Chapter 10
After the nighttime temperature finally cooled down, Ling Cheng’en helped Zhong Zhen back into the cave and suddenly realized a serious problem.
Zhong Zhen lived in this cave… so where was she supposed to sleep tonight?
She stood at the cave entrance, staring at the grass bedding in deep thought. Before she could figure anything out, the system suddenly let out an excited, sneaky laugh.
“New strategy mission released: two people staying alone in the same room for six hours. Reward: 10 energy points.”
Listening to the noisy chatter in her head, Ling Cheng’en immediately felt a headache coming on. Before she could respond, Zhong Zhen—half his weight leaning against her shoulder—spoke first.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Ling Cheng’en expressionlessly helped him over to the grass bedding. Looking at the pitch-black cave, she sighed helplessly before turning to leave. “Get some rest first.”
Zhong Zhen watched her back quietly but did not stop her.
Their relationship was indeed far from simple. They were nothing like ordinary beastmen mates who had just paired together. Suddenly sharing the same cave—and even sleeping in the same place—made both of them feel awkward.
Still, he had just taken medicine, and his injuries were severe. He did not have the energy to think about where Ling Cheng’en would spend the night. Not long after lying down on the grass mat, he gradually drifted into a dazed sleep.
Ling Cheng’en spread a large pile of dry grass beside the original bedding, then went outside to take a cold bath. After drying her hair beside the fire, she finally returned to the cave.
Lying on the freshly spread hay, she felt uncomfortable no matter how she positioned herself.
The unfamiliar presence beside her made it impossible to fall asleep.
She rested both hands behind her head and silently began planning all the things that still needed to be done.
The glowing grass planted inside the underground caves of the Medicine Radish Tribe was quite useful. She could transplant some back here so they would not need to work in darkness at night anymore.
This grass bed also needed to be replaced. The cave needed two separate beds, and preferably curtains to divide her living area from Zhong Zhen’s.
Or maybe she should just dig another cave altogether.
But caves honestly were not comfortable to live in. There was no real door—only a grass curtain barely blocking the entrance. One gust of wind and all privacy disappeared.
Right now, with the weather getting warmer, the flaws of the grass curtain were not obvious.
But once the cold season arrived, that thing would provide no warmth at all. People might even freeze to death.
After thinking about a mountain of problems, Ling Cheng’en suddenly turned over and lay on her side facing Zhong Zhen. Her eyes fixed tightly on him as he slept with closed eyes, slightly parted lips, and soft, even breathing.
“Are you asleep?” she suddenly asked.
Zhong Zhen slowly opened his eyes. Drowsiness had filled them with a faint mist as he slightly turned his head toward the female beastman lying about a meter away.
He remained silent for a long while, but his open eyes already answered her question.
“When do you think your injuries will recover?”
Ling Cheng’en rested her head on her left arm as her body rose and fell faintly with her breathing.
Beastmen possessed powerful regenerative abilities, so she could not estimate Zhong Zhen’s recovery based on her old experiences.
On top of that, the witch doctor had used wood-element healing magic on him. She had only seen the witch doctor use that ability before, so she had no idea how effective it truly was.
Zhong Zhen raised a hand to cover his mouth as he yawned. His eyelashes fluttered lightly.
“At least half a month before the wounds fully heal.”
A large chunk of rotten flesh had been carved from his leg. The healing spell had only stopped the bleeding. The flesh itself still needed time to regrow.
“Your earth-element ability… was it mainly used for fighting before?”
“More or less. But my ability isn’t very strong offensively. It’s mainly for defense. Besides that, I can dig underground caves. The tunnels beneath the Medicine Radish Tribe were all dug by me.”
Zhong Zhen held nothing back about his powers.
Among people his age, his ability rank was considered fairly high. But compared to the truly powerful beastmen, it was nowhere near enough.
Especially against Ling Xiao.
He could not even get close before being subdued in a single strike.
That was not an exaggeration—because he had personally experienced it not long ago.
The reason Ling Xiao dared force the Medicine Radish Tribe to hand him over as Ling Cheng’en’s beast husband was because he was absolutely confident.
Zhong Zhen was no match for either father or daughter from the Ling family.
Ling Cheng’en raised her eyes slightly.
“I heard your ability level is Rank Six?”
“Mm. I just reached Rank Six this year.”
“Do you know how to farm?” Ling Cheng’en asked.
Zhong Zhen looked at her in confusion.
“What do you mean?”
“The glowing grass inside the Medicine Radish Tribe’s underground caves—you transplanted it there, right?”
Zhong Zhen nodded and slowly propped himself upright, lowering his gaze to her face.
“Yes. Do you like glowing grass?”
“I’m interested in glowing grass, but what I’m most interested in is whether or not you know how to grow things.”
Ling Cheng’en sat up directly from the pile of grass, crossing her legs as she looked straight into his eyes.
“You should know very well that relying solely on hunting to support an entire tribe is extremely difficult. Every cold season, huge numbers of beastmen die. Mostly cubs, elderly beastmen, and physically weaker females.”
Zhong Zhen nodded.
“That’s a very common situation across the Beast Plains. It has been that way for thousands of years.”
“So I want to change that. At the very least, we cannot continue relying only on hunting for food.”
She paused before continuing,
“You ate the mashed potatoes today too. What did you think?”
“It fills the stomach, and the taste was good.”
Leaning against the stone wall, Zhong Zhen lowered his eyes in thought. He already understood what she was trying to say.
“You want to grow this fruit called potato?”
Ling Cheng’en nodded.
“This crop has a very high yield and stores well, especially during the cold season. When prey becomes extremely scarce during winter, having a food like this means far fewer beastmen will starve to death…”
Zhong Zhen suddenly lifted his eyes, and light slowly appeared within them.
“You’re serious?”
Ling Cheng’en crossed her arms and slightly lifted her chin with a faint snort.
“What reason would I have to lie to you?”
“But I don’t know how to grow this kind of thing,” Zhong Zhen admitted.
“You don’t know now, so can’t you learn? I’ll teach you.”
“Where did you learn all this?” Zhong Zhen still could not understand it. The infamous vicious female everyone talked about—how could she possess so much rare knowledge?
Ling Cheng’en fell back onto the grass bedding again.
“Where I learned it isn’t your concern. Just tell me whether you can do it or not.”
It felt as though a fire had ignited inside Zhong Zhen’s chest. He suddenly became eager to try.
“Once my injuries heal, I’ll give it a try. But I can’t guarantee success.”
This was an incredible opportunity.
If they truly could harvest huge amounts of food that could also be stored through the cold season, it would absolutely shake the entire Beast Plains.
Satisfied with his answer, Ling Cheng’en pulled the animal-skin blanket over her stomach, kicked her legs slightly, and closed her eyes immediately.
“Alright. Night talk’s over. Sleep.”
She fell asleep astonishingly fast.
Zhong Zhen had thought that with a lone man and woman lying in the same cave, she would toss and turn awkwardly for a while longer.
Yet not long after she finished speaking, he heard her slow and steady breathing.
Lowering his head to look, he saw that the energetic woman from moments ago had already spread her arms and fallen peacefully asleep.
Zhong Zhen sat there quietly for a while before lying down again, but his gaze still drifted uncontrollably toward her face.
What kind of female… is she exactly?
As the two of them fell asleep together in the darkness, the system finally let out a low chuckle and decisively added the newly captured photos into its favorites folder.
This time, it would absolutely complete its mission as the Guardian of Love and redeem its former disgrace once and for all!
