Chapter – 21
This Home Can’t Do Without You
The air fell silent for a couple of seconds.
Lu Liufeng pressed his lips together, guilt growing in his amber eyes.
“Female—”
He had just begun to speak when Jiang Xi hurriedly interrupted him.
“How about this—you help me move some charcoal into the stone pot and carry it to my room.”
She was afraid he would say something strange again.
“With charcoal burning, it’ll be much warmer tonight.”
The wooden house let in wind from everywhere, so Jiang Xi wasn’t worried about carbon monoxide poisoning.
They came to the fire room solely for the still-glowing charcoal in the fire pit.
Lu Liufeng looked hesitant.
Jiang Xi took advantage of his wavering.
“Look, isn’t the fire room warm because of the charcoal?”
“Moving the charcoal to my room is the same thing.”
Lu Liufeng’s lips pressed tighter as a trace of barely noticeable disappointment flashed across his amber eyes.
“…Alright.”
The previous female owner would have desperately tried to squeeze into the beastmen’s rooms.
But now, even when he invited her, this female refused to enter.
The stone pot used to cook food during the day was now turned into a brazier.
Following her instructions, Lu Liufeng scooped all the glowing charcoal from the fire pit into the stone pot and carried it to her room.
The room wasn’t much different from before—still a mess.
Jiang Xi wanted to do a full clean-up, but hadn’t had time. She only cleared out a space to sleep.
Looking at the gaps in the wooden boards letting the wind in, she thought: Tomorrow, I can go to the river to dig mud and patch the walls.
After delivering the charcoal, Lu Liufeng finally stopped insisting that she sleep in his room.
Once she sent him out, Jiang Xi pushed the brazier closer to the animal-skin bedding on the floor.
Wrapped in animal skin, she sat by the fire to warm up.
Only after the room heated up and sleepiness hit her did she drift off.
Perhaps because of the warmth, she didn’t wake up freezing like last time. She slept straight through to morning.
When she got up, the snow had stopped and the sky was blue.
Mu Ling had been squatting at the fire room’s entrance for a long time. The moment he saw the female come out, his wolf eyes lit up and he immediately stood.
“Female, you’re awake! Hurry, wash your face—then we can eat breakfast!”
He had returned with firewood from the mountain, but since the female was still asleep, Lu Liufeng wouldn’t let him eat yet.
So he could only squat by the doorway, staring at her room.
When Jiang Xi’s eyes swept into the fire room and saw Lu Liufeng cooking, she instantly understood why Mu Ling was so enthusiastic.
Lu Liufeng wasn’t really cooking, just reheating some pork head meat from last night, adding in a few peeled potatoes to boil together—yet it made for a delicious breakfast.
Jiang Xi washed her face and brushed her teeth with a twig.
As usual, she infused healing ability into the water.
This time, it was Mu Ling who carried the basin out.
The man easily lifted the stone basin and went to pour it out behind the house.
Only when he saw the darkened water did he understand why the female’s facial bumps had reduced so much.
But he vaguely remembered that back in the Holy City, the female and her holy mother had tried countless treatments to no effect.
So how did the healing suddenly work after her external spiritual power disappeared and then recovered?
The female seemed to be hiding a huge secret.
But Mu Ling wasn’t the type to pry—and besides, as a beastman husband, he had no right to question her.
Jiang Xi wasn’t used to greasy breakfasts, so she didn’t take much meat.
All the extra meat ended up in Mu Ling’s bowl.
She looked around, still not seeing Yi Yuexi anywhere, and found it strange.
Lu Liufeng spoke, as if he could read her mind:
“Yi Yuexi went into the mountains early this morning.”
Mu Ling snorted coldly.
“If I had known he was sneaking food last night, I’d have caught him!”
Lu Liufeng shook his head disapprovingly.
“Mu Ling, don’t be like that. We’re all the female’s beastmen.”
Mu Ling chewed his meat, wolf eyes flashing with displeasure, not backing down.
“He acts so high and mighty—but we’re all exiled to the Cursed Land now. Who’s more noble than who? If he’s so capable, why doesn’t he find a female who can get him a Golden Soul Fruit?!”
Seeing the tension, Jiang Xi quickly changed the subject.
“Let’s make some potato starch today. It stores well in this season.”
At the mention of food, Mu Ling instantly looked over—his once sharp wolf gaze becoming clear and bright.
“What’s potato starch?”
Jiang Xi: “…”
Lu Liufeng also looked speechless.
Jiang Xi: “It’s powder made from potatoes. You can use it for breakfast dishes.”
Mu Ling didn’t understand a word of that—but he understood one thing:
It must taste good.
If it was delicious, that was all that mattered.
After breakfast, Mu Ling went to cut bamboo, while Lu Liufeng and Jiang Xi stayed home to process the ingredients they’d brought back yesterday.
Before that, Jiang Xi dragged all the animal skins from her room into the yard to wash them with snow.
She also cleared out the clutter of jars and containers from her room.
Lu Liufeng looked confused.
“Female, what… is this for?”
Wrapped thickly in animal skin, hands on her hips, Jiang Xi replied,
“Spring cleaning, of course! Cleaning the house!”
Lu Liufeng blinked. “Spring cleaning? House cleaning?”
He understood the words individually, and he thought he understood them together, yet the phrasing still felt oddly foreign—just like when she described stone table and chairs before.
Still, he didn’t think too much and soon joined in to help.
The snow in the yard was thick. When the animal skins were placed down, they left shallow prints.
Jiang Xi used bundled dried grass as a brush to scrub the fur.
Most of the animal skins had been in her room to block wind or used as bedding, cushions, etc.—there were over a dozen.
Jiang Xi worked hard, refusing to rest even when Lu Liufeng urged her to go inside.
But once the white snow turned a yellowish-brown from the dirt she scrubbed off… she wanted to escape reality.
She didn’t dare look at Lu Liufeng.
Especially when the snow in his hands, used to clean animal furs, had turned the same color.
Perceiving the change in her breathing, Lu Liufeng’s gaze shifted and he instantly understood. He offered her an excuse to step down gracefully.
“These furs were all spread on the ground—it’s normal for them to pick up dirt.”
She would have preferred he didn’t speak. The moment he did, she wanted to disappear.
Because both of them knew exactly why the furs were filthy.
Ever since entering Jiang Xi’s room, they had never been washed—not once. Combined with the mud and grime she scrubbed off herself at the Hot River Valley yesterday…
Jiang Xi was reasonably sure she had gone months without bathing.
Of course the furs were dirty.
She gave an awkward laugh.
Her gaze shifted to the empty courtyard next door and the closed door, and she changed the topic again.
“Mary and her beastmen are gone too. Did they go to the Hot River Valley?”
Lu Liufeng nodded.
“They set out early this morning. Without a flying beastman to carry them, they can only travel on foot. They’ll likely have to stay overnight at the valley.”
Flying-type beastmen were the most desirable partners in the Cursed Land, because travel was fast.
From Lion Roar Tribe to Hot River Valley, even the slowest flying beastman took only half a day.
But land beastmen, in winter snow, needed a full day at least.
Jiang Xi nodded, realizing how convenient Lu Liufeng was as a flying beastman.
She couldn’t help praising him:
“Looks like this home really can’t do without you.”
