Chapter 17: An Eyesore

The saber-toothed tiger struggled desperately, opening its blood-red maw to bite him, but no matter how hard it tried, it couldn’t reach him.

Before long, it was strangled until its eyes rolled back, gasping for breath with far more intake than outflow—it was clearly on the brink of death.

From a distance, Su Xiyue watched the scene unfold, unable to suppress a gasp.

Mo Lin truly lived up to his reputation as a peak fifth-tier beastman. Even the saber-toothed tiger, known as the king of the forest, was no match for him.

In no time, the saber-toothed tiger was strangled to death.

Mo Lin released the tiger’s lifeless body, hovering in midair. His black scales shimmered coldly in the sunlight, emanating a terrifying aura.

The next moment, dark light flickered around the black giant python’s body as it quickly shrank in size. Eventually, it transformed into a tall, strikingly handsome beastman.

His features were sharp and profound, reminiscent of an ancient deity carved in stone—aloof and distant, cold and unapproachable.

It was none other than Mo Lin.

Su Xiyue dusted herself off and emerged from the bushes, looking down at the strangled saber-toothed tiger on the ground. She let out a relieved sigh.

That tiger was finally dead. It had nearly bitten her to death and even interrupted her mid-relief.

Her gaze shifted to Mo Lin, gratitude flickering in her eyes. “Thank you for saving me.”

If he had arrived a little sooner, she wouldn’t have had to tumble down the hillside.

But no matter what, he had saved her.

Expressing thanks was only proper.

Mo Lin’s eyes fell upon her. Noticing the grass skirt she wore, his lips twitched.

What kind of outfit was that?

How much could a few leaves possibly cover?

Layers upon layers of fat piled up on her body, utterly unappealing. It was far worse than wearing a beastskin skirt.

At least that would have been less revealing.

A trace of disdain flickered in his eyes as he muttered to himself: truly ugly.

Yet her skin seemed a bit paler now, less rough and dirty, and all the pimples on her face had vanished. She looked somewhat more pleasant to the eye.

At last, she showed some semblance of femininity—but she was still ugly.

Especially those large buckteeth—they were downright unsightly, eyesores that made him wish he could pull each one out and reset them all.

Su Xiyue felt an odd sensation under his gaze, particularly as he kept staring at her mouth with disdain and a hint of danger.

That damn man—could it be he wanted to pull out her teeth?

Though she knew her buckteeth were ugly, they couldn’t just be pulled out.

She feared even speaking would be affected, let alone eating.

She instinctively took a couple of steps back, covering her mouth warily as she fixed him with a cautious look. “What do you want?”

Mo Lin frowned at her defensive posture and wary eyes, feeling inexplicably annoyed.

His expression darkened with displeasure. “I don’t want anything. I was just checking if your buckteeth can be fixed. If they can, it’s better to treat them early, so they don’t hurt the eyes.”

Those teeth really spoiled the view.

Even though her skin had become much paler and the acne gone, those teeth were still an eyesore.

And all that excess fat—he wished he could carve it all off with a bone knife.

He didn’t realize he was paying more and more attention to Su Xiyue. In the past, he would have been disgusted to even glance at her, let alone think about fixing her teeth.

Su Xiyue looked at him in surprise.

That damn man actually cared about her teeth?

No, it was likely just disdain.

Still, her teeth were undeniably ugly.

She had wanted to straighten them, but this wasn’t the apocalypse, nor was it Chu Youyou’s modern world with orthodontics.

She could only hope to earn system rewards by raising her favorability level, which might allow her to fix them.

She stopped covering her mouth and lowered her hand, smirking faintly. “Of course they can be fixed. As long as you don’t dislike me and treat me better, my teeth can be fixed.”

Mo Lin was momentarily taken aback, not understanding her meaning. If he didn’t dislike her and treated her better, her teeth could be fixed?

What nonsense was that?

He didn’t bother to argue and instead fixed his disdainful gaze on her, sneering coldly, “Change out of that quickly. It’s truly an eyesore. Or are you doing this on purpose, trying to seduce me?”

Su Xiyue was speechless under his gaze and rolled her eyes.

That damned man had such baffling confidence. Who was trying to seduce him?

“My beastskin skirt was torn to shreds by the saber-toothed tiger. If I don’t wear this grass skirt, do you want me to run around naked? If you think it’s an eyesore, you don’t have to look.”

She spoke bluntly.

She was comfortable and cool wearing it.

Besides, she covered all the appropriate parts and wasn’t revealing anything improper. What was there to dislike?

He was just being difficult.

Hearing this, Mo Lin’s face darkened further, more convinced she was deliberately trying to seduce him.

Thinking this way, disdain flickered again in his eyes.

He ignored her, shifting back into his true form. Curling his tail around the saber-toothed tiger’s corpse, he left without even a word to Su Xiyue, unconcerned about her safety.

After all, the chief had only instructed Ye Ling to accompany her, not him. Saving her life just now was already rare.

Mo Lin’s pace was swift, as if afraid that if he slowed down, Su Xiyue would cling to him.

Su Xiyue felt a pang of displeasure that Mo Lin had left her behind without a word.

She pursed her lips and, watching him disappear, muttered, “Damn man.”

Then she turned and followed the route she remembered to the place where she had left the backpacks.

Underneath the chestnut tree, eight backpacks were lined up side by side, all packed full.

A faint smile appeared on her lips.

The harvest today wasn’t bad. Once the tribe’s beastmen returned from hunting, they could head back.

With so many beastmen around, there would be a way to bring all these supplies back.

She moved all eight loaded backpacks to a spot separate from Ye Ling’s.

She hadn’t forgotten that damn man had told her to wait right there.

The five beastmen hunters, except for Bai Qi who was a bit better, were all quite unpleasant.

Especially Qing Zhu, who didn’t even bother to speak to her.

Their disdain was practically written all over their faces.

She sighed softly, feeling the mission to win them over was going to be more difficult than anticipated.

Shaking her head to dispel these chaotic thoughts, she started hauling supplies.

Each backpack was packed to the brim and heavy. After several trips back and forth, she was drenched in sweat and panting heavily.

But at least everything was moved to the other side.

Su Xiyue rested briefly, eating two wild bananas and a goat’s milk fruit, then sat beneath a tree to wait.

It was still early; the hunters hadn’t returned yet.

She wondered whether to explore nearby for anything else.

From afar, she spotted a huge silver-furred giant wolf approaching. Its fierce eyes, bloodstained body, and the massive, bloody prey it carried in its mouth caught her attention.

It looked like a rhinoceros but not quite—she wasn’t sure of the species. It was enormous and meaty.

Clearly, it was a hunting party’s return. If not Ye Ling, then who else?

Surprised, she had no intention of approaching and just sat quietly under the tree.

Ye Ling was even more difficult than Mo Lin and disliked her more. She had no desire to go over and make a fool of herself.

Even if he was her target, she didn’t want to be the one always showing warmth to receive coldness.

Ye Ling noticed her sitting obediently without wandering off and was somewhat surprised.

When had Su Xiyue become so well-behaved?