Chapter 301: Making a Deal

Counting the days on her fingers was hard at first, but after Yun Li truly got used to this life, the cold season passed quickly.

When the wet season first arrived, the snow covering the grass had mostly melted, yet the wind was still very cold.

Yun Li braved the cold wind and, early in the morning, she alone brought back from the forest two lean, bone‑heavy fur‑eyed beasts.

Just as she returned to the Tribe, she ran into a group of young, energetic females whose faces were flushed, gathered together saying something she couldn't make out.

When they saw A Li returning with prey, the females swarmed around her in an instant.

"A Li, you're amazing! You brought back prey so quickly!"

"Yeah, yeah! Now we finally have a hot meal."

While saying this, a female had already called over a few nearby males, "This was brought by A Li for us females; you mustn't steal it when it's ready."

The males glanced at Yun Li, then laughed and took the prey to the riverbank.

Then a group of females gathered around Yun Li, and Azhi—who was closest to Axiang and the first female Axiang introduced to Yun Li after the cold season—looked at Yun Li and asked:

"Are you really leaving in a few days? Can't you stay in the Tribe?"

Yun Li looked at Azhi, smiled and shook her head; she had discovered something interesting in the past few days.

Clearly Axiang and the Witch Doctor both said they looked good, and even after the cold season ended, many females were dazzled by her, yet the males in the Tribe always regarded her with avoidance and kept their distance, and few males even initiated conversation with her.

If they treated her like ordinary people treat beauties or handsome men—thinking that approaching would only lead to rejection—they wouldn't dare speak up, but clearly those males didn't treat Yun Li that way.

They regarded Yun Li like a hot potato, as if anyone who touched her would bring trouble they couldn't solve.

Therefore Yun Li couldn't help but become more curious about the things Anzhi and the others kept hidden, yet outwardly she showed no abnormal behavior.

Even when she didn't understand certain practices in the Tribe, she would only ask the Witch Doctor and Anzhi, the two beasts who could make decisions in the Tribe.

Upon hearing that Yun Li couldn't stay, the females all showed disappointment.

One female couldn't help but complain, "The Tribe hasn't had a new female in ages; we finally got one, and now she's leaving. What's wrong with our Tribe?"

As she spoke, she seemed to realize something and glanced quickly at Yun Li.

"A Li, I'm not talking about you."

She knew A Li had her own Tribe, so after the cold season she would leave to find her own Tribe.

Yun Li smiled, "It's fine, I understand what you mean. But isn't it also good that the Tribe doesn't get new females, at least there aren't so many problems?"

Another female asked curiously, "Isn't a new female a good thing? The Tribe's females have always been fewer than the males; if we get a new female, won't there be more offspring next year?"

"Having offspring also means you have to support them. I have my own offspring; if it weren't for my many Beast Husbands, I would have barely been able to raise them."

Regarding Yun Li's words, several females who already had offspring chimed in, "Indeed, raising young is hard; a slight neglect and they die, I hardly dare to manage them much."

"The best solution is to have more births; with more, you'll eventually raise a few successfully."

Hearing that, Yun Li felt a sudden shock in her heart.

Her belief has always been to raise offspring well once they're born, never expecting to hear such seemingly irresponsible remarks.

But she wasn't a beast of this Tribe, nor did she plan to stay long, so merely hearing the words was enough; could she really, in the few days before leaving, change their mindset?

…

While Yun Li was talking with the females, the beasts over there had already built a huge bonfire and set up a Stone Pot.

Soon, a beast called the females, including Yun Li, to come drink soup.

Because such communal meals usually wait for the Patrol Team beasts to return from hunting before the feast officially begins, and before the Patrol Team returns, either people make their own food or the Tribe, to be considerate of the generally frail females and the offspring, brews soup for them to sip and warm themselves.

Yun Li and Azhi were each given a bowl of meat soup; after two sips, Yun Li found it bland and overly greasy, so she set it aside.

Azhi and the other females glanced at her stone bowl with half‑hearted looks, and Yun Li said, "If you want to drink it, just take it over and have it."

She also knew that the Tribe's females were treated as cherished by the males, but in reality their lives were just like that.

Just like the Flat Mountain Tribe she had first arrived at in this world, the Tribe's females were primarily responsible for bearing and raising offspring; even if they could cultivate, the males deliberately kept them confined in the Tribe under the pretense of love, to ensure the number of females wouldn't decline.

Daily comings and goings were further controlled by the Tribe's Patrol Team.

What made it worse was that not a single beast thought this was wrong.

Even the cultivated females, though they envied Yun Li's strength, were comfortable with the status quo.

This situation truly left Yun Li at a loss for words.

Upon hearing Yun Li, Azhi and the others exchanged glances, smiled, thanked her, and shared her bowl of meat soup.

Later, whenever a beast tried to refill Yun Li's soup, those bowls still ended up in Azhi and the others' stomachs.

Until the Patrol Team beasts returned with their catch, the entire Tribe suddenly erupted into a blaze of activity.

Even when a light drizzle began in the afternoon, it couldn't stop the females and their Beast Husbands from laughing and shouting joyfully.

That night, because Axiang and her males formally formed a Mate Bond today, her skin tent truly could not accommodate an outsider like Yun Li.

So Anzhi temporarily let her stay in his own skin tent.

Single males usually are very averse to a female like Yun Li, who they don't like, moving in, but Anzhi clearly had no such reservations.

Even his letting Yun Li stay in his skin tent served his own purpose.

"You previously said you aren't from a great Tribe's beasts?"

Anzhi sat at the tent entrance; although he let Yun Li in, he clearly kept a deliberate distance from her.

"Hmm!"

Yun Li didn't know why he brought up the matter.

"Then, is this also your first time leaving your Tribe?"

Seeing him ask such a pointless question again, Yun Li grew a bit impatient, "What exactly are you trying to say?"

"Nothing much, I just want to make a deal with you."

Anzhi, who had kept his head bowed since she entered, finally lifted it now; looking at the sleepless female inside his skin tent, he said:

"I don't know where the Heiyan Shanmai you mentioned is, but I think that place isn't any we know. So you need someone to help you."