Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Terrifying, Truly Terrifying

“Chang Xia, have some more soup.”

Shen Rong smiled as he got up to ladle soup for Chang Xia.

Nan Feng and the others teased him, but he just smiled and stayed quiet. Every night, Chang Xia would help Shen Rong nurse his health. Bit by bit, she was mending his broken body.

Recently, Shen Rong felt better with each passing day. Although the poison from the worms in his body hadn’t been cleared yet, his change in mindset made his energy and spirits soar.

Chang Xia took the bowl and whispered, “I really can’t drink any more.”

“It’s fine, just take your time,” Shen Rong said, rubbing her head. The idea that yam was good for health was something Chang Xia had told him.

Lately, the whole tribe had started eating yam together.

And honestly, the results were pretty obvious.

Every time Nan Feng came over from the tribe, she’d bring the elders’ gratitude.

“Shen Rong, I want some soup too,” Ya Dong said, waggling his eyebrows and putting on a cutesy voice as he leaned toward Shen Rong.

Chang Xia: (*/ω＼*) My eyes!

“Ugh, ugh!” Nan Feng gagged, looking thoroughly disgusted.

Shan Kun busied himself serving Nuan Chun food, not daring to look up. Ever since he’d come over to Chang Xia’s side, his calves hadn’t stopped swelling.

Having a “mother leopard” at home—RBQRBQ*.

“Ya Dong—” Shen Rong smiled, gently pushing away the mischievous Ya Dong. He called Ya Dong’s name softly, his smile warm and refined.

Meeting Shen Rong’s half-smiling gaze, Ya Dong couldn’t help but shiver, swallowing hard as his legs went weak. This Shen Rong was scary—he felt like kneeling. Quickly, he put on a fawning smile and straightened his back.

Seeing this, Shan Kun scooted a little farther away.

He felt he was too close to Shen Rong—it didn’t feel safe.

Physically, Shen Rong was a bit thinner than Ya Dong or Shan Kun.

But when you met Shen Rong’s eyes…

For no reason at all, you just felt your own energy drain away.

There was something indescribable about Shen Rong’s aura.

Noticing Shan Kun’s little movement, Shen Rong turned and gave him an even gentler smile. He had a good impression of the steady Shan Kun.

Thump-thump-thump—

Shan Kun’s heart raced as he quickly grabbed Nuan Chun’s hand.

Damn, this version of Shen Rong was even scarier!

Ya Dong, good luck, brother—I can’t save you.

At this moment, Shan Kun didn’t even have the courage to meet Shen Rong’s gaze, fully embodying the phrase “acting from the heart.”

Shen Rong rubbed his forehead, pausing for a moment.

All sorts of question marks filled his mind—was his smile really that scary?

“After we eat, let’s measure the doors and windows. We need to hurry and finish building the cave dwellings, and get Shan Kun’s family’s cave done before the rainy season hits.”

Shen Rong collected his thoughts, his deep, steady voice ringing out.

Ever since Shen Rong arrived, Chang Xia had really let herself go.

Shen Rong lived up to everyone’s expectations—anything he handled always went smoothly.

“What about me?” Nan Feng asked nervously.

A breeze carried the sound of the tribe members chopping wood.

It was obvious they were preparing materials for building the caves. Nan Feng and the others were busy helping Chang Xia and didn’t have time to gather wood, let alone collect stone.

Chang Xia patted Nan Feng on the shoulder and said calmly, “Don’t worry, just follow Shen Rong’s arrangements. Shan Kun’s family’s three-chamber cave will be done in no time.”

“I want to move into a cave before the rainy season too,” Nan Feng said eagerly.

“Don’t worry, we’ll make it,” Shen Rong replied. “The wood and stone you and the tribe brought over is more than enough. I plan to use all the wood to make doors and windows. When you build your caves, just follow the dimensions of ours. That way, we’ll save a ton of time.”

Hearing this, Chang Xia gave Shen Rong a big thumbs up.

Wow—

Shen Rong had even mastered the art of the assembly line.

Beast tribe, I hereby declare you the strongest!

Nan Feng and Nuan Chun were instantly excited.

They quickly thanked Shen Rong—saving time on making doors and windows meant that once Chang Xia’s cave was done, they could immediately dig their own, build the mud walls, install the doors and windows, and move in right away.

Goodness, Nan Feng and the others couldn’t help but exclaim in amazement.

They wolfed down their food, then dashed off to make doors and windows. After all, whether they could move into their caves soon depended on this—they couldn’t help but be both anxious and excited.

Meanwhile, Shen Rong took Ya Dong and Shan Kun to work on the doors and windows.

Chang Xia led Nan Feng and Nuan Chun to the caves to build the kang (heated brick bed). She planned to expand and renovate the cave behind the wall after they moved in. The cave connected to the upper reaches of White Lake, which basically meant they had a convenient back door. Chang Xia was also thinking about exploring the upper reaches of the lake.

There were several stoves built on the open ground in front of the cave, each with a stone pot on top.

These stone pots were for melting resin.

Chang Xia used stones to build the kang, and resin was an essential adhesive.

Since the kang was connected to the wall and the stove, Chang Xia didn’t dare cut corners. With so many cave chambers, she didn’t plan to build a kang in every single one—it was too much trouble. After all, building the kang and its walls required a lot of consideration, especially for ventilation.

The two rightmost connected chambers would have kangs, and the three-chamber cave on the right would have one room for storage and two with kangs. One of these was for Bai Qing, and the room for the shaman was the first one on the left near the main hall.

The two rooms next to those were undecided for now. The far left chamber, which connected to the cave/cellar, would naturally be used for storage. The one next to the shaman’s room would be reserved for the shaman.

The left side was shady, so Chang Xia didn’t plan to live there.

Looking at it all, Chang Xia’s cave dwelling was pretty big.

“Chang Xia, with so many chambers, how many beast cubs are you planning to have?” Nuan Chun asked, holding her belly as she sat next to Chang Xia, handing her stones.

Outside, Nan Feng was melting resin.

Once the resin melted, she’d add other ingredients to make the adhesive.

In the end, it would become the perfect glue. The recipe for resin glue was a beast tribe secret—even the bird tribe had traded for it before.

*RBQRBQ is a playful internet slang meaning “Mother Leopard at Home, Run as Fast as You Can.”"

Chang Xia blushed, looking a little awkward.

“We’re planning to just enjoy life for a few years and not have any beast cubs for now.”

Beast cubs—soft, fluffy, and adorable.

They were fun, but also a handful.

At the moment, Chang Xia wasn’t ready. After all, she and Shen Rong were still just getting used to living together.

Wait a little longer. Just a little longer.

“It’s fine to wait a few more years. Neither you nor Shen Rong are in the best health. Having beast cubs is hard on the body,” Nuan Chun thought for a moment, then nodded, agreeing with Chang Xia’s decision.

Chang Xia turned away to wipe the sweat from her forehead, relieved that she’d managed to dodge the topic.

Marriage pressure, pressure to have children—

These were the two scariest issues in any traditional society.

“Chang Xia, should we build the stove inside or outside the house?” Nan Feng called out, carrying a bucket of prepared resin, poking her head in to ask.

Chang Xia pointed to a spot she had circled on the ground. “Build one inside the cave house and another outside. But don’t build them yet—let me do it. The stove I want is different from the usual ones in the tribe.”

The stove needed to connect to the heated kang bed, and also be used for cooking.

Naturally, it was different from a regular stove.

So Nan Feng took over the task of building the kang bed, while Chang Xia had already experimented many times with stoves in the beast den with Shen Rong, finally figuring out the best design before daring to build one in the cave house.

“Chang Xia, you’re amazing!” Nuan Chun couldn’t help but exclaim, whether it was food or cave houses—these were things they’d never even thought of before.

But in Chang Xia’s hands, everything seemed so simple.

When they were young, everyone used to be jealous of Chang Xia. Out of all the beast cubs in the tribe, even among the beast race, only Chang Xia was favored by the shaman. How could her peers not be envious?

But every time they saw Chang Xia lying in the beast den, pale and sickly, that jealousy would vanish.

Chang Xia shrugged. “If you had to lie around in a beast den for over a decade, you’d start coming up with all sorts of ideas too.”

She laughed it off, quickly changing the subject.

Her past couldn’t stand up to scrutiny. But whether it was the shaman or the Heluo tribe, they all tacitly covered for her, which only made her more bold.

So, being able to come to the Twilight Forest and become a member of the Heluo tribe—

How lucky she was!