Fortunately, Jiang Xi didn’t see Na Kan today.
Otherwise, things would have been even more awkward.
Lu Liufeng had already turned away, his initially despondent gaze lighting up again upon hearing the mistress’s words.
He wanted to turn around, to tell his mistress that he didn’t care about the state of her skin.
But then he remembered that females care about beauty—his mistress surely wouldn’t want him to see her as she was now.
So, after a moment’s thought, Lu Liufeng didn’t turn around, but his voice was already tinged with joy.
“Alright, Liufeng will go bathe on the other side.”
As the sound of his footsteps faded, Jiang Xi slowly turned around.
Her face was burning hot.
Even though only the snowy mountain hot spring lay before her now, she couldn’t bring herself to look around freely, her gaze flickering nervously.
She held her breath, closed her eyes, and sank into the water.
Her skin tingled with a strange numbness, her heart pounding “thump-thump-thump.”
Even submerged in water, Jiang Xi couldn’t calm down.
In both her lifetimes combined, she had never encountered a scene like this!
She could only force her thoughts to focus on healing…
One pool of water turned black.
A second pool turned black.
A third pool turned black.
A fourth pool turned black.
Only when her healing energy was completely drained did Jiang Xi emerge from the water.
The toxic blisters on her body had mostly flattened.
In a few more days, she’d probably start shedding skin.
She climbed ashore and wrapped herself in the animal hide.
Instantly, the cold air pierced through to her skin.
Soon, frost began forming on her damp hair and eyelashes.
Even leaning against the warm volcanic rock like last time did little to help her dry off.
With no other choice, Jiang Xi called out to Lu Liufeng.
“Lu Liufeng, are you done washing?”
Lu Liufeng’s voice came from the other side of the rock.
“Yes.”
After a pause, he asked, “May I come over?”
Jiang Xi quickly nodded, then realizing he couldn’t see her, hurriedly replied.
“You can come over.”
Lu Liufeng appeared shortly, but he froze for a moment upon seeing his mistress with frost forming on her hair.
Instinctively, he wanted to summon his wind ability to blow her hair dry, but then he remembered how fragile females could be.
“Mistress, wait a moment,” he said hastily.
With that, his wings spread from his back, and in an instant, he vanished from the hot spring mountain.
Jiang Xi had only just opened her mouth when Lu Liufeng’s figure was already a small dot in the distance.
She didn’t know where he was going, but she began regretting not having bathed in the river valley instead.
At least there was no snow in the valley, and she could have dried her hair with the volcanic rocks.
But soon, she realized what Lu Liufeng had gone to do.
He returned carrying a bundle of dry firewood and quickly started a fire.
Jiang Xi’s eyes lit up with relief. Without waiting for Lu Liufeng to speak, she eagerly settled by the fire.
Warmth drove away the cold, enveloping her.
Then she saw Lu Liufeng extend his hand. An invisible wind began to flow through the air, carrying the fire’s heat, blowing over her frost-covered, damp hair.
Jiang Xi’s dark eyes widened.
This was practically a manual hairdryer!
She looked at Lu Liufeng, her eyes shining, and couldn’t help but praise him.
“You’re so clever.”
Lu Liufeng smiled gently.
His amber eyes sparkled in the firelight, the center of their glow reflecting Jiang Xi’s figure, making her stare for a moment.
Her heart began to race again, “thump-thump-thump.”
It was a completely different kind of racing than before.
It was… too strange.
Jiang Xi felt a little afraid to look at Lu Liufeng now.
She lowered her gaze slightly, her long eyelashes trembling faintly.
The warm air enveloped her damp hair, the frost melting into water before evaporating into the air.
Her dark hair gradually dried, strands of it lightly fluttering in the warm breeze.
As he watched his mistress, Lu Liufeng suddenly noticed a few faint lines of pale skin appearing on her cheeks, as if her original complexion was emerging from beneath the dark layer.
As the warm air stopped, Jiang Xi felt a touch on her face.
She raised her eyes to see Lu Liufeng’s face close to hers.
The young man’s features were clear and gentle, his amber eyes focused intently on her. His slender fingers, with calloused fingertips, lifted and gently brushed against her cheek.
“Mistress’s face… really does seem to be improving,” he murmured.
Jiang Xi pushed his hand away and gave an indistinct “Mm-hmm.”
“If my hair’s dry, let’s go home,” she said vaguely.
Home.
Jiang Xi was starting to feel a sense of belonging to that drafty, makeshift home.
Lu Liufeng smiled and said, “Alright.”
But before they could stand up, an eagle’s cry suddenly rang out in the sky.
Both of them looked up simultaneously.
In the sky not far away, a cluster of black dots flew toward their direction, gradually growing larger.
Various winged beastmen, carrying females on their backs, swooped down into Hot River Valley one after another.
The mountain location was farther than Hot River Valley, in another direction from the tribe.
Jiang Xi stood up in surprise.
“Are they here already?”
This time, there seemed to be even more winged beastmen than she had seen outside the tribe today—roughly estimated, several dozen.
Lu Liufeng also stood up.
He tilted his head to look at his mistress, a rare hint of mischief stirring in him.
“Mistress, would you like to go watch the commotion?”
“Yes, please!”
Jiang Xi quickly nodded.
Who wouldn’t want to see some excitement? Gossip and curiosity seemed to be ingrained in people’s nature, regardless of the world.
After putting out the fire, Lu Liufeng transformed into a giant eagle. His talons grasped the four animal hide bags, and with his mistress on his back, he soared into the sky again.
This time, however, he didn’t land in Hot River Valley. Instead, he circled above it, allowing his mistress to watch the commotion below.
Jiang Xi lay on his back, enveloped by soft feathers.
Hot River Valley was already in complete chaos.
The winged beastmen had started frantically stuffing animal hide bags.
The greedy old females were stomping and cursing in the valley.
“What are you doing?!”
“This is our food! You damned sky bandits! Who said you could come here?!”
“Bastards! Stop!”
The old females tried to pull the beastmen away, but were grabbed by the other females.
“Who said you could touch my beastman?!”
“You! You people!”
The old females widened their eyes, finally realizing.
“It’s the Chief Female, isn’t it!”
“The Chief Female sent you here, didn’t she?!”
“You greedy, rule-breaking females!”
“Don’t you dare touch our food!”
A fight broke out in Hot River Valley.
The greedy old females grabbed the younger ones by the hair, only to be pulled away by other females.
Since beastmen couldn’t—and wouldn’t—interfere in disputes between females, they focused solely on stuffing the bags as fast as they could.
The snake beastmen of Hot River Valley, hearing the noise, slithered out one by one, their jaws nearly dropping in shock.
First, it was the first time they had ever seen so many females gathered in Hot River Valley at once.
Second, the females were actually fighting!
The Lion Roar Tribe truly was something else, for such open ‘plundering’ to happen.
Lu Liufeng circled above Hot River Valley, many beastmen noticing his figure and the curious head peeking out from his back.
“Wow—”
Jiang Xi gasped in amazement.
This commotion was quite the spectacle!
By the forest edge of the valley, Yi Fu, holding two cubs, waved toward the sky.
Na Kan stood beside him, also looking up.
Mistress Xi Xi…
