TVFW 109

Chapter – 109

 Unable to Hide Their Jealousy

Duan Si and Yifu were by the water processing the deer meat. They pulled out the entrails and just threw them away, but Lu Liufeng caught them with a gust of wind.

“After washing the intestines with wood ash, you can braise them,” he said.

Yifu looked a little disgusted.

“Lu Liufeng, even if it’s edible, maybe we should just skip it. The female Shǐ is here, after all.”

Serving something like that to the female Shǐ would be highly disrespectful.

Duan Si’s scarlet snake eyes glanced toward the campfire and then at Lu Liufeng.

“You mean… the female master wants this?”

Lu Liufeng nodded and smiled at Yifu.

“You’ll see in a moment.”

“At first, it’s hard to accept, but once it’s prepared and you take a bite, your opinion will change.”

Yifu still felt uneasy.

But since it was the female Shǐ’s wish, he didn’t protest further.

Still, deep down, he couldn’t quite accept it.

The deer meat was quickly prepared, and they set up two pots and a roasting rack.

The deer legs were for roasting, one portion for a fragrant pot, and another portion for braising.

Jiang Xi hardly contributed—Lu Liufeng did all the cooking himself.

He skillfully refined the oil, added ginger, garlic, Sichuan pepper, chili, cinnamon, bay leaves, and tsaoko for aroma, then tossed in the deer meat for a high-heat stir-fry.

Immediately, the fragrance spread across the Hot River Valley, making the nearby snake-beastmen cough repeatedly.

“Ugh, Lu Liufeng, what are you doing?”

“It’s so pungent, but why does it smell so good?!”

“…”

“Ah-choo! Ah-choo!”

Yifu also sneezed twice in a row.

Wind flowed around Lu Liufeng, carrying the smoke around the female master, dispersing the choking fumes.

Thus, Jiang Xi and the two little green snakes weren’t affected.

The two little green snakes twitched their tiny barely-visible noses, flicked out their forked tongues, and cheered.

“Smells good!”

“Smells good!”

After saying this, they whispered in Jiang Xi’s ear about their father-beast.

“Father-beast is silly.”

“Silly!”

Beastmen had highly developed senses. Yifu could hear them perfectly.

He glanced at the two smug little ones and thought: With the female Shǐ backing them, they were getting more and more arrogant! Once the female master leaves, he’d better deal with them properly!

Duan Si sat by the campfire, turning the deer legs on the roasting rack.

The smoke hit him; he held his breath, refusing to inhale until he could no longer, then turned his head, covering his mouth with his fist, coughing softly twice.

After the initial choking, what remained was purely the aroma.

The snake-beastmen of Hot River Valley kept glancing over.

A dozen or so females couldn’t help but look as well.

Delicious food, a handsome and gentle cook in Lu Liufeng—it was visually and sensorially pleasing.

For a moment, the females thought of their own beast husbands who cooked at home, and felt unable to eat.

The food wasn’t as good as Lu Liufeng’s, their husbands weren’t as handsome, their abilities weren’t as strong. In comparison, all they had was a belly full of resentment.

When their gazes fell on Duan Si by the campfire roasting deer legs, they became even more frustrated.

These past days, whenever they came to Hot River Valley to gather food, some females had tried to get close to Duan Si, hoping to use their charm to make him abandon his ugly female and choose them.

But Duan Si always looked grim, never acknowledging them, and when they approached, his scarlet snake eyes would chill them, warning them to stay away.

What they couldn’t have made them restless.

The more Duan Si ignored them, the more their curiosity and longing grew.

They thought that, given enough time, they might still have a chance.

But they hadn’t expected that after Jiang Xi regained her female Shǐ status, the ugly pustules on her face disappeared little by little, revealing a face so beautiful it could make others lose focus.

Now, the females of the Lion Roar Tribe had completely given up.

They had no chance of winning over her beast husbands.

The chief female, Natali, had finished dinner, sitting by the campfire with a few other females, weaving vine bags.

There weren’t enough animal-skin bags for everyone, so they needed to prepare some for the beastmen leaving for the Ice River.

One female couldn’t help but say,

“Earlier, when we finished cooking, we went to invite her. She didn’t even come, even though the beastmen had hunted a deer.”

Before the others could agree, Natali’s face suddenly turned cold.

“Silence!”

“Such words are forbidden!”

Beastmen had keen senses, and the more powerful they were, the more developed these senses became.

Natali knew the female Shǐ’s beast husbands had surely heard the comment.

She had to clearly assert the tribe’s stance, ensuring that the Shǐ wouldn’t feel disheartened by careless words from some females or beastmen.

“The female Shǐ, as the Earth Walker of the Mother Tree, requires daily provision of at least three kinds of fresh meat and no fewer than seven kinds of fresh berries from every tribe!”

“And us? We neither provide nor help with the Shǐ’s daily meals. If the Shǐ does not blame the Lion Roar Tribe, the tribe should be grateful!”

“In spring, countless tribes will invite the female Shǐ to reside with them. If you continue to disrespect her and anger her, causing her to leave the Lion Roar Tribe, can you bear the blame for the entire tribe?”

Natali’s words made the speaking female feel deep guilt.

“Forgive me, chief female. It’s all my fault. Female Shǐ, may the Mother Tree not punish my rudeness.”

“Mother Tree above, I will never again disrespect the female Shǐ.”

Many of the Lion Roar Tribe’s females had yet to adjust to Jiang Xi’s transformation.

Once an ugly, malicious female, she had now become the female Shǐ—and stunningly beautiful.

They couldn’t reconcile the imbalance in their hearts.

So when facing Jiang Xi, they couldn’t help but feel jealous.

Before, they often privately criticized her cruelty, and everyone would agree, scolding her for disturbing the tribe and not deserving her five beast husbands.

Now, sitting by the campfire, they instinctively wanted to return to that topic for reassurance.

But they forgot that Jiang Xi was no longer the same.

Even if she still pulled their hair, kicked their stomachs, or slapped them, they could no longer retaliate as before.

They could only endure.

The tribe might even encourage Jiang Xi to hit them harder.

Thinking of this, the females by the campfire dared not speak of her further.

Lu Liufeng, Duan Si, and Yifu had, of course, overheard the discussion from afar.

Yifu didn’t catch all the details but still tensed, fearing Duan Si and Lu Liufeng might stir trouble in Hot River Valley.

Hearing the chief female’s words and the other females’ apologies, the tension he held in his chest finally eased slightly.

But when he turned his head and saw Duan Si, the slight relief he had just felt instantly tightened again.