Chapter 449: It always arrives when you least expect it

And in the distant Polar Forest, when the female shaman activated the barrier, Wu Yue received Tongzi's notification.

"Dog host, didn't you give the barrier talisman to the little female shaman of the mushroom‑head tribe last time? The system just fed back that the talisman has been activated."

Wu Yue, whose body was covered in fine fluff, froze.

"Pah pah pah!"

After spitting out the hair in her mouth, she looked at Lan Pangzi, who was lying on the kang wagging his tail, and said, "Just activate it; the talisman's duration should be long enough for them to get through the danger."

"Tsk tsk tsk, you originally advised them to stay here for the winter, but the mushroom‑heads wouldn't listen, and I don't know if they'll manage to escape danger."

Wu Yue gave him an annoyed look, spat out the fluff in her mouth again, and said, "Giving them the barrier was already kind enough; the rest is up to them."

Having said that, she picked up the rather coarse garment in her hand, looked at it with satisfaction, turned her head and smiled at Tongzi, saying, "I've finished your little outfit; want to try it on?"

Although it's just a simple little vest, its appearance is at least not outrageous.

Tongzi felt happy inside; surprises always come when you least expect them.

Unable to hold back, he let out a series of excited howls, then shyly rubbed against her side and asked, "How did you think of making clothes for me?"

To be honest, although I'd been watching the dog host make things just now, I never imagined it would be for myself.

But I never expected such a surprise now.

He hehe‑laughed, lifted his two front paws, sat his fat butt on the kang, his little eyes shining as he looked at his master and said, "Help me put it on."

His little demeanor still had a touch of arrogance.

Wu Yue rolled her eyes in annoyance, but unusually said nothing, instead good‑naturedly spreading out the little vest in her hand.

The person and beast cooperated, and the not‑so‑refined little vest was slipped onto Lan Pangzi; the already lovable, simple‑minded cutie now looked even more adorable.

Wu Yue couldn't resist ruffling Tongzi's little head and said, "You look even cuter now; with this vest, I'll make you a few more pieces in the coming days, and you'll be much more comfortable this winter."

Tongzi bounced excitedly on the kang; although as a virtual system he had worn many clothes before, those clothes were virtual just like him.

But now, in his salt‑crystal beast body, this was truly the first time he'd worn clothes, and looking at the dog host who was always bickering with him, he found her pleasing to the eye.

Seeing him happy, Wu Yue's eyes flashed, and she continued sorting the fluff in the little basket, saying, "Later, tell me how it feels."

Tongzi heard her words and kept bouncing excitedly: "It's just a piece of clothing—what feeling could there be? It's not very comfortable; I might even get fatter, so you'd better make it bigger next time."

Hearing that, Wu Yue rolled her eyes in annoyance and was also speechless at her smug‑faced Tongzi.

After a moment, the bouncing Tongzi finally felt something, stuck out his little tongue and kept panting: "Dog host, I apply to take off this clothing; it's too hot."

Wu Yue put down the little basket in her hand; the outside sky had already darkened, and she carried Lan Pangzi out of the house.

"Ga ha?"

Open the door, set down Lan Pangzi, close the door.

Wu Yue's movements were smooth and uninterrupted, without a hint of hesitation.

"I've filled this garment with the down I picked out; help me test how warm it is—stay outside a while and later tell me how it feels."

Tongzi's little face stiffened; he suddenly felt that everything about him was wrong, and he stared in disbelief at his dog host.

Well, well—how could this guy suddenly be so nice to me? My feelings have been waiting here, and it turns out I was mistaken.

The temperature in the Polar Forest at night plummeted suddenly, and even a wind sprang up.

The cool little breeze blew on Tongzi's chubby little body, and—

Heh heh!

It's not cold at all!

He lifted his little paw to pick his nose, Tongzi shook his smooth fur, approached the door, skillfully hooked his claw to pull it open, then swaggered inside.

Wu Yue on the kang was still sorting the fluff she had gathered; seeing him come in, her eyes lit up: "How is it? Warm enough?"

Tongzi bounced onto the kang, raised his paw in a grand‑fatherly way, and said, "The insulation is still great; I didn't feel the slightest cold in that outside temperature just now."

Wu Yue got excited, didn't bother with Tongzi's grand‑fatherly airs, and eagerly helped him take off the little vest, placing it in his usual sleeping corner.

"This shows we need to gather the down quickly and make more clothes; even if we can't outfit everyone, at least the beast‑warriors who often go out can wear them."

Winter cold is no joke.

The next day, Wu Yue summoned Changye and some slaves to the breeding grounds to start collecting down.

Including Changye, the slaves couldn't guess why she was collecting down, but that didn't dampen their enthusiasm for work.

Out of blind worship for Lady Wu Yue, anything she ordered was of utmost importance to these slaves.

"Yue."

While collecting down, Wu Yue suddenly heard a familiar voice; turning toward the sound, she saw Yuan Lang standing outside the breeding pen, about to lift his leg to enter.

The beastman's eyes were brimming with a laugh about to burst, making Wu Yue roll her eyes in annoyance: "What's so funny? Hurry up and come help."

Feathers flew everywhere in the breeding pen, naturally making it filthy; although the slaves swept it daily, the smell remained awful.

If it were his former body, it would naturally be nothing, but the beast‑warrior's sense of smell is extremely keen; Yuan Lang had already stuffed animal hide into his nostrils when he first approached, and now his appearance looks far more ridiculous than Wu Yue's.

"Are you collecting these feathers to make some kind of head ornament?"

In his former country, noble ladies would always catch gorgeous kingfishers for their looks, pluck the prettiest feathers from their bodies, and turn them into jeweled ornaments.

Especially after these jeweled ornaments were praised by the ladies of the palace, the practice spread wildly among the populace, and in a short time the entire country's kingfishers suffered.

Although as a man he wouldn't wear such jeweled ornaments, he was well aware of the trends in the capital; the behavior of those noble ladies who considered themselves kind—who wouldn't even step on an ant—yet would kill kingfishers without a change of expression just to obtain feathers for a single ornament, was utterly contemptible.

Wu Yue glanced at him amusedly and said, "Who would have the mind to make head ornaments at a time like this?"

These downs are important; they relate to our winter warmth problem.

Having said that, she stopped the chatter and handed him the little basket: "Come on, come on, let's work, let's work."

Seeing that she didn't want to say more, Yuan Lang stopped asking and, under her guidance, began to look for the down that met the standard.

Although many people were collecting, the limited number of domesticated chickens meant only two backpack‑sized baskets of down were gathered before it ran out.

"Changye, take these bundles of down back, process them just as I said last time, and bring them to my home."

Wu Yue, her whole body covered in hair, instructed Changye beside her; she felt something tickling her nose and wanted to sneeze.

Changye bowed and said, "You can rest assured; we all remember."

Wu Yue nodded, and then she and Yuan Lang turned and left together.

"What good thing have you found again?"

Yuan Lang glanced at the little female beside him with a smile, a faint smile rippling in his eyes.

Although his face remained stern, his aura had become much more peaceful, causing passersby among the tribe to involuntarily glance sideways.

"It's not my discovery, but also thanks to the Beast God's blessing—feather down can be made into very warm clothing. However, our tribe has too few chickens, so the collected feather down is limited; I thought we should make as many sets as possible for those who need to go out on patrol."

Yuan Lang was taken aback, and in the next instant his eyes lit up: "You mean, can this feather down compare to cotton?"

After arriving in this world, Yuan Lang and his two deputy commanders devoted themselves to weapon research, yet they naturally did not give up searching for this warming plant, cotton.

But after so long, not a trace of cotton has been seen.

This can only mean that this world lacks cotton, or that the Snow Tiger Tribe's territory simply has none.

Wu Yue raised an eyebrow upon hearing this: "Clothing made from feather down is indeed warmer than cotton, but feather down is too hard to gather. If we could find cotton, that would naturally be best, but I asked the gathering team's grandmothers—they've never seen anything like cotton."

"Warmer than cotton..."

Yuan Lang's gaze toward Wu Yue shone bright, and he couldn't help but feel a surge of admiration for the little female beside him.

One always gets the feeling that the little female knows everything.

His hand moved slightly, feeling the first batch of pouches at his waist; the corner of his mouth twitched as he wondered whether the little female would like his gift.

After the two returned to Wu Yue's home and freshened up, Wu Yue reheated the food she had prepared that morning; after eating, they sat in the pavilion to digest.

Yuan Lang untied the beast-skin pouch at his waist: "This is something I only made a few days ago—give it a try."

The item inside the beast-skin pouch is a bit shorter than Wu Yue's forearm, looking quite petite.

Wu Yue's eyes lit up: "Is this a gift for me?"

Yun Lang chuckled lightly: "More or less."

It's mainly to give the little female the ability to protect herself.

Receiving gifts always makes people happy.

Wu Yue opened the beast-skin pouch with a smiling lip, and a very exquisite weapon appeared before her.

A hiss.

She couldn't help but hold it in her hand, examining it in surprise for a long while, then she looked in surprise at the calm-faced beastman warrior beside her and said, "Is this sleeve arrow your doing?"

Yuan Lang lifted the water on the table and took a sip: "How come? Don't you believe in my ability?"

Wu Yue opened her mouth, then exclaimed: "I really didn't expect that, under such conditions, you could actually finish something so exquisite."

Isn't that surprising?

Yuan Lang's low laugh sounded in the pavilion as his distinct-knuckled big hand pushed the beast-skin pouch on the stone table: "These inside are arrows I carved, made from ironwood; they're enough to deal with beastman warriors below the Gold rank."

Moreover, you can poison the arrows.

Poisoning...

Wu Yue's eyes lit up: "In this world, only poison shamans are skilled with poison; other shamans may dabble a little, but they don't know much."

But for her, it's not difficult; with the system's aid, finding some potent toxins is still possible.

Wu Yue smiled narrowly as she fitted the sleeve arrow, snug against her arm and secure, also very effective.

Yuan Lang handed her an arrow: "Try it."

Step by step, he taught her how to install it; then a tearing-through-air sound rang out, and the next second the arrow had already pierced the door and shot into the ground.

The powerful force caused the arrow's tail to still tremble slightly; this power made Wu Yue involuntarily suck in a cold breath: "This... this is too powerful, isn't it?"

The door was shot through, and even the portion sunk into the ground amounted to two-thirds of the arrow's length.

"This is a new arrow I designed in the camp before I came to this world; if it were made into a bolt for a crossbow, its power would be even greater—I just never got the chance to use it."

Yuan Lang gave a light sigh.

Wu Yue looked at him: "The past is past; for now, let's just look at what's before us."

Gazing at the little female's brilliant eyes, Yuan Lang's lip curled into a slightly deeper smile: "I'll handle the weapons; as for the rest, please trouble Shaman Yue to put in extra effort."

Seeing him like that, Wu Yue chuckled: "I, too, need to eat, drink, and wear clothes."

When Changye and the others delivered the feather down, it was already afternoon; although not very white in color, it was clean thanks to the slaves' cleaning, carrying a very fresh and pleasant smell.

Wu Yue took out the previously prepared thin beast hide: "This is the beast hide we obtained in trade at the last exchange; it's relatively thin, and when we lacked enough cloth, this hide was the best to use."

Yuan Lang's face was a bit stiff; he knew nothing about such needlework, so he could only stare blankly.

Amused by his appearance, Wu Yue didn't let him off, occasionally having him tug and pull the beast hide or arrange the feather down; seeing the usually formidable beastman now flustered, she felt wonderful.

As for the little female's mischievous taste, Yuan Lang naturally didn't know; although he later faintly sensed it, once he learned that this garment called feather-down clothing was made for him, that little bit of hesitation amounted to nothing, and he simply grinned widely.

The feather-down clothing that looked substantial had none of the heaviness of cotton clothing; lifted in hand, it felt almost weightless, making Yuan Lang doubtful about its warming effect.

Look at your doubtful little eyes—just put it on and try it, then you'll know.

Wu Yue said while spreading open the clothing to gesture for the beastman to put it on.

After Yuan Lang awkwardly put it on, the next moment he was pushed out of the house: "Go outside and feel it properly—just don't get it dirty, since later I still need to take it to show the shaman and the chieftain."