Long Xiu’s body stiffened, and he took two steps back with a cold face. His voice, somewhat awkward, came out harshly: “Hurry and change, if you get sick, no one will save you.”

With that, he turned and walked behind the wooden house, leaning on his long stick, ignoring Hu Jiao Jiao.

Hu Jiao Jiao chuckled lightly. Like Long Zhong, Long Xiu had a sharp tongue, but she knew it was just because he didn’t know how to express himself. Inside, he was still soft and kind.

If it weren’t for Long Xiu taking out the animal skin skirt, she would have had to spend the whole day in her wet clothes.

But…

Hu Jiao Jiao glanced down at her hand, noticing a few fleas jumping off her palm.

Her face darkened. Was it that beastmen didn’t care about hygiene, or was it that these little ones had no one to look after them? Even their heads had fleas. She resolved that she needed to give them a proper cleaning.

Thinking of how the little ones looked like tiny beggars, Hu Jiao Jiao became even more determined to clean them up and dress them properly.

Once inside the house, Hu Jiao Jiao removed her drenched animal skin skirt. Since arriving in this world, she hadn’t had a chance to bathe, but today, at least the river gave her the opportunity for a proper wash.

While changing into dry clothes, Hu Jiao Jiao glanced at herself unintentionally. She had to admit, this body she had now was quite impressive. Curvaceous in all the right places, slim where needed, and full where it should be.

The original owner of this body was the very definition of sultry and seductive.

In her previous life, Hu Jiao Jiao had been a hardcore homebody. Though not overweight, her figure was average—nothing remarkable.

Hu Jiaojiao touched herself curiously, her face flushing red. But quickly, she justified it to herself—after all, this body was hers now. Wasn’t it perfectly fine to examine it?

She put on the clean animal skin skirt. The new skirt was made from leopard skin, yellow and dark brown spots intertwined. It was short, barely reaching her knees, hugging her thighs snugly.

The top was a simple tied vest. Due to the lack of sewing tools, most of the beastmen’s clothing was a single piece tied together.

Dressed in the new outfit, Hu Jiao Jiao couldn’t help but frown. The previous skirt had covered her knees, which she could tolerate. But this one was so short, and since beastmen didn’t wear underwear, it would be all too easy for an embarrassing incident to occur.

The beastmen didn’t seem to care, but as a modern human, she couldn’t accept walking around with nothing underneath a short skirt.

Since there was still time, Hu Jiao Jiao hurried back into her space and found some soft white cloth to make herself some underwear.

As for the top, she left it as it was for now. Luckily, the animal skin was thick enough to avoid any awkward exposure. Improvements could wait for later.

Upon entering her space this time, Hu Jiao Jiao noticed that two new shelves had appeared.

One shelf was filled with fabrics, yarns, and various sewing tools—a professional tailor would be impressed by the collection.

However, making clothes from these fabrics would be too eye-catching, so Hu Jiao Jiao decided they would only be used for making undergarments.

The second shelf contained weapons—long swords, spears, bows, crossbows, and many other cold weapons whose names she didn’t know.

Recalling the danger she had faced earlier, Hu Jiao Jiao realized how useful these weapons could be for self-defense. At least they could save her life in a critical moment. If it were firearms on the shelf, she probably wouldn’t even know how to use them.

After putting on her newly made underwear, Hu Jiao Jiao did a quick inventory check of the items on the shelves, then grabbed some potatoes, vegetables, and seasonings from the food shelf before leaving her space to start making dinner.

Beastmen typically ate two meals a day, and some even only had one. Having inherited the original owner’s body, Hu Jiao Jiao had also become accustomed to this diet. It wasn’t until now that she began to feel hungry after the morning meal.

She cut a large piece of beef brisket, removed three deer legs, and prepared to make a pot of potato beef stew, roast the deer legs, and cook a fragrant pot of white rice.

As the food cooked, the aroma began to waft through the air, just as the sky gradually darkened, casting a dusky veil over the land.

When the four cubs returned, they saw smoke rising from the courtyard and were immediately reminded of the house that was burned down. Their faces paled, and they rushed forward.

“Mom! Where are you?” Long Ling’er called out anxiously, searching for Hu Jiao Jiao.

“Third Brother, go get the bucket and fetch water to put out the fire!” Long Yu instructed Long Zhong urgently.

Trailing behind, Long Yao followed his brothers.

But before they reached the courtyard, Hu Jiao Jiao appeared, covering her mouth with one hand and fanning the air in front of her nose with the other, looking at them in surprise.

“Cough, cough… What are you doing?”

The four cubs froze in place.

Long Zhong clenched his teeth, glaring at Hu Jiao Jiao with anger. “You vile woman! I knew you had bad intentions! Were you planning to burn Second Brother alive while we weren’t here and set the house on fire?!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Long Yao rushed forward and bit down on Long Zhong’s finger, the one pointed accusingly at Hu Jiao Jiao.

“Ow…”

Long Zhong winced in pain.

“Third Brother, are you okay? Xiao Wu, let go! This is Third Brother, you can’t bite him!” Long Ling’er rushed over to pull Long Yao away.

Even as Long Yao was being held by Long Ling’er, he continued to bare his teeth, growling fiercely, as if ready to pounce and bite Long Zhong again.

“Xiao Wu!” Long Yu frowned, scolding Long Yao with a hint of anger.

Xiao Wu had always been the most obedient, but today, he bit Third Brother just for of this vicious female. What had she fed him to make him so enchanted?

Hu Jiao Jiao, startled, hurried over to check Long Zhong’s injury.

“Let me see, did the skin break?”

Being bitten by a beastman was no small matter. In severe cases, it could lead to infections or even rabies.

She remembered reading in the book about beastmen dying from rabies after being bitten by other beastmen.

Long Zhong’s hand was thin, nothing but skin and bones, resembling a withered tree branch. His finger had two rows of teeth marks, two of which were deep and already oozing blood.

Hu Jiao Jiao frowned deeply. Xiao Wu might be small, but his teeth were incredibly sharp, and he had clearly bitten down with force.

“It’s bleeding. Let me help you clean it up and apply some medicine.”

She reached out to take Long Zhong’s hand, but he shook her hand away.

“Don’t pretend to be nice! If it weren’t for you manipulating Xiao Wu, he wouldn’t have bitten me. You must have bewitched him, you vile woman! Don’t touch me!”

With that, Long Zhong ran over to Long Yu’s side.

His eyes, dark and full of hatred, glared at Hu Jiao Jiao with such cold intensity, as if wishing to tear her apart.