Right after Lu Ziran said those words, Rou Yuerao’s expression changed. She paused in chewing the roasted meat. Her face was faintly overshadowed with unhappiness.
She swallowed the delicious grilled meat and looked up at Lu Ziran. Her voice seemed very calm as she asked, “You said you’re going to the Fire Wolf Tribe? Are you going there to see Ruan Qiuqiu?”
Lu Ziran knew that Yuerao was overthinking things once he heard the tone of her voice. “I’m just going there to check if she’s alive or not. That’s all.”
“You’re still thinking about her.” Rou Yuerao clenched her hand. “Fine, go look for her then. Go, go now. Don’t stay in my cave.”
Seeing her like this Lu Ziran knew that she was jealous again. He was losing his patience for her, but thinking about how if Ruan Qiuqiu was dead, he would need Yuerao to willingly block that attack for him, he could only patiently explain, “Yuerao, if I cared about Ruan Qiuqiu that much, I would have gone looking for her the day I came back from the hunting trip. There’s no reason for me to wait until now.”
“Then why are you going to the Fire Wolf Tribe?” Rou Yuerao doubtfully looked at him and deliberated, “Qiuqiu doesn’t have any close family members in the tribe. Marrying the Fire Wolf Tribe’s former chief is her contribution to the tribe. Although we should be thankful towards her, we don’t owe her anything either. Ziran, it’s still snowing so heavily outside. Don’t go.”
Lu Ziran raised his hand and scratched his nose. He thought it over and temporarily made up an excuse. “Yuerao, it’s actually the chief that told me to go there. The chief said that the Fire Wolf Tribe might be hiding secrets and wants me to go there to investigate.” Lu Ziran pretended to be dejected. He sighed. “Silly fool, how could I bear to leave you otherwise?”
Rou Yuerao met his warm gaze and grudgingly suppressed her jealousy. She threw herself into his arms. Softening her voice and acting cutely spoiled, she said, “You’re not allowed to bring the extra food to Ruan Qiuqiu. You can’t give her any animal skins either.”
Lu Ziran readily agreed, “Okay, I won’t bring any.”
He was a powerful lion demon about to break through to level 4. Even if he didn’t bring any food with him, he could hunt down prey on his way to the Fire Wolf Tribe.
Rou Yuerao was also aware of that point, but she still insisted on acting petty. Hearing Lu Ziran agreeing so quickly, she felt better and agreed to him leaving.
Lu Ziran patted her head and didn’t continue mentioning this matter.
It was very cold outside, but burning good firewood kept the cave very warm.
—
While Lu Ziran had decided to confirm if Ruan Qiuqiu was alive or not, the Fire Wolf Tribe’s shaman was finding out what happened today from Lin Xun, a middle-aged wolf demon, inside his secluded cave.
The Shaman, who had wolf-markings on his face, rubbed his wrinkled hands on the wolf-head of his walking stick after hearing Lin Xun’s retelling of today’s events. “So after Ruan Qiuqiu said she and Yuan Jue have been intimate, none of the wolf demons dared to approach her or trade herbs with her?”
Lin Xun’s expression stiffened. He shamefully answered, “I wasn’t present at the time. Those demons were all from the younger generation. They were worried that they would catch the curse from Ruan Qiuqiu and didn’t dare to approach her.”
The Shaman scoffed, “Wasn’t Xie Yu there? Such cowards.”
Lin Xun hesitated for a moment, but he still tried to defend them. “Shaman, don’t we just want Ruan Qiuqiu to bear the burden of the curse for the tribe? It’s normal for the younger generation to be scared.”
The old shaman paused in rubbing the wooden wolf-head. A while later, he softly sighted. “You’re right.”
The old shaman looked at the heavy animal skin curtain, lost in thought.
After the last beast tide attack, that person had quickly departed after ordering him to give Yuan Jue a human bride. He had promised him that he would protect the Fire Wolf Tribe when it encountered a crisis, but he hadn’t seen him since.