Yiyi's eyes widened. "Mother, how is that possible! How could a Beast God's messenger be in our tribe!"
The shaman frowned upon hearing this. "Yiyi, don't talk nonsense. A Beast God's messenger in our tribe is a good thing."
Yiyi shook her head, her face pale. "Mother, if that person is Shuxin, do you think it would be a good thing for us?"
The shaman fell silent.
"Yiyi, don't mention this to anyone else. Let's wait and see what happens. However, you must give up on Leite."
"If Shuxin is really the one, then Leite is very likely to be the future Beast King. At that time, many males will compete for Shuxin, and Leite won't even look at you," the shaman said, speaking from a mother's perspective, considering her child.
Yiyi's face turned even paler. It was more painful than hearing Leite reject her directly. If her mother, the shaman, was advising her to give up, did that mean she would truly lose Leite?
"Mother, you know I like Leite. It's too hard to ask me to give up!"
The shaman's attitude was firm. "Even if it's hard, you must give up. Mother will help you find another suitable beastman. Dajiang and Ashui are both good..."
"No! Mother, I don't want any of them!" Yiyi shouted, covering her ears.
"Mother, please stop talking about this. I'm going to play with Miaomiao!" With that, she ran out, leaving a tear in the air.
The shaman watched her daughter run away, sighing after a long while. She would not change her mind.
...
Yiyi, with red-rimmed eyes, arrived at Miaomiao's house. Miaomiao's father and mother were not home, only Miaomiao was there.
Miaomiao was extremely surprised to see her good sister arrive crying. "Yiyi, why are you crying?"
Yiyi tried to force a smile, but tears streamed down her face first. "Miaomiao, I fell."
The sky had cleared, but the ground was still slippery. She had run in a hurry and truly fallen, with mud clinging to her backside.
Miaomiao glanced behind her, her lips twitching. She looked like she wanted to laugh but dared not, which was quite difficult.
Yiyi didn't notice. She desperately needed someone to listen to her troubles.
Her backside hurt so much that she crouched down, covering her eyes, and whispered, "Miaomiao, I like Leite, but he doesn't like me. What should I do?"
Miaomiao felt heartbroken upon hearing this and crouched down to hug her, comforting her. "Then Yiyi, why don't we find another male to like?" She had always known Yiyi's feelings.
She had thought Yiyi and Leite would definitely become mates in the future, but then Shuxin appeared. Alas!
Yiyi cried and shook her head. "I only like Leite. I don't like anyone else. Miaomiao, tell me, am I really not as good as Shuxin?"
Miaomiao blurted out, "How could that be? Shuxin is just better at medicine. Yiyi, you are different from her!"
"..."
Yiyi said bitterly, "But I'm not as capable as Shuxin. She can save the tribesmen, but I can't. No wonder Leite doesn't like me..."
The more she thought about it, the sadder she became. She couldn't take in any of Miaomiao's comfort.
After crying for a while, she left Miaomiao's house and wandered aimlessly through the tribe, recalling every moment with Leite.
When did she fall for him? She vaguely remembered that when she was bullied as a child, it was Leite who protected her. Unlike other little beastmen who tried to please her, he often brought her all sorts of delicious food and took her everywhere. Even when he fought with other little beastmen, he let her watch from the side.
When he won, he would happily carry her to pick flowers. When they went foraging, he would help her fill her beast hide bag. Their relationship was once so good, why had everything changed now!
Leite, have you changed your mind?
Yiyi looked sadly at the sky. She remembered Leite saying when they were children that he would mate with her. Why had he forgotten now...
Everything was fine. If only Shuxin hadn't appeared—that's right, it was all because Shuxin appeared!
Yiyi's gaze sharpened. It was all because Shuxin appeared. Ever since Shuxin arrived, Leite had been revolving around Shuxin, not coming to play with her. She hadn't seen him fight with other beastmen either because he was mesmerized by one person!
Yiyi's breathing quickened, and hatred filled her eyes. If Shuxin disappeared, would Leite return to his former self?
The moment this thought flashed, it grew like weeds!
Several tribesmen approached from the opposite direction. Yiyi turned and left without stopping. She wanted Shuyue to disappear!
...
On the last day of the rainy season, the water level was quietly absorbed by the land, and the forest gradually regained its vitality. The ground of the tribe was already extremely dry.
The hunting party had set out early in the morning. The remaining tribesmen were not idle either, moving out all the corn that had been stored for the rainy season to dry.
The earth cave also emitted a musty smell and needed a few days of drying.
The sun was just right today. Leite and Wente spread the corn in the courtyard. Some of the corn had developed green mold. After discarding the few rotten ones, the rest could still be salvaged.
The corn was dried for three days and three nights until it was completely dry. Next, the corn kernels needed to be stripped, which was a time-consuming task.
The two males stripped corn kernels during the day and worked overtime at night. In one day and one night, the corn cobs turned into kernels.
Shuxin had figured out how to make a stone mill. The tribesmen were all busy now. The females and cubs stripped corn kernels, and some of the guarding males were assigned to make stone mills. Grinding flour would also take two days.
After being confined in the cave for a month, Shuyue could finally come out for some fresh air!
Sitting on Wente's back, she spread her arms wide, breathing in the long-lost scent of sunshine. It felt like one word: refreshing!
Long-lost dryness. If she stayed cooped up any longer, she would mold like the corn.
"Wente, I love autumn!" her clear voice reached the dragon beast's ears.
Wente shook his dragon head. "I love it too." Autumn was the season with the most food.
Shuyue laughed heartily, "No wonder we are a couple, we like the same things."
The dragon beast couldn't see the female's face behind him, but he could feel her happiness, and his eyes couldn't help but be filled with a smile.
After laughing, Shuyue asked, "Wente, do you remember the horned sheep beastman?"
"I remember."
Shuyue's eyes curved. "I also remember the horned sheep chief saying that in autumn, they would collect something called red soil stems to get through the winter. I want to go to the horned sheep tribe to ask where they dig it, I want to eat it too."
Wente frowned slightly. "Yueyue, it takes eight days to go to the horned sheep tribe and come back."
Shuyue was taken aback. "It takes that long?"
Wente nodded. "Yueyue, I can't leave the tribe for too long in autumn. We need to collect food for the winter."
"But we don't need to make a separate trip. In a month, it will be the exchange period on the Beastman Continent. This time, the exchange will be held at the Barbarian tribe. During the exchange period, all beastmen will cease hostilities. The horned sheep tribe will definitely go, so it won't be too late to ask then."
"Is that so? That's great." Shuyue recalled the exchange period from the original owner's memory. The original owner had never attended it.