After a while, both Su Qinglan and Bai Ling'er were stuffed.
Bai Ling'er looked like she might roll over from happiness, her hands resting on her belly while she made soft, satisfied sounds, like a kitten who had just eaten a mountain of grilled fish.
Su Qinglan, on the other hand, had barely eaten two sticks before slowing down.
She didn't like feeling so full. Honestly, her current body was already too soft in all the wrong places. If she kept eating like a happy beast matron, she was going to turn into a meatball rolling around the tribe.
She patted her stomach discreetly. No. She needed to slim down. There was no way she was surviving in this savage world with this squishy body. Survival required mobility.
After the fire died down to warm embers, Bai Ling'er stood up, still glowing. "Qinglan-jie… Thank you again! You're so nice! I'll bring more meat next time!"
Before Su Qinglan could say anything, Bai Ling'er placed a neat little bundle of roasted meat next to her, clearly her way of saying thanks. And then, with a cheerful wave and her two mates trailing behind her like loyal guards, she left.
Silence returned to the clearing. Even the other beast men who were hiding left with drool.
Su Qinglan stared at the leftover meat around her. There was a lot. More than a dozen sticks now, not counting the racks of smoked meat still curing above the fire.
She wasn't going to eat all of this.
Even if she wanted to, roasted meat got hard and chewy fast. If it wasn't eaten while hot, it turned into something resembling leather.
She sighed.
And then… a thought popped into her mind.
Should I… take it to him?
Her eyes narrowed.
The "him" in question was the beast man the original Su Qinglan had infamously forced into being her mate. The very same big tiger who had been mysteriously missing since last night. She hadn't seen him at all, not even when the tribe was dealing with the fallout from the injured warriors.
Which was suspicious...very suspicious.
She hadn't thought of avoiding him, exactly. But she also hadn't gone out of her way to confront him. Not because she was scared, of course. Just...cautious.
But the truth was, she had to deal with this eventually.
The mess left by the original Su Qinglan wouldn't magically disappear. That tiger man had every right to be furious. She was sure if she had been forced into a bond, she'd be plotting someone's mysterious disappearance too.
So what if he decided to get revenge?
What if he was already planning something? Writing her name on a hit list?
Su Qinglan rubbed her forehead.
She couldn't just wait around and be passively assassinated. She needed information. She needed intel. She needed… a peace offering.
Her gaze dropped to the roasted meat.
Well. Everyone liked the food, right?
Even angry tiger men probably couldn't resist a hot meat stick.
She stood, grabbed the biggest bundle of the still-warm roasted meat, tied it in a leafy wrap with some vines, and slung it over her shoulder like some tribal delivery girl.
Operation: Feed the Tiger was now in motion.
And what if he tried to eat her instead?
...Well, she would grill the next tiger meat.
Su Qinglan walked for what felt like forever before the mouth of Hu Yan's cave finally came into view. It was tucked deep into the far edge of the tribe's territory, practically on the opposite end from where her own cave was by the river. That wasn't a random placement. It was intentional. Very much intentional.
Hu Yan had chosen the furthest spot he could find on purpose. He didn't want anyone bothering him—especially not her. He knew the original Su Qinglan was too lazy to ever walk that far.
She would've rather starved than dragged herself all the way out here. So this place gave him peace.
But Su Qinglan wasn't her.
She didn't mind the walk. Even if her legs ached and her feet protested with every step. Even if the meat bundle hanging over her shoulder grew heavier by the second and her back was starting to sweat under the thick wrap.
It didn't matter. Her body might've gotten soft after falling into this beastman world, but her mind was still the same. The apocalypse had hardened her. If she could cross ruined cities and climb crumbled highways with zombies snapping at her heels, then she could cross one forest to deal with one moody tiger man.
As she walked, she started to feel it—the countless gazes on her. No, not on her exactly, but on the bundle of roasted meat she was carrying.
They were sniffing the air as the rich, smoky scent passed through the forest. Most of them had never smelled anything so good before.
What is she carrying? Is that food? But why does that lazy female have such good food?
Some of them wondered if they should go and ask for a piece. But none of them dared. They still remembered how cruel she had been before. The females could only look at her with envy, tearing into the raw meat in their hands as they chewed slowly. Meanwhile, the beast men were too embarrassed to ask a female for food.
So, no one stepped forward.
Su Qinglan ignored them all. She had no intention of getting involved right now. They would learn how to cook on their own eventually. But at this moment, she had a more important task in her hands.
She kept walking. Eventually, Hu Yan's cave appeared fully in front of her.
She paused.
The entrance was wide and clean, framed by smooth stone walls and some hanging vines that gave it a strangely lived-in feeling. A small flat stone near the entrance looked like it had been used to cut meat. Nearby, everything about the space was quiet and controlled—almost like it belonged to someone who didn't just live like a beast but chose order in his life.
Curious, Su Qinglan stepped inside without hesitation.
The cave interior was better than expected. It wasn't some wild animal's den with scattered bones and old blood. No, this place was organized. Simple but clean. One corner had neatly folded animal hides, probably used for sleeping.
Still no sign of him.
She took another step forward, casually looking around. If anyone had seen her, they might've thought she owned the place with how unbothered she looked.
She was just about to place the meat bundle down when...
"What are you doing here?"
Before she could respond, a hand clamped around her neck, nearly suffocating her.