The system didn't give any hint or answer, and Zoey also couldn't figure it out for now.
Although at first she didn't really like foxes, now she thought she liked them more. That white fur gave her a strong sense of safety.
She looked again at the person in front of her, and this time the system gave details:
Attribute: Male Snake
Origin: Father, Mutado, represents the sky. Mother, Toanna, represents the earth. He was born from their union.
Name: Sinek
Gift: "Shi Xi Yi Zang" (inborn talent)
Level: Advanced
Transformation: Can shift into beastman form at will
Zoey didn't understand this gift yet, and before she could think about it, the system's voice rang out again:
[Host, please proceed. Time left: 1 minute. After 1 minute, host will feel the pain of burning fire!]
Thinking of that pain, Zoey panicked and quickly swallowed a Transformation Pill. Instantly, she returned to her original form.
Sinek's green eyes shone brightly. That perfect figure, beautiful face, and the snow-white silver hair falling behind her were exactly the same as when he first saw her in the rocks.
"Um, I… um…"
Zoey heard the system's countdown. In her past life, she had suffered all kinds of pain, but she didn't understand what was happening to this body now.
She grew nervous and trembled all over. The more she panicked, the harder it was to speak clearly.
She shut her eyes tightly, ready to endure the burning pain.
Her body felt like it was placed over fire, pain rushing through her, but it didn't get worse as she expected.
Suddenly, the burning and stabbing pain disappeared, replaced by a cool, gentle feeling that her body seemed to enjoy.
[System check: Male did not take the Crystal Pill. Host pregnancy failed! Current points: 99,988,000. Level: 990. Points unchanged, level unchanged!]
Zoey: "…" A complete waste!
Even though she was angry, she still stuffed another Transformation Pill into her mouth. Luckily, after her last childbirth, the system gift pack had included quite a few. Ten were left, which should be enough. She still couldn't fully accept this current body.
"Are you angry?"
She hadn't noticed someone was beside her. She only felt the cool, soft, comfortable sensation around her. When she heard his voice, she jumped up nearly two feet high.
"Ah…"
She realized she was leaning against a giant python, its body thicker than her thigh.
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid!"
Sinek hurriedly changed into his beastman form. He hadn't expected that Zoey, who was originally a white snake, would be so afraid of her own kind's form.
"You, you, you…"
Zoey bolted far away. Then she realized her body was naked, so she quickly pulled out the plain white clothes from the system and dressed herself.
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. I won't take my snake form again!" Sinek promised quickly.
But Zoey didn't listen. She hurriedly swallowed a Transformation Pill from the system. For now, as long as she didn't have to endure the burning pain, she wanted to change into anything else — as long as it wasn't a snake.
Yet the system's voice came again:
[Host did not successfully conceive. Transformation Pill cannot be used! It can only be used after successful childbirth!]
Zoey: This is killing me. I'd rather just die!
The problem was, she couldn't die yet!
"Don't be scared, you must be hungry, right? I'll go find food for you. You rest first."
Sinek stayed in his beast form. Seeing how terrified Zoey was, he didn't plan to turn back into his original body. He walked along the wall carefully toward the exit, afraid of scaring her again.
After he left, Zoey still didn't move. Not only the pile of grass made her feel sick, but the whole place gave her a shadow in her heart.
She didn't wait any longer. Taking advantage of Sinek being gone, she rushed out. But she didn't know where this place really was. The terrain was strange, like climbing uphill, yet no matter how much she climbed, it never ended, layer after layer.
It felt like peeling an onion—peel one layer, and there was still another. No matter how she walked, she couldn't leave this weird place!
She suddenly remembered what the system mentioned earlier. The snake's gift was something called "Shi Xi Yi Zang." Could it be that this snake treated her like a treasure and wrapped her up layer after layer?
She climbed who knew how many layers, but in the end, Zoey gave up completely and just stayed there.
When Sinek came back and saw she was gone, he immediately sensed her location and quickly found her. But he didn't go right up to her. He stopped a few steps away and said,
"You can't get out of here. Follow me."
Zoey was so tired she didn't want to move. When Sinek saw she wasn't rejecting him, he picked her up and carried her.
A cool breath touched her skin, and suddenly her exhaustion faded away.
"In front of me, you're not allowed to change back into your original body!"
"Alright, I promise."
Hearing that, Zoey finally felt relieved and muttered, "I'm hungry."
"Mm."
Mm? What kind of answer was that?
Just as she was about to question him, she noticed they had already returned to the previous place.
She had spent so much effort climbing for so long, but he brought her back in less than a minute?
"I don't like this place!" The sight of the grass pile reminded her of the giant snake, and her hair stood on end.
As if he knew what she was thinking, Sinek gave a quiet "mm" and turned into another passage.
Zoey didn't see clearly how they entered, but this place was indeed different. On top of a large rock were several thick logs.
He gently put her down, then silently went to get food.
Looking at the rock, Zoey thought it looked like the stone inside the cave she first arrived in. That made her think of the little fox and the old fox.
When she saw Sinek return with a pile of food, she asked directly, "How did you bring me here? What about the two foxes in my old cave?"
She asked because she felt Sinek must know something.
"Bring? I didn't bring you here!"
Hearing her words, Sinek quickly explained,
"When I went into the cave, I found you lying on the ground, tied up by yourself in a dead knot. I rescued you. You wouldn't wake up, so I put you on my chest, hoping you'd wake faster."
Zoey didn't doubt him. She had indeed fainted from being scared by her own body earlier, and tying herself in knots was true too.
"What about the two foxes in the cave?" By right, Fykes had used illusions outside the cave, so outsiders shouldn't have been able to find it.
"Foxes?" Sinek shook his head, then remembered something and replied honestly,
"I saw a fox carrying a little fox down the mountain when I was on the mountaintop. But I don't know where they went. That cave was right at the border between two tribes. This side of the mountain belongs to the snake tribe, and the other side belongs to the fox tribe. I could only move around that cave area, I couldn't cross the border."
Zoey nodded after hearing this and understood about seventy to eighty percent. She guessed that Fykes had gone out and didn't see her, so he left holding the little fox by himself.
That heartless guy, even after she had given birth, he didn't look for her? All males are the same!
Even if she had been asleep, shouting a little wouldn't have been impossible, right? But maybe it was good this way. It saved her from lingering too much and slowing down her downgrade.
Zoey didn't know she had misunderstood Fykes. He hadn't shouted because he didn't want to scare the little fox. After all, it was his first time being a father too.
Also, Zoey forgot that she had taken the transformation pill and had already turned into a snake, one so scary that even Fykes couldn't sense her presence.
She hadn't noticed yet, but the small mark on her foot was a bonding mark between her and Fykes.
Once this mark exists, the male cannot betray the female. He must serve her for life, treating and respecting her like a goddess. Otherwise, the entire Beast Continent would not allow it.
Zoey didn't know all this. She only thought about being three months pregnant with the little fox, and her chest still felt a little uncomfortable.
"Gurgle~"
Thinking too much wouldn't help. She needed to eat and drink first.
Seeing the fruits that Sinek brought, Zoey quickly started eating. It didn't matter if it was tasty or not, as long as it filled her stomach. Even though she couldn't die, hunger felt bad.
While eating, Zoey suddenly smelled a faint fishy scent.
She turned her head and saw Sinek pulling fish out of his pocket. They were fresh and already cleaned.
"I, I once went to the mountain and saw that fox roasting fish at the cave entrance…"
Sinek quickly explained when he saw Zoey staring.
Since the day he sunbathed on the mountain and saw Zoey coming up for fresh air, he had never left that mountain.
Although he was the leader of the snake tribe, he was born a high-level snake. Their tribe hadn't had a female snake for over twenty years, so he became the leader directly.
Because he didn't need a female to give birth to determine his rank, in over three hundred years, he had seen female snakes but never had one lay eggs for him.
He thought that if the tribe ever had a high-level snake or a female, he could give up his leadership and be free.
Unexpectedly, he discovered a female snake outside his tribe, probably the most beautiful female on the Beast Continent.
At first, he thought she was a fox female and only wanted to watch her from afar occasionally, not disturb her.
But after seeing the fox leave with the child and the illusion in the cave disappear, he went inside to check and realized she was his kind.
He didn't ask why Zoey had been with the fox. She was now his, and even though she was his kind, she wasn't from his tribe. As long as he didn't tell anyone, no one would know she had been with the fox.
"This is left by that fox. There's a lot of this plant, which we call spicy grass, by the river. I brought some for you."
Sinek showed Zoey a big bunch of plants. Seeing the water pepper, which could be used to marinate fish or meat, Zoey suddenly felt uncomfortable in her chest again.
"I'm not from this Beast Continent. I came from outside. There are other continents outside this one."
Zoey explained this to Sinek because he knew about her and Fykes. The rule on this continent forbids different species from interacting, especially between males and females.
"Hm," Sinek said, suddenly understanding after hearing her explanation.
He only made a short "hmm" sound again. Zoey glanced at him but didn't say anything.
After Sinek finished arranging the fish, he neatly placed them aside. Then, he carefully stacked the wood but finally looked at Zoey helplessly.
"I can't do the rest…"
As the snake tribe leader, he feared nothing—but he was naturally afraid of fire.
He didn't know how the fox had overcome that fear, but for him, just looking at fire from a distance was frightening.
Zoey immediately realized he was just like Fykes—afraid of fire.
"Fire isn't scary, and it's controllable. If you use it correctly, it can even give unexpected benefits."
Sinek nodded without saying anything. He didn't doubt her, he was just scared.
"Okay, go find some dry grass and get enough water back here," Zoey said, then went to pick two pieces of wood. She began sharpening one thinner stick on a stone.
Sigh! To make fire by rubbing wood, you first have to shape the stick into a point. Fykes used to do this work.
As Zoey complained silently, Sinek took the stick from her hands and imitated her method carefully.
Seeing how attentive he was, Zoey smiled. Sinek's green eyes glinted, and his eyebrows curved slightly.
Sinek was stronger and more skilled, so he quickly sharpened the stick. Zoey had only explained the method briefly, yet he understood immediately.
When the fire started, Sinek stayed far away, his green eyes alert. Zoey had to use water to put out the fire at first.
"See? It's controllable!"
After some practice, Sinek managed to light the fire himself. Although he sat nearby like Zoey, he was visibly nervous.
"See? It works," she said, placing a fish over the fire and showing the safe distance to him. She gently reminded,
"You don't need to be too close. Keep a distance, add wood when the flames are small, and put it out when you're done."
Seeing Zoey didn't look down on him or laugh, Sinek's heart, cold for over three hundred years, felt warm.
"I can do it. You just watch, Zoey," Sinek encouraged himself while watching the flames, then started roasting the fish like her.
"Actually, it's not just fish. You can roast meat too—put it on a stick or the whole piece over the fire. It tastes much better than raw," Zoey added, secretly craving meat herself.
Sinek remembered that Fykes never roasted meat in the mountains, but he nodded, deciding he would catch fresh prey soon to cook for Zoey.
As if reading his thoughts, Zoey casually teased,
"You're stronger and more skilled. He was too small to hunt easily, only able to catch fish."