Chapter 8: Renovating the Home

Her words weren't exactly harsh, but for a male who liked her, it was like a bolt from the blue.

Leng Xiu finally dragged his dazed brother away; although he could have easily brought back two Black Boars, he only took one, and the remaining Black Boar was helped away by the several males that Mu Qing had driven off.

Thus only Yun Li and Mu Qing remained at the stone house door.

What are you staring at me for?

With no other beastmen around, Mu Qing stared at Yun Li for a while; finally she couldn't help but push him.

Unexpectedly, the male suddenly embraced her and said, "Leng Xiu and them came today for you."

You noticed? Then what?

Yun Li wondered, was her earlier attempt to draw a line not clear enough?

What do you want to say? My first beast husband is you now. Unless I later encounter a stronger male, your position here will never change.

Mu Qing felt a mix of emotions; he himself clearly knew that if he hadn't happened to meet A Li when she most needed care, a snake beastman like him could never have become a female's first beast husband.

After all, those beastmen in the tribe are right: snake beastmen are cold-blooded beastmen, because other beastmen don't, by nature, have the concept of nurturing snake offspring.

Mu Qing was abandoned by his mother from childhood, then grew up alone as a beastman until he wandered here.

So Mu Qing never thought about having offspring when looking for a mate; he also feared that following his nature would make him abandon his young, and then A Li would surely hate him to death.

A Li, do you like offspring? If you do, you could actually have wolf offspring with Leng Xiu and Leng Xiao.

What nonsense is this?

Yun Li pushed Mu Qing away, somewhat angrily asking, "What exactly are you thinking? My attitude just now wasn't clear enough; even if Leng Xiu and Leng Xiao were better, they still couldn't compare to you here."

Still wolf offspring? Can't we have offspring? Do you not even know I'm a female wolf?

Even if you can cultivate and are stronger than me, if we had offspring, they wouldn't necessarily be snake offspring.

Moreover, I've said from the start that I'm not afraid of snake beastmen; even if I later bear snake offspring, I wouldn't dislike them.

Just thinking that what she just did wasn't even taken to heart by Mu Qing made Yun Li so angry she couldn't help but kick someone.

Mu Qing, after being kicked by her, lowered his head and glanced; for some reason, his inner feelings surged intensely.

A Li

Yun Li replied impatiently, 'Here!'

The next moment, the male suddenly scooped her up.

Mu Qing, what are you doing? You...... mmph!

Seeing the excited male not knowing how to express his sudden exhilaration, he seized the female and fiercely kissed her.

Yun Li was ambushed again; furious, she slapped the male twice. Seeing Mu Qing being beaten yet apparently enjoying it, she feared he would take her right there at the doorway.

She quickly grabbed the male's ear and shouted, 'If you dare force me to do that at the doorway, I will dissolve our mate bond—do you hear me?'

The excitement building in Mu Qing was half-doused by those words; he breathed heavily, his face buried in her neck, voice restrained: 'A Li, don't reject me—I'll obey you.'

Yun Li felt that if he truly listened to her, he should let her go now and go take a cold shower.

However, Mu Qing was uncomfortably restrained and also unwilling to leave his female.

Yun Li was startled by Mu Qing's disregard for his own body, but preferring that he suffer rather than herself, she would rather he hold back.

After all, normally she needs two to three days to recover after one session; if he succeeded today, she'd spend the next few days in bed again.

After a long while, once Mu Qing calmed down, Yun Li finally relaxed.

Sorry, A Li, I just couldn't control myself......

Hmph

Without waiting for his apology to finish, Yun Li snorted coldly, 'You know you're wrong—still not letting me go?'

She almost thought she would be taken by that bastard right at the doorstep.

Mu Qing fell silent for a moment, ultimately unwilling to make her angrier; he gave her forehead a soothing kiss, then, under her wary gaze, set her down and promised:

There won't be a next time.

He was just overwhelmed with emotion then; only by gripping her tightly like that could he feel reassured.

Yun Li pressed her lips, said 'Best that way,' then suddenly thought of something, glanced around, and said, 'We need to build an outer wall for this house; otherwise, any beastmen passing by will see everything.'

Mu Qing didn't know what a courtyard wall was, but whatever Yun Li said, goes.

Okay, you tell me how to do it, and I'll do it.

Not you doing it—does that mean I have to do it?

As she spoke, Yun Li pulled him around, circling the stone house once, saying, 'Just follow the path we just walked, build four walls, leaving a main gate and a rear door.'

If anyone ends up fighting outside, they should be made to fight outside the yard.

Also, we need to make an earthen stove inside the house, just like when you barbecue outdoors you first dig a pit, then use a fire stone to ignite the dry leaves.

Then we'll also build a wooden shed—a wooden house—inside which the earthen stove will be placed...

Mu Qing listened to Yun Li say these things; some he understood, but some he didn't.

Building four stone walls is simple, but how do we build the wooden shed? And what exactly is an earthen stove?

Mu Qing had never heard of these before; he had seen treehouses—bird nests built in trees, where bird beastmen skillfully craft shelters on big trees to shield from wind and rain.

The dry season is scorching hot, the cold season freezing cold.

Will the wooden shed A Li wants to build be like that treehouse? If so, does he need to dig up a tree and plant it in front of the house?

Yun Li doesn't know that he's interpreting her wooden shed as a bird nest, and is wondering whether to dig up a tree and bring it back.

She follows the principle of doing what's urgently needed first, so she has him build an earthen stove outside first.

Although Yun Li lacks practical experience, as a child digging sand at the beach she could shape castles.

A simple earthen stove, for her, is as easy as shaping mud to show Mu Qing.

Yun Li plans to make the wooden shed an open‑style kitchen against the stone wall; as for why not another stone house, she simply wants more color in the yard.

After all, the ground beneath her feet is so hard that not a blade of weed can be seen; one glance tells you it can't be dug, nor can anything be grown.

Turning back, Yun Li still needed to find some craftsmen of this tribe; since they could make stone bowls and stone basins, making some stone altars and stone troughs should also be possible, right.

Stone altars are used to hold cured meat, pickles, dried wild fruits—in short, they're good for storing food.

She wanted to use the stone trough to hold soil, to see if she could grow something.

She had grown flowers before; planting some edible wild greens shouldn't be too hard, right.

Yun Li thought, not very confidently.