The wind was strong on the back mountain, and half the water in the salt fields had already evaporated.

A layer of white crystals floated on the surface of the water; this salt contained few impurities and was safe to eat.

The salt in the middle and bottom layers hadn’t crystallized yet; once dry, it would be mixed with dirt and dust, making it suitable only for feeding livestock. Dark clouds hung overhead like a canopy, and the wind carried a heavy mist.

Xu Shuangci could only gather a small amount of salt before immediately heading down the mountain.

The pile of firewood by the small hill hadn’t been covered yet; once wet, it wouldn’t burn well. He had planned to cover it before the rain started. But halfway down the mountain, thunder roared.

The heavens and earth roared in unison.

Xu Shuangci’s mind went blank, and his heart skipped a beat.

He paused for a moment, hoping for a break in the weather, then hurried down the mountain. Halfway down, a torrential downpour began.

Caught off guard, Xu Shuangci was drenched from head to toe in an instant, turning him into a soaking wet mess.

With no caves nearby, he had no choice but to find a stick to lean on as he made his way down.

The torrential rain caused fog to rise in the woods, and it grew dark inside.

As Xu Shuangci felt his way along the path he had taken up, the ground beneath his feet suddenly gave way, and he took a tumble.

He scrambled to his feet, brushed the dirt from his hands, and thought with a wry sense of humor: Just to get some salt, he’d already gone through quite a few trials. A white figure in the woods suddenly drew near.

Xu Shuangci wiped the rain from his face and squinted.

“Qing.”

Qing closed in on Xu Shuangci, hooking him with his tail and flinging him onto his back.

“Hold on tight.”

Xu Shuangci buried his head in its wet fur and clung tightly to its neck.

The wind and rain howled past his ears, and in what felt like just a few breaths, he was back in the cave.

Soaked to the bone, Xu Shuangci sat by the fire. Not wanting to get sick again, he shivered and quickly stripped off the wet animal hide. The next moment, a dry hide was draped over him from behind.

Xu Shuangci clutched the pelt tightly and turned to hear the big cat sneeze.

“Qing?”

“I’m fine.”

Qing shook the water from his fur and sat down beside Xu Shuangci to warm himself by the fire. Once the fur on his belly was dry, he pulled Xu Shuangci close and tucked him into his fur. The animal skin was loose, and Xu Shuangci couldn’t hold on at first, exposing a large patch of his shoulders and chest.

His skin, unaccustomed to the sun, glowed with a pale radiance.

Qing was momentarily dazzled by the sight. He lowered his head and licked Xu Shuangci’s shoulder, then licked from the back of his neck up to his still-damp hair.

“It tickles…” Xu Shuangci shivered slightly and smiled as he burrowed deeper into Qing’s fur.

“You can’t get sick.” Qing lifted the animal hide and used the fire to warm his hair.

Xu Shuangci sounded a bit unsure as he whispered, “I was only in the rain for a little while. I should be fine.” 

Qing: “You were only in the bath for a little while, too.”

Xu Shuangci fell silent. He was in the wrong on this one.

The thunder roared as if mountains and seas were collapsing. The gale raged, tearing at the towering trees and causing them to sway from side to side, emitting creaking sounds as they struggled under the strain. Xu Shuangci huddled inside his warm woolen coat, listening to the clap of thunder and the howling wind, and once again felt the terror of this place.

He tilted his head back; strands of hair that had been obscuring his eyes fell along his cheeks to rest by his ears, revealing a smooth forehead and a face that was still rather gaunt.

“Is the rain always like this here?”

Qing pressed his nose against his forehead, sensing it for a moment before replying:

“Not very often.”

“It hasn’t rained in a long time, so this downpour is intense.”

Xu Shuangci was held fast by those large paws, as if bound by a cocoon.

He struggled to shift upward slightly, resting his head on Qing’s front leg. Then, turning sideways, he pulled his hand back to rest against Qing’s chest and placed his foot on his abdomen. He let out a sigh, the corners of his eyes flushed crimson from the heat.

“Will the water rise here?” 

“It will.”

Xu Shuangci had only asked casually, but Qing’s answer sent a shiver down his spine.

“How high will it rise?” 

“To the entrance.”

“Then won’t the cave be flooded too?”

Qing stared at the crimson mark at the corner of his eye and licked it again. It turned even redder.

“Not inside the cave.”

“Then how will we get out when the time comes?”

Xu Shuangci’s eyes were filled with worry.

It was as if, once the water came, they wouldn’t survive.

Qing tucked his head into the fur and lazily lifted his tail.

“We’re moving the den.”

“Move the den?” Xu Shuangci’s muffled voice came from beneath the fur. “When will we move? And where to?” 

“When the weather warms up, we’ll move to the center of the territory.”

Xu Shuangci was dazed. He slowly pulled the fur he’d swallowed while speaking back out of his mouth. He’d thought that once they settled in this cave, things would stay the same forever.

With great effort, Xu Shuangci propped his chin on his paw, pushing the fur aside to ask, “How long will this rain last?”

“Five or six days.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Qing felt the body in his arms—which had just gone rigid—go limp. He loosened his grip slightly and looked down at Xu Shuangci through the gap. He looked like grass hit by frost, wilted.

Qing said, “We have enough food.”

Xu Shuangci: “It’s not about the food.”

“We won’t be able to make the clay pots for the Cat Tribe, and I was hoping to get the seeds sooner.”

“There’s no rush.” Qing soothed him by gently covering his head with a large paw, his eyes already half-closed. “Getting well is what matters most.”

Xu Shuangci thought of how hard Qing had worked to find a Priest for him and nodded. “I know.” Xu Shuangci wanted to say something else, but felt the paw resting on the back of his head slide down. He looked up.

Qing had already fallen asleep.

His massive, furry head rested on the animal hide; some of the fur was still damp and matted together. Those beautiful ice-blue eyes were hidden as well. Qing was exhausted.

In all the time they’d spent together, this was the first time Xu Shuangci had seen him so exhausted. Xu Shuangci pressed his lips together.

Qing’s protection of him was unambiguous.

Come to think of it, aside from when he was sick, there wasn’t a single thing Qing hadn’t indulged him in. Even when he touched things he shouldn’t have, hadn’t Qing only gotten annoyed after he’d already done it?

What on earth was he not satisfied with?

Besides, Qing even wanted him to be his partner.

Although a human-beast relationship was impossible, his feelings were genuine. He might as well stay as long as he could; who knew what the future held? Once Xu Shuangci came to this realization, his mind cleared instantly. The last bit of pent-up frustration in his chest dissipated completely.

He curled up against Qing’s chest. As he thought, drowsiness overcame him, so he simply leaned against his chair and caught up on some sleep. When he woke, the rain was still falling.

Outside, it was still dim, looking much like dusk.

It was only midday, but Xu Shuangci remembered that Qing hadn’t eaten anything that morning, so he got up and decided to simmer a large pot of meat broth in a clay pot. He packed the pot full of meat and added some sweet root, so it wasn’t too rich.

While the pot simmered, Xu Shuangci walked back to Qing’s side.

He reached out and stroked Qing’s back fur, then ran his fingers through the undercoat—it was already dry. Even with all this, Qing didn’t wake up.

Xu Shuangci recalled the sneeze Qing had let out earlier and pulled an animal hide over him to cover him up. After getting caught in the rain, it was inevitable that his body had caught a chill.

Xu Shuangci went to the neighboring cave to gather some medicinal herbs he’d collected earlier and placed them in another small pot to simmer.

Two hours later, the meat broth in the pot was ready.

Seeing that Qing was still asleep, Xu Shuangci ate a little himself to stave off hunger.

After a long while, the temperature of the stew gradually cooled down. Xu Shuangci crouched down, gently took hold of Qing’s ear, and rubbed it.

“Dinner’s ready.”

Qing’s tail twitched slightly, and Xu Shuangci knew he was awake.

He was about to step back, but Qing wrapped his tail around him, pulling him right into the fur.

“Qing?” Xu Shuangci’s face was covered in fur.

Qing wrapped his arms around Xu Shuangci, closed his eyes, and drifted back into a comfortable sleep. Rainy nights are the best for sleeping.

But Xu Shuangci had just woken up.

He opened his eyes to look at the long fur before him, reached out to touch it, and ended up pulling out a few strands. Cats really do shed.

Xu Shuangci quietly plucked a small tuft and gave it a gentle tug. He pulled out more than half of it.

He rubbed the white fluff between his fingers, shaping it into a small ball. Finding it too small, he quietly plucked more fur from Qing’s body. Soon, the fur ball in his hand grew larger and larger, rivaling the size of a ping-pong ball.

Xu Shuangci looked around, reached out to grab a bone needle from a nearby basket, and began piercing the fur ball with it. After comparing the size of Qing’s paw pad to the fur ball, he added more fur.

Half an afternoon passed, and the fur ball had grown to the size of half a cantaloupe.

Xu Shuangci gently lifted the large cat’s paw pad and placed the ball between his two paws. Then he stepped back from in front of him. Just as he was halfway back, a faint crackling sound reached his ears.

Xu Shuangci froze.

After a moment, there were two more in quick succession.

Qing’s ears twitched. “Eggs,” he said to Xu Shuangci, who was still frozen in place. “They’ve hatched?!” Xu Shuangci scrambled to his feet.

He lifted the animal hide by the fire and saw that the two eggs on the edge had already cracked open. Through one of them, he could see the sharp beak of the little creature inside. It looked like a chicken’s beak.

The sound of the eggshell cracking grew louder. Xu Shuangci simply sat down and kept watch. Qing brushed aside the fur ball his paw was resting on, rested his chin on it, and looked at Xu Shuangci. The sub-beastman pulled at his fur. He’d always known that.

He was going to shed anyway, so it didn’t matter if some fur was pulled out. Besides, sub-beastmen liked to use their partners’ fur to make nests, clothes, and fur balls for their young… Since the sub-beastman was Xu Shuangci, Qing was happy to oblige.

There were only six red feather beast eggs left, and in the course of an afternoon, two had hatched.

Their damp fur dried over the fire, turning a soft, fluffy pale yellow. Aside from being a bit smaller, what else could they be but chicks? Xu Shuangci lined a wicker basket with a discarded animal pelt and placed the chicks inside.

“What do they eat?” 

“Bugs.”

“Then I’ll go out and dig some up.” Passing by Qing, Xu Shuangci rubbed his ears. “You’d better get up and eat. And take that medicine while you’re at it.”

Xu Shuangci stoked the fire under the pot. he just needed to melt the congealed fat so Qing could eat. Qing watched the sub-beastman’s retreating figure, rolled over, and wrapped his paws around the fur ball, kicking hard with his hind legs. In an instant, white fur flew everywhere.

Before Xu Shuangci returned, Qing had already pressed the tattered fur ball back into the pad of his paw. He sneezed, then rose to his feet, wagging his tail lazily. He filled his belly and drank the bitter medicine.

Xu Shuangci returned.

He fed the red feather beast first, then washed his hands and cleaned up Qing’s dishes. After checking on the chicks and letting his food settle, it was time to sleep again.

But all night long, a faint sound of pecking at the shell could be heard in the cave.

Xu Shuangci got up from time to time to check on them, but eventually, Qing, growing impatient, pinned him down under the animal skins. Xu Shuangci, helpless, nuzzled his ear against Qing’s body.

“I just can’t stand it.”

“I don’t know when my ears got so sharp—I can hear the slightest sound.”

A flicker of confusion crossed Qing’s softly glowing eyes.

“You couldn’t hear it before?”

Xu Shuangci: “The egg is so far away from us, and there’s the sound of rain outside. No matter how good my hearing is, I’m still only human.” At first, he’d been fascinated by the sound of the red feather beast hatching, but now he found it a bit too noisy.

But Qing noticed the person he was referring to.

A person? A beastman…

Isn’t that the same thing?