Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Male, Want to Get Married?

Is this really not a condemned house?!

Chang Xia stared at the 50-60 square meter pit-style tent—worn animal hides draped over branches, tied together with vines. It was crude and simple. She couldn’t help but twitch her lips, at a loss for words. The tribespeople who’d brought her here had already left.

She set down her basket and put her luggage aside, not rushing to do anything.

No mistake—this was going to be her home for the rest of her life.

After quietly taking it all in for a moment, Chang Xia turned to look at Shen Rong behind her. He was pale, walking unsteadily and weakly. One glance and you could tell he was in poor health.

“You wait outside. I’ll go in and clean up,” Chang Xia said.

“It’s fine, let me come in with you. No one’s lived in this den for a while. Besides bugs and ants, we should check if the roof’s rotted anywhere,” Shen Rong smiled slightly, explaining. He couldn’t just let Chang Xia do all the work herself.

The tribe had already helped check the den, so there shouldn’t be any big problems. But who knew about the small stuff? After all, this place was a bit away from the main tribe and had been abandoned for a long time. Even in his poor condition, as a male beastman, he was still stronger than a female.

Hearing this, Chang Xia thought for a moment and agreed.

“Alright. I picked some mugwort earlier. I’ll burn it to smoke out the bugs and ants, then you can check the roof.”

Soon, a pungent smell filled the air.

A rustling sound crept into their ears.

“Back up!” Shen Rong grabbed Chang Xia and the basket, quickly retreating several steps.

They watched as all sorts of bugs and ants scurried out of the den, clearly unable to stand the mugwort smoke. After a few minutes, when the mugwort had burned out and no more bugs emerged, they lifted the animal hide curtain to air out the den.

Chang Xia quickly started tossing out all the junk inside, keeping an eye on Shen Rong as he checked the roof, while her mind wandered back to what had happened a few days ago.

Just a moment before, she’d been busy fighting off high-level zombies, struggling to survive. The next, she’d become a female of the Heluo tribe—a beastman called Xia.

In the beast tribe, adulthood meant living independently.

Every year, the tribe would take their adult males and females to Normandy—the largest marketplace in the Misty Forest, where beastmen, birdfolk, fishfolk, and other races gathered. Males and females who took a liking to each other would pair up and decide which tribe to live in.

Chang Xia didn’t want to get married, but the only way to gain the tribe’s approval was through marriage.

This continent was nothing like Earth.

It was incredibly dangerous. Without the protection of a tribe, even she couldn’t guarantee her survival. After living through the apocalypse, Chang Xia’s only goal was to stay alive.

A few days ago—

She’d gone to the Normandy market with the Heluo tribe, where there were lots of eligible males and females. Led by her tribespeople, Chang Xia went on blind dates. She was small and weak, and as a chinchilla beastman with poor combat skills, most people turned her down.

Beastman matchmaking was nothing like on Earth. Looks weren’t that important—race, fighting ability, and strength were what mattered.

Otherwise, how could you survive against powerful wild beasts?

It was the birdfolk who cared about appearances, and they rarely intermarried with beastmen. Same with the fishfolk.

Chang Xia was small and weak, and as a chinchilla beastman, not good at fighting, so of course no one wanted her.

With no better options, she just found a corner to hide in.

The beastmen were all huge and burly. They didn’t like her, but honestly, she didn’t like them either. All muscle, big eaters, and frankly, not much to look at.

She was small—

Seriously, these beastmen were gigantic. The average height was two meters—what was that even like?

At 1.7 meters, Chang Xia felt like she’d landed in a country of giants.

Her Heluo tribe was in the eastern Misty Forest, a paradise for beastmen. To the east were the birdfolk, to the south the sea, home to the fishfolk. As for what lay beyond, Chang Xia didn’t know yet.

She’d been weak and sickly her whole life, raised by the Heluo tribe. She’d never met her parents. The tribe chief, Gen, said she’d been found by a shaman at the edge of the Misty Forest. The shaman lived alone on Mount Kana and couldn’t raise her, so she was sent to the Heluo tribe.

Chang Xia was frail, ate little, and was a picky eater.

Naturally, she grew up thin and weak.

The beastmen valued offspring. Even though Chang Xia wasn’t related to the tribe by blood, they still raised her with care. But her body just wouldn’t cooperate, and she still looked sickly even as an adult.

Gurgle.

Chang Xia clutched her rumbling stomach—she was hungry. In the tribe, food was either roasted meat or stew, and the taste could be summed up in one word: awful.

Even after surviving the apocalypse for years, Chang Xia still couldn’t get used to it.

But she couldn’t stand out too much in the tribe. She just had to put up with it. This time at the Normandy market, she was determined to find a decent male—not just to stop the tribe chief and others from nagging her, but honestly, for the sake of food, she had to get married. Otherwise, life would be unbearable.

The Normandy market was on the Normandy Plain.

Calling it a market was generous—it was just a bunch of animal hide tents. Beastmen lived rough, with no sense of hygiene or aesthetics. Only the birdfolk and fishfolk were a bit more particular. Beastmen usually just slept on the ground...

Watching the bustling crowds, Chang Xia felt a throbbing headache.

She couldn’t help but recall the words of the clan leader echoing in her mind.

“You’re too weak. You need to find a male to pair with as soon as possible, or how will you support yourself in the future?”

Of course, the beast tribe didn’t strictly require adults to pair up immediately. Chang Xia was a special case—frail, prone to illness, and now that she was an adult, the tribe could no longer afford to support her. If she didn’t find a mate, everyone naturally worried she’d starve to death.

The sun was already sinking in the west.

Was today going to be another wasted day?

Chang Xia clutched her rumbling stomach, her eyes scanning the passing crowds.

Suddenly, her eyes lit up.

At the edge of the grand market, a thin male was walking by. He was very skinny, quite tall—at least two meters by her estimate. His hair was messy and tangled, his face deathly pale, his skin almost translucent. He walked unsteadily and slowly, looking as if he was gravely ill and wouldn’t live long.

Strength wasn’t something Chang Xia cared much about.

After all, she wasn’t exactly helpless herself.

What mattered most was that this male had an exceptionally handsome face—by far the most attractive she’d ever seen.

With that thought, Chang Xia stood up and approached him.

“Hey, male, want to pair up?”

Shen Rong had just returned to the Eastern Lands, feeling dazed and distracted. Out of nowhere, a female blocked his path.

He looked down and saw a female who only reached his chest.

She was petite, her complexion sallow.

Her small, palm-sized face was dominated by a pair of lively, spirited eyes.

“My name’s Chang Xia, from the Heluo tribe of the beast people. What’s your name? Are you paired up yet? Want to pair with me? I’ll provide food and shelter.”

“...” Shen Rong was speechless. Had he been away from the Twilight Forest for too long? Were females nowadays all this bold and direct? For a moment, he was stunned, unable to react.

Seeing the male lost in thought, Chang Xia waved her hand and called out loudly, “Don’t want to?”

“Are you an adult?” Shen Rong hesitated, then couldn’t help but laugh. “Are all beast tribe females as straightforward as you? I thought only the bird tribe was this blunt.”

“If I wasn’t an adult, who’d be allowed at the Normandy Grand Market? Never mind if I’m direct or not—are you willing to pair up with me?” Chang Xia looked him up and down, then stepped forward and patted his thin frame. “You look sickly—no other female would choose you. Don’t worry, I can support you. So… will you come back to the Heluo tribe with me?”

At this, Shen Rong couldn’t help but laugh again.

He’d never met such a lively, energetic female before. For once, he felt a spark of curiosity.

“I eat a lot. Are you sure you can support me?”

Chang Xia stared seriously at Shen Rong’s face—he really was handsome. After a moment’s thought, she took out a clay jar from her basket and pulled out two fish balls, each the size of a baby’s fist.

She’d secretly caught a fish with her trap and made these fish balls from it.

The fish had weighed seven or eight jin.

Without ginger, scallions, or garlic for seasoning, she’d simply made the fish into balls.

“What’s this?” Shen Rong asked curiously.

Chang Xia held out the fish balls. “Fish balls. Here, have some.”

Shen Rong looked at Chang Xia, then at the fish balls. Maybe life in the Heluo tribe wouldn’t be so bad. “My name’s Shen Rong, from the Wolf-Fight clan of the beast tribe. I’ve just wandered here to the Twilight Forest.”

A short while later.

The two of them stood before Gen, the chief of the Heluo tribe.

“Chang Xia, are you sure about this?” Gen was a bit stunned. Just minutes ago, Chang Xia had brought Shen Rong to the tribe’s camp and introduced him as her chosen mate.

The entire Heluo tribe was shocked.

Although the tribe wasn’t satisfied with Shen Rong, in the end, they chose to bless Chang Xia.

“Chief, I’ve made up my mind,” Chang Xia nodded solemnly. “Shen Rong may look weak, but he’s actually quite strong.”

Gen’s face twisted, but he agreed.

After all, he had no choice—none of the other males wanted Chang Xia.

Shen Rong was probably the only male at the Normandy Grand Market who didn’t mind her. Since Chang Xia would still be living in the tribe, if things didn’t work out, Gen and the others could always keep an extra eye on them.

So, when the grand market ended,

Shen Rong followed Chang Xia back to the Heluo tribe’s territory.

Upon their return, Gen wasted no time assigning Chang Xia the beast den she’d picked out earlier. The beast tribe didn’t have any special mating rituals—if two people liked each other, they’d just build a den and live together, and that was that.

Chang Xia was too frail to build her own den.

This den had been left behind by a former tribe member, so it was a special case.

You could say they were living off the tribe’s charity.