Chapter 42: Feng Chi Bathes

Feng Yu was stunned at the sight. Aside from food, why was there so much other stuff inside Chier's spatial dimension?

There was actually nothing out of the ordinary—apart from the jars and pots for holding food, though the food inside them was running low, there were salt, grass seeds, spider silk, emerald vines, palm leaves, rattan fibers, hemp ropes, hemp sacks collected from the Luoyu Tribe, the backbaskets and clothes made later, the seasonings and plants gathered afterwards, and the medicinal herbs traded along the way.

Qi Yue nudged him. "What are you standing there frozen for? Put it all away quickly. The temperature here is so high; things will spoil if left out too long."

Recovering his senses, Feng Yu swept all the items away in an instant.

After resting a little longer, they flew into the crater. Because Feng Yu was a Fire Phoenix, Qi Yue did not feel too much discomfort under the protection of his guardian aura. She felt as if she were enclosed in a transparent dome; not a single speck of volcanic ash drifted near her, and the scorching heat was kept at bay. Only her eyes felt a bit uncomfortable due to the pervasive reddish glare, forcing her to close them for a moment every now and then to let them rest.

Descending to a protruding boulder halfway down the mountain face, Feng Yu set Qi Yue down. He refused to let her go any further, fearing her body would not be able to handle it.

Once they stopped, Feng Chi spotted the glowing, molten lava and made to dive straight toward it, but Qi Yue grabbed him just in time.

[Mother, looking at the place down below makes me feel so hungry!] Feng Chi pointed downwards with his little wings and cried out. [I want to go down there. I feel like something is calling out to me.]

"Chier, don't be impatient! Let's stay at the edge first. Touch it gently with your little wing to see if there is any danger, so your mother can rest easy, alright?" Qi Yue comforted him by gently stroking the feathers on Feng Chi's back.

Knowing his mother's worries, Feng Chi obediently replied, [Understood, Mother.]

Qi Yue handed Feng Chi over to Feng Yu, telling him to take their son closer to the lava. She knew her own body could not withstand the intense heat at close range, and standing where she was already pushed her limits; she could not expect Feng Yu to divide his attention to take care of her as well.

Despite exercising extreme caution, an accident still occurred. The moment Feng Chi's wingtip brushed against the molten lava, the fire of the magma instantly ignited his entire body. At the same time, he slipped out of Feng Yu's grasp and plunged into the molten rock. A few stray splashes of lava even scorched a few black spots onto the feathers of Feng Yu's body.

Qi Yue and Feng Yu were both frozen in shock for a moment.

"Chier!" With a piercing scream, Qi Yue jumped downward. That cry snapped Feng Yu out of his stupor, and he instantly shifted into his beast form, soaring up to catch her.

[Qi Yue, don't panic! I do not sense any danger from Chier. Let's wait a little longer.] Feng Yu said as he flapped his wings, hovering mid-air.

With tears welling in her eyes, Qi Yue listened to his words and rested quietly on Feng Yu's back, gazing down at the rolling lava below. Ever since she woke up in the Sacred Spring, it had been Chier accompanying her by her side. Although he spent most of his time sleeping, having a family member close by was a source of strength and comfort.

* Father Beast, tell Mother not to worry.* A wisp of thought transmitted from Feng Yu's mind, and he immediately relayed it to Qi Yue. [Chier is fine. He says you shouldn't worry.]

Qi Yue raised her head to look at Feng Yu. "Did Chier say anything else?"

Feng Yu carefully sensed the connection. * It's very comfortable here, and warm. Chier wants to sleep, so Father Beast must take good care of Mother.*

[He said it's very comfortable down there and he is going to enter dormancy, asking me to take good care of you. Let's go find a temporary place to stay nearby. Chier won't be coming out anytime soon, but he will contact me if he needs anything. The temperature here is too high and bad for your health.]

Listening to this, Qi Yue nodded. Knowing that Chier was in no danger, her heart was finally put at ease.

Carrying Qi Yue on his back, Feng Yu circled around the volcano. With nothing else pressing, he flew slowly and at a low altitude. Carefully scanning the surrounding terrain, he flew past three mountain peaks and came upon a modest-sized valley, lush and verdant, with a pleasant temperature hovering around thirty-five or thirty-six degrees Celsius.

"Let's stay here. The surrounding environment is quite nice, though I'm not sure if there are any large beasts nearby." Feng Yu set Qi Yue down on the ground.

At the foot of the valley, the two of them discovered a small cave. About fifty meters away from the cave mouth was a spring, which extended into a flowing stream. Numerous fish and shrimp could be seen swimming within the clear waters of the brook.

"Feng Yu, let's make our temporary home in that cave. Clean the inside out first, and then roast it with fire—first to get rid of the dampness, and second to drive away any bugs." Qi Yue said and made to walk inside.

Feng Yu grabbed her by the arm. "Don't go in; I'll handle it. Just wait outside the cave, and call out for me if there's any danger."

Giving it some thought, Qi Yue decided to let him do it. She figured it was more urgent to transplant the plants from Feng Yu's spatial dimension into the nearby soil first. She asked Feng Yu for the backbasket and the small iron hoe, had him place the root-wrapped plants onto the ground, and found an open patch by the stream to plant them one by one.

Just as she finished planting, she heard Feng Yu calling her and returned to the cave. She found that Feng Yu had cleaned the place impeccably, surely having washed it down twice with water before roasting it dry with fire. She instructed Feng Yu to spread the two cowhides at the very back of the cave and place her woven grass mats on top of them. Lying down to test it out, she sighed in satisfaction, "Ah, this is so comfortable!" She then asked Feng Yu for a few of her own clothes, rolled them into a bundle to use as a pillow, and pulled over a spider-silk blanket she had woven during their flight to cover herself. "You should get some sleep and rest too. We still have some food left, which we need to finish soon, so you don't need to go hunting for the next few days." Without waiting for a response, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Knowing that Feng Chi could safely hibernate within the lava finally lifted the burden that had weighed most heavily on her mind for so long.

Feng Yu lay down beside her as well, his eyes fixed steadily upon his little mate. He truly had no idea how her mind worked; she came up with so many novel ideas, and even Feng Chi's immunity to lava had originally been her hypothesis. He just wondered what Chier would look like when he finally emerged.

The days ahead would consist only of the two of them. When would she ever truly accept him? She was so different from the females in the tribe—whenever she could do something herself, she would never rely on others. She was fiercely independent! He really couldn't fathom how she had survived on her own for those five years after her father and mother passed away.

Generally, females in the tribes depended on male beasts for survival, and running shops or making clothes was usually just a pastime. The male-to-female ratio in the Fengyan Tribe was one to four, and other tribes were much the same. Because females were physically delicate and vulnerable to illness and childbirth complications, their mortality rate was quite high. Being able to grow into adulthood was the result of the joint efforts of parents, brothers, and the tribe as a whole. Three years ago, she had been quite frail; otherwise, she wouldn't have fallen unconscious for three years after sharing intimacy with him just once. No matter what happened from now on, he would never let her suffer again.

Unbeknownst to Qi Yue, a new generation of "wife-slave" was born. Although most beastmen on this beast continent acted somewhat like "wife-slaves"—saying "somewhat" because while they doted on their females, beastmen still maintained their own dignity—Feng Yu's brand of "wife-slave" was entirely different. One only needed to look at his mating oath to understand.

As Feng Yu's thoughts drifted, he too slowly drifted off into a deep sleep. Ah, this grass mat really was comfortable—not as hard as the ground covered in animal skins, yet not as overly soft as lying directly on the grass. No wonder Qi Yue insisted on working overtime every night to weave for a while. When she finished weaving the first mat earlier, she probably felt too shy to keep it all to herself, sharing it instead. What a truly adorable little female she was!