Chapter 186: Su An’an Heals Seville
Lu Ming’s face went white. He grabbed a grass mat and threw it over Su An’an and Seville.
"Quick, hide..."
Before he could finish, the animal hide flap of the hovel was violently thrown aside, and the bloated body of a hunchbacked Bear Beastman blocked the entrance.
His murky yellow eyes scanned greedily over Su An’an. "Little female, I’ll trade half a Fluorescent Frog for one night with you."
He shook the green-glowing frog carcass in his hand, and a sour, foul smell immediately filled the air.
Lu Ming threw himself in front of Su An’an. "No!"
His slender arms were trembling, but he clutched the Bone Dagger tightly.
"Since when does trash like you get to talk?"
The Bear Beastman bared his massive, blood-red maw and swiped down with his paw.
Lu Ming’s thin frame flew back like a kite with a snapped string, slamming into a support post. His eyes rolled back as he crumpled to the ground.
"Be a good girl, and I might be a little gentle."
His filthy bear paw reached for Su An’an.
Su An’an’s eyes were ice-cold as a silver-white arc of electricity sparked at her fingertips.
Suddenly, blood splattered.
Seville’s Wings flashed like blades, and the Bear Beastman’s thick fingers dropped to the ground.
The Swan Beastman, in his child form, hovered in mid-air, the tips of his Wings pressed against his opponent’s throat.
"Either get out!"
A vicious, blood-red light filled his amber eyes. "Or die!"
The Bear Beastman stared in terror at this child.
Those were not the eyes of a child, but the gaze of a hunter who had survived a hundred battles.
He clutched his severed fingers and scrambled away, forgetting to even pick up the frog carcass.
After the screaming Bear Beastman fled, the Golden Light on Seville’s Wings flickered out like a candle in the wind.
Still in his child form, he suddenly staggered.
He slammed down heavily on one knee, beads of sweat breaking out on his pale little face.
"Don’t move!"
Su An’an stepped forward and instantly pressed her palm to his back.
A surging green light poured from her fingertips. "Your Holy Power is already past its breaking point."
Seville dodged to the side, his amber pupils constricting.
"Your Healing Technique consumes Energy, too."
His voice was laced with suppressed anger.
"It’s fine. I can restore my Energy by touching you."
The tips of Su An’an’s ears turned slightly red, but she added with feigned composure:
"After all, we aren’t divorced yet."
She deliberately kept her tone businesslike. "It’s purely for the sake of survival efficiency."
The air froze for two seconds.
"Just a partnership."
Seville finally extended his hand, his face cold, but his fingertips trembled imperceptibly the moment they touched.
"Don’t do anything unnecessary."
"Don’t worry!" Su An’an focused on healing Seville.
Their fingers intertwined, and the Golden Light and green light wove together into a brilliant vortex.
Seville’s small, youthful face remained stern the entire time.
But the six Wings on his back spread slightly of their own accord, the tips of their downy feathers glowing with pink specks of light.
The moment the healing ended, Seville snatched his hand back and nearly hit a wooden post with his Wings as he turned away.
Su An’an suppressed a smile and walked over to the unconscious Lu Ming, tapping his forehead with a fingertip that glowed with green healing light.
Lu Ming regained consciousness, saw the Fluorescent Frog carcass on the ground, and jumped up as if he’d been scalded.
"You agreed to be with that Stinky Bear?"
"Of course not."
Su An’an nudged the severed finger on the ground with her foot, the blood smearing a long, dark streak in the dirt.
"This frog meat is the interest he paid. Do what you want with it."
"Then, should we take this meat to the female cave?"
Lu Ming’s tense shoulders finally relaxed, and he said sincerely,
"Getting on their good side will help you two integrate into the tribe faster."
"Alright, let’s go."
Su An’an squatted down and picked Seville up with one arm.
The Priest, still in his child form, struggled in her arms for a moment before finally turning his face away and silently accepting his position.
Lu Ming walked out of the hovel, carrying the frog meat.
On either side of the muddy path, the hovels of the Gray Stone Tribe were scattered about.
They were completely different from the pampered females of the outside world.
Every female here was clearly muscular, their beast-like features—leopard tails, bear paws, and the like—exposed for all to see.
Several partially transformed females were working together to reinforce the stone walls of a hovel, their bulging biceps a clear sign of their strength.
"I thought females with Beast Husbands to support them didn’t have to work?"
Su An’an stared in amazement at the females tearing apart animal hides with their bare hands.
’In the Empire, High Level Females were comparable to nobility.’
’They often kept five or six Beast Husbands and could live extravagant lives on their offerings alone.’
At her words, Lu Ming’s head snapped up, his deer ears perked in shock. "How is that possible?"
"A Beast Husband is only responsible for his own offspring’s food."
"If she wants to feed other children,"
He pointed to one in the distance who was carrying two young on her back while using her fangs to snap a tough vine. "she has to fight for it herself."
In the firelight, Su An’an watched these females.
Their bare, powerful arms were crisscrossed with scars, yet they possessed a vibrant life force that the nobles of the Empire could never hope to attain.
"Is food that hard to get?" Seville suddenly asked.
"The Crystal Meat from a Two-headed Toad."
Lu Ming swallowed unconsciously, his Adam’s apple bobbing on his slender neck.
"A piece the size of a fingernail is enough to ward off hunger for a whole day. But the poison is incredibly potent. If ten hunters go out, you’re lucky if three come back."
"What about the other one?" Su An’an asked.
Lu Ming gave a bitter smile. "The Fluorescent Frogs aren’t poisonous, but every rainy season we have to fight the neighboring tribe over the swamplands."
Seville’s Wings suddenly went rigid.
Su An’an followed his gaze.
The female with the young on her back was stuffing her last piece of dried meat into her child’s mouth, while she secretly chewed on a piece of tree bark herself.
"Are there really no other sources of food?" Su An’an couldn’t help but ask.
Lu Ming’s deer ears suddenly twitched, and his voice dropped to a whisper.
"The Mutant Beasts have contaminated the hunting grounds. Aside from the poisonous toads and Fluorescent Frogs, any other living creature rots if the acid rain touches it."
Seville’s Wings tensed again as he asked in a cold voice,
"In the outside world, Mutant Beasts and Beastmen are mortal enemies. Why can you coexist with them here?"
"Shh!"
Lu Ming waved his hands frantically, his deer-like eyes widening in fear. "If the spies from the Divine Army hear you say that..."
He made a throat-slitting gesture.
’The Divine Army again!’
Su An’an lightly tapped the back of Seville’s hand. The moment their eyes met, they understood each other completely.
"Pawns of the Rebel Army,"
she mouthed, tracing a secret military sign on his palm with her finger.
Seville gave an imperceptible nod, the shadow of his Wings falling over them.
"Gain their trust, extract information."
His amber eyes turned to Lu Ming. "Start with the food."
Su An’an nodded in agreement.
"We’re here! The female cave!"
Lu Ming’s voice suddenly turned cheerful as he pointed to a cave at the top of the slope, which was entwined with Fluorescent Vines.
Su An’an followed his gaze and saw five brawny females sitting in a circle around the entrance.
Some were splitting firewood with Stone Axes, while others skillfully wove acid-resistant Vine Armor.
"Manda!"
Lu Ming bounced over to them.
The lead female, who was from the Lion Clan, looked up. Her salt-and-pepper mane was tied back in a neat ponytail.
She glanced at Su An’an and Seville, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"You’re the female and the child from the outside?"
"Yes."
Su An’an nodded and said earnestly,
"We were lucky to run into Jin Zhu and Lu Ming. Otherwise, I really don’t know what we would have done."
"We’re short on food here. With a fifteen-day acid rain season, Jin Zhu can’t afford to feed you."
Manda crossed her arms, her tone unfriendly.
"We don’t need Jin Zhu to feed us."
Su An’an smiled faintly. "In fact, we can even provide a plan for hunting Two-headed Toads."