Though it was Noon and the sun was shining brightly, a cold wind suddenly whipped up outside the cave, and Yu An shivered violently.
Before she could grab Da Hu, a dark shadow shot in from outside, rushing straight toward Da Hu, who had his head buried in his food.
Yu An cried out in alarm, "Da Hu, get out of the way!"
Hearing his Female Mother's shout, Da Hu didn't have time to react before the dark shadow pounced, pinning him to the ground. And then—
When he saw what the dark shadow was doing, Da Hu stared blankly for a moment, then burst out crying, "WAAAH! Female Mother, a bad guy is stealing Big Axe's food!"
Yu An: "..."
Mo Yan: "..."
'Some beast? Something powerful? It was clearly just a snow-white puppy, only slightly larger than Da Hu.'
The puppy wolfed down Da Hu's bun and then fixed its eyes on Yu An's hand.
To be precise, it was staring at the bun in her hand.
The corner of Yu An's mouth twitched. "This is the beast you were talking about?" she said, exasperated. "It probably couldn't even beat Da Hu."
Mo Yan looked completely bewildered. His spiritual power and instincts had clearly sensed a powerful beast. 'How could it be a... little puppy?'
Before he could figure it out, Yu An picked up the puppy with one hand. Seeing it bare its teeth and pretend to be fierce, she couldn't help but chuckle.
"Hungry? Here, eat up."
Food was right in front of him, still steaming. Recalling the delicious taste from just a moment ago, Han Li, who had been starving for five days, could hold back no longer. He dove into the food and began to feast.
'Although he didn't know why this young female was giving him food, he couldn't spare it a second thought. All he wanted was to fill his stomach as quickly as possible.'
After stuffing a whole bun into the little tiger cub's mouth to quiet his crying, Yu An saw Mo Yan out of the corner of her eye, staring intently at the puppy as if trying to bore a hole through it with his gaze.
"No matter how you look at it, it's just a little puppy. Mo Yan, hurry and eat something. You're going to help me sell buns in a bit."
Mo Yan looked away. "I must have been mistaken. This must be a snow hound pup with no fighting ability."
Yu An had heard of snow hounds. They had snow-white fur and gentle temperaments, and were often kept as pets.
"So it's a snow hound," she said, a flicker of disappointment in her voice. "I was hoping I could raise it to be a guard dog. Then I wouldn't have to worry about wild beasts."
Mo Yan was a little displeased. "Are you saying you don't think I can protect you and the cubs?"
'Is she looking down on me?'
Yu An shrugged, kneading a ball of dough as she said casually, "You'll be leaving soon, and it's hard to find a suitable male. It's better to just raise a big dog to guard the house."
Mo Yan froze for a moment, then said sullenly after a long pause, "I'll tame one for you before I leave."
Yu An said with a grin, "Great! Thank you."
Seeing her mild reaction, Mo Yan felt a little awkward. "We have a contract. If you forced me to stay, I wouldn't be able to resist."
Yu An shook her head. "I already feel bad enough for forcing you to be my Beast Husband. At the time, I was just so panicked and scared about being exiled that I acted rashly."
"I'm already content that you don't hold it against me and have protected me for this long."
'Mo Yan's heart wasn't here. Rather than clinging to him until he despised her, it was better to let him go freely. At least then the hatred in his heart wouldn't fester and grow.'
Over a hundred buns were quickly steamed. The food cart provided by her space had a preservation function, so she didn't have to worry about them getting cold and the taste being affected.
"Let's go," Yu An said with a wave of her hand. "Time to sell buns and make money!"
Han Li tried to sneak away, but he couldn't escape Yu An's grasp. She smiled sweetly. "You ate my food, so you have to work off the debt with your body~"
"Even though you don't have any fighting ability, it's not a bad idea to keep you as a pet."
'Han Li was extremely reluctant. He was the Young City Lord of Han Ling City, not some snow hound! And he refused to be a pet!'
'But something had gone wrong with his cultivation, causing his spiritual power to regress to zero. In his tiny form, he had no ability to hunt and had nearly starved to death. Staying here... actually seemed like a pretty good idea.'
At this thought, Han Li stopped struggling.
Not all Beastmen wanted to live in Han Ling City. Some, unwilling to live by its rules, formed tribes outside its walls. Since the cave they were staying in was very close to the Giant Stone Tribe, Yu An decided to set up her stall there.
The front seat of the food cart was a bit narrow. Mo Yan was tall and long-limbed, so as he sat there, physical contact with Yu An was unavoidable.
Lu Lu took the opportunity to connect with the Origin Core inside his body. The process was slow, but every little bit counted.
Soon, they arrived outside the Giant Stone Tribe. They parked the cart and began to set up for business.
The local Beastmen watched their every move. The two were outsiders, and they had brought along some large, unfamiliar contraption, which made the Beastmen wary and afraid.
Yu An finished setting up quickly and gave a friendly smile toward the Beastmen hiding in the shadows.
The result? She scared several young cubs into tears.
"WAAAH! Female Mother, Beast Father, that female is so ugly and scary!"
Yu An gave an awkward smile. She'd forgotten about her own monstrously ugly face—the kind that could literally make children cry.
Da Hu had been looking around at the scenery, but when he heard them say that, the little guy was instantly displeased.
"Don't you talk about my Female Mother! You're the ugly ones! My Female Mother is the prettiest!"
Although Da Hu was small, he possessed his Beast Father's white tiger bloodline. His young roar instantly stunned the other cubs, who stopped crying and began to tremble.
While Yu An was touched, she was also a little worried there might be something wrong with her cub's sense of aesthetics.
"She is ugly. Are we not allowed to say so?"
A protective brown bear female jumped out and said viciously, "Where did you come from? Get lost! You're not welcome here!"
Yu An calmly lifted the lid of the steamer and said, "This isn't your territory. Do you speak for all the Beastmen here?"
"I'm here to sell food. Meat buns with thin dough and lots of filling. I have pork and beef, ten copper coins each."
Before the brown bear female could say more, the other Beastmen caught the fragrant aroma of the buns and began to murmur, "What's a 'bun'? I've never heard of it."
"They're so small. This female must be crazy for money. Ten copper coins is not worth it at all."
"But... it smells so good..."
The Beastmen, who had only ever eaten raw food, had never smelled anything so fragrant. Their mouths began to water uncontrollably. When Yu An broke open a few buns, a ripple of gulping sounds went through the crowd.
"A bun is a type of food made from meat and dough. You only think it's not worth the price because you've never had one. You can try a sample before you decide whether to buy."
Yu An had prepared over a hundred buns precisely so she could offer samples. She cut a few buns into four pieces each and placed them on a plate.
The Beastmen looked at one another. A white cat female asked hesitantly, "Does 'try a sample' mean it's free?"
She was still a young female, dependent on her Female Mother and Beast Father, so ten copper coins was a lot of money for her.
Yu An held out a piece to her. "That's right. It's free."
The white cat female gulped and was just about to take the piece when the brown bear female suddenly slapped her hand away.
"Wait—"
The brown bear female shouted, "Don't eat it! Food that smells this fragrant has to be poisonous, just like those sweet-smelling mushrooms! If you eat them, you'll vomit black blood and die!"
The memory of what happened to those who ate the poisonous mushrooms was still vivid. In their minds, the image of those sweet-smelling mushrooms began to overlap with the buns before them, and their faces filled with terror.
The brown bear female smirked triumphantly. "Now get lost. We're not buying any."
'Her family made a fortune selling goods from Han Ling City at exorbitant prices. How could she possibly allow another Beastman to come here and take money that should have been hers?'