Chapter 20: Two Conditions
She turned her gaze toward Nightling, her eyes flashing briefly as she walked over with a smile and asked, “Nightling, could you do me a favor?”
Nightling lifted his eyelids slightly and looked at her coldly, refusing without a second thought, “No.”
She was not surprised by his indifference and rejection; her smile remained unchanged.
Then she switched tactics, speaking softly, “Nightling, these stones are really important to me. I need them to improve my life. If you help me carry them back, I can agree to one of your conditions.”
Nightling raised an eyebrow, his silver eyes filled with surprise as he asked, “Any condition?”
His expression was half-smiling, his voice playful.
Su Xiyue grew nervous, knowing this scoundrel was not easy to deal with. She bit her lip and nodded, “As long as the condition isn’t excessive and I can manage it, anything is fine.”
She deliberately emphasized the words “isn’t excessive” and “can manage.”
Nightling scoffed, looking at her ample flesh with disdain. “Since you say that, I have two conditions. First, you must lose 50 jin (about 25 kilograms) within a month. Second…”
He paused, watching her nervous expression, then continued, “Second, you’re not allowed to deliberately disgust me like before—hanging on me or doing other unbearable things.”
Hearing his two conditions, she felt a slight relief; she was already trying to lose weight.
Who could bear nearly 300 jin (about 150 kilograms)?
She was still a woman and simply couldn’t tolerate it.
However, losing 50 jin in a month was quite challenging, and she wasn’t sure if she could do it.
Was this scoundrel trying to starve her to death?
But she also knew she was too overweight and had to lose weight.
It was considerate of him not to demand she lose 100 jin in a month.
As for the second condition, as long as Nightling didn’t provoke her, she wouldn’t deliberately disgust him.
“Fine, I agree,” Su Xiyue said after some thought.
Nightling was puzzled by her quick agreement, suspecting she might be scheming.
But he wasn’t afraid of her going back on her word; if she dared, he would know how to deal with her.
He got up and walked to where the woven basket, stone pot, and stone mill were placed.
Looking at the fully packed basket and two large stones, his expression darkened.
“How do you expect me to carry all this? Am I supposed to bear it on my back?”
Even if he could carry it, let alone bring her along.
Su Xiyue glanced at the scattered items on the ground, feeling a bit embarrassed.
“Well... since you can transform into beast form, you can hang the basket on your back, carry the stone pot in your mouth, and for the stone mill, I’ll weave a sturdier basket to hang on you as well. One basket on each side, and I’ll sit on top.”
Nightling’s face darkened further.
Carrying something in his mouth, two baskets hanging on his back, and still having to carry her.
He, a grand fifth-tier peak beastman, had become a pack mule.
But having promised, he couldn’t back out.
Seeing he said nothing, Su Xiyue took it as acceptance and quickly gathered some flexible, strong vines nearby.
She sat down on a stone and started weaving the basket.
Her movements were skilled.
In the time it took to finish a cup of tea, a sturdy basket was completed.
Nightling watched her intently, silver eyes showing surprise.
He had assumed the baskets were brought from somewhere else but didn’t expect her to have woven them herself.
Neither the Wolf Tribe nor even Beast King City had such things.
He was curious where she learned this craft.
“What do you call this? It does seem convenient for carrying things,” he asked softly.
His tone was no longer cold but calm.
Su Xiyue glanced at him and casually replied, “It’s called a backpack basket. I came up with it. You can use it to carry things.”
Nightling’s deep silver eyes stared at her, clearly doubting her words.
In his impression, Su Xiyue was lazy, gluttonous, mischievous, infatuated, slovenly, and not smart—how could she have invented something like this?
Yet, he did sense she had changed.
At least she was less lazy, less sloppy, and much smarter.
The pimples and pustules on her face had also cleared, and her skin was somewhat paler, though she was still not pretty.
“You seem different,” he suddenly said, his silver eyes probing her deeply.
Su Xiyue was startled by the remark, paused her weaving, and looked at him, feigning calm, “How am I different?”
She felt nervous inside, fearing this scoundrel would see through her.
But she was not the original owner of this body and could not live according to the original personality.
Nightling’s silver eyes continued to scrutinize her silently.
When she finished weaving the basket, he stepped forward, bent down, and placed half of the stone mill inside, then lifted it to test its sturdiness.
Fortunately, the vines were strong and flexible enough to bear the weight of the stone mill without issue.
A flash of white light surrounded him as he transformed into beast form—majestic, imposing, and extraordinarily handsome.
He opened his wolf-like jaws, clamped the two baskets, and flung them onto his back, one hanging on each side.
Seeing this, Su Xiyue quickly climbed on.
Feeling the weight on his back, Nightling’s face darkened, but he said nothing.
With the stone pot still clamped in his mouth, he leapt forward and swiftly left the rocky mountain, sprinting toward the meeting point of the Tagel Forest.
Despite carrying her and the heavy stones, his speed was not the least bit slow.
About half an hour later, they arrived at the rendezvous.
By then, many beastmen had gathered there, and piles of various prey lay on the ground, thick with the scent of blood.
Beastmen gathered in groups of three to five, chatting and laughing.
Su Xiyue sat atop Nightling’s back and immediately spotted her father Su Lie, her brother Su Mu, Mo Lin, Bai Qi, Qing Zhu, Xuan Ming, four beastmen hunters, and other tribe members.
Clearly, this was the hunting party’s return point, and it seemed they were waiting for her.
The beastmen present noticed the large stone clutched in Nightling’s mouth, the two strange baskets hanging on his back, and Su Xiyue sitting atop him.
Especially Su Xiyue—what on earth was she wearing?
It looked somewhat like a grass skirt.
A few leaves hung on her body, barely covering her essential parts. The rest of her excess flesh was completely exposed, sagging and piled up layer upon layer, greasy and glaringly unpleasant to the eye.
However, her skin seemed paler, and the pimples and pustules on her face had cleared.
Su Lie’s face darkened like a bottomless pot when he saw her attire but said nothing.
As Nightling approached, the beastmen gathered around.
“Nightling, what is that thing? I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“Looks like woven vines. There’s seven or eight under that tree, covered with grass. I noticed them earlier but didn’t know who put them there.”
“Hey, why are those baskets filled with stones? And such strange shapes…”
“Yeah, Nightling, why bring back so many stones? Where’s your prey?”
...
Faced with their chatter, Nightling’s face was sullen and threatening, but he ignored them.
He opened his wolf jaws, dropping the stone pot to the ground, and said coldly, “Get down already.”
He was speaking to Su Xiyue on his back.
She said nothing and quickly dismounted.
Nightling shook off the two baskets onto the ground, transformed back to human form with a flash of white light.
Su Lie approached, ignoring Su Xiyue’s grass skirt.
He didn’t care what she wore as long as she wasn’t running around naked.
He looked at the stone pot and the two baskets filled with oddly shaped stones and frowned.
“Nightling, where is your prey? Why bring back so many strange stones for no reason?”
Mo Lin, Bai Qi, Qing Zhu, Xuan Ming, Su Mu, and several others also gathered curiously.
The others didn’t know what those baskets were, but Xuan Ming did.
He had seen Su Xiyue weave them before and knew they were for carrying things—called backpack baskets.
But he had no idea why she brought back so many strange stones.