. Let it heal properly—if I find another Beast Spirit Flower, you might recover.”

He then pointed at the Beast Spirit Flower at the foot of the bed.

“This one, I’m saving for Xiong Jing.”

It wasn’t that he was unwilling to give the beautiful man the Beast Spirit Flower—it was just that he had already promised it to Jingjing first.

Before he left, Xiong Jing had waved her paws at him excitedly, full of anticipation.

A promise was a promise.

Mao Yu, following Fan Zhou’s gaze, finally noticed the Beast Spirit Flower at the foot of the bed.

She was shocked.

“Tu Zhou, you’re amazing!” She looked at Feng Xun with a hint of envy and said, “Your leg will definitely heal. Tu Zhou is really good at finding Beast Spirit Flowers—he’s already found three recently.”

Three?

Feng Xun instinctively tightened his grip on the crutch. Was the fluffy-tailed beastman this capable?

And there were still Beast Spirit Flowers on the Wild Continent?

If the Holy Temple found out about this, they would definitely send beastmen over immediately.

“Anyway, just focus on recovering. Eat when it’s time to eat, work when it’s time to work.”

Fan Zhou recalled Feng Xun’s earlier dejected remark about not being able to repay him and added another reminder:

“Don’t overthink it. Tonight, we’re having honey-roasted meat.”

Huh?

Mao Yu’s eyes instantly lit up, full of excitement. “Honey-roasted meat?”

“Yeah. We’ll coat the roasted meat with a layer of honey.”

Since Mao Yu had also found a beehive, they didn’t need to be stingy with the honey. They could treat themselves tonight!

Sweet and savory roasted meat—it had been so long since he’d had that.

He was craving it so much!

Feng Xun watched as Fan Zhou’s eyes sparkled, and subconsciously touched his stomach.

Using precious honey to coat roasted meat?

He was actually getting hungry.

Fan Zhou and Mao Yu went to the pond to prepare the Snow Chicken and Mud Beasts.

Snow Chickens had white feathers, were as large as ostriches, and had tender meat.

Mud Beasts were similar to wild boars and loved rolling around in the mud, so their bodies were always filthy.

Mao Yu’s butchering technique was crude—she didn’t pluck the feathers, scrape the skin, or drain the blood. She just rinsed them in the pond, then chopped them into pieces with a bone knife before roasting.

Fan Zhou couldn’t stand such a primitive method. These past few days, he had mostly survived on his own dried meat and only roasted fresh meat when he couldn’t resist the craving anymore.

Tonight, he decided to show off his cooking skills, so he tempted Mao Yu with honey to make her follow his instructions.

Mao Yu was more than happy to comply—as long as she could coat the meat with extra honey, she’d listen!

While Mao Yu was skinning the Mud Beast, Fan Zhou grabbed a bone knife and searched for a stone with two raised ends and a flat middle, similar to a stone roller used for grinding herbs.

He planned to make a stone slab for grilling.

Just as he gripped the stone and was about to start chiseling, a low voice called out from nearby:

“Let me do it.”

Fan Zhou turned toward the voice and saw Feng Xun leaning on his crutch, walking over.

Fan Zhou immediately put the stone down and hurried over to stop him:

“You need to rest. Go back and lie down.”

“My leg hurts. I need something else to do.” Feng Xun shook his head.

“…”

That was true.

Fan Zhou hadn’t brought any Hard Nuts on this trip, and after carrying Feng Xun back in the afternoon, he had only given him some spiritual spring water and rinsed his wound with it.

But spiritual spring water didn’t have pain-relieving properties.

“But your injury is pretty serious.” Fan Zhou hesitated.

“I won’t die.”

“Fine, you do it. I need this stone to be ground smooth.”

Fan Zhou didn’t refuse again. He helped Feng Xun sit on a large rock, then handed him the bone knife and stone.

Feng Xun only took the stone.

In the next second, the tall and handsome man transformed into a wolf—completely white, with a body glowing like polished jade.

the white wolf stood two meters tall, its fur sleek and silky like fine silk, both majestic and beautiful.

Fan Zhou’s eyes flashed with admiration—even his beast form looked this good?

the white wolf crouched down, pressing one paw on the stone’s center while swinging the other at the raised edge—

Crack!

With one swipe, the protruding section snapped off instantly.

Fan Zhou almost blurted out a curse—breaking a massive rock with his bare paws?!

His combat ability was definitely insane.

From what Fan Zhou had observed, even though beastmen were massive and strong, they still relied on tools for many tasks.

For example, during the mining work, even Niu Shan, as huge as he was, still used a stone axe to dig.

His gaze landed on the white wolf’s paws.

At first glance, they seemed like ordinary wolf claws, but his nails were jet black, resembling metal.

Just like Xiong Jing’s claws.

But Xiong Jing couldn’t slice through stone like butter.

Fan Zhou rubbed his chin thoughtfully— did these two have different claws compared to other beastmen?

Was it a genetic mutation?

By the time Fan Zhou snapped out of his thoughts, the white wolf had already removed the protrusions from both sides and was now smoothing out the surface.

“You’re incredible!” Fan Zhou couldn’t help but praise.

the white wolf glanced at Fan Zhou’s bright, admiring eyes and, inexplicably, felt a bit better.

Even though he couldn’t run anymore, he could still work.

He wasn’t a useless beast.

Just as the white wolf finished grinding the stone slab, Mao Yu finished preparing the Snow Chicken and Mud Beast.

By then, the sun was setting, and Niu Shan, Niu Li, and Xiong Li had returned, carrying loads of red stone.

When they heard that Fan Zhou had rescued a crippled beastman and planned to care for him, the three didn’t fully understand but respected his decision.

After all, Fan Zhou’s reasoning was sound.

They were all starving, so Fan Zhou skipped marinating.

He washed the stone slab, removed the dust, and set it over the fire to start grilling.

Mud Beast meat was fatty, and as soon as it touched the hot stone, it began sizzling and crackling.

Fan Zhou sprinkled a pinch of salt, and a rich, mouthwatering aroma burst into the air.

Mao Yu closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

So fragrant!

“Cook your own portions—grab whatever you want from the basin.”

Fan Zhou gestured toward the wooden bowl full of meat.

Since sitting near the fire in beast form was too hot, the others shifted back to human form.

Mao Yu grabbed a few slices of meat and threw them onto the stone slab.

Niu Shan, Niu Li, and Xiong Li weren’t familiar with chopsticks, so they used their hands instead.

Feng Xun didn’t move, so Fan Zhou placed extra pieces on the slab for him.

He had found a large stone slab, so he could grill a lot of meat at once.

Feng Xun said nothing, but his dark eyes flickered between Fan Zhou’s hands and the grilling meat.

Once the meat was almost done, Fan Zhou took out the honey.

He picked up some honey with his chopsticks and brushed a generous layer onto Mao Yu’s roasted meat.

Each slice was evenly coated, making Mao Yu so excited that she bounced on the spot.

He really gave her extra honey!

Fan Zhou placed the finished meat on a large leaf and handed it to her.

“Eat up.”

Mao Yu happily accepted it and dug in.

Fan Zhou brushed the rest of the meat with honey, though he used less than Mao Yu’s portion since they were running low on honey.

Niu Shan, Niu Li, and Xiong Li thanked him cheerfully.

They didn’t even wait for Fan Zhou—they simply used chopsticks to grab the roasted meat and transferred it onto their large leaves to eat.

Feng Xun appeared somewhat reserved, so Fan Zhou placed the roasted meat on a large leaf and handed it to him. “Try it and see how it tastes.”

“Delicious!”

Mao Yu enthusiastically answered first. “This is the first time I’ve had roasted meat like this!”

Xiong Li, too busy eating to lift his head, stuffed both the meat and the leaf into his mouth. “So good!”

Feng Xun took the roasted meat, picked up a slice, and put it into his mouth.

As soon as the flavor hit his tongue, his eyes lit up. “It’s really good.”

Even better than the roasted meat he had eaten in the Holy Temple!

Fan Zhou grinned. Of course, it was delicious.

The beastmen in this world typically roasted large chunks of meat skewered on tree branches. Often, the outside would be burnt to a crisp while the inside remained raw.

But he sliced the meat thin, allowing the salt and honey to fully penetrate, enhancing the flavor.

Fan Zhou took a bite himself.

As expected, the perfect balance of sweet, salty, and savory flavors exploded in his mouth. He couldn’t help but squint in satisfaction.

This was what food was meant to be.

Finishing his slice of roasted meat, he was about to grab another when Feng Xun suddenly picked up chopsticks and, though slightly awkward, reached for more meat on the stone slab.

Feng Xun had already finished his share of honey-roasted meat.

Fan Zhou chuckled and patiently guided him on how to use chopsticks.

Beside them, Mao Yu had also finished eating and bounced over to the stone slab, eager to learn how to grill meat like Fan Zhou.

But she quickly lost patience. After several failed attempts to pick up the meat, she simply gave up and went back to grabbing it with her hands.

Xiong Li was even less patient.

After finishing his honey-roasted meat, he simply grabbed a huge chunk of raw meat, skewered it onto a tree branch, and started roasting it the old-fashioned way.

Thinly sliced meat was tasty, but too slow. If they wanted to get full, large chunks were the way to go.

Before long, Mao Yu, Niu Shan, and Niu Li all switched to roasting large cuts of meat, while Fan Zhou remained at the stone slab, grilling slowly, one slice at a time.

The sky had darkened, but the moon was bright, and a gentle breeze blew through the camp.

“Here.”

A portion of roasted meat was suddenly held up in front of him.

Fan Zhou looked up and met Lang Xun’s deep, dark eyes.

He smiled and accepted the roasted meat.

The delicious meal fueled Niu Shan and the others with energy.

Before dawn the next day, they were already back to mining more stone.

Fan Zhou left Feng Xun to watch over the camp and followed Mao Yu’s directions to find more honey.

When he returned, Feng Xun was sitting at the cave entrance, weaving rope from vines.

The amount of red stone they had dug up was quite large, and they needed a lot of rope to transport it.

Watching Feng Xun’s calm and focused expression, Fan Zhou felt a wave of satisfaction wash over him.

Everything was great.

He had gone out on a trip, and when he returned, the handsome man was still there, and the Beast Spirit Flower was safe.

He had saved the right person.

After an entire day of intensive mining, Niu Shan and the others took stock of their haul.

They realized that the amount of red stone they had collected would be enough to last the tribe until next year, so they decided it was time to return.