Chapter 304: Teaching Others to Fish

"Axiang! Axiang!"

"Hm?"

Axiang turned her head and saw Azhi sitting beside her; a smile involuntarily appeared on her face. "What's up, Azhi, did you call me?"

"I've called you several times. What are you thinking?"

Azhi glanced toward Yun Li as she spoke, "And what did you just say to A Li? She seemed a bit upset."

Axiang's eyelashes fluttered lightly, and she kept a harmless expression on her face. "I didn't say much, just asked A Li if there were any males in the Tribe. It would be nice if she could stay in the Tribe."

It would be great if she also had A Li's strength.

But she could only keep that thought to herself, because she knew that if she spoke it, the surrounding beastfolk would doubt and not understand her.

So she envied Yun Li, envied that she could go out freely even in the cold season, envied that she could always bring the game she hunted herself and toss it before all the beastfolk; even though other females cast strange looks, she could still hold herself upright and calmly deal with their misunderstandings.

Recalling the completely different attitudes people showed toward Bai Lian and toward A Li, Axiang felt a surge of impulse: perhaps only by becoming as powerful as A Li could she live as freely as she does.

No one knew the ambition rising in Axiang's heart. After a continuous drizzle that lasted more than half a month, on the day the first clear sky of this year's tide season finally arrived, Yun Li received news from Anzhi that a nomadic Tribe was about to reach here.

After all, he was the only important figure in this Tribe who could access outside information; every year Anzhi and his group would watch the weather and calculate the day the others would arrive, then send people to monitor the direction from which the nomadic Tribe came.

This time was no exception; Anzhi received news that a well‑dressed beastfolk had come to ask whether this year's trade could continue.

"When I take people over to trade with them, you come with us."

"Alright!" Yun Li replied.

After Anzhi finished his instructions, the person quickly left the skin tent.

By now Yun Li no longer lived in the same skin tent as Anzhi. Even though most beastfolk in the Tribe knew Yun Li would eventually leave and not stay long, she was still a female, and living with a single male for a long time would inevitably invite gossip.

Therefore Yun Li now lives with an old female in the Tribe who receives little care from the beastfolk; the living conditions are harsh, the skin tent is tattered, and the beast hides are very worn.

Yet Yun Li harbored little complaint. Even though she taught them how to make bows and some trap methods, the Tribe had once saved her life; as long as they didn't do any real harm to her, the treatment was only slightly poor, and with her own abilities improving her living conditions in this Tribe was not a difficult task.

"A Li"

Only a short while after Anzhi left, a female squeezed into the skin tent from outside.

It was Axiang; Yun Li looked at her tense face, frowned slightly, and asked, "Is something wrong?"

"Are you leaving?"

Axiang clutched her hem, and the sorrow in her eyes toward Yun Li was inscrutable. "You said you'd leave the Tribe before, but you never did; I thought you were staying."

However, after Yun Li stayed longer, Axiang realized that merely possessing great strength still couldn't change everyone's disdain toward her desire to cultivate diligently.

They all said A Li only cared about cultivation, which led to her current situation; if she hadn't gone hunting, she wouldn't have met accidents and become separated from her family, and even if a female cultivates she can't bring any benefit to the household, possibly causing many troubles…

These words were undoubtedly a cruel blow to Axiang, who had always longed for Yun Li's strength.

Therefore, regardless of anything, she wanted to come find Yun Li to talk.

"No, I'm just waiting for the nomadic Tribe that comes here each year."

Yun Li said so, and let her find a place to sit, while she began packing the things she could take.

The warm, form‑fitting beast‑hide coat she wore when she first arrived was naturally taken with her; although it seemed torn in places after the cliff jump, it still fit.

Then there were the beast hides she had exchanged for game these days, the beast‑hide boots made by the troublesome beastfolk of the Tribe, as well as bows, Bone Knives, and so on.

Only after she had almost finished packing did she notice Axiang still sitting there silently.

Yun Li asked oddly, "Axiang, are you okay?"

If she were fine, why would she show such a painful expression?

Axiang didn't know how to speak; she clearly had many questions for Yun Li, but when the words reached her mouth, she didn't know how to say them.

"Did you run into some difficulty?"

Considering how Axiang had always looked after her in the Tribe, Yun Li was still willing to help solve some of her troubles.

But Axiang remained silent for a long time, so long that Yun Li grew a bit impatient and asked again; only then did she speak a single sentence.

"A Li, do you ever feel that your diligent cultivation is a mistake?"

A confused expression flashed on Yun Li's face. "What are you saying?"

"Don't you know what the other females say about you behind your back?"

Axiang's voice suddenly lowered, but Yun Li's hearing was good and she heard clearly the words Axiang repeated from the females.

"So, what of it?"

Yun Li waited for her to finish the resentful or jealous remarks, then, sitting not far away with one hand propping her chin, retorted, "Even if they say that, don't they still watch me go hunting every day, see me trade the game I catch with other beastfolk for what I want?"

As long as I think I'm fine this way, does what they say matter?"

She wondered what she had thought it was.

It turned out to be that; a faint smile flashed in Yun Li's mind, but it was quickly replaced by doubt—does she really care so much about what those females say behind her back?

"Axiang, do you want to cultivate?"

Yun Li had previously known that Axiang envied her Green Rank strength, but hadn't realized Axiang also wanted to cultivate.

Because this Tribe truly lacks resources, or rather, to ensure the females can stay in the Tribe, the males deliberately avoid letting females cultivate, so that after cultivation they can leave without needing the Tribe's protection.

It's like in a past life, some poor mountain‑area girls were prevented from studying too much, because if they did, they could never stay peacefully in the mountains; the locals deliberately stopped girls from studying to avoid hindering the village boys' succession.

Hearing this, Axiang suddenly looked up at Yun Li, her eyes full of hope and yearning.

"Can I still cultivate?"

She was already an adult—could she still cultivate?

Beastfolk who cared for their own female cubs would, when they were young, soak them in precious ferocious‑beast blood so they could cultivate and strengthen themselves.

But she herself, being already healthy, missed out on that opportunity.

"Of course, but I can only tell you the method; the rest depends on whether you want to do it, that's up to you."

Yun Li wouldn't rashly interfere in others' affairs; even though she wanted to help Axiang, she was about to leave and couldn't protect her, so she could only teach her how to get her family to consent to her cultivation.

But teaching is one thing; whether she will actually do it and do it well depends on how firmly Axiang's resolve to become stronger is.