Chapter 62: Perfectly Reasonable

"System, is that sharp-tongued Qingzhu hiding nearby?" she asked the system in her mind.

"Yes, Host. He is hiding behind an ancient tree watching you right now," the system replied honestly.

Su Xiyue's mouth twitched slightly. The sharp-tongued fellow was indeed lurking nearby to spy on her. However, she didn't mind; if he wanted to peek, let him peek. It would be simply wonderful if it could help increase her favorability points.

Ignoring Qingzhu, she continued to teach everyone how to weave back-baskets, explaining the steps as she demonstrated. Soon, a back-basket gradually took shape, woven to perfection. At the very least, it was countless times better than the first one she had ever made.

The females present stared at the flawlessly woven back-basket in her hands, their eyes filled with astonishment. Yunxiang ran over happily, took the back-basket from her, and examined it closely.

"Wow, Xiyue, you're amazing! This back-basket is woven so neatly and looks so sturdy. It can definitely hold a lot of things," she exclaimed in admiration.

Shuishu also walked over and praised with a smile, "Xiyue, you are so clever to come up with such a way to weave back-baskets. Gathering things will be so much more convenient for us from now on."

The other females chimed in with smiles and agreement. The disdain and contempt they originally held for Su Xiyue had now transformed into awe and admiration.

Looking at everyone, she smiled faintly and said, "How could I ever think of something like this? The Beast God taught it to me in a dream."

She had already used this excuse to hoodwink Bai Qi, and Bai Qi had believed it without a shadow of a doubt. Now, she was simply repeating it. In the beast world, people worshipped the Beast God, and any inexplicable matter could be attributed to him since no one had any way to verify it anyway.

"The Beast God taught you?"

Yunxiang paused, her hands clutching the back-basket as she looked at her with shocked and bewildered eyes. Although Shuishu remained silent, the gaze she directed at Su Xiyue was equally astonished. The other females present also wore incredulous expressions, tinged with a hint of reverence.

Hidden behind the giant tree, Qingzhu was frozen in shock, accidentally peeling off a piece of bark from the trunk.

Facing everyone's shocked gazes, Su Xiyue nodded calmly. "Indeed, the Beast God taught me, three days after I awakened my ability. The Beast God said that my potential was extraordinary, but I had been too foolish in the past. To prevent me from going astray, he imparted knowledge to me in my dream, hoping I could help improve the tribe's life."

This explanation was flawless and perfectly logical.

Yunxiang swallowed hard and looked at her with complex emotions. "Then... the fact that you can identify mushrooms, make delicious food, and teach us which foods are edible—was that all taught to you by the Beast God too?"

"Of course! If Lord Beast God hadn't enlightened me in a dream, how could I possibly understand so much?" Su Xiyue blinked, lying without even blushing.

Hearing her affirmative answer, the females present looked at her differently, their eyes mixed with a hint of awe. After all, she was the only person in the Wolf Tribe besides the priest who had ever made contact with the Beast God.

"Then... what else did Lord Beast God teach you in your dream?" Shuishu couldn't help asking.

Yunxiang and the other females were equally curious about this question, their gazes fixed entirely on her. Qingzhu, hidden in the shadows, was no exception; he pricked up his ears to listen, his eyes locked firmly on the scene.

"He taught me many things, such as how to make delicious and storable food, how to build houses, how to make pottery jars, and so on..." Su Xiyue said, blending truth with falsehood.

These were all things she planned to do next. The earthen bricks for building houses were difficult to fire, but constructing wooden cabins was entirely feasible. Although wooden cabins were not as sturdy as houses built with earthen bricks, they were still quite good. Of course, if she could fire earthen bricks, building with them would naturally be better. As for the specifics, she would study them when the time came. As for pottery jars, she needed to carve out time to find clay, shape the pottery, and fire it. Oh, firing pottery jars seemed to require building a kiln. She suddenly realized she still had a mountain of tasks to do. These could only be tackled one step at a time.

The females present were unaware of her inner thoughts. Hearing her words, they all wore yearning expressions. Whether it was delicious food, storable provisions, houses, or pottery jars, each was extremely precious and desperately needed by the tribe. Everyone was dying to know how Su Xiyue would manage to make all these things.

"Alright, everyone stop daydreaming. I've already demonstrated how to weave a back-basket and explained the process. Surely you all remember it by now. Go find some vines and weave them according to my method. Let me see whose work turns out the best." She clapped her hands to remind them.

The females snapped back to reality and began searching the vicinity for suitable vines to weave their back-baskets, running over to ask Su Xiyue whenever they encountered something they didn't understand.

Hiding behind the tree, Qingzhu took in everything before him, a strange glint flashing in his emerald eyes. This chubby woman really seemed to have changed. Not only had she lost weight and grown fairer, but she also looked much smarter and more capable, possessing so much knowledge that others lacked.

Could it really be that the Beast God taught her in a dream? If it weren't for the Beast God's guidance, there was simply no other way to explain the changes in her. Although this explanation sounded absurd, he somehow found himself half-believing it.

"Ding! Qingzhu's favorability has increased by another 10 points. Current favorability is 20. Please keep up the good work, Host."

Just then, the system's voice rang out in Su Xiyue's mind once again.

She paused slightly, casting an imperceptible glance toward the surrounding trees. She didn't spot Qingzhu's figure, but she knew the sharp-tongued fellow was hiding nearby. For whatever reason, he was choosing to stay out of sight.

Still, she didn't care; if he wanted to hide, let him hide. He must have overheard her explanation about the Beast God's dream visit, otherwise his favorability wouldn't have inexplicably increased.

In a pleasant mood and seeing everyone busy searching for vines to weave baskets, she couldn't help wanting to check on the favorability ratings of her beast mates.

"System, what are the current favorability ratings of the beast mates?" Too lazy to open the panel, she found it much more convenient to just ask the system directly.

The system replied promptly: "Yeling's favorability is -20, Molin's is 0, Bai Qi's is 5, Qingzhu's is 20, and Xuanming's is 15."

Su Xiyue raised an eyebrow slightly. Viewed this way, the sharp-tongued fellow actually had the highest favorability at the moment.

Recalling that Yeling was at -20 and Molin at 0, she frowned slightly. It seemed she needed to grind up the favorability of these two scumbags as soon as possible. Especially Yeling's favorability; it had to be pushed to 0 immediately. Doing so would not only grant her a reward but also unlock a side quest.

Unaware that he had been discovered, and entirely clueless about her thoughts, Qingzhu cast one last deep look at Su Xiyue before silently slipping away.

***

Over at the Winged Tiger Tribe, however, the scene was entirely different.

Chu悠悠's (Chu Youyou's) days were not nearly as pleasant as she had imagined. She had originally thought that she was different from the females here and understood so much modern knowledge that she would undoubtedly be sought after and chased after by many beasts and females. But reality was completely the opposite.

For some unknown reason, that Yunzhu not only possessed stunning looks but also happened to understand a vast amount of modern knowledge. Chu Youyou had originally wanted to teach everyone how to weave back-baskets to win the recognition of the Winged Tiger Tribe members. Who could have known that Yunzhu seemed to have known in advance, beating her to the punch by teaching everyone how to weave back-baskets first?

Yunzhu had even discovered many edible foods and created various culinary delicacies, causing the beasts and females of the tribe to idolize her. Even the chieftain, the medicine woman, and the priest held Yunzhu in the highest regard and showered her with praise. Everyone believed that Yunzhu had received the personal guidance of the Beast God.

This left Chu Youyou extremely displeased. Although she had also produced many things that didn't exist in this world and had similarly won the adoration of some beasts and females, everyone seemed to favor Yunzhu much more, treating Chu Youyou with a noticeably lower level of enthusiasm.

This was completely different from the picture she had anticipated, where all the indigenous people would chase after her and worship her.