Chapter 65: Bright, Watery Eyes

He looked through the bushes at Mia and Miyao, thinking of how they called Mu Qing their mother.

How could he not understand? This was most likely some bastard child Mu Qing had given birth to after having an affair with another beastman.

Just like how Mu Qing had secretly given birth to two cubs for him.

The thought that Mu Qing had other lovers besides him filled his heart with anger.

Yet, anger aside, the thought of Mu Qing being imprisoned in the dungeon and suffering torture by Su Lie filled him with endless worry.

Rever was anxious and wanted to rescue Mu Qing, but he had no idea how to begin.

Although he was a late-stage tier-four beastman and his strength was considered quite good, he was still far inferior to Su Lie.

Coupled with the heavily guarded dungeon, once discovered, not only would he fail to save anyone, but he would likely lose his own life there as well.

For a moment, he paced back and forth frantically, not knowing what to do.

Mia and Miyao did not notice Rever lurking in the shadows; after chatting for a moment, the two of them parted ways.

Rever thought of returning to the Frenzied Lion Tribe to ask Chiyan the chieftain for help, to see if the other party was willing to send troops to attack the Wolf Tribe.

Yet the moment this thought surfaced, he dismissed it.

Chieftain Chiyan would never dispatch troops to attack the Wolf Tribe over such a trivial matter.

Nor did he possess the weight to persuade the other party.

Rever suddenly thought of Su Lie's son, Su Mu. It was understandable that Su Lie hated Mu Qing for betraying him.

As a son, would Su Mu really bear to watch his mother suffer in the dungeon?

He felt he could try talking to Su Mu. Although there were risks involved, it was currently the best option.

After hesitating for a while, he decided to go find Su Mu.

Setting aside his twenty-year bond with Mu Qing, just the fact that she had given birth to two cubs for him made it impossible for him to simply wash his hands of the matter and do nothing.

Seeing that there was no one around, Rever vanished into the back mountains in the blink of an eye.

Clearly, he had gone off in secret to find Su Mu.

………

Su Xiyue knew nothing of these events, and even if she had known, she would not have cared.

At that moment, she was teaching the females of the tribe how to weave various rattan crafts.

Everyone learned quickly and was very deft-handed, successfully weaving a wide variety of rattan items.

There were hand-held baskets, small and exquisite, as well as rattan crates that could be used for carrying things.

She had also woven a few of each for herself, planning to keep them for her own use.

Looking up at the sky and seeing the sun directly overhead, she realized it was already midday and stopped weaving.

Shortly after, she led everyone back to the tribe.

Along the way, she casually plucked a few clusters of wild scallions and also managed to find a bird's nest containing a total of eight eggs.

They were a bit small, and she planned to keep them to fry with eggs for lunch.

When Su Xiyue returned to her cave, the first thing she saw on the ground at the entrance was a saber-toothed tiger, already dead and field-dressed.

Su Xiyue froze instantly. Who on earth had brought this here?

She looked around to the left and right, but no one was in sight.

Frowning deeply, she suddenly remembered Yeling, that jerk of a man, saying that morning that he would hunt a ferocious beast for her later. At the time, she hadn't paid any attention to it, assuming he was just casually talking big.

Could it really be him?

Su Xiyue lowered her gaze to look at the processed saber-toothed tiger on the ground. Its size was easily four or five hundred pounds; this was rare and precious beast meat, rich in vital energy.

Normally, this would be a wonderful thing, something she might not even have the chance to eat on ordinary days.

Yet at this moment, she felt somewhat troubled, unsure of how to deal with it.

The reindeer Mo Lin had hunted yesterday had not been finished yet, with a third still remaining.

Although it was being kept chilled with cold water, the weather was so hot that if she didn't eat it soon, it would truly go bad.

She would have loved to cure it with salt, but unfortunately, she didn't have that much salt on hand.

Looking at the saber-toothed tiger before her, she let out a sigh.

Then, an idea struck her, and her eyes lit up instantly.

If there was no salt, could she smoke it instead?

Smoking could also keep meat fresh for a very long time, and smoked meat possessed a uniquely rich flavor and texture.

Su Xiyue was a woman of action; once she decided on something, she did it immediately.

She placed the rattan wares she had woven in the Moonlight Forest inside the cave.

Then, in the open space at the cave entrance, she constructed a simple smoking rack.

Using her bone knife, she cut the saber-toothed tiger meat into sizes suitable for smoking.

The bone knife was completely useless, and it took a tremendous amount of effort just to slice off a single piece of meat.

She sighed inwardly, thinking that as expected of ferocious beast meat; if only she had a proper kitchen knife here.

Alas, she could only dream.

Still, she could always go searching for iron when she had the time.

Those matters would have to wait for the future; the most important thing right now was to smoke all this meat to keep it from spoiling.

After cutting for nearly half an hour, she finally divided all the saber-toothed tiger meat into evenly sized strips, punched a hole at the top of each with the bone knife, and threaded them onto vines.

Finally, she washed them clean and hung them on the rack for smoking.

Her actions instantly attracted the attention of the tribe's beastmen and females, who crowded around out of curiosity to see what she was doing.

Yeling, Molin, Baiqi, Qingzhu, and Xuanming were also among them.

Their gazes were fixed intently on the smoking frame; it looked like roasting meat, yet not quite.

A curious beastman stepped forward, pointed at the smoking frame, and asked, "Su Xiyue, what are you doing? This looks like roasting meat, but it doesn't seem like it."

Su Xiyue looked up and saw that it was Manfeng, a tier-four beastman of the tribe and also one of Yunxiang's mates.

She smiled and explained, "I'm making smoked meat. This can make the meat last much longer, and the flavor will be even more unique and delicious."

Manfeng's eyes widened. "Smoked meat? What kind of thing is that? Is it delicious? Can it really last a very long time like you said?"

Not only him, but the surrounding beastmen and females all wore astonished expressions.

Yeling, Molin, Baiqi, Qingzhu, and Xuanming were no exception, though their expressions varied.

In this era, food preservation had always been a major problem, especially during the hot seasons when meat spoiled easily.

If Su Xiyue's method actually worked, it would be a tremendous blessing for the tribe.

With this method, everyone could hunt more prey during the harvest season and store it through smoking to eat during the snow season.

With an ample food supply, they would no longer have to worry about going hungry during the winter.

Naturally aware of the importance of food storage, Su Xiyue looked at everyone and smiled, "Of course it's true. As for whether it tastes good, that depends on personal preference. Once the smoking is done, I'll invite everyone to try some."

In any case, she quite liked it herself.

The beastmen present didn't care much whether it tasted good or not after hearing her words.

As long as it could keep for a long time and sustain them through the snow season, they would force themselves to eat it even if it tasted bad—anything was better than starving to death.

The females present crowded around, all talking at once and expressing their desire to learn the smoking method.

Su Xiyue readily agreed, and as she continued smoking the meat, she carefully explained the entire process to everyone.

The females and beastmen present listened intently, fixing their eyes on her every movement.

Yeling stood amidst the crowd, his gaze complex as he watched Su Xiyue.

He had to admit that this chubby woman was indeed becoming more and more capable; not only were her skills impressive, but she also knew so many novel things.

The tribe's females said she had received guidance from the Beast God in her dreams.

Though that reasoning sounded a bit far-fetched, he found himself inexplicably believing it somewhat.

Otherwise, how else could one explain a person changing so drastically in such a short time while knowing everything?

"Ding! Congratulations to the host. Yeling's favorability has increased by 20. His current favorability is 0, reaching the state of neutrality. The host is rewarded with sparkling, bright eyes and a side quest has been unlocked."

At that exact moment, the system's voice suddenly chimed in Su Xiyue's mind.