Chapter 435: We Don't Match

The petite shaman was somewhat dazed; the sweet mushroom flavor in her mouth was suddenly swept away, replaced by a very familiar smell of flesh and blood.

The petite shaman, who already didn't really like eating meat, instantly became angry, glaring fiercely at the beastman warrior above her head.

"I'm a shaman, shouldn't you listen to me? I don't want to eat meat, didn't you hear?"

While saying this, she hard at chewing the meat and mushroom in her mouth, her little face puffed with anger like a just-ripened mountain fruit.

The sturdy beastman warrior stretched out a big hand like a palm fan and patted the petite shaman's head: "Eating meat well lets you grow up; you're still too small, I still want to be your partner."

The petite shaman felt her anger, like a punctured balloon, instantly deflate; she... suddenly wasn't so angry.

But in its place came a deep sadness: "I also want to grow up, but I haven't eaten little meat, yet my body hasn't changed at all."

Having said that, she looked somewhat glumly at the beastman warrior's beast-skin skirt, then at herself: "We really aren't a match."

The sturdy beastman warrior gave a black-line face: "Then eat fewer mushrooms; the great shaman said you've never been able to grow up, likely because you eat too many mushrooms."

That's why you're as small as a mushroom...

But would the beastman warrior say such a thing?

Definitely not; he was just muttering to himself in his heart.

The petite shaman gave the beastman warrior a disdainful look: "Our tribe has always been like this; my father A Mu said growing up depends on the Beast God's blessing, not because I eat mushrooms."

After saying that, she bit another piece of mushroom-meat and began chewing it with gusto.

The sturdy beastman warrior glanced at her, said nothing, but during the ensuing mealtime he would from time to time tear off a piece of meat and stuff it into the petite shaman's mouth, earning her a series of angry yelps.

Meanwhile, with winter approaching, the beastman warriors and the tribespeople of the small and medium settlements sped up the construction of the city wall.

The towering wall stood as high as five beastman warriors, and due to the added iron-tree powder, the whole wall exuded a heavy bluish-gray hue.

"Beast God, is such a towering stone wall really something we built?"

The tribespeople of the small and medium settlements looked at the towering wall beside them, then at their own tools in hand, still feeling somewhat unreal.

When Wu Yue found Yuan Lang, he was bare-chested, building the upper part of the wall together with the beastman warriors.

"Yuan Lang."

The wall was too high; only with the aid of her shamanic power did Wu Yue's voice carry up to the beastman warriors sweating profusely above.

Perhaps accustomed to long hair from his previous world, Yuan Lang's head of soft white hair was tied up with a vine, letting it fall loose down his back.

Yuan Lang, who was building the wall, heard the petite female's voice; his deep eyes instantly turned toward her. The petite female wore a simple white beast-skin garment, revealing her fair, tender limbs, delicate and lively.

Yuan Lang felt his heart soften; he put down the tool in his hands and leapt straight down from the high wall.

His tall figure fell from the high wall, yet like a drifting leaf, leaving only a faint footprint.

Yuan Lang's bare chest was covered in sweat; aside from some dirt on his hands, his whole body was spotless.

"You don't have obsessive-compulsive disorder, do you?"

Wu Yue laughed, teasing the tall, handsome beastman warrior before her.

Yuan Lang chuckled lightly: "If something can be done with just the hands, why involve the whole body?"

While speaking, he walked toward the side, where a water tub for the beastman warriors to wash with was placed.

Wu Yue stepped forward, scooped out some water to give him a wash: "I have a simple loom diagram; I want to test whether the woven cloth can be used—please help me make it."

Having said that, she raised her brows at the deep-eyed beastman: "This little thing surely won't stump our... general, right?"

As the last words, she leaned close to Yuan Lang's ear, lowering her voice more than a notch.

Warm breath brushed the beastman's ear; Yuan Lang felt a tingling, looked up at the smiling petite female, and said: "Naturally."

Although called a simple loom, it was still somewhat difficult for Yuan Lang and Wu Yue, who had never operated one before.

It took a full two days to finish this simple loom.

"It looks about right; I don't know how it will work in use."

Hearing the petite female's words, Yuan Lang also felt a bit nervous.

After preparing the warp and completing a series of preparations, Wu Yue then sat somewhat nervously before this simple loom.

"Creak creak, clack..."

"Creak creak, clack..."

Such sounds repeated continuously.

Wu Yue's piece of cloth was about as wide as her own arm.

Yuan Lang was also seeing a woman use a loom to weave cloth for the first time; he stood to the side, quite curious, watching.

But as time passed, seeing the petite female's product ahead still narrower than his own little finger, he felt utterly terrible.

"I'd better go work on the wall; to weave to a noticeable level would probably take ages."

He had never realized that weaving cloth could be so time-consuming; no wonder a good bolt of fabric is so expensive.

Wu Yue lifted her head, rubbed her slightly sore neck: "Alright, go ahead and busy yourself; weaving isn't something to rush, and besides I'm not yet skilled."

Yuan Lang's distinct-knuckled large hand rested on the petite female's neck and began to knead gently: "Don't rush either; take it slow—we still have beast skins to wear."

The two chatted a while longer, during which Yuan Lang kept massaging Wu Yue.

The beastman's palm was hot; the massage felt very comfortable.

Wu Yue's cloth, woven over a whole week, yielded only a forearm-length of fabric even after that time, leaving her quite disheartened.

"It seems this cloth can only be woven slowly during idle winter times."

After covering the loom with a piece of cloth exchanged from the system shop, Wu Yue shouldered her little basket and went out.

In the tribe, everyone was busy; after the beastman warriors handed over part of their hunted game, the rest was distributed to all who participated in the hunt.

The tribe's communal food was uniformly prepared by several gathering teams of females, who made salted meat, pickled vegetables, and dried vegetables.

"Yue, you've finally come out; everyone's busy making food—what have you been doing cooped up at home?"

Qingcao, who was salting the meat, saw her little companion come out and rushed over, oily from an injury, looking as if she were doing some hand care.

Wu Yue gave a mysterious smile: "I'm making something very miraculous, but it needs a lot of time; if it's to turn out well, it probably won't be ready until winter, when I'll show you."

Qingcao's curiosity was piqued by her mysterious demeanor, and he hehe-laughed as he edged closer, saying, 'We're still keeping this relationship under wraps, huh? Anyway, I've already finished curing the game in my hands—come on, take me to see it.'

Being stared at by her bright, sparkling eyes, Wu Yue amusedly replied, 'I can't bring you to see it right now—it's not done yet, so there's nothing to see.'

Though he was curious about what new thing his little partner was up to, Wu Yue's comment still nipped Qingcao's curiosity in the bud.

'Yue, the city wall construction is now at its final stretch, and the Beastman Warriors took the opportunity to build another kiln, firing many new pottery pieces. After we finish curing the salted meat, we said we'd go together to have a look—are you coming?'

Wu Yue glanced curiously at Qingcao and asked, 'Aren't the shapes different?'

Qingcao smiled mysteriously: 'I won't tell you; you'll see when you come with us to check it out.'

Having said that, the two chatted and laughed as they walked over to the females to help cure the remaining salted meat.

Finally, only an elderly grandma was left to keep watch, while the remaining females went together to the brick-and-tile kiln to see the batch of pottery that had been fired.

This time, the one in charge of making the blanks was still Changye; seeing Wu Yue after a long absence, he was quite excited, the wrinkles on his face blooming like a chrysanthemum.

'The pottery made this time is all rather small.'

Wu Yue picked up a jar to examine; its surface was much smoother than before, but its height was only about the length of her forearm.

Changye nodded: 'A few slaves are quite skilled at making blanks for large vats and large jars, so I separated the large and small pottery blanks and had them work on those respectively.'

Wu Yue rarely gave praise to Changye's work.

Changye happily rubbed his hands beside her, his eyes growing brighter.

What amused Wu Yue was that Changye actually deliberately selected a batch of pottery with excellent appearance to leave for her.

After Qingcao and the others had finished their selection, Changye openly led the slaves, carrying the pottery specially reserved for Wu Yue, back to her home.

What Wu Yue hadn't expected was that there were people in the courtyard, and not just a few.

Wu Yue stared, bewildered, at the Snow Tiger Clan chief and several unfamiliar Beastman Warriors standing in her courtyard.

Although she had never seen them before, she could still tell from their golden hair that these people were Beastman Warriors from the Mad Lion Tribe.

Several baskets were also placed in the courtyard, emitting waves of fresh, familiar fruit fragrance.

'Yue, come take a look—this is fruit specially sent by the Mad Lion Tribe's people for you.'

Wu Yue nodded in greeting to each tall, handsome Beastman Warrior, then approached the Snow Tiger Clan chief and lowered her head to look at the basket he had uncovered.

These baskets were the same ones the Mad Lion Tribe had obtained in exchange from their tribe at the previous trade fair.

However, Wu Yue had no mind for the baskets' origins; she stared, astonished, at each pineapple inside that was as large as two Beastman palms.

'This is the golden fruit unique to the Mad Lion Tribe, bestowed by the beast god; its flesh is the same golden color as the hair of the Mad Lion Tribe's people.'

'It is the Mad Lion Tribe's most precious fruit; the Mad Lion shaman has divided some and sent the Beastman Warriors to bring it over for you to try.'

A Mad Lion Tribe Beastman Warrior stepped forward, and with a 'swish' he extended his claws; a sharp flash of light followed, and the pineapple skin was peeled off in slices.

The Beastman's eyes sparkling, he handed the pineapple to Wu Yue.

Wu Yue gave him a smiling glance: 'Thank you.'

She then took the pineapple into the kitchen, sliced it into finger-thick pieces, and placed them on a plate to serve.

The aroma of the sliced pineapple grew ever richer, making people salivate just from smelling it.

The sweet-and-sour pineapple juice flowed in her mouth, letting her enjoy it with half-closed eyes.

'This fruit is truly delicious—thanks for sharing, Mad Lion shaman.'

Wu Yue's thanks made the Mad Lion Tribe folks feel greatly pleased, their smiles growing richer.

'The shaman said the Snow Tiger Tribe has helped us a great deal; this is nothing.'

The Beastman Warrior who had just helped Wu Yue peel the pineapple laughed and said.

Seeing Wu Yue truly liked the pineapple, he couldn't help but let out a breath, thought for a moment, then continued: 'We came this time for two reasons: first, to deliver the golden fruit to the Ghost Tribe; second, we hope to exchange for some long-term preservable game from the Snow Tiger Tribe to take back.'

Before the previous migration, the Snow Tiger Tribe had the Beastman Warriors of the Flying Eagle Tribe each give some salted meat to three other tribes; to the surprise of those three tribes, while much of their food had spoiled, the meat that should have been most prone to spoilage had no off smell at all.

Finally, after research by the three tribes, they discovered that the meat appeared to have been treated with salt.

After the migration ended and they returned to their own territories, the three tribes began researching this method of preserving meat for a long time.

They wasted a lot of salt, but the meat they produced still spoiled when it was supposed to.

The people of those three tribes no longer dared to try it casually.

Now, as winter drew ever closer, the Mad Lion Tribe was the first to unable to sit still; using the gift of golden fruit as a pretext, they came to request the Snow Tiger Tribe, hoping to exchange for some meat that could be stored for a long time to take back.

Wu Yue and the Snow Tiger Clan chief exchanged a glance, feeling that sending the fruit was just a side matter, the main purpose being this.

However, Wu Yue remained silent, while the Snow Tiger Clan chief laughed and said: 'Since we never intended to trade this meat, we don't have that much prepared salted meat to exchange with you.'

The Mad Lion Tribe's Beastfolk all looked disappointed: 'We can exchange with the food we bring back from hunting.'

Food that can be stored for a long time is too important; as long as there's even a sliver of hope, they are unwilling to give up.

'You've also worked hard on the way; go back and rest first. We'll discuss with the shaman and then decide.'

After seeing off the Mad Lion Tribe's Beastman Warriors, Wu Yue looked at the Snow Tiger Clan chief and said: 'I'm afraid it's not just this one tribe.'

Snow Tiger Clan chief's mouth corner twitched: "Do you have any ideas?"

Wu Yue thought for a moment, then said: "Curing salted meat is quite a waste of salt; I believe they also have no way to need much, so we can let them hunt their own prey, then exchange salt here."

We are only responsible for helping them pickle it properly, after which they take it back to the tribe themselves to dry.