Bai Youran actually found the fleeting smile of this woman just now a little strange, but when she saw the other's face covered in strange patterns again, she dismissed it as her own imagination.
"Shamaness, I still have to thank you for your help," Bai Youran said, always fond of speaking politely.
Ever since she gained Mu Yuan's favor, Bai Youran, with the help of her Wild System, could also speak the language of the beast world.
"No need to thank me. Since you have already joined the tiger tribe, you are naturally one of my people. Treating your injuries is my duty," Qinghua said.
She only wanted to make things clear; she had no intention of getting involved with this woman any further.
Since the first piece had already been laid, she didn't need to entangle herself with this beautiful serpent any more than necessary.
Soon, Mu Yuan personally led Bai Youran back to his treehouse.
In this world, beastmen expressed their emotions directly and openly. As long as both parties were willing, they could live together and have offspring.
And Bai Youran, knowing immediately that Mu Yuan was the chieftain, was naturally happy to maintain a friendly relationship. Having had boyfriends in the modern world, she had no qualms about such matters.
Thus, the two schemers spent the night in "deep communication."
This infuriated the other male beastmen who had been interested in Bai Youran. They could only secretly resent themselves for not acting as quickly.
However, some beastmen did not give up. In this world, a female could have two partners, and this fair-skinned female still had one spot to compete for.
The next day, as Bai Youran strolled through the tiger tribe, she often encountered beastmen staring at her greedily. The disgusting looks made her deeply uncomfortable.
Yes, Bai Youran did not care about modesty, but she had standards. She was not interested in just any beastman.
In her eyes, as a transmigrated female protagonist with a golden finger, only the best beastmen were worthy of her. Even someone like Mu Yuan was only a temporary partner, let alone these ordinary males.
Still, she understood the advantage of maintaining her reputation, so she did not openly show her disgust, keeping a smile on her face the entire time.
This bright smile made the nearby beastmen's hearts leap. They mistakenly assumed Bai Youran was interested in them.
One such misled beastman planned that very night to discuss with the chieftain his intention to become the goddess's second partner.
Meanwhile, Qinghua simply tidied up the belongings of the original owner. Among them was a tiger-head staff useful for divination—one of the original owner's treasures, which she had to take with her. She also stored the rare herbs she had collected earlier in her space.
This time, she intended to take all the valuable items, leaving nothing for other beastmen. The remaining, unremarkable items were left behind to avoid suspicion.
That evening, a tribe member came to seek the shamaness for treatment but could not find her anywhere in the tribe. Alarmed, he quickly gathered a few others to search the areas where Qinghua often collected herbs.
Suddenly, Li spotted something near a cliff. He ran over quickly and grabbed it.
It was the medicine basket that the shamaness had carried earlier. Nearby were clear signs of something heavy having fallen from the cliff.
Li immediately had a bad feeling and shouted to the others searching with him, "Everyone, come quickly! This seems to be the shamaness's belongings!"
"What? Li, you found the shamaness?" one tribe member ran excitedly, only to see Li's sorrowful expression.
Once all the beastmen gathered, they decided to search down the cliff. To their dismay, they only found torn flesh and a few pieces of tattered, beast-torn animal hides.
A sharp-eyed beastman shouted, "I recognize this hide! It's the one the shamaness wore, and it has burn marks. She accidentally did this last time when she was busy brewing medicine for me."
All the beastmen's faces darkened. They were not mourning the shamaness's death, but the tribe still had no one skilled enough in medicine to replace her…
Li, one of Mu Yuan's most trusted subordinates, quickly regained composure. With a stern tone, he said, "Since the shamaness has died in an accident, we can no longer grieve. We must find her token to report to the chieftain."
The beastmen searched meticulously several times at the base of the cliff but found nothing. One of them cautiously suggested, "Could the staff have fallen onto a small tree on the cliff? Otherwise, how could we not find it?"
Li felt even more disheartened and the group returned gloomily to report to the chieftain.
Meanwhile, Qinghua was enjoying herself, riding Xiao Tian and playing freely in a forest far from the tiger tribe.
Xiao Tian was ecstatic. Previously, for the sake of his sister's safety, he had to stay hidden in her space to train and work every day. It was exhausting for him.
"Big sister, how's my speed? Not bad, right?"
"Yes, Xiao Tian, you're amazing. You're even faster than my flying device."
Qinghua praised her little companion, though her words were somewhat insincere.
Hearing this, Xiao Tian excitedly shared another piece of good news: through persistent effort, he could now successfully transform into human form.
Overjoyed, Qinghua said, "Xiao Tian, transform now so Sister and Bi'er can see!"
A few seconds later, Qinghua and Bi'er looked at a one-year-old boy in a bellyband in front of them and were stunned.
No kidding—the child formed by the nine-tailed heavenly fox's illusion was delicate and exquisite, like a little celestial child.
Looking at his chubby, fair cheeks, Qinghua couldn't resist pinching them, despite Xiao Tian's astonished gaze.
Bi'er, unable to contain herself, teased him: "Haha, you're so useless! It took you this long to grow into such a tiny thing. Not at all as mighty as you claimed…"
After the two youngsters "interacted" with spiritual energy, they finally quieted down. Qinghua watched silently, letting them be.
When news spread that the shamaness Qinghua had apparently fallen off a cliff to her death, Mu Yuan was initially somewhat pleased. But when he learned that her token had also disappeared, he panicked.
After a moment's thought, Mu Yuan said sternly, "Regarding the disappearance of the shamaness's token, do not spread this information. Anyone who leaks it will be expelled from the tribe and become the lowest-class wandering beastman."
Watching the tribe members walk away, he muttered curses under his breath: "That damn Qinghua… dead, and yet she lost her token as well. What a disaster…"
Qinghua's "death" only made the tiger tribe sigh briefly: the shamaness's life was unfortunate, gone too soon into the embrace of the beast god…
However, as the new goddess discovered new edible species, the news of the shamaness's death was soon forgotten by the tiger tribe.