Chapter 221: Heh Heh, Two Idiots
A Mang slipped the freshly made tiger-skin gloves onto Nan Xun’s two little paws. Seeing that she was about to grow mold from boredom, he suddenly took her by the hand and pulled her toward the small river.
“A Mang, what are we doing? We’re not fishing today,” Nan Xun asked, puzzled.
A Mang picked her up like a child and carried her onto the ice, had her squat down, then suddenly grabbed both her hands and started running across the ice.
Nan Xun cried out in surprise, then burst into happy laughter. “A Mang, faster! Even faster! This is so fun, hahaha…”
A Mang ran at top speed over the thick ice. He nearly slipped halfway through, which only made Nan Xun laugh even harder.
Little Eight: “…Two idiots.”
With A Mang and Little Eight around, even in the bitter cold of winter, Nan Xun found plenty of joy.
Winter was long, yet Nan Xun felt as though, in the blink of an eye, the snow in the forest began to melt. The most obvious change was the ice on the river—no sooner had Nan Xun stepped onto it than she heard a crack. A Mang hurriedly pulled her back.
The temperature started to rise. Spring had arrived.
A Mang and Nan Xun shed their thick long-fur beast-skin coats and changed into short-fur ones. They ran wildly through the forest, watching everything grow, letting out a few excited howls.
Little Eight: “Nan Xun, you’ve really been turned into a savage by him.”
Nan Xun: “I’m a savage’s woman—only by becoming a savage do we match.”
Little Eight instantly felt powerless to complain.
It used to be the one cornering Nan Xun with words, but at some point their roles had quietly switched. Little Eight felt a bit sad.
A few days later, the snow outside the stone slope had completely melted, and some grasses and trees had begun to sprout new buds.
A Mang went out hunting, while Nan Xun rolled around alone on the beast-skin bed inside the cave.
“Little Eight, you said this prehistoric world has very dense spiritual energy, but why don’t the animals here turn into spirits? At the very least, they could gain a bit of intelligence like in the first world,” Nan Xun asked curiously.
Little Eight explained, “Without immortals, there are no demons. All things in the world restrain and generate each other. The spiritual energy here is indeed dense, but knowledge is backward. Even a species as intelligent as humans hasn’t invented writing yet, and they don’t know how to cultivate. Plants and animals even less so—though they do have longer lifespans.”
Nan Xun nodded. “Got it—long life, short brains.”
Little Eight: “…You could put it that way.”
After a brief pause, Little Eight changed tone. “That said, there are some animals in this world that have just begun to develop intelligence—among land beasts, the canines, and among birds—”
Rip—!
The harsh sound of a sharp object slicing through fabric cut Little Eight off.
Nan Xun whipped her head toward the cave entrance.
The beast-skin curtain blocking the wind at the entrance had been slashed by something sharp!
Nan Xun focused her eyes and nearly jumped out of her skin.
Holy crap! What a huge bird claw—twice the size of a human hand!
Those razor-sharp talons shredded the tough beast skin in a few strokes. Immediately after, a bird’s head bigger than a human’s poked in, followed by a plump, powerful body.
The cave entrance was already about wide enough for two A Mangs, yet this giant bird squeezed its way in—more than enough to show just how enormous it was!
Seeing Nan Xun, the bird let out an angry cry and lunged straight at her.
Nan Xun rolled across the ground, narrowly dodging it.
Those talons were too sharp—if they tore her open even once, she’d bleed to death for sure.
Little Eight tensed up too. “This is exactly the kind of bird I told you about—one that’s just awakened its intelligence!”
A Mang had only just gone out; there was no way he could make it back in time. Nan Xun had to protect herself.
After dodging several rounds of attacks, the bird flew into a complete rage. It opened its beak and actually spat out a ball of fire.
Nan Xun’s eyes went wide—another shock.
Damn it—this prehistoric world even has fire-breathing birds?!
Nan Xun rolled on the spot and avoided the fireball, but it nearly scorched the beast skins hanging on the wall.
Gritting her teeth, Nan Xun directly used the Zui Li family’s beast-taming art.
Even without mystic power, she could release mental force through a secret technique.
She tried to communicate with the ferocious bird. “Big bird, let’s talk this out!”
The bird planted both claws on the ground; its entire body stiffened.
It was stunned—this woman’s voice had appeared inside its head. It wasn’t bird language, yet it understood her!
After the surprise came anger, and it spoke in bird language, “This is my nest! While I went south for the winter, you took over my place—courting death!”
“I didn’t know this was your nest. When I arrived, you were already gone,” Nan Xun explained patiently, her expression sincere. “Beautiful big bird, if I’d known this was your territory, I would never have intruded.”
The bird’s round eyes stared straight at her. “Hmph! Fine. Since you’ve kept this cave so clean, as long as you get out immediately, I won’t eat you.”
At the word eat, Nan Xun’s mouth twitched.
So it really was a carnivore.
“Honorable, beautiful bird, may I ask—why do you live in a stone cave instead of a tree?”
The bird replied impatiently, “Have you ever seen a bird like me nesting in a tree? Tree nests don’t block wind or rain. This cave’s entrance is a bit small—I have to squeeze every time—but it keeps out the wind and rain.”
If A Mang weren’t so attached to this cave, Nan Xun would’ve happily packed up and left. She thought for a moment, then said, “Bird elder, since this cave isn’t all that comfortable, how about I build you a nest—one that blocks wind and rain?”
She pointed at the treehouse across from the cave. “Like that kind of house. I’ll make the entrance really big, so you won’t have to squeeze in anymore.”
The bird wasn’t very smart to begin with. Hearing there’d be a more comfortable place to live, it agreed on the spot.
The cave was spacious. After reaching an agreement with Nan Xun, the bird obediently squatted in a corner, as if resting.
When A Mang returned from hunting and suddenly saw the carnivorous giant bird in the cave, his expression changed abruptly. He lifted his spear and thrust it forward.
Nan Xun hurriedly grabbed him. “A Mang, don’t provoke it! This bird breathes fire!”
After Nan Xun explained the plan to build a nest, A Mang looked at her with a strange glint in his eyes.
“A Xi, you can talk to fierce beasts… so you really are… a shaman?”
Nan Xun almost wanted to punch his face flat. But she quickly sensed something off—normally, when people learned she was a “shaman,” wouldn’t they fear her and want to burn her alive? Why did A Mang’s gaze carry a peculiar, burning intensity?
“A Mang, if I really were a shaman, what would you do?” On a whim, Nan Xun suddenly admitted her “identity.”
A Mang pulled her into a tight hug, stuffing her hard against his chest. His voice even carried an unusual excitement. “A Xi, I knew it! I knew the woman I, A Mang, chose was extraordinary—you’re actually a shaman! A Xi, you’ve amazed me!”
Nan Xun: ……
