Chapter 7: Remembering the Treats, Forgetting the Punishments

She gazed at the empty, hard stone bed—it lacked even an animal hide. Not only was it unbearably uncomfortable to sleep on, but with the cold night temperatures, she feared catching a chill or worse.

In this beastly world, the temperature difference between day and night was drastic; without covering herself, she was certain to fall ill.

Her eyes drifted toward the cave entrance, where filthy animal hides lay. She lacked the courage to bring any inside to cover herself.

With a soft sigh, she gathered some dry twigs nearby and returned to build a fire in the center of the cave.

The fire would provide warmth and keep wild beasts at bay.

She certainly did not expect the five beastmen to come protect her during the night.

After hustling about for a while, she was utterly exhausted and hungry.

Her gaze involuntarily fell on the roasted meat and fish wrapped in broad leaves; she swallowed hard.

“No, I can’t eat this. If I eat more, I’ll just get fat...” she whispered to herself, desperately trying to self-hypnotize.

Then, struggling, she turned her eyes away from the meat and fish.

But she was truly starving; the grilled fish she had eaten earlier that afternoon had long since been digested.

Her eyes once more drifted toward the grilled fish, craving them terribly.

Yet, seeing the excess fat on her body, she forced herself to resist.

To divert her attention, she sat by the fire and began cultivating her supernatural abilities.

The wood spirit energy in this beastly world was extremely abundant, making cultivation remarkably smooth—far better than in the post-apocalyptic world.

Su Xiyue believed it wouldn’t be long before she could advance to Level 2.

Thinking of her pitifully ugly face, although her abilities had dropped to Level 1, weakening her healing powers, she could still perform simple detoxification.

Her face was obviously the result of accumulated toxins combined with excessive oil secretion, causing the blemishes.

To cure it completely, she had to detoxify first.

She opened her palm, facing upward, focused her mind, and a tender green vine sprouted from her palm, emitting a faint green glow.

It was very beautiful.

The vine grew longer and longer, crawling up to her face, the green light enveloping it as detoxification began.

As the power infused her face, she felt intense itching, as if something was about to emerge—she wanted to scratch several times.

But fearing scars, she refrained.

Enduring the itch, Su Xiyue concentrated on detoxifying with her abilities.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, she suddenly felt her nose, eyes, and entire face covered by something dark and sticky, suffocating her and blurring her vision.

The odor was terrible, like rotten eggs, almost making her nauseous.

She withdrew her power and wiped her eyes, nose, and face—covered with black, foul-smelling dirt.

“Is this thing the toxin that came out of my face?” she thought, disgusted.

Feeling sickened, she hurried out of the cave, taking her facial cleanser with her.

Though it was dark, the bright moonlight allowed her to see clearly.

Many men, women, and children of the tribe were still awake—some gathered in small groups chatting, some bathing by the river, others occupied otherwise.

Some even hid in the woods or corners for secret trysts.

The beastly world was extremely open, especially at night; wherever one went, sounds of lovemaking could be heard.

The noises made her ears burn and her face flush.

Along the way, she noticed several couples doing it—truly anytime, anywhere, just find a bush or a corner.

Su Xiyue twitched her lips, unable to understand why they didn’t go inside caves but chose to do it out in the open.

Thinking that this was a beast world—essentially animals—how could there be any shame?

She kept a calm expression as she walked to the riverbank, pretending neither to hear nor see anything.

After decades in the apocalypse, she had seen it all.

Compared to the disgusting, nauseating zombies of the post-apocalypse, this was child’s play.

Just as she reached the river, she heard noises upstream.

Glancing sideways, she saw the grass flattened over a wide area. The darkness made it hard to see who was there.

Just as she was about to look away, a face turned over; moonlight revealed it was Mia.

As for the beastman with her, no need to guess—it was one of Mia’s beast husbands.

Su Xiyue recalled how Mia had mocked her not long ago. If she got caught spying now, Mia might think she was deliberately peeping and mock her further.

To avoid trouble, she walked downstream, away from that area.

Only then did she squat by the river to wash the dirt off her face.

She scrubbed three times until her face felt fresh before stopping.

Under the bright moonlight, she looked at her reflection in the water. Although many pimples remained, they had visibly reduced and no longer oozed pus—her face looked much better.

She touched her face, feeling quite pleased.

Planning to continue detoxifying with her powers tomorrow, she thought a few days more would heal her face completely.

Just as she was about to stand and leave, she suddenly heard splashing upstream.

Curious, she looked toward the sound.

She froze instantly.

Under the moonlight stood a man bathing in the river, bare-chested. His bronzed skin glistened seductively in the moonlight.

His eight-pack abs were perfectly symmetrical, a flawless display of physical perfection.

Water droplets rolled down his body into the river.

Swallowing hard, Su Xiyue admired the man’s physique.

Broad shoulders, narrow waist, long legs...

Her gaze instinctively drifted downward, but the water obscured his lower body.

Her eyes rose to his face.

He was extremely handsome, with deep, striking features—sword-like eyebrows, starry eyes, a high nose bridge, perfectly shaped lips.

He exuded a wild, untamed aura that was incredibly alluring yet aggressive.

Was this not her fifth beast husband, Xuan Ming?

He was a fifth-rank beastman, resembling a shadow wolf—the only one of his kind in the tribe—a rare specimen.

The man sensed something, abruptly looking up at her. His sharp gaze was like a drawn sword.

Su Xiyue’s heart jolted; she quickly withdrew her eyes and turned to run.

But the next moment, her body stiffened.

The man called her name in a cold, gritted tone, “Su Xiyue, you’re really bold, spying on me while I bathe.”

Before she could react, he rose from the river and strode toward her.

Without hesitation, Su Xiyue fled as fast as she could.

No kidding—if she didn’t run now, when would she?

In the original story, the protagonist was caught peeping on Xuan Ming bathing and nearly beaten to death.

She had no desire to experience that fate.

She cursed Xuan Ming countless times in her mind, thinking him so pretentious—he came to bathe at the river yet blamed her for spying. Wasn’t she just openly looking?

Of course, she didn’t forget to bring her facial cleanser while running.

If she lost it, she wouldn’t be able to buy another.

Xuan Ming watched her flee with something in her hand, puzzled by the strange object he had never seen before.

But it was quite exquisite and pretty.

He didn’t pay it much mind, only feeling dark displeasure on his handsome face at being spied on.

The last time Su Xiyue had peeped on him bathing, he had given her a severe beating.

Now she had come again—truly unlearned.

Su Xiyue ran all the way back to the cave and, seeing Xuan Ming hadn’t followed, breathed a secret sigh of relief.

Sitting by the fire, her thoughts returned to Xuan Ming’s exceptionally fit body, and she swallowed hard again.

She had to admit, this man had the best physique she had seen since arriving in this beastly world.

Handsome and aggressive.

Such a man was almost perfectly infuriating.

Unfortunately, he loathed her utterly.

Winning him over would be a tremendous challenge.