TFBAT – Chapter 14

The redness stained his whole face, making him look almost dangerously enchanting.

Or perhaps, his natural appearance was already enough to captivate the soul.

Chi Yuyang froze for a moment, then instinctively replied: “…Mm.”

“Ao wu!”

The boy in front of her suddenly let out a tiger’s roar, snapping her back to her senses.

But Hu Jin was clearly in human form now—so why did it sound like a tiger’s cry?

At the same time, she was suddenly swept up into his arms.

The humanoid tiger lowered his head, rubbing his face against hers.

Chi Yuyang felt his ears rolling against her cheek, the ticklish sensation making her reach out to pinch his lively, round ears.

“Hu Jin, what’s gotten into you now?”

“Wife, just now—it was the first time you responded when I called you wife!”

Chi Yuyang hadn’t expected that to be the reason.

Indeed, every time before when Hu Jin called her “wife,” she had deliberately ignored it.

“You… put me down first.” Chi Yuyang looked calm, but the deep red of her ears betrayed her feelings. “Yang Yi should be back with the clan leader any moment now.”

“Alright.” Hu Jin obediently set her down, though his arms still held her tightly.

Once she steadied herself, Chi Yuyang noticed the redness on Hu Jin’s face had completely faded, replaced by a brilliant smile.

Just like his straightforward actions, Hu Jin’s emotions were written clearly across his face.

But the smile didn’t last long. As footsteps sounded outside, Chi Yuyang saw Hu Jin suddenly grow serious.

“Wife, the orc coming now is at the third rank.”

“Hu Jin, didn’t you say you were already fourth rank?” Chi Yuyang recalled his words.

“I haven’t fully recovered yet,” Hu Jin paused, “and for herbivore-type beastmen, reaching the third rank is no easy feat.”

A gust of cold wind slipped through the gap as the bamboo door opened, and Chi Yuyang instinctively leaned closer into Hu Jin’s arms.

“You two wish to trade fruit for rice with my tribe?”

Before seeing him, his voice reached them first—deep, resonant, and carrying natural authority.

“Yes,” Hu Jin replied.

His voice, though low, carried an unusual force that instantly pressed down on the newcomer’s aura.

Chi Yuyang looked up to see the entering beastman, who bore short black horns on his head and a refined face. By human standards, he looked no older than thirty.

This was not quite the image of a clan leader Chi Yuyang had envisioned—

But that didn’t change what she needed to do.

“Chief Yang, hello,” Chi Yuyang greeted first.

“I heard from Yang Yi that your partner is of the ape tribe?” The ram chief did not respond to her, instead directing his gaze toward Hu Jin.

Not hearing a reply to her greeting, Chi Yuyang frowned slightly.

Raised under his own clan chief’s teachings, Hu Jin had always despised the outdated custom in some tribes where males were respected while females were disregarded—and right now, this beastman had ignored his wife.

At that moment, Hu Jin only smiled without speaking, but his expression radiated a warning.

The ram chief instantly sensed the dangerous air.

With Hu Jin holding the female protectively in his arms, and recalling what Yang Yi had mentioned on the way, the chief quickly understood.

Unwillingly, he forced a smile, finally turning toward Chi Yuyang.

“Female of the ape tribe, since I am on good terms with your clan chief, I naturally agree to this trade. If there is anything else you need, feel free to ask.”

“For now, I only wish to exchange for rice.” Chi Yuyang disliked the chief’s tone, but kept her expression neutral. “Hu Jin, is there anything you’d like?”

Hu Jin shook his head.

“Very well. The rice is already prepared outside. If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave,” the ram chief said.

The oppressive aura of this tiger beastman made him want to leave as quickly as possible.

“Alright, thank you.” While soothing Hu Jin’s restless tail with her hand, Chi Yuyang bid the chief farewell. “Let’s also go take a look at the rice.”

Outside the door were three sacks of rice, just enough to match the three bamboo baskets of fruit.

Chi Yuyang didn’t believe this was a coincidence.

And Hu Jin’s tail was still caught in her hand.

“Wife, it hurts.” Hu Jin’s slightly aggrieved voice made Chi Yuyang realize she had been squeezing too hard in her thoughts.

She quickly let go.

Turning her head, she saw the threatening aura from earlier completely gone. Instead, Hu Jin was looking at her with moist, mismatched eyes.

“Let’s talk after we get back,” Chi Yuyang said, pointing at the rice. “I’ll trouble you again.”

…

Chi Yuyang didn’t know how far the sheep tribe was from the stone house, but she had the vague feeling Hu Jin was running even faster this time.

They soon arrived back at the stone house.

“Wife, quickly tell me what’s going on?” The moment they entered, Hu Jin impatiently shifted back into his human form and pulled Chi Yuyang into his arms.

Back in the sheep tribe, Chi Yuyang hadn’t asked the chief anything about the ape tribe…

This made Hu Jin very curious.

Chi Yuyang noticed that Hu Jin was getting more and more adept at holding her in his human form.

At first, she still had the chance to struggle.

Now, she couldn’t escape at all.

In fact, she wasn’t that intent on escaping.

It was just that when Hu Jin was in human form, he only used her coat to cover the vital parts of his body.

With the two of them pressed against each other, the sensation of skin touching skin made her thoughts drift uncontrollably.

And this tiger had the bad habit of rubbing against her—then, after rubbing, he would look at her with those pure, innocent eyes.

Chi Yuyang let out a long sigh. She fixed her eyes on the freshly lit fire in front of her, using it as a way to shift her focus.

Once the tiger behind her finally settled down, she slowly began to explain.

“When Yang Yi first said she was going to find the chief, I didn’t notice anything strange.

But when that sheep tribe’s chief opened his mouth, the first thing he mentioned was the ape tribe.

Ever since he entered the room, he had been sizing me up, as if trying to determine whether or not I really belonged to the ape tribe.

Yang Yi said she wasn’t sure how much grain we could trade for, but that chief didn’t even discuss it with us—he just directly said the rice was already prepared.

Also, we ran into the ape tribe at the fruit grove, right? And all the fruits in that forest just happened to be completely picked clean.

So, I suspect that the sheep tribe—at least the sheep tribe’s chief—has already engaged in some kind of barter trade with the ape tribe.”

After saying this, Chi Yuyang felt a little thirsty.

Just as she was about to fetch the lotus leaf filled with water, Hu Jin beat her to it and handed it over.

“Wife, keep talking,” Hu Jin carefully wiped the remaining droplets from the corner of her lips, leaving Chi Yuyang’s hand, which was about to reach up, hanging awkwardly in midair.

This tiger really had a way of doing everything she wanted to do first.

But Chi Yuyang didn’t dwell on it. She continued her analysis.

“I don’t think the sheep chief knows about the ape tribe’s conspiracy. When he first saw you, he didn’t act unusual at all—until…”

Until that sheep showed disdain toward her, and Hu Jin flew into a rage.

“Until you stood up for me,” Chi Yuyang smiled. Her tiger never failed to surprise her. “Thank you, Hu Jin.”

“This is what I should do, wife.” Hu Jin rubbed against her again. “So, what should we do now?”

This time, Chi Yuyang didn’t deliberately avoid him. She reached up to touch the tiger’s ear.

“I think this looks more like the ape tribe trying to secure something from the sheep tribe. The sheep chief didn’t tell his people, probably because he didn’t want to drag them into it, but at the same time, he didn’t want to miss out on this deal. That’s just my guess, though.”

There were too few clues now—she didn’t dare jump to conclusions.

“In a couple of days, I want to return to the tiger tribe,” Hu Jin suddenly lowered his voice. “Wife, will you…”

The further he spoke, the quieter his voice became.

By the time he reached the last word, his voice had completely faded away.

But because they were so close, Chi Yuyang heard him clearly.

“Alright, I’ll go with you.”

“I’ll protect you well.”

Their voices overlapped, and Chi Yuyang was the first to laugh.

“But why in two days?”

“In two days, my strength will be fully restored,” Hu Jin answered truthfully.

“Alright. I think they should still be in the preparation stage right now,” Chi Yuyang nodded. “Then you should eat more these next two days.”

“Wife, you’re the one who should eat more.” Remembering his plan to fatten her up, Hu Jin reached out to pinch Chi Yuyang’s cheek. “You’ve got no flesh on your face, and none on your body either.”

Hearing Hu Jin’s words, Chi Yuyang couldn’t help but sigh—human and beastman standards of beauty were really quite different.

But Hu Jin’s next sentence left her completely dumbfounded.

“Otherwise, when we mate in the future, it’ll be hard for you to conceive…”