Chapter 26

She thought of Mo Lie's current condition and decided not to continue building the Water Cellar this afternoon.

The body is the most important, after all.

After bringing the water back, she said she was tired and needed to rest, glanced at the Meat Jerky in the yard, and even insisted that Mo Lie come along with her, sidestepping his wound to achieve the purpose.

People get tired; she saw Mo Lie busy from dawn to dusk, she herself dug Sand‑tail Grass Stalks all morning, took a short nap at noon, and is still exhausted now—Mo Lie is even more so, needless to say.

He may look fine, but perhaps not… his lips seemed a bit paler, he has to constantly endure the pain from the Spirit Core, and on top of that he did a lot of heavy work.

She thought that even the injured Mo Lie was so capable; imagine how formidable the beast was before he was wounded.

The afternoon passed in rest, and at night Lin Manzhi was accustomed to going to sleep early.

The next day the sky was still a pale blue; when Lin Manzhi opened her eyes, no one was by her side.

She stretched lazily, trudged slowly out of bed, and headed toward the kitchen.

The washing implements were simple; people in the tribe usually found a branch with many roots in the wild, chewing the branch was laborious and left a bitter taste in the mouth.

The only commendable thing was that after chewing the branch, a faint sweet aftertaste lingered, emitting a characteristic plant fragrance.

After washing, she finished the warm water that Mo Lie had prepared for her in a cup, turned and saw Mo Lie standing by the mud furnace, putting the half‑dried bones that had been left out in the yard into a pot to boil.

Mo Lie, as a beast, can eat one meal a day, but Lin Manzhi, being female, is used to three meals a day, so she follows her own habit.

When Lin Manzhi woke up, the meal was already prepared, and she felt increasingly amazed by spending time with Mo Lie.

She now lives a life where food comes at the sound of her mouth opening—how wonderful!

Even though the stewed meat this morning was simple, Lin Manzhi still ate it happily; seeing the little well in the corner of the yard, she thought of it and said:

"The food at home isn't that urgent right now; why not let me dig Sand‑tail Grass Stalks this morning, and you go outside to look for stones and wood suitable for hammering soil? In the afternoon we'll continue repairing the Water Cellar."

Mo Lie, recalling what the female said yesterday, replied, "Suitable for hammering soil… a stone hammer weighing about a hundred jin—do you think that's enough?"

Lin Manzhi remembered that in a livestream the host only held some relatively light tools, but considering the strength of humans and Beastfolk, a heavier tool would save time.

She nodded, "That's enough. I've seen others do it that way; I have no real experience, but as long as the kiln wall is smooth, it will succeed, and then we can move on to the next step of plastering the wall."

While saying that, she took Mo Lie's utensils, got up proactively to wash the dishes outside the yard, and brushed aside Mo Lie's outstretched hand, saying, "Let me."

Mo Lie saw the female's action, his eyes deep; he had long realized that Lin Manzhi before him had a gentle nature.

Lin Manzhi didn't think that way; Mo Lie cooked the meal, and she was only washing a bowl. There was no convenient faucet here, nor a basin at home.

The process of scooping water to wash was much slower for the half‑novice Lin Manzhi compared to Mo Lie.

After washing, there was no cupboard, so she had to place the two plates and chopsticks on the stove to dry.

At that moment, Xi Tao's shout came from outside the yard.

"Lin Manzhi, are you okay?"

Hearing the voice from outside, Lin Manzhi glanced at the bright daylight, quickly grabbed her tool bag and outer cloak, and walked toward the yard gate with Mo Lie.

The sun here was getting harsher; they couldn't control the extreme weather, so everyone could only go out to look for food during the cooler early mornings.

She opened the gate, a gust of wind mixed with sand and dust blew in; Lin Manzhi tightened her headscarf and resolved to dig more Sand‑tail Grass Stalks today.

Mo Lie also tried to help her dig Sand‑tail Grass Stalks, but unfortunately his strength was too great; each stalk he pulled out was damaged.

Such everyday village farming was almost impossible fine work when handled by a beast.

Since the beasts' paws cannot grasp the right force, they can only venture into the deep desert, and to earn Beast Coin they must hunt.

Lin Manzhi and Mo Lie separated at the Rock Wall; a low white cloud drifted across the sky, then rode the wind swiftly away from the Rock Wall; the sun had already risen, and a contrasting pale golden light appeared in the Rock Wall's shadow.

Lin Manzhi looked at the familiar sun and inwardly sighed at this book's little world, whose terrain is almost identical to Earth's, both having a single sun.

Fortunately, there are two moons at night, so she wouldn't constantly think she was being observed by some real‑world program and tied to a place in West Asia or North Africa as a prank.

On the third day of digging Sand‑tail Grass Stalk, Lin Manzhi could easily dig while thinking of other things.

Around her still no females came, but some sharp‑eyed beasts spotted the two small black dots of females on the distant Rock Wall.

"Cihe and Cichuan's luck is great; they actually met such a good female as Xi Tao."

"The new female beside her is the good one; I see she only has one beast beside her!"

"Really? Then we have a chance…"

Some single beasts instantly did mental calculations, thinking of sending food during the dry season to win a female's favor.

Lin Manzhi lowered her head, sneezed, frowned, wiped the sweat bead from her forehead, and then continued to rake the sand with the Wooden Rake.

She collected all morning, and as usual sold them to the Yang Suo Shop—seventy‑six stalks—for 1,900 Beast Coin.

She immediately exchanged them for the two rolls of fine linen she had coveted for a long time; because she couldn't make clothes herself, she paid an extra hundred Beast Coin and had the Beastfolk at the Yang Suo Shop craft them, to pick up tomorrow.

The two rolls of fine linen were undyed, a light beige, just right for Mo Lie to make a set of new local clothes for himself.

She also spent a hundred Beast Coin to buy the Shiny Rice she had longed for, packing a small bag of about two jin; the main food of beasts is meat.

The Shiny Rice she bought was enough for her alone to eat for five or six days.

Lin Manzhi's speed of making money surprised Yang Suo.

Since taking over the shop from his father ten years ago, before Lin Manzhi arrived, he had never received more than thirty Sand‑tail Grass Stalks from a single female.

Before he could be surprised for long, Yang Suo was again shocked by the speed at which Lin Manzhi spent Beast Coin.

His mouth twitched as he watched the Beast Coin circle back into his hand, still two hundred more…

Lin Manzhi walked out of the shop amid Yang Suo's indescribable expression.

She returned home before noon.

She pushed open the yard gate, and Lin Manzhi's eyes widened—she saw a gigantic bird with gray feathers lying in the yard.