"Yueyue, are you hungry? Let's go find something to eat," Wente said, yawning as he looked for a suitable spot.
A cave near a river would be ideal, allowing them a good night's rest.
After a short search, they landed in front of a dilapidated cave hidden by overgrown weeds. Shu Yue slid down from the beastman's tail. "We're resting here tonight?"
"Yes, we'll sleep here tonight," Wente replied, reverting to human form and stretching. His bones popped and cracked, and after the release, exhaustion washed over him.
He couldn't help but yawn. Seeing this, Shu Yue felt a pang of concern. The beastman had been truly exhausted these past few days. He had only slept once since they left, while she had slept every day.
After limbering up, he began to clean the cave. He didn't let her lift a finger, forcefully clearing the wild grass in front of the cave and bundling it into a broom.
Fortunately, the weather was dry, and the cave wasn't damp, just very dirty.
Cleaning the cave alone took nearly an hour, but the results were pleasing – it was now habitable.
The interior was bare. They spread thick dry grass where they would sleep, and dragged the large animal hide bedding into the cave, fearing it would be gnawed by small animals if left outside.
After tidying up, Wente suddenly turned his back to Shu Yue and urinated near the cave...
Shu Yue silently turned away, thinking, this is the most primitive way of marking territory.
"Alright, let's go wash up by the river."
"Okay."
The river wasn't far from the cave, just a few minutes' flight. He settled her by the riverbank and didn't wander far, instead hunting a large prey nearby. After roasting the portion she would eat, he consumed the rest, half-raw.
Shu Yue, worried about his fatigue, said, "Wente, I won't wash off the mud on me. Let's go back and rest."
"That's fine," Wente thought. It was true; they would be traveling again tomorrow, and washing would only mean getting dirty again. It was better not to wash.
He, however, jumped into the river for a refreshing bath.
Upon returning to the cave, it was just as they had left it, undisturbed. This indicated that their earlier actions had been sufficiently intimidating.
Lying down on the dry grass with the beastman, she hummed a lullaby at his request, and soon, the beastman beside her fell fast asleep.
Shu Yue, with no sleepiness, lay on her side, quietly gazing at his sleeping face. Perhaps it was due to their prolonged time together, but she no longer found the beastman fearsome. Instead, the more she looked, the more handsome he seemed.
His features were sculpted, his nose high and straight. When his eyes were closed, his brows were sharp and his eyes like stars, resembling a great general of ancient times.
When his eyes were open, however, they held a fierce glint. Yet, when he looked at her, his gaze was like that of a canine, which she adored the most.
As she watched, her eyelids slowly closed, and she didn't even realize when she had fallen asleep.
When she awoke again, it was just dawn. Shu Yue rubbed her sleepy head. She had been unusually sleepy these past few days, rarely waking naturally unless she was hungry. These signs all indicated her current physical state.
As soon as she moved, the beastman's eyes opened. They were clear, cold, and sharp, as if he had only been feigning sleep.
However, Shu Yue knew that beastmen were naturally vigilant.
"Hungry again?" Wente asked lazily, blinking his eyes.
To avoid startling the female in his sleepy state, he would switch immediately.
"Mmm, I'm hungry again~" Shu Yue snuggled into his embrace affectionately, completely forgetting that she was still covered in mud.
Wente didn't mind, pulling her into his arms and kissing her tenderly on her lips. "Then, husband, shall I go make you something to eat?"
The word "husband" was taught to him by her.
Shu Yue nuzzled him sweetly. "I'm not in a hurry, you can rest a little longer."
The beastman's heart warmed. "I've slept well. We can't let our cub go hungry."
Hearing this, Shu Yue feigned anger and pushed him away. "Alright, so you're worried about your cub going hungry, not about me being hungry!"
"..."
Wente was amused and exasperated. Not realizing she was pretending, he said cautiously, "Then, how about I let you eat, but don't share with him?"
"..."
Seeing the beastman's simple and honest expression, she couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Haha, I was just teasing! If I eat, the child eats. When I'm full, the child is full."
"Heh, you..." The beastman shook his head dotingly.
"Let's go, let's see if there are any fish. If there are, we can have fish soup," he said, standing up and walking out of the cave.
Shu Yue put on her flip-flops and followed him, patting her belly. "I'll need at least two bowls!"
Wente chuckled. "It's all yours."
"...Ha, husband, you're so good~" she giggled.
...
With renewed energy, Wente was enthusiastic about everything. He dove into the river, which was less than a person's height. After a while, he couldn't find any fish, but he did find several large shells and tossed them ashore.
His original intention was to give them to the female for play, but to his surprise, Yue Yue's mouth began to water.
"Wow! Such big scallops!" Shu Yue exclaimed in surprise.
She had never seen such large scallops before, as big as millstones!
They were big enough to be used as stools.
"Wente, hurry and help me pry one open so I can see if it's a scallop."
"Okay." Could this be another edible item?
The word "pry" was an insult to the beastman; he directly broke it open with his bare hands, revealing the soft, white flesh inside.
Shu Yue sniffed it. It smelled a bit fishy. She quickly asked the beastman to clean it and put it on the fire to roast. Scallop meat cooked faster than fish. A sprinkle of salt when it was almost done was all it needed.
Since it was something from the water, Wente couldn't tell if it was poisonous. Shu Yue suggested he catch a live small animal to test it.
Wente was a man of action and strength. Within five minutes, he had caught a large rabbit and forcefully shoved a piece of meat into its mouth.
The rabbit immediately foamed at the mouth and died.
"..."
Wente's expression changed instantly. "Yueyue, this can't be eaten!"
Shu Yue swallowed, silently mourning the rabbit's tragic demise for two seconds, then tactfully said, "Wente, do you think it's possible that the rabbit died of fright?"
She saw Wente holding the rabbit's ear in one hand, the rabbit baring its large front teeth, its eyes rolling back, looking like it was about to die.
And the beastman had roughly shoved the meat into its mouth. She felt a tremor of fear just watching...
Wente was silent for a moment. It wasn't impossible.
Verifying whether it was poisonous was simple after that. They just needed to cut open the rabbit.
If the food was poisonous, the throat area would turn blackish-purple. If it didn't change color, it was not poisonous.
The beastman skillfully skinned the rabbit and examined it carefully. Seeing that the rabbit hadn't died of poisoning, he was still uneasy and tasted a piece himself first.
After waiting for more than ten minutes with no adverse effects, he dared to let the female eat.
Shu Yue was touched by the beastman's caution. Ah, having such a husband made her truly happy!
Chewing on the delicious scallop meat, she suddenly felt that destiny bringing her here, and giving her such a perfect beastman husband, wasn't a punishment at all.
Mmm, Beast God, thank you so much!