Su Yu was completely bewildered.
She hadn't finished reading the Beast World novel. When the villainess who shared her name kept courting death until everyone despised her, eventually dying in the frozen wastes, she had gotten so angry she'd deleted the book from her digital shelf.
Naturally, she also missed the part where the author explained the rules of the Beast Mark when the female lead mated with her first Beast Husband.
On top of that, the original owner of this body had no memories about mating, either. All she knew was that after mating, the male would be loyal to his partner. She was clueless about anything else.
Shi Wei sighed and began to explain it all to her in detail.
Both males and females receive a Beast Mark upon mating. After the two are joined, the other's Beast Mark will appear on their bodies.
The female's Beast Mark can soothe a male's volatile emotions.
The male's Beast Mark can nourish the female's body and guarantees his absolute loyalty. He will always prioritize protecting the female.
A male who strays after mating will suffer a pain akin to being pierced by ten thousand swords.
After all, the disparity between the number of males and females in this world was vast. Without such a guarantee, females could easily be kept by powerful males, treated as mere objects to placate them.
Su Yu had a sudden realization and felt a little more at ease.
Shi Wei ruffled her hair. "So don't worry. I won't regret mating with you."
Su Yu nodded. Feeling the warm, dry touch on her head, her cheeks flushed red. She looked down to "see" him, and remembering the system's mission, decided to strike while the iron was hot. "So... do you want to mate with me now?"
Shi Wei froze for a moment before refusing, "Not right now."
Su Yu's heart shattered.
'Didn't he just say he wanted to mate with me? Why is he rejecting me now?'
'Is he just playing with me?'
Seeing how disappointed she looked, Shi Wei's ears turned red. He cleared his throat. "Don't be anxious. Your body is too weak. If we were to... couple now, you wouldn't be able to handle it."
Su Yu stared blankly for a second, then her face instantly turned beet red, feeling like it was on fire. "I'm not anxious."
A smile was in Shi Wei's eyes as he nodded. "Right. You're not anxious. I am."
Su Yu's face burned even hotter. She pulled the Beast Skin up to hide her face. "I'm going to sleep."
Shi Wei didn't tease her anymore. "Okay, you sleep. I'll watch over you."
Su Yu closed her eyes, and listening to the crackle and pop of the campfire, she drifted off to sleep before she knew it.
-
Su Yu temporarily took up residence in Granny Wu Zhi's cave. She would wait for winter to pass before moving to Shi Wei's cave with him.
Winter was long. The Beastmen of the tribe huddled in their caves, sharing warmth to survive the season. Besides a few males who came to ask Granny Wu Zhi to check on their pregnant females, the most frequent visitor was Shi Wei.
Night after night passed. After countless days, the long winter was finally over. The last of the snow melted into the rivers, and the warmth of spring arrived.
Su Yu could clearly feel the weather warming up, and the quiet tribe was becoming lively again.
She couldn't sit still any longer. She had to take a bath!
Who could possibly understand the pain of only being able to wipe down your butt and body with hot water for all these days!
Su Yu felt like she was starting to go sour.
More importantly, she needed to find other things to eat.
She was eating roasted meat every day; she felt like she was turning into roasted meat herself.
Most importantly, she was getting constipated.
She wanted stir-fried dishes! She wanted green vegetables! She wanted fruit!
Su Yu called out for Granny Wu but heard no response. She then waited a while for Shi Wei, but he didn't show up.
Sniffing the sour stench on her own body, she really couldn't wait any longer. She got off the stone bed and groped her way along the cave wall, shuffling toward the exit.
She started bargaining with the system in her mind. 'Can you let me see for a little while later? I'm starting to reek. Even Shi Wei won't be able to stomach it when it's time to mate, will he?'
250: [I can, but you'll have to take out a loan for the points. I don't have the energy to help you otherwise.]
Su Yu: "How many points?"
250 made an outrageous demand: [50!]
Su Yu: "10 points. Take it or leave it. Otherwise, I'll just go drown myself."
250: [...]
'Hey, why aren't you following the script? Who haggles by slashing straight for the carotid artery?!'
Su Yu: "Yes or no?"
250, fighting back tears at its pitiful profit: [Deal.]
Wu Xiong happened to be returning from playing outside. Seeing her, he hurried over to support her. "Are you looking for Brother Shi Wei? He and the others are with the leader right now, discussing the spring hunt."
A single winter had consumed most of the tribe's stored food. Now that the weather was warm, they had to go out hunting to start stockpiling for the next winter.
"No, I'm not looking for him. I want to take a bath," Su Yu said, gently shaking her head.
Wu Xiong's eyes lit up. "I know where there's water! There's a stream east of the tribe. We all go there to get water. Should I take you?"
Su Yu nodded happily, a smile gracing her face. "Okay, thank you."
Wu Xiong was momentarily dazed by her smile. He couldn't help but mutter to himself, 'Sister Su Yu is so pretty. I wonder if she'll let me be her Beast Husband when I grow up.'
Wu Xiong couldn't help but think, 'I'm so cute. Sister Su Yu will definitely give me a chance, right?'
Lost in his thoughts, he couldn't stop himself from laughing out loud.
Su Yu blinked, confused. "Wu Xiong?"
Wu Xiong snapped back to reality, suppressed his smile, and began to fawn over Su Yu, supporting her arm. "Ahem, Sister Su Yu, I'll take you right now."
None of the Beastmen in the Liaoshui Tribe had ever seen Su Yu before.
Upon suddenly seeing such a beautiful female in the tribe, the single males, pent up for a whole winter, grew restless.
"Since when did our tribe have such a beautiful female?"
"She's so gorgeous, she looks like a mermaid female. I want to be her Beast Husband."
"Hey, little female, do you have a Beast Husband yet?"
They couldn't help but crowd around Su Yu, showing off their well-built torsos, powerful muscles, and perfectly-shaped eight-pack abs.
If Su Yu could see, it would have surely been a visual feast.
But she was currently half-blind.
All she could see were blurry blobs of color closing in on her.
The scent of unfamiliar Beastmen made Su Yu's face turn pale. A little frightened, she took two steps back. Wu Xiong planted his hands on his hips, shielding her. "She's Brother Shi Wei's female! You can all forget about it!"
"Shi Wei's female?" A lion Beastman with a golden mane leaned in to sniff Su Yu, and sure enough, he caught the strong scent of Shi Wei on her.
However.
"They haven't mated yet. Besides, a female needs multiple males to protect her. Shi Wei can be her first Beast Husband, and I'll just be her second."
Su Yu said softly, "Sorry, I'm not looking for a second Beast Husband right now."
'She hadn't even mated with Shi Wei yet, how could she be thinking about a second one?'
The lion Beastman frowned, confused, and took a few steps toward her. "Why not? A female needs to have several Beast Husbands around to be well taken care of."
"Shi Wei is the tribe's number one Warrior, and I'm the number two Warrior. I'm great at catching prey. I can provide for you too."
Su Yu: "..."
She had somewhat underestimated the obsession the male Beastmen of this world had with mating with females.
"You want to be her second Beast Husband? Did you ask me, Ness?" Shi Wei's deep, cold, and arrogant voice cut through the air. The male Beastmen surrounding Su Yu couldn't help but back away.
Shi Wei strode through the crowd, grabbed Su Yu's hand, and studied her expression. Seeing that she was only a little startled and not truly afraid, he felt a small sense of relief.
He had just finished discussing the spring hunt with the leader when he heard someone shouting that a beautiful, unfamiliar female had appeared in the tribe.
He immediately thought of Su Yu and rushed over without a moment's delay.
Arriving on the scene, he saw exactly what he expected: those smelly males crowding around Su Yu.
A subtle trace of displeasure stirred within him.
Ness was displeased. "Why do I need your permission? You haven't mated with her. As long as she agrees, it's fine, isn't it?"
Su Yu clutched Shi Wei's Beast Skin Skirt and quickly shook her head. "I don't want a second Beast Husband right now."
Shi Wei pulled her behind him, arrogant and cold. "Did you hear that? She doesn't want you."
Ness was hurt. He couldn't help but move a little closer to Su Yu. "But why? I'm not bad-looking, and my strength is..."
Before he could finish, Shi Wei furiously grabbed his arm and threw him aside. "Enough nonsense! Let's have a fight first!"
Then, Su Yu felt the Beast Skin Skirt she was clutching go slack, falling completely into her hands.
Shi Wei had taken off his Beast Skin Skirt and transformed into his beast form to fight.
Su Yu stood there holding the Beast Skin Skirt, her expression a mess. "..."