Chapter 84: Back to the Monument Forest
After sending Xuan Jin out, Nan Zishi remained in the cave, examining the small, space-compressing metal sphere.
’To think such a small metal sphere is a high-tech product.’
’Space-folding technology, a 200-cubic-meter spatial container. It’s actually a very valuable and rare item.’
’I have to make good use of it.’
Nan Zishi found the small Beast Tooth that Fox Qi had given her. Taking out a small knife, she carefully carved a hole in it. She then placed the metal sphere inside and sealed it shut with superglue.
After checking it a few times, she hung the small Beast Tooth Space Necklace around her neck.
Finally, she had a moment to look at her arm.
The arm she had cut yesterday was covered in green herbs. It looked like Xuan Jin had gathered them for her, probably chewing them into a poultice before applying it.
’This snake knows a thing or two about Beast World medicine.’
The remedies of the Beast World weren’t advanced, but the raw medicinal ingredients were high-quality and potent. In just one day, the gash on Nan Zishi’s arm was already mostly healed.
It didn’t even need stitches.
She took a bandage out of her space, holding one end between her teeth and wrapping it with her free hand.
She used the bandage to wrap up her injured arm.
When Xuan Jin entered, he saw her tying it off. He walked over to her and asked, "Need help?"
Nan Zishi glanced up at him. Maybe it was because she only had a month left before she had to leave, but her attitude toward Xuan Jin had softened slightly.
She lowered her head. "Help me tie it."
Xuan Jin crouched down and tied the end of her bandage into a very pretty bow.
Nan Zishi: "..."
’My battle-worn image... thanks to this bow, it’s been replaced with a girly style.’
Nan Zishi left the cave and piled up the wood Xuan Jin had gathered. As she prepared to start a fire, Xishi and the others stood a short distance away, watching her with critical eyes.
But when they saw the pretty female actually use flint to light the dry grass, which in turn ignited the wood, Xishi and the other Beastmen were terrified!
"AHHHH! FIRE!!!"
"Boss! Boss, it’s on fire! It’s on fire!!"
"Run! Boss, run!!"
Xuan Jin shot his subordinates a disdainful look, as if they were a bunch of country bumpkins, before casually sitting down across from Nan Zishi.
A young Wandering Beastman whispered to Xishi, "Lord Xishi, that female... she can use fire!"
"I heard that in the entire Beast World, only a few old monsters in Ten Thousand Beasts City know how to use fire. Could this female be connected to those guys in Ten Thousand Beasts City?"
"We can’t afford to provoke those old monsters from Ten Thousand Beasts City."
"Yeah, and that rumbling thing with two round wheels she took out before was also really weird!"
Xishi waved his hand. "All of you, shut up."
He, too, was a little intimidated by this female Beastman.
’But my Lord Xuan Jin is sacred and inviolable!’
’Not even a female from Ten Thousand Beasts City is an exception!’
As Nan Zishi grilled meat on a clean stone slab, she sprinkled on some barbecue seasoning.
The cold-blooded Beastmen nearby smelled the seasoning and started sneezing, "ACHOO! ACHOO!"
Before long, the fat rendered from the meat, and its sweet, savory aroma wafted through the air.
The Wandering Beastmen were practically drooling.
"I’ve never had it, but it looks so delicious."
"How is she cooking it? Roasting it with fire?"
"Do you remember? That time lightning started a forest fire? The animals caught in the fire were so delicious!!"
"Could it taste like that?!!"
"Whoa! I want to eat it! I really, really want to eat it!!"
SLURP, SLURP. The Wandering Beastmen were salivating.
Nan Zishi had no intention of sharing her grilled meat with these Wandering Beastmen who had been chasing her.
She wouldn’t even give any to Xuan Jin!
So, no matter how much the Wandering Beastmen craved it, she continued to eat all by herself.
’So satisfying!’
The Wandering Beastmen: ’We want it even more now! What do we do?’
"Lord Xishi, maybe we should be nicer to this female from now on? That way, we might get to share some of that fire-roasted meat?"
Xishi: "Shut up, you lot. So pathetic!"
After eating and drinking her fill, Nan Zishi prepared to set off for the Monument Forest.
The Cold-blooded Snake Beastman glanced at her arm with its bow-tied bandage, then stepped in front of her and lowered his head. "Should I carry you there?" he asked.
Xishi and the other Wandering Beastmen instantly glared at Nan Zishi with hatred.
’That wicked female! Now she even wants our Lord Xuan Jin to carry her!!’
’This shameless female!!!’
Nan Zishi raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "No need."
With that, Nan Zishi took the lead, darting through the jungle.
She was much faster than before and vanished in an instant.
Xishi and the others were stunned for a moment.
’Is that shameless female really that fast?’
But when they saw their Lord Xuan Jin disappear after that wretched female in the very next instant, they panicked.
They could only scramble to shout, "Lord Xuan Jin, wait for us! Wait for us!"
「...」
Nan Zishi arrived back at the Monument Forest.
Before Xuan Jin arrived, Nan Zishi took her phone out of her space and snapped a few pictures of the Monument Forest.
By the time Xuan Jin arrived, Nan Zishi had already put her phone away and was strolling casually among the stone monuments.
Nan Zishi read Qi Yingmei’s inscription one more time from top to bottom, committing it to memory. Then, she ran her hand over another stone tablet covered in beast-form script and asked Xuan Jin, "Xuan Jin, what does this say?"
’The little female can’t read?’
Xuan Jin glanced at it. "The life story of some irrelevant, worthless male."
Nan Zishi: "..."
"Are all of them like that?"
"Mhm."
A faint suspicion began to form in her mind.
’This place... it might be a family’s burial ground.’
’A monument forest like this is rare in the Beast World. But if a human woman from Earth came here and helped a family advance their culture, it would make sense.’
A clear, young boy’s voice rang out from behind Nan Zishi. "Who are you! What are you doing in my family’s ancestral tomb?!"
She and Xuan Jin turned around at the same time. They saw a young male Beastman with black hair, black eyes, and a pair of red fox ears.
The face, which looked very much like that of a Huaguo person, made Nan Zishi pause.
"Young man, what is Qi Yingmei to you?"
The young Fox Beastman was startled by her question and warily turned to flee.
Nan Zishi quickly shouted, "Wait, kid! I’m not a bad person!"
Her shouts had no effect; the little guy only ran faster.
Xuan Jin’s ears twitched. He looked up and said, "Little female, someone’s coming."
No sooner had Xuan Jin spoken than a dozen or so red Fox Beastmen appeared, each aiming a spear at Nan Zishi.
Nan Zishi was surprised to see the spears.
Beastmen usually fought with their claws or other parts of their bodies; it was rare to see them use tools.
The spearheads were fashioned from stone and beast bone, then lashed to long wooden shafts.
Spears extended a fighter’s reach and added power to their thrusts. These were true weapons.
’This tribe actually has weapons!’
’Could these Beastmen be connected to Qi Yingmei? Did she really help this tribe’s civilization take such a huge leap forward?’
Just then, an elderly female red Fox Beastman emerged from the crowd’s protection. Her face was covered in markings made from plant sap, and her cloudy eyes fixed on Nan Zishi.
"Outsider. Can you read the words on that central monument? You know of Qi Yingmei?"