The Beast's Beloved: Sickly Beauty with Many Children and blessings

After sending Zhile away, Si Xie felt completely drained, with no energy to do anything.

Half of the males in the tribe had left for the spring hunt, while the remaining males were split into two groups—one for hunting and the other for guarding. For safety reasons, the females took turns going out to collect fungi every other day.

Si Xie slept until noon, got up, washed, and bought a basket of roasted wheat, two tea eggs, a corn cob, and a bowl of eight-treasure porridge from the mall. Ever since awakening her supernatural powers, her appetite had noticeably increased.

After eating, she had nothing else to do, so she continued to study the technique of inducing plant growth. Holding a small basket in her hand, she examined the seeds and seedlings inside.

Each plant had a different growth period, which affected its properties. She tried forcing some nearly ripe fruits to mature, but while they ripened, they tasted the same as those treated with artificial ripening agents in later generations—not as sweet as naturally grown fruits.

Si Xie looked at the sprouting seeds in her palm, struggling to understand the true purpose of this spell.

Suddenly, she noticed a gray, thorn-covered seed. When she infused her energy into it, it grew rapidly like a bud saturated with water. In just a short while, the soft green branches hardened, turning brown, and the once-flexible thorns dried and stiffened!

She was momentarily stunned and pulled out another seed of the same kind to test it again. This time, because she was mentally prepared and her supernatural power was more stable, the branches grew twice as thick and long.

Wasn't this the same type of thorny plant that had made her first foraging trip so difficult?

The spell of inducing plant growth had no direct combat power, but if she could cultivate this ability further, she might be able to grow a dense bush of thorns on command—perhaps even use it as a defensive barrier, like a hedgehog protecting itself!

With a new goal in mind, Si Xie continued sorting through her seeds. There weren't many of these thorny ones—only about twenty in total, which she had collected by chance while foraging for wild fruits.

She concentrated her supernatural energy on one seed. As before, it sprouted and grew into a thorny bush but stopped at the budding stage.

Her energy reserves were only enough to grow five plants at a time, but she discovered something interesting—she could control the direction in which the thorns grew! This meant she could effectively weave a barrier while stimulating their growth. Even the way the thorns extended was under her command!

Just then, Yi Mei rushed in excitedly. "Si Xie, the traveling merchant is here! Do you want to trade for something?"

Si Xie quickly set aside her thorny branches, grabbed a handful of dried fruit, and stuffed them into her mouth.

Yi Mei smiled and waved a hand. "Every year around this time, traveling merchants visit our tribe. They are wandering beastmen with strong abilities and a good reputation.

We can trade dried fruits, jerky, animal skins, or crystals for salt, beautiful beads, high-quality furs, rare food, pottery jars, and even cotton clothing…

Let's go to the square and see what they've brought this time. It looks like the snake beastman Ji Liang is leading the group!"

Si Xie wasn't usually allowed outside, but the excitement in the tribe made her curious. She followed Yi Mei out.

As they descended the stone steps, Si Xie ran into Yu Jiao, Ma Hui, and a few other females.

Normally, she either stayed inside or went foraging with Zhile, so she hadn't spoken to Yu Jiao in over half a month.

Yu Jiao glanced at her but walked away with Ma Hui, pretending not to see her.

Ma Hui sneered. "Yu Jiao, I told you a long time ago that your sister isn't worth your kindness. Mutants are all heartless!

It's good that you've finally come to your senses. Otherwise, she would've dragged you down…"

Yu Jiao smiled. "Forget about her. Anyway, I already arranged a beastman husband for her, so she has nothing to do with me now.

Let's talk about Ji Liang instead. I heard from the other females that the caravan he leads is the strongest near Dongye Forest."

Ma Hui nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! Whenever Ji Liang's group passes by, no one dares to provoke them.

Ji Liang himself is a level-seven warrior, and because he's a snake beastman, he can fight above his rank.

Every member of his team is an experienced fighter, capable of defeating five or six orcs of the same level.

More importantly… Ji Liang doesn't have a female yet!"

Yu Jiao sighed. "They say Ji Liang is very picky. He'll probably only accept a saintly female."

Ma Hui playfully nudged her. "Even if we can't get Ji Liang, the other males in the caravan are at least level-five warriors. Any one of them could easily defeat five or six regular fighters!"

Yi Mei's eyes gleamed as she clutched Si Xie's arm. "Si Xie, the males in our tribe value offspring, but wandering beastmen are more… open-minded.

The ones in Ji Liang's group are all strong and have good personalities. You should pick one for yourself!"

Si Xie, who had been eavesdropping, froze. She shook her head quickly and whispered, "No way! Zhile is out there working hard for me—I can't just find another beastman while he's away."

Yi Mei sighed and patted her arm. "Silly Si Xie, you'd be helping Zhile by finding a powerful mate. That way, he wouldn't have to worry about you while he's away hunting.

There have been more stray beast attacks lately, and the leader has temporarily suspended the gathering teams.

No matter how strong our tribe's defenses are, some of these wandering beasts have strange abilities and can sneak inside.

With no male protecting you at home, I'm worried about you!"

Si Xie's heart skipped a beat. "Yi Mei, don't scare me like that."

Staying alone in the dark cave at night was already hard enough—she often had to keep a night light on and play music to calm herself down.

Yi Mei smirked. "Then hurry up and find yourself a second beast husband! Nights like this are the perfect time to get close to a male."

Si Xie pursed her lips but didn't answer.

When they arrived at the square, a long line of orcs had already gathered, waiting to trade with the traveling merchants.

On a raised stone platform, a luxurious lounge chair covered with red tiger fur had been placed.

A man with high-tied black hair, adorned with black crystals, leaned lazily against it. His golden eyes gleamed with amusement. He wore a thin black robe embroidered with gold, cinched with a dark red and silver belt that highlighted his tall and muscular frame.

His face was strikingly handsome, with sharp, angular features. An amused, almost wicked smile played at his lips, making the females in the crowd call out his name—Ji Liang.

Some of the braver ones were even considering asking him to be their beast husband.

Ji Liang, however, acted as if he didn't hear them. He merely watched the bustling crowd, basking in the sunlight, occasionally flicking out his forked tongue with a faint hissing sound.

Si Xie shivered at the sight, feeling a sudden chill despite the warm sun.

She turned her head, focusing instead on the trade between the orcs and the merchants—only to feel an intense gaze land on her.

Her scalp tingled, and every hair on her body stood on end.