Chapter 9: Protecting Her
Xiao Jihan and Hua Linye remembered all of Su Muyao’s habits.
She had grown up in the Beast Emperor City as the treasured pearl of the Su family. With her noble status, she was admired and sought after, and she had been meticulous about cleanliness since she was a child. She had to have hot water for a bath every single day.
As for them, they would wash in the river whenever they went out. After washing in their beast forms, their fur would dry quickly under the sun.
While the two of them were inside boiling water, Wen Nanxi was in the courtyard peeling sweet potatoes. After he had peeled them all, he went inside to get a knife, planning to chop them into small, thin pieces.
He looked at Xiao Jihan and Hua Linye and said, “Itâs my turn to take care of my lady today.” The three of them had a rotating schedule.
Hua Linye spoke, a bit awkwardly. “We ate her food. We should do something in return.” Otherwise, it just didn’t feel right.
“That’s how it should be,” Xiao Jihan agreed. No matter what, Su Muyao was, in name, their Wife Master. They couldn’t just stand by idly while she was busy working.
Wen Nanxi explained, “We dug up a lot of sweet potatoes today. My lady wants to cut them all into thin strips.”
“Letâs help,” Hua Linye offered. “It will go faster.”
Xiao Jihan also looked at Wen Nanxi, clearly ready to lend a hand.
Wen Nanxi nodded. With the three of them working together, the task was finished in no time. A portion of the sliced sweet potatoes was placed into a pot of clean water and brought to a rolling boil.
Just as the sweet potatoes had been boiled until they were soft and mushy, Su Muyao finished cleaning the offal and came inside. She saw Wen Nanxi boiling the sweet potatoes while Xiao Jihan and Hua Linye were mashing the slices into a pulp. With their special abilities, the work was quick.
Su Muyao was slightly surprised. She hadn’t expected that, despite their loathing for her, they would still do the work that needed to be done. Well, as long as they were working, that was good enough.
With a thought, Su Muyao walked over to the pot. “This is good enough,” she said to Wen Nanxi. “Letâs scoop this out and filter it first.”
As she spoke, she found a clean piece of cheesecloth and a large wooden bucket. Wen Nanxi did as she said, scooping everything into the cloth-lined bucket.
“Itâs a bit hot right now. We have to wait for it to cool down before we can squeeze the cloth.”
Hearing this, Xiao Jihan flicked his finger, and a wave of cold air instantly enveloped the bucket and the cloth. The temperature dropped immediately.
Su Muyao was stunned by the sight. She turned to stare at Xiao Jihan, her eyes shining brightly. She had almost forgottenâhis ability was ice manipulation. He was a natural refrigerator!
She wanted to ask him to help her make an ice cellar to store food, but she figured he would probably refuse. She bit her tongue and said nothing, turning away.
Xiao Jihan had been momentarily dazed by her brilliant gaze, thinking she was about to say something. But after hesitating, the light in her eyes dimmed, and she looked away.
A small frown appeared between Xiao Jihan’s cool eyes. He lowered his voice and asked, “Is there something you need me to do, my lady?”
Su Muyao froze, not expecting him to ask her directly. His voice was still clear and cold, with a chilling air, but it seemed to lack the bone-deep iciness from the day she first arrived. It was a subtle change.
She turned back to look at him with a questioning gaze, confirming that his expression was calm and free of any other emotion. Only then did she speak. “Can you help me dig an ice cellar in that corner of the yard? That way I can store all this meat, and it won’t spoil so easily. Otherwise, anything we canât finish will go to waste.”
It was a habit ingrained in her from the apocalypseâshe hated wasting food.
Upon hearing her words, not only did Xiao Jihan’s expression change, but Hua Linye was also astonished. Wasn’t she the one who loved wasting food the most? She used to complain that leftovers weren’t fresh and didn’t taste right the next day. In the hot weather, she would throw away any food that wasn’t eaten on the same day it was made.
Xiao Jihan composed himself and replied in a low voice, “Alright.”
Without another word, he went straight into the yard to start on the ice cellar. Su Muyao hadn’t expected him to be so efficient.
As if not to be outdone, Hua Linye used his ability to light the firewood. He possessed a fire-based ability. That was another useful one, especially in the winter. And, of course, they would never need kindling to start a fire again.
As a thought occurred to Su Muyao, her eyes sparkled. Her gaze toward Hua Linye became a little more satisfied. Hua Linye noticed her expression, but he saw that her eyes were fixed only on his fire ability; she hadn’t looked at him at all. Still, he thought, it was good that she liked his power.
After Su Muyao showed Wen Nanxi how to filter the sweet potato liquid, she had him put the juice back into the pot to continue boiling.
“My lady, whatâs next?” Hua Linye asked. He had already used his strength to grind the peeled and sliced sweet potatoes into a paste.
Su Muyao explained, “First, we wash it, then filter it, then squeeze out the starchy water…” She walked Hua Linye through the steps. “Let this starchy water sit in a vat. By tomorrow morning, the starch will have settled at the bottom. Weâll pour off the water, add fresh water to the starch, and filter it again to make it finer…”
After letting the starch settle twice, it could be put in a cheesecloth bag and hung in a ventilated place to dry. By her calculations, they would have sweet potato starch by the next evening. Perhaps she could even make sweet potato noodles.
Once most of the work was done, Su Muyao finally used the heated water to take a bath. Fortunately, her predecessor had been fond of cleanliness and had made the beastmen build a dedicated bathing house, complete with a tub made of stone.
Just as Su Muyao finished her bath, got dressed, and was about to step out, she heard a commotion outside. Her expression changed, and she rushed out of the room.
When she reached the door, she saw a swarm of monsters outside. The male beastmen of the tribe were already fighting.
Mutated beasts?
Su Muyaoâs pupils constricted at the sight of them. They looked even stranger than the ones she had seen during the day. Wen Nanxi, Hua Linye, and Xiao Jihan were already engaged in combat. They were incredibly fast, their abilities morphing into various weapons in their hands.
“Look out!”
Xiao Jihan moved in a flash. A blade of ice formed from his ability shot forward, piercing straight through the head of a mutated beast that had been about to lunge at her. The blood that gushed from the creatures was an eerie black. Xiao Jihan immediately froze the black blood with his ice power, preventing it from splattering and frightening her.
It seemed all the mutated beasts were targeting her.
Flames erupted from Hua Linyeâs hands, instantly incinerating the creatures.
“Jie-jie…”
The beasts let out strange, terrifying shrieks mixed with sharp screeches.
Wen Nanxi moved at an incredible speed, almost as if he were teleporting, killing one mutated beast after another. Soon, with the combined efforts of the tribeâs males, all the beasts were slain.
Wen Nanxi was the first to reach Su Muyao’s side. “Are you alright, my lady?” he asked, looking her over carefully, worried she might have been frightened.
But Su Muyaoâs expression was calm; she didn’t look scared at all.
Seeing her composure, both Xiao Jihan and Hua Linye were taken aback. Before, just hearing the sound of a mutated beast would scare her into hiding. If she actually saw one, she would be terrified, doing nothing but tremble and shrink away. They never expected her to come outside.
Su Muyao had been startled, but not afraid. She shook her head. “I’m fine.”
A thought suddenly crossed her mind: until she regained her own strength, she would truly need their protection. But she had promised them three months. She had to get stronger, and fast.
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