Evangeline crossed her long legs and clicked her tongue. 'I'm a gold-medal "Healer" specializing in infertility. What's there to be afraid of?'
Evangeline stood up and stretched. It was still early, so she had enough time to head back to the Oasis Tribe.
She was about to leave when she noticed the two fish on the leaves. After a moment's thought, she took out her dagger and deftly cleaned them. She marinated them with some seasonings, then set them over a fire to roast. The plump fish bubbled with oil, making a SIZZLING sound. The skin slowly turned golden-brown and began to crack, revealing the tender, succulent white meat beneath and releasing an enticing aroma.
Once the two fish were cooked, she wrapped them in taro leaves. Evangeline nodded in satisfaction.
The fish, of course, were for Danton. They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Having been through many smaller worlds, she firmly believed this. Her culinary skills had been honed to perfection; she could turn even a simple fish into a masterpiece.
Evangeline stored the fish away, recalled the location of the Oasis Tribe from her memories, and then shot off into the air.
On the Beastman Continent, only avian Beastmen possessed the ability to fly.
It seemed the original owner of this body had an avian Beastman among her husbands. He was a handsome man, according to her memories. Unfortunately, his wings had been broken, and the former sovereign of the skies had been reduced to a Terrestrial Beastman. 'How pitiful.'
Evangeline flew quickly but still didn't reach the Oasis Tribe before dusk. As the sky darkened, she landed in the forest, preparing to get some sleep. 'Staying up late ages the skin and shortens one's life. I need to take good care of myself for my retirement.'
The area was completely empty. Evangeline slightly regretted not having stored a villa in her dimensional space.
She sighed. Just as she finished setting up her bedding, she spotted a colossal, multicolored python on the hunt.
She already knew that the animals on the Beastman Continent were all as if they were on steroids, but seeing a python as thick as a water bucket still made Evangeline raise an eyebrow.
The giant, multicolored python was coiled on a tree, its head poking out to stare at her. Its eyes, like two large, dim lanterns, glowed with a ruthless, feral brutality—a savagery fundamentally different from that of a Beastman.
It had a Star Pattern on its head; it was a One Star Pattern Wild Beast.
The python's body coiled, exuding a powerful, sinewy strength. Its forked tongue flickered in the air with a HISSING sound.
In the blink of an eye, the python opened its cavernous maw and lunged.
The moment it pounced, Evangeline gave a casual wave of her hand. The bucket-thick python was sent tumbling across the ground like a helpless hatchling. With one last, loud hiss, it went still.
Evangeline walked over, a little curious. She took out her dagger, cut out the python's gallbladder, and skinned it.
'A creature this size could rival a Serpent Demon from the Realm of Immortals. The gallbladder isn't small, either, and the snakeskin has a nice texture. It should make for some breathable clothing.' This was the primitive Beastman Continent; she wasn't expecting any high-quality fabrics.
Her harvest complete, Evangeline lay down on her bedding, thoughtfully placed a restrictive barrier around herself, and comfortably drifted off to sleep.
While Evangeline was sleeping soundly in the perilous forest, Danton returned to the cave.
He was soaked. The moonlight cast a silvery sheen on his cold, pale skin. His azure hair clung to his cheeks, framing his delicate features with a kind of decadent, melancholic beauty. His expression was as numb and indifferent as ever.
When he reached the mouth of the cave, his nostrils flared and his brow furrowed. A glance inside confirmed it: she was gone.
'But I doubt she's really going back to the Oasis Tribe,' he thought. 'It's just another lie.'
The female's scent was gone from the air, but the faint, savory aroma of fish lingered.
Danton followed the smell and found the taro leaves Evangeline had hidden. He peeled them open. Inside, two golden-brown roasted fish had already gone cold, but their white meat still smelled fragrant. He froze for a second, then his expression turned cold again.
'Evangeline never does thankless tasks. Everything she does has a reason, and it's usually an unbearable one. So, since she can't produce the tail scales, is she trying to poison me to death before she flees?'
Danton held the roasted fish in his hands and looked up at the hazy moon.
He used to often sit on the reefs and gaze at the moon. It wasn't just because the moon was in his name; he found its light beautiful as it spilled across the sea, making the water shimmer and sparkle, just like his kin when they playfully leaped from the waves.
He had known for a long time that Evangeline had thrown away his tail scales. He knew she couldn't return them. Yet, when she had grabbed his arm, her face contorted in pain as she begged him to save her, he had softened.
Even though his Star Pattern was now shattered and he didn't have long to live, he was one of the Tideborn. His speed in the water was far beyond what any Terrestrial Beastman could match. He had carried Evangeline along the stream, escaping and leaving all the bloodshed and slaughter far behind them.
He could never go home again. To keep living this broken life was just to continue debasing himself.
Danton looked down at the roasted fish in his hands, and his thin lips slowly curved into an utterly pure, clean smile.
He brought the fish to his mouth, his expression almost reverent.
It wasn't because Evangeline had roasted it, but because food on the Beastman Continent was incredibly precious and never to be wasted. In his mind, Evangeline must have poisoned it; otherwise, she would never have bothered to cook for him.
This final meal, as he perceived it, was fragrant and delicious—unlike any fish he had ever eaten before.
Danton's pale blue eyes flew wide open. Like a cat that had just tasted fish, his pupils uncontrollably constricted into vertical slits. He blinked, and they looked like two crescent moons.
His gaze was filled with confusion. 'Was Evangeline's roasted fish really this good?'
He didn't know.
Evangeline never lifted a finger to cook, whether it was roasting meat or fish. All she thought about each day was how to adorn herself.
After finishing both fish, Danton even felt a sense of satisfaction. Though he detested Evangeline, her roasted fish was truly delicious.
He had once seriously considered it: after they formed a Contract, he would often take her to see the moon over the sea and catch fish and shrimp for her every day.
She loved beauty above all else. He would have given her countless coral beads to make ornaments and woven the most beautiful Merweave Silk for her clothes. They would have had some cubs, raised them, and everything would have been so wonderful.
The smile on Danton's face gradually faded, eventually settling into a placid emptiness. He sat on the stone steps, watching the moon and waiting to die from the poison.
Yet, after waiting all night, the moon vanished and the sun rose. He still wasn't dead.
Danton was stunned. He pressed his thin lips together tightly, staring at the clean-picked fish bones, lost in thought.
*
Evangeline slept until she woke up naturally. She packed up her bedding and continued on her way, only reaching the Oasis Tribe by dusk.
No, perhaps it could no longer be called the Oasis Tribe, but rather the "ruins" of the Oasis Tribe.
The Oasis Tribe was a small to medium-sized tribe of about a hundred Beastmen. On a normal day, the males would go out to hunt while the females gathered in groups. Life was peaceful. If not for the original owner of her body unscrupulously bringing back a group of ill-fated Beast Husbands, the tribe would never have been slaughtered.
The once-lively tribe was now a field of ruins. Caves had collapsed, and the bodies of Beastmen were strewn everywhere.
The invaders certainly wouldn't have been kind enough to bury the bodies. After looting and pillaging, they had departed with their spoils of war, supplies, and captured females and cubs. As for the corpses, Wild Beasts would eventually be drawn by the scent of blood.
Evangeline frowned at the sight of the mangled, incomplete bodies covering the ground and sighed.
After death, Beastmen revert completely to their beast forms. The Oasis Tribe was a mixed group, so the corpses were of all shapes and sizes: wolves, rabbits, rhinos, reindeer, The Pangolin, and more. The various animal carcasses lay scattered about, some already picked clean.
Soon, Evangeline found the figure of a massive Red Fox among the bodies. This was the original owner's Beast-father, the leader of the Oasis Tribe. Lying beside him was a snow-white antelope. This was her Beast-mother, who was also the Oasis Tribe's Witch.
A Witch had the ability to communicate with The Beast God and would be granted special powers, making it a highly revered profession on the Beastman Continent.
You had to hand it to them, the Grymdale Tribe was truly ruthless and audacious to dare kill even a Witch.
Evangeline shook her head. With a wave of her hand, she dug a large pit and buried all the bodies.
However, before she could finish building the burial mound, she heard the voices of a group of people. After a moment's thought, she slipped into the shadows.