Chapter 78: The Lost Snake Cubs

"I went to save someone!"

Yun Li looked at them with a face full of speechlessness and said, "Besides, a new Beast Husband is coming into our household — would I really not get your consent first?"

Mu Qing and Leng Xiu exchanged a glance. Leng Xiu said with a tone carrying a measure of helplessness, "A Li, it's not that we don't trust you."

They clearly did not trust those males.

If those males saw a A Li this good-looking, and knew that the cattail-thread garment was her idea —

those males would likely latch on like corpse ants catching the scent of rotting flesh.

"We're worried you'll get tangled up with a bunch of males, and then things will be very hard to handle..."

They were even more worried that with Mu Qing, a Blue Rank Beastman, present at that scene, he still wouldn't be able to stop those males from offering themselves to A Li.

After all, not every tribe could have everyone wearing beasthide garments. Cattail-thread garments, though they cost people, time, and energy, at least required materials that weren't as hard to obtain as beasthide.

Sacrificing one male or several males in exchange for a precious garment-making skill — the beastmen of those small tribes would absolutely be capable of that.

"Exactly, A Li, you have no idea what males can do when they pursue a female."

To make Yun Li believe they weren't lying, Leng Xiao even exposed what they had done behind the scenes when pursuing Yun Li.

"Back when we were pursuing you, my brother and I beat up every single one of those males who tried to curry favor with you — several times each."

Even so, there were still males who would come up to you from time to time."

It was only because Leng Xiu, Leng Xiao, and the others kept a tight watch that they prevented those males who tried to curry favor with her from actually getting close to her.

Of course, Mu Qing had also contributed a great deal at the time. He had only recently formed a Mate Bond with his female, so naturally he didn't want other males entering the household to share in the spoils.

It would have been better if Leng Xiao hadn't said anything, but the moment he did, Yun Li recalled how they had suddenly shown up at her door to intimidate her and force-feed her food.

She poked her finger against Leng Xiao's chest and said, "The beating people aside, I still remember clearly how you came and blocked my door — what kind of way is that to pursue a female?"

She couldn't even dodge them!

Leng Xiao put on an innocent face and said, "If my brother and I hadn't done that, would we have been able to get through the door?"

So putting themselves in the others' shoes, those males were equally capable of doing such things.

Yun Li was left speechless, but she still made one last struggle, "It's been a whole month since I came to the Silver Eagle Tribe, and I haven't seen any male do what you did back then."

Leng Xiao wore an expression of "she's too naive" and said, "That's because their Young Master came over, and besides, you never rejected their attempts to curry favor with you."

Since they could curry favor through the front door, they certainly wouldn't come block her door like Leng Xiao and the others had.

In the end, Yun Li still changed into an outfit made of snake skin — mainly a shoulder-covering short top and a knee-length beasthide skirt.

Because beastmen had no concept of undergarments, and she had never seen silkworms, and while spider silk could be used to make small garments, it was too thin and flimsy — wearing it felt airy and insubstantial.

So after Yun Li arrived, she had always used deerskin or roe deer skin to make back garments and shorts.

This way her privacy was ensured, but it was inevitably somewhat hot.

Perhaps next time she could have Uncle Ge Li weave cattail thread into cloth, and then she could cut it into suitable small garments herself.

……

On the other side, the main force of the Silver Eagle Tribe, which had run into the Youbuluo on a narrow path, was watching in bewilderment as the Snake Beastmen not far away searched everywhere for something with cold, stern faces.

"Did they have another female go missing?"

The patrolling eagle beastmen kept a wary eye on the movements over there while simultaneously unable to suppress their curiosity about what had happened on the Youbuluo's side.

After all, the two tribes had a long-standing grudge, so being able to laugh at the other side's expense right now wasn't bad either.

And the word "again" clearly highlighted that this was not the first time a female had gone missing from the Youbuluo.

That was because, apart from the females born and raised in the tribe, a portion of the Youbuluo's females had been brought back from outside, and some of those females were not necessarily willing to stay long in the Youbuluo.

So every few years around this time, they would hear about a female from the Youbuluo seizing the opportunity to escape.

"Probably, but don't let it show on your face, so we don't invite trouble later."

Since the Silver Eagle Tribe had experience rescuing females who had escaped from the Youbuluo, every time the Youbuluo had a female go missing, they would come over to ask about it.

This time was no exception, as several eagle beastmen were quietly discussing among themselves.

From the Youbuluo's side, several beastmen came over, and the male at the front was unmistakably one of the ones Yun Li and the others had seen before.

Under the other side's wary and cold gaze, Chang Yue concealed the anxiety in his heart and revealed a smile to the leading eagle beastman, saying:

"Excuse me, our tribe has lost some cubs. We'd like to ask if you've seen two snake cubs that haven't transformed yet coming your way?"

If females were the hope of a tribe's next generation, then cubs were the hope of a tribe's current development.

Although the Silver Eagle Tribe and the Youbuluo disliked each other, and whenever beastmen from the two tribes crossed paths, fighting and casualties were inevitable, they both shared one bottom line: they would not take the lives of females and cubs.

They wouldn't kill females, but females were usually taken away, while cubs were always sent back directly.

"Snake cubs?"

For this reason, upon hearing that what the Youbuluo had lost were cubs, the leading eagle beastman immediately dropped his cold expression and waved over a beastman to go ask about the situation.

There really weren't many females in the Silver Eagle Tribe who liked Snake Beastmen. Even if they weren't afraid, given that they had known from childhood that their tribe and the Youbuluo were deeply at odds, they had never looked twice at Snake Beastmen, and the same went for snake cubs.

So whether any beastman in the Silver Eagle Tribe had seen snake cubs, that beastman quickly brought back news.

No beastman had seen snake cubs.

A hint of disappointment appeared on Chang Yue's face, but fortunately, when it came to cubs, they still trusted the word of these eagle beastmen.

If they dared to harm the Youbuluo's snake cubs, then in the future when the Silver Eagle Tribe's eagle cubs fell into the hands of Snake Beastmen, they wouldn't let it end nicely either.

By then, the two tribes would probably truly have to fight to the death.

"Hiss hiss—"

In the dead of night, two lost snake cubs struggled desperately toward the direction of home.

But they were still too small and didn't know that the direction they were following by scent had already gone astray.

It was unclear whether it was hunger or fear that drove them to keep slithering toward the light.

Yun Li, who had just stepped out in the middle of the night to relieve herself, was about to head back when she heard some rustling, slithering sounds.

A chill immediately rose from behind her, and she hurriedly called out loudly, "A Xiu!"

Leng Xiu immediately leapt out, scooped the female into his arms, then looked toward the nearby grass.

Before A Li arrived here, they had just finished patrolling, and he had been constantly watching the surroundings; how could a beast have come so close so quickly?

As for snakes and insects, Leng Xiu and the others have been hunting outdoors for so many years that they already learned from the old beastfolk the method of using a powder of Sayo Yellow Stone mixed with stinkgrass to drive away snakes and insects.

Although it cannot prevent all snakes and insects, many of them still detest that powder and will not come near.

Because nothing emerged from the shrub for a long time, Leng Xiu decided to walk over and see what it was, to determine what the strange sound was.

But Mu Qing suddenly came over, "I'll go, you take A Li back first."

Seeing that he had already gone, Leng Xiu decisively took Yun Li back to the campfire.

After a short while, Mu Qing emerged holding two small snakes, one black and one dark gray.

"Snake hatchlings?"

Snake hatchlings are still easy to distinguish from wild snakes; at least when a wild snake is set down, its first reaction is either to flee or to bite.

But after the two small snakes are set down, they quickly coil into a ball, their eyes staring straight at them, occasionally spitting snake‑spit, cowering their heads, and their tails seem tightly tucked behind.

At a glance, one can tell they are scared.