Chapter 5: Officially Forming a Mate Bond with Mu Qing

"A Li, do you want to officially form a Mate Bond with me tonight?"

Mu Qing hadn't expected Yun Li to be so eager; he had thought that even if Yun Li were willing to form a Mate Bond with him, she would wait a while before doing so, so he hadn't prepared the things needed for a Mate Bond at all.

"What, you don't want to?"

Yun Li was actually just looking for a reason to drive people away; after all, there are so many beastfolk here and it's really noisy.

But… when she saw the hesitant expression on Mu Qing's face, she instantly wondered whether he was going to regret it.

Yun Li, although she knew from the Original Owner's memories that the Tribe's males favored females, was not a native here, and on top of that the Original Owner, clearly a female, had lived such a miserable life.

Yun Li inevitably began to question the Original Owner's notion that "females are very precious."

Thus, regarding Mu Qing as a long‑term source of support, she felt she could only safely hold him in her grasp through the world's legitimate means before feeling at ease.

Regarding the lack of any feeling between them, once the survival problem is solved, she'll finally have the qualification to talk about love or not, won't she?

"No."

Seeing the male say that, Yun Li subconsciously let out a sigh of relief.

"It's just that I haven't gotten the things needed for the Mate Bond from the Witch Doctor yet; if we officially form a Mate Bond tonight, I'll go to the Witch Doctor this afternoon to ask."

After speaking, Mu Qing's gaze lingered a bit longer on Yun Li's face, seeing that besides confusion, there was no sign of rejection or dislike on the female's face.

He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, immediately followed by a wave of nervousness.

After all, caring for females he had been exposed to since childhood; without other beastfolk teaching him, he could rely on his past experience to take good care of A Li, but for other matters, Mu Qing thought he would need to go to several places in the afternoon.

Yun Li didn't find in the Original Owner's memories any mention of what else needed to be taken from the Witch Doctor for a Mate Bond, assuming it must be something the males had to prepare, so she hummed and said, "I'll go back to sleep for a while."

And the matters of the night would be dealt with at night.

That night, Yun Li watched Mu Qing, who entered wearing only a beast‑skin skirt; her gaze unintentionally fell first on the two points on the male's chest, then on his eight‑pack of abdominal muscles.

"Aren't you coming over?"

She asked that with her mouth, but the person had already stepped forward, reaching out to touch.

The male's skin was a healthy wheat color, as if tanned from long exposure to the sun; under her touch, she could feel the muscles beneath her fingertips tightening bit by bit.

She didn't know if it was an illusion brought on by the current atmosphere, but Yun Li constantly felt a secret excitement bubbling up in her heart.

Her hand moved from the male's pectoral muscles to the clearly defined abdominal muscles, then to the V‑line; the V‑line was drawn together and hidden beneath the beast‑skin skirt…

Mu Qing was a head taller than her; seeing the female's hand pull down his beast‑skin skirt, his gaze remained fixed on what lay beneath.

His heart felt scorching hot, his throat moved quickly, and with one hand he pulled her into his arms, bowing his head and, with great reverence yet restraint, kissed the female's hair and forehead.

When Yun Li recovered, she lifted her head, stood on tiptoe, wrapped both hands around the male's neck, and what followed proceeded smoothly.

Only that Yun Li suffered a bit that night; in matters like this she was just a rookie who had eaten pork but never seen a pig run—touching and kissing were as far as she could go in terms of lewdness, and everything after that depended entirely on Mu Qing.

The next morning upon waking, Yun Li found that Mu Qing, who had already obeyed her, became even more completely compliant, almost to the point of utter obedience.

However, even so, after the first time, Yun Li waited four or five days before allowing Mu Qing back into bed.

…

Another hunting outing occurred; this time Mu Qing also went out with the unit's Hunting Squad, but unexpectedly, the squad returned to the Tribe with various prey after only a short time.

The beastfolk who had risen early to train, looking at the still‑dim sky above and then at the mountain‑piled prey behind Mu Qing and the others, each swallowed saliva in amazement.

Is this the true strength of Qing Rank Beastmen?

No wonder the Tribe has constantly tried to match its females with Mu Qing; if such a powerful male were taken by a female from another Tribe, it would be a huge loss for the Tribe.

"We'll handle it here; Mu Qing, you hurry home—maybe your female hasn't seen you and is getting angry."

They had just formed a Mate Bond and were already apart; whether Mu Qing's female wanted him or not, they didn't know, but Mu Qing dragged them out in the middle of the night, even turning into a beast form to help the Hunting Squad capture so much prey so quickly.

Isn't it just because he wants to return early to be with his female? They understand, they all understand!

So each one, without hesitation, was considerate toward Mu Qing, letting him go back early.

A few young males had already helped Mu Qing lift the portion of the prey assigned to him, flatteringly echoing, "Yes, yes, we'll help you carry that, hurry up, Mu Qing, A Li is still waiting for you at home."

Mu Qing, with a darkened face, told them to put it down, "I'll move my own stuff later myself; I don't need your help."

"Sure, sure, we followed you and picked up so much leftover; we have to show off a bit, right?"

No matter what Mu Qing said, those young males clung to the prey with a cheeky grin, refusing to put it down for fear that Mu Qing would forcibly take it from them; when he approached, they actually ran toward Mu Qing's house while still holding the prey.

Mu Qing, seeing this, could only half‑beast transform, haul a few of the prey that the females liked to eat, and hurry after them; otherwise those guys might take the chance to run straight to A Li's side—what would he do?

On the way, the Leng Family brothers encountered Mu Qing, who flicked a tail and knocked several males to the ground; watching those males, having just been beaten, still foolishly and cheerfully helped the other side carry the prey toward Mu Qing's house.

Leng Xiao's face was full of astonishment as he said, "Did I see wrong? Were those males knocked senseless by Mu Qing?"

Leng Xiu frowned, looking toward the direction they left; he understood a bit more clearly than Leng Xiao and said:

"I think it's not that they're stupid, but that they've taken a liking to the females of Mu Qing's house."

Hearing that, Leng Xiao's face showed an expression that was hard to put into words.

Indeed, after that hunt they heard that many of Mu Qing's females were quite good‑looking, but Leng Xiao's filthy impression of Yun Li that day was so deep that even now he refuses to believe that the female the two brothers had despised could become a great beauty after being cleaned.

Therefore, upon hearing that other males besides Mu Qing could also take an interest in Yun Li, he found it fascinating and couldn't help but feel a spark of curiosity.

"The tribe chief also went to see, saying that the female indeed wasn't unattractive."

Seeing him stuck like that, Leng Xiu was too lazy to argue with him.

Honestly, Leng Xiu believed the chief's words.

Thus, when Leng Xiao, with a face full of doubt, tried to pull him along to follow Mu Qing's steps to see what the female looked like, he did not refuse.