Chapter 140 - 137: No More Food Shortage

Nan Zishi looked up curiously. "Pick what?"

"Beast Husbands, of course! You only have this one Beast Husband here in the mining district. That’s not nearly enough."

Nan Zishi: "...Huh?"

"You didn’t know? My mistake, I guess I never told you." Bao Fei explained patiently. "It’s a long-standing tradition in our mining district. Whenever a new batch of Sin Beasts arrives, we bring them out for the females here to choose from. By the way, we only have 18 females in the whole district."

Nan Zishi asked, confused, "But if they’re female Sin Beasts, how do they still have the right to choose males?"

Bao Fei answered, "Procreation is so difficult in the Beast World that even here in the mining district, we have to encourage it. As long as a female can bear children, it doesn’t matter if she’s a Sin Beast.

In fact, the rule for females in the mining district is that bearing one cub reduces your sentence by one year. Many females have litters of five or six, which cuts five or six years off their sentence all at once. Even the most serious crimes can be completely cleared that way."

Nan Zishi: "..."

Bao Fei wanted to say more, but he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He turned his head and saw the Xuan Snake Beastman’s sinister face.

AHHH! His scalp tingling, he said, "Lady Nan, I’m going to go now. I’ll talk to you later."

"Okay, sure. Goodbye. Be careful on your way!" Nan Zishi added kindly.

After Bao Fei left, a cute young female from nearby curiously walked over to her.

"Hello, are you the female Sin Beast who just arrived yesterday?"

Nan Zishi was captivated by the sweet, soft voice. Looking up, she saw a cute female who appeared to be in her early twenties.

"What kind of beast are you?" Nan Zishi asked curiously.

"A red panda. And you?"

"I’m human."

"Human? I’ve never heard of that. Are they a very rare type of Beastman?"

"They’re very rare in this world. What’s your name?"

"My name is Little Man. And you?"

"Nan Zishi. Come sit over here."

Nan Zishi made a spot for Little Man, and Little Man sat down next to her.

’A red panda... She’s so cute. I wonder if I can pet her.’

"I’ve already contracted three males in the mining district. What about you? It looks like you only have one," Little Man asked.

Nan Zishi answered, "Just one. Him, right over there."

"Just one?" Little Man asked. "Didn’t they say a new batch of male Sin Beasts is coming? Are you going to pick any?"

"I think I’ll pass."

Little Man glanced over at Xuan Jin and asked her softly, "Is it because your Snake Husband is really amazing?"

"Mhm, he’s very capable." ’After all, he’s a Seven-striped Beast King.’

Little Man, thinking she understood, nodded. "Snake Husbands have two of them, after all. He must be quite... capable and able to satisfy you. Otherwise, you wouldn’t stop picking new Beast Husbands."

It dawned on Nan Zishi that the "capable" Little Man was talking about wasn’t his strength, but *that* kind of capability!

It wasn’t that Nan Zishi was inexperienced, but hearing such a topic so suddenly still made her cheeks flush red.

’No, wait... This young female doesn’t even look that old. How is she not embarrassed at all?’

"But my mother told me that when males are young, they’re full of energy and will constantly pester you to mate.

But it’s different once they get a little older. My mother said that a male’s prime is especially short. Once they age a bit, they... can’t really perform anymore. That’s why you should bond with several more while they’re young."

"Look at your Snake Husband. Even if he has two, I still think you should bond with a few more males."

’What is this brazen talk!’

Nan Zishi forced an awkward smile. "Really, it’s fine. Thanks, though."

’The females in the Beast World are so open... Are they really discussing such intimate topics with me when we’ve just met?’

Nan Zishi subtly pressed her fingers to her forehead.

She glanced over at Xuan Jin in the distance. Seeing him still diligently mining, she finally relaxed.

’He’s probably not eavesdropping right now. Otherwise, I’d die of embarrassment.’

Nan Zishi said, "I’m going to head over there now. We can talk later."

Little Man said, "Okay! I’ll come find you tomorrow when it’s time to pick Beast Husbands, and we can go together."

Nan Zishi practically fled to where Xuan Jin and Lu Ming were. She pretended to inspect their work for a moment, then said to Lu Ming, "Lu Ming, let’s go do some farming!"

Just then, Xuan Jin took her hand.

The Xuan Snake Beastman rested his head gently against her neck, and his forked tongue flicked lightly across her skin.

He whispered a single sentence in her ear.

"..." AHHH!

’The blood rushed to my head! Is this the only thing on Xuan Jin’s mind?’

’I would have been better off chatting with Little Man! I never should have come over here! AHHH!’

She grabbed Lu Ming, spun around, and ran.

Nan Zishi could run quite fast, and she was pulling the little cub along so quickly he was practically flying.

"Sister, slow down!!"

Nan Zishi calmed down as she ran. "Lu Ming," she said, "let’s go take a look in the valley."

"Okay!"

Lu Ming’s small hand took hold of her larger one.

He looked up at her and asked,

"There’s something I want to ask you."

"Oh? Go ahead."

"You must have lots of Beast Husbands and cubs, right? Do you remember all of them?"

"Why do you ask?"

The Little Deer blinked. "Just curious. Can you tell me about all your cubs? Oh, and since I’ve joined the family now, I want to know who my siblings are."

Nan Zishi thought carefully before answering, "There’s the White Fox cub, Fox Qi; the mermaid cub, Little Fu; the Red Eagle Cub, Huo Jun; and also two Silver Wolf Cubs and a Little Snake cub. I have seven cubs... The last one... I can’t remember..."

Lu Ming: "Hm?"

Nan Zishi tilted her head too. "That’s strange."

’Who were my last Beast Husband and cub?’

’I just remember that I have seven Beast Husbands and seven cubs.’

’But the last one is like he’s invisible. If I’m not actively trying to think about him, I don’t recall his existence at all.’

’But I do remember that *someone* is there.’

’I should have seven Beast Husbands... Hu Bai, Lanxing, Xuan Jin, Chi Xiao, and I remember a pair of handsome Silver Wolf twins.’

’Who was the last one again?’

’Strange. I really can’t seem to remember.’

’How could I not remember a male I’ve had a cub with?’

’Oh well. If I can’t remember, I can’t remember.’

Lu Ming was a little disappointed that his mother couldn’t remember him.

But at the same time, he felt it was to be expected.

He tightened his grip on her hand.

The tall figure and the small one walked the path again, returning to the valley where they had planted corn the day before.

Before entering the valley, Nan Zishi felt a mix of anticipation and doubt.

She was certainly hopeful that the corn in this patch of land would have sprouted overnight.

At the same time, she felt it was impossible for corn to grow from a seed to a fully mature plant in just one day.

But when she actually entered the valley, she was truly stunned.

The newly tilled field, empty just last night, was now a towering forest of green stalks.

Two-meter-tall stalks were topped with purplish-red silks, and their interlocking leaves rustled softly.

As the wind swept through, the entire cornfield swayed. Heavy cobs knocked against each other, dislodging a few golden kernels that fell into the cracks between the stones...

There was even a Long-eared Beast, holding a corncob and looking up at her like a creature from a fairy tale.

Nan Zishi’s eyelid twitched uncontrollably. She was utterly dumbfounded.

"Is this the thing you wanted to plant? What is it for?"

The Little Deer cub ran forward, broke off an ear of corn, and sniffed it. It smelled wonderful.

"It looks like you can eat it."

Lu Ming peeled back the thin husk and took a bite. His eyes lit up, and he began to devour it in big mouthfuls.

"You should try it! This stuff is delicious, it’s so sweet and fragrant!"

Nan Zishi went forward and started picking the corn too.

This corn was twice as plump as the corn from Earth. They were fat and white—a massive harvest!

"It grew so well! Lu Ming, the corn here grew so perfectly!"

She neatly stacked the corn she picked in her storage space. As she worked, she thought, ’With Lu Ming around, it seems we’ll never be short on food.’

And not being short on food meant many things. Many, many things.