Yue Li carefully roasted the meat as Xing Lian sat beside her, bringing up the previous night.
“Do you know what happened last night? Who were those people in black?”
“I don’t know.”
Yue Li shook her head bluntly.
“I see.”
Xing Lian lowered her gaze, then asked what Yue Li thought about it.
“Thoughts? I don’t have any.”
This continent was constantly embroiled in war. Beast girls frequently fought and killed each other. Though the scale of last night’s attack was large, in the grand scheme of the entire continent, it wasn’t all that significant.
Yue Li had long grown accustomed to such things. That was why she had chosen to claim a territory in the forest rather than live in a more comfortable city.
Xing Lian couldn’t quite understand. The experience last night was too terrifying. Not figuring it out left her uneasy, so she continued discussing it with Yue Li.
When Yue Li said she didn’t know the situation and had no thoughts on it, Xing Lian shared her own thoughts instead.
“Don’t you think the clothes those people in black wore last night looked a lot like the ones we encountered last time?”
The “last time” Xing Lian referred to was when they were fishing by the lake. They had run into several women in black, and Yue Li had killed them all.
“Now that you mention it, they do seem similar.”
Yue Li thought for a moment and nodded lightly.
“Do you think they could be from the same group?”
Xing Lian pressed further.
“Possible.”
“I think so too.”
Xing Lian clapped her hands excitedly, but then she had nothing else to say.
There was no helping it. Even if she knew the two groups were likely the same people, they had no clues other than the clothing style. She didn’t have a deep understanding of this world, and neither did Yue Li. There was simply no way to guess the identities or motives of their attackers.
“Alright, alright, enough of that. The meat’s ready. Come eat.”
Yue Li interrupted Xing Lian’s thoughts. She tore off a hind leg from the roasted rabbit, wrapped it in clean leaves, and handed it over.
“Thanks.”
Xing Lian reached out and took it.
Her sleep had been disturbed last night, and she had woken up late. Now she felt very hungry.
Yue Li’s cooking skills were excellent. The rabbit meat was roasted to perfection. Even without seasoning, it was still very delicious.
Xing Lian ate until grease coated her lips. She alternated between eating the roasted meat and drinking water, only feeling full after finishing both rabbit legs.
After eating, Xing Lian washed her hands with water and asked Yue Li what they should do next.
“Let’s head to a nearby city or town. Figure out the current situation and find a safe place to settle down.”
With Xing Lian by her side, Yue Li didn’t want to stay out in the wilderness any longer.
Xing Lian nodded. She didn’t want to endure hardship, so she had no objections.
With their decision made, Yue Li transformed back into her original form—a Red Wolf—and crouched down for Xing Lian to climb onto her back.
Xing Lian tightened her hair tie, struggled to climb up, and grabbed fistfuls of Yue Li’s fur.
“Hold tight.”
Yue Li began running through the forest.
Four legs were faster than two. In her original form, her speed increased significantly.
Yue Li moved like lightning. The wind roared past Xing Lian’s ears. Her skin was too delicate—it felt like blades scraping against it—so she had no choice but to crouch down low.
Two hours later, Yue Li gradually slowed down. Xing Lian opened her eyes and asked in confusion.
“Why did you stop? Are we there yet?”
“We’ve arrived, but…”
Yue Li hesitated.
“But?”
Xing Lian grew even more puzzled.
But soon enough, she understood.
Without shifting back to human form, Yue Li carried her straight out of the forest. In the black-and-white vision, the outlines of buildings gradually appeared. It was a small village.
There was no one in the village. Many houses had collapsed, and some had been burned to the ground. The ground was stained with large patches of dried blood.
Seeing this, Xing Lian’s face changed. She thought of the chaos in the city last night.
No way!
Had this place been attacked too?
As Yue Li walked deeper into the village, Xing Lian saw more and her expression grew increasingly grim.
Corpses. Corpses were everywhere.
There were dozens in sight, and surely many more in areas she couldn’t see. How many people could a village hold? Had everyone here been wiped out?
The blood on the corpses had already coagulated, but the bodies themselves showed no signs of decay. They looked like they had died recently, most likely last night as well.
This village was nearly a hundred miles from the city.
Attacking both a city and a village simultaneously—and possibly more places—what kind of force could achieve that? And what conspiracy lay behind it all?
Xing Lian’s face was full of worry, but Yue Li didn’t dwell on such things.
She didn’t care about these messy matters. She only wanted to take Xing Lian to a safe place.
The village was already a ruin. There was nothing worth lingering over. Yue Li carried Xing Lian out of the village and sprinted down the road.
Throughout the journey, Yue Li remained extremely alert, afraid of encountering danger.
In her beast form, Yue Li was incredibly fast. Over the course of several hours, she covered nearly a hundred miles and found several other villages.
But every single one had been destroyed. There was no one left. This frustrated Yue Li greatly.
All she wanted was to find a safe place to rest. Why was it so hard?
After running all day, even Yue Li felt tired. As the sky gradually darkened, she had no choice but to find a place to spend the night.
They were currently in the middle of a main road. Resting here was too dangerous. Yue Li carried Xing Lian into the dense forest beside the road. After searching for a while, she finally found a suitable spot.
“There’s a small stream here. If you feel uncomfortable, you can wash up a bit. I’ll find something to start a fire.”
Yue Li crouched down.
Xing Lian carefully jumped off.
Yue Li transformed back into human form and found an open space not far from the stream. She cleared a patch of ground and began gathering branches to start a fire.
Xing Lian had been riding on Yue Li all day, and her bottom was sore. She reached back to rub her rear, stretched her body, and then walked toward the stream.
Finding a spot by the stream, she sat down, bent over, cupped water, and splashed her face.
The stream water was cool. Splashing it on her face made her feel much more refreshed.
She took a couple of sips, then turned and walked back to the clearing, picking up branches alongside Yue Li.
“You don’t need to help. I can handle it myself.”
Yue Li stopped her with concern.
“I want to help.”
Xing Lian shook her head. Picking up branches was a small task she could definitely manage.
Seeing Xing Lian insist, Yue Li didn’t say anything more.
After gathering enough branches, Yue Li sorted through them, arranged the thicker ones into a circle, used friction to start a fire, and then went into the forest to hunt.
She didn’t keep Xing Lian waiting long before she returned.
This time, her catch was a small deer.
The deer was truly tiny, weighing only a few dozen pounds. It was still a fawn.
Yue Li processed the deer, washed it in the stream, then skewered the meat and placed it, along with the deer legs, over the fire to roast.
Soon, the meat was cooked, and the two of them ate.
After finishing the roasted meat, it was still early. Xing Lian had nothing to do, so she walked over to the stream, sat down, took off her shoes and socks, and began to play in the water.