Chapter 16

Mu Feng curled his lips slightly, a trace of amusement flickering in his eyes, though his tone remained unchanged. “So how do you know all this?”

Cheng Youyou was caught off guard by Mu Feng’s sudden question.

“Uh…”

Seeing her freeze up, a smile crept across his refined face.

After a long pause, she finally remembered the perfect excuse Lu Xi had once inspired and stammered, “It… it was my father who told me…”

Mu Feng nodded as if suddenly enlightened. “Ah, I see. Your father must be quite impressive.”

Cheng Youyou echoed weakly, “Yeah…”

Watching her animated and lively expression, Mu Feng found her a little cute. He blinked. Oh no. What the hell? That face—and he thought it was cute?

He quickly averted his gaze, dropped everything he was carrying, and muttered, “I just remembered—I have something to do…”

Before he could finish, he was already gone in a flash.

Cheng Youyou stared after him, baffled by his ghost-chased demeanor. Then she shrugged. Maybe he really did have something urgent. Looking at the pile of goods on the ground, her smile returned.

Luckily, the cave wasn’t far. She could make a few trips and carry everything back. Now that she was a beastfolk, her strength had increased significantly.

There was no way she could carry all three gray wolves at once, so she cut the vines Mu Feng had used to bind them and hauled them back to the cave one by one. After several exhausting trips, her beast-hide skirt was soaked through with sweat. But she managed to bring everything back.

Covered in sweat, she didn’t dare sit on the stone bed for fear of staining the beast-hide laid on it. She sat on the ground instead, ate two wild fruits, and let the sweet juice soothe her thirst.

She’d walked so much today—her usually sedentary body was at its limit. Her muscles ached all over, but she didn’t dare lie down completely. She feared that if she did, she wouldn’t be able to get back up.

She still hadn’t transplanted the evodia fruit. Summoning her willpower, she got up, grabbed the largest bone knife from the stone slab, and carefully picked up the plant. She stepped outside the cave and chose a sunny spot. Using the bone knife, she began digging a hole. After much effort, she managed only a small pit and sighed in frustration. Without proper tools, efficiency was abysmal.

She needed to make some decent tools—but that required iron ore. Where would she even find iron ore? And even if she did, smelting it was a massive undertaking.

She remembered that back in the village where she lived with her grandparents, there had been a tool foundry. Her grandfather bought all his tools there. She’d once tagged along out of curiosity.

What stuck with her most was the intense heat inside. Even in the dead of winter, the place nearly melted her.

First, the iron ore was poured into a blazing furnace to refine out impurities. Then the molten iron was poured into molds, cooled, and carefully polished into sharp tools.

But thinking about all that now was pointless. She didn’t even have iron ore!

She placed the evodia into the pit, fetched water with a stone pot, and gently watered it. Looking at the vibrant green plant, she closed her eyes and activated her wood-type ability. Soon, tiny white buds appeared at the tips of the branches.

Cheng Youyou felt the buds slowly bloom under her power and was overjoyed. After drinking detoxifying herbs yesterday, her mouth had been bland and tasteless. Once the evodia matured, she could finally enjoy a spicy, flavorful dinner tonight.

Just as she was daydreaming about her delicious meal, a chaotic rush of footsteps approached. More than one person. She opened her eyes and looked toward the forest.

Moments later, several women emerged—those same ones who had been washing beast hides by the river earlier. But their faces no longer held disdain or mockery. Now they were filled with hatred and loathing.

“Cheng Youyou, not only are you useless, you’re downright vicious.”

An older woman chimed in, “I’ve lived most of my life, and I’ve never seen a female as cruel as you…”

“Don’t you all feel unsafe living in the same tribe as someone so malicious?”

Zuo Wa, hiding nearby, added softly, her delicate face full of fear, as if genuinely worried about the tribe’s future. But the glint in her eyes and the slight curl of her lips betrayed her true intentions.

The women who had been accusing Cheng Youyou grew even more indignant.

She’d harmed someone already—who knew who she’d target next?

“Right! Who would dare live with someone like her? She must be driven out of the tribe!”

“Yes! Drive her out!”

Hearing their accusations and unified cries to exile her, Cheng Youyou casually scratched her ear. What had the original host done this time?

One scapegoat after another—she couldn’t catch a break.

Seeing Cheng Youyou’s calm and unbothered expression, Zuo Wa secretly ground her silver teeth in frustration. Why did she still look so indifferent? Did she really think she was still the same girl protected by her shaman father?

“I wonder how Sister Lu Xi is doing now?”

At the mention of Lu Xi, the women immediately recalled her tragic state. Their eyes filled with fear—and rage toward Cheng Youyou.

Cheng Youyou’s expression changed. She snapped her gaze toward Zuo Wa, her pale eyes tinged with urgency. “Who did you say?”

Zuo Wa flinched, shrinking back and trying to disappear.

The older woman pulled Zuo Wa behind her and glared at Cheng Youyou. “What, harming Lu Xi wasn’t enough? Now you want to hurt Zuo Wa, too?”

Cheng Youyou met her gaze without flinching, her expression serious. “What happened to Lu Xi?”

“You’re truly vile and fake. Lu Xi started bleeding after eating what you gave her. Her cub hasn’t come out.”

“She’s already birthed five cubs without issue. This has never happened before.”

“Wukai has gone to the neighboring tribe to fetch a shaman.”

“Don’t tell me you weren’t jealous of how her beast-husband doted on her, while you had to rely on dirty tricks like sweetgrass to win affection.”

“If anything happens to Lu Xi or her unborn cub, even if you’re the lord’s mate, we’ll make sure you’re exiled!”

Hearing their words, Zuo Wa—still hiding behind them—smiled smugly.

As long as Cheng Youyou was driven out, Mu Feng and Mu Yu would return to her side.