Chapter 44: No Need to Climb Trees to Gather Fruit

A Mu was a bit worried, after all she feared Nan Qinghuan would run away; the last time she ran off, Ying got very angry, so this time if—… "A Mu, don't worry, I won't run off. I just want to help everyone. I have a method to let everyone pick more fruit, and I also have a method so that everyone won't have to eat fruit in the future; we'll eat five‑grain cereals."

"Five‑grain cereals?"

A Mu looked at her in astonishment, "Have you eaten them?"

Seeing that A Mu actually knew about five‑grain cereals, Nan Qinghuan was very surprised, "A Mu knows?"

Thus, after the Old Clan Leader's corpse was burned to ash, Nan Qinghuan had people stay behind to collect the bones, while she herself went with A Mu and the other women to pick fruit.

After they left, Aning saw Nan Qinghuan leading people to pick fruit, "Shamaness, that female went to pick fruit."

A Yue's Ritual ceremony also ended; she held the Bronze Drum and looked at their departing backs, "Pick fruit? With her clumsy look, if she falls from the tree, her bottom will blossom, she'll fall into a mess—do you think Ying would still like her?"

"Shamaness…"

At noon, the sun blazed.

The weather must have been August, crisp autumn air, and the jungle fruits were all ripe; the fully ripe wild fruits hung golden on the treetops, very enticing.

"Qinghuan, where did you find this place with so many fruits?"

A Mu led a group of women, very happy; with so many fruits, how long will they have to eat? Nan Qinghuan felt a bit embarrassed; she had passed this spot when she fled last time and stumbled upon it by chance. These wild fruits were small apples, extremely tasty.

"I discovered it unintentionally, A Mu, do you have anything to store them in?"

"We have baskets."

Fortunately, she saw bamboo baskets here; one must admit the primitives have decent craftsmanship, some of the bamboo baskets used within the tribe were woven by them.

"Not bad, we'll use this."

"Then we climb the trees."

After speaking, the women were about to climb the trees, but Nan Qinghuan quickly shook her head, "Ah, no need to climb, I have a method to harvest quickly."

"Oumu, what method do you have?"

She found a bamboo pole and quickly tied a hook onto it; the hook was taken from a rescue rope, perfect for hooking tree branches to pick fruit.

"Watch, I'll hook the branches and you can pick."

Sure enough, under her new method, the women really didn't need to climb; the hook could snag the branches and pull the fruit down, allowing the women to harvest from the ground.

"So convenient, Oumu, you truly are a Goddess."

Originally the women would need half a day to fill the baskets, but today they filled them so fast they couldn't hold more; Axi hurried forward, "We can't pick more, there's too much; if we take it back and don't finish eating, it will spoil."

Everyone was delighted yet reluctant to part with so many fruits, but Axi was right, "We'll come back in a few days; these fruits will rot if we leave them."

"Qinghuan, do you have a way to protect these fruits?"

A Mu seemed to know Nan Qinghuan wasn't an ordinary tribe member; she knew about five‑grain cereals, so she must also know how to protect these fruits.

Nan Qinghuan smiled, seeing so many fruits, "A Mu, we can turn the fruits into fruit jam to eat, and also into fruit wine, so we won't fear them rotting, but…"

"Fruit jam? Wine?"

Naturally the others didn't know what fruit jam was; they knew about wine, but wasn't that wine unique to the Na Shan Tribe? How could Qinghuan know? Seeing their confusion, Nan Qinghuan hurried, "Alright, I'll go back later and teach you how to make it; these fruits can all be taken away."

"Qinghuan, you're really impressive, so we…"

"Ah, a beast!"

Suddenly, a woman sprinted toward them; soon the crowd was terrified, seeing a beast walking toward them step by step. Axi was so frightened she almost cried, "It's Babu; that Babu recently ate Xiao Ya's A Mu, and it's back. What do we do? We'll be eaten."

They are all females, there isn't a single male; now encountering a man‑eating Babu, they're doomed!

A Mu, being the oldest woman, calmly took out the Wooden Stick in her hand, "Everyone pick up the sticks, don't be afraid."

"Woo…"

The beast, seeing so much food, let out a joyous sky‑high howl, drooling even more.

Nan Qinghuan didn't know what to call the beast, but hearing the women say it had eaten people, if it had eaten people it couldn't be kept.

The beast looked like a felid, apparently already adult, massive in size, mouth gaping with snarling teeth, seeming to have been hungry for a long time.

Like a leopard and like a tiger, this was a creature she had never seen before.

"Qinghuan, you lead them away quickly; A Mu will cover you, hurry back to the tribe to find a male."

"A Mu, I won't leave you, don't be afraid, let me go."

"Qinghuan"

Nan Qinghuan drew the gleaming Fruit Knife from her waist; fortunately it could be carried at hand. She stared cautiously at the beast, "Beast, move, or don't blame me for killing you."

"Woo…"

Suddenly, the beast let out a wailing whine toward the sky, waved its claws and lunged ferociously at Nan Qinghuan's spot, "Qinghuan…"

"Wooo—…"

In an instant, Nan Qinghuan leapt, evading the beast's attack; the beast missed, rolled a circle on the ground, then instantly lunged at her again.

"Qinghuan, be careful"

"I'll kill you"

In a flash, she rolled, about to attack the beast, when suddenly… a swift figure darted in and grabbed her, "Huaner…"

"Ying?"

She felt joy inside; he had returned? "It's Ying."

Ying was back, the women cheered wildly, "Great, Ying is back!"

"Ying, quickly cooperate with me to kill it."

Ying was startled by the murderous intent in her eyes; his deep blue pupils shone astonishingly.

"Ying, be careful"

The beast, seeing two people attack it, eyes blood‑red, went berserk and lunged at Ying; Ying sprang up, delivered a sudden kick that sent the beast flying, and with a bang a wretched howl echoed through the mountains.

"Ying, awesome!"

The women, seeing the beast kicked to the ground by Ying, were overjoyed; the beast kept spouting bright red blood, screeching on the ground, and Nan Qinghuan, seizing the moment, rushed to attack the beast.

"Huaner, be careful!"

Ying tried to grab her, but unexpectedly, Nan Qinghuan was wholeheartedly determined to kill this beast. Seeing danger, the beast lunged at her. She spun her body, performed a midair roll, and fiercely plunged her blade into the beast's neck!

"Uuu…"

In an instant, the beast's throat was pierced and it struggled ceaselessly. Fresh blood sprayed from the wound, splattering some bloodstains onto Nan Qinghuan's face.

The sight of Nan Qinghuan killing the beast barehanded stunned everyone. Axi never expected that someone who looked so delicate could kill a beast like a mighty warrior.

"Sister Qinghuan…"