TFBAT – Chapter 6

Chi Yuyang’s appetite wasn’t big. The piece of meat Tuantuan had bitten off was already hefty, and after gnawing on two gingko fruits, she felt completely full.

Beside her, the white tiger, who had been eating cat food, saw Chi Yuyang satisfied and quickly turned back to rip apart the remaining deer meat, replenishing its own strength.

Chi Yuyang stood up and checked the food left in the bag, only to find that it was nearly empty.

She had originally estimated that one bag of cat food could last Tuantuan two days. But now it seemed a single bag wasn’t even enough for half a meal for an adult white tiger.

“Ah!” Chi Yuyang suddenly cried out.

Tuantuan’s cheeks puffed out as it was feasting, but upon hearing the sound behind it, it immediately turned its head.

What Chi Yuyang saw was Tuantuan’s white, furry face speckled with streaks of red. Meat was still in its mouth, not yet swallowed. The way it looked while eating fit perfectly with Chi Yuyang’s definition of a ferocious beast.

But her surprise only lasted a moment. Stepping forward, she looked at the remains and sighed.

“I should have reminded you earlier to skin the deer first. Then the hide could still be used for clothing.” She only had one set of clothes on her, “But… what about bathing…”

Nearby there was only a small stream. She didn’t want to use the same spot for both drinking water and bathing. That was also why she hadn’t washed herself these past few days.

But now that her period had come, she really couldn’t hold out much longer…

At her words, Tuantuan’s ears gave a small twitch.

“It’s fine!” Chi Yuyang couldn’t help but reach out and stroke the white tiger’s ears. The soft texture made her reluctant to let go, but since Tuantuan was now a full-grown predator, she didn’t dare be too reckless.

She comforted herself—cubs were cute, but the current Tuantuan gave her a stronger sense of security. At least the food problem was temporarily solved. From its hunting skills, she could tell its combat strength wasn’t low.

As for the indulgence of petting fur, Chi Yuyang, while turning her head, sneakily let her hand trail across Tuantuan’s back. She felt there would be plenty of time for that in the future.

“Tuantuan, you keep eating. I’ll go to the stream for a bit.”

“Awuu.”

Watching Chi Yuyang leave, Tiger Jin only followed once she stepped outside the cave.

He could vaguely sense that the female was trying her best to hide her fear. Though faint, the traces were caught by his beastly instincts.

After all, they weren’t of the same kind. Different beastfolk had their own habits. But some things should be the same.

The light outside filtered in, and Tiger Jin’s pupils narrowed slightly.

He saw Chi Yuyang at the stream, washing herself.

She scooped water into a lotus leaf, rolled up her pants, and slowly wiped herself down.

The weather here was similar to the city she used to live in. If things continued this way, winter would arrive soon.

When she rolled up her sleeves, several strands of white fur drifted down.

Chi Yuyang picked up a few, rubbed them between her fingers, lost in thought.

“Awuu…” A sound from not far away snapped her out of it. She quickly splashed water on her face, scooped some more into a lotus leaf, and turned back toward the cave.

Back inside, she saw Tuantuan still lying where she had left it, forepaws tucked against its chest.

Chi Yuyang chuckled. She had already noticed something was off with Tuantuan but hadn’t said anything.

Though Tuantuan had grown overnight into an adult, making it hard for her to adjust, it didn’t change the fact that it was the cub she had saved.

She still felt a twinge of fear, but compared to the panic she had when she first arrived in this strange place, this fear was negligible. Besides, she could feel that Tuantuan would never hurt her.

Just a few days ago, she had thought that if the animal she saved had been a full-grown beast, she would’ve treated its wounds and run away immediately.

But now that Tuantuan had really become a full-grown tiger, she couldn’t bring herself to leave.

Women, truly, were fickle creatures.

Chi Yuyang shook her head secretly. Instead of worrying about how to get along with Tuantuan, she was more concerned about solving her current survival issues.

“Tuantuan, what are you hiding?” She couldn’t resist asking when she noticed the tiger refusing to move its forepaws, as if protecting something beneath them.

The white tiger’s round ears twitched, making Chi Yuyang seriously suspect they were made of cotton candy—soft and bouncy.

“Awuu…” Clearly a giant tiger, yet at this moment it let out a barely audible sound.

Under her gaze, Tuantuan slowly lifted its forepaws from its chest, then gradually stood up.

What it had hidden was now exposed, and at first glance, it looked dangerously sharp.

Animals weren’t supposed to have emotions as rich as humans, but somehow, Chi Yuyang sensed Tuantuan’s nervousness.

She saw it lift the sharp object with one paw, squat down slowly on its hind legs, then raise its head, fixing her with those deep eyes.

At last, Chi Yuyang could clearly see what it was holding, but she couldn’t identify it.

It seemed Tuantuan wanted to give the item to her, yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

The white tiger’s heterochromatic eyes remained fixed on her, making her feel that unless she accepted it, it wouldn’t give up.

Recalling how Tuantuan’s past actions all carried meaning, Chi Yuyang decided to take it first and then figure out what was going on.

So without overthinking, she stretched out both hands and accepted the sharp object.

The moment it was handed over and she lowered her head to examine it, the white tiger suddenly dashed toward the other side of the cave, calling out as it ran.

“Awuu, awuu!”

This roar was different from the low growls she had heard before—it was a true tiger’s roar.

The sound swept over her like a storm, yet carried with it a strange sense of restraint.

Even after a moment, Chi Yuyang felt as though the echoes were still reverberating from deep within the cave.

At this time, she couldn’t understand Tuantuan’s odd behavior, but she realized that what Tuantuan had just handed to her was a tiger’s tooth.

Could it be Tuantuan’s milk tooth? But judging from its texture and color, Chi Yuyang felt the tooth was much older, while Tuantuan had only recently been a cub.

She studied the tooth carefully in her hand, but unable to find an answer, she decided to keep it for now.

After thinking it over, she slipped the tiger tooth into her pants pocket.

At that very moment, the frenzied white tiger finally returned to her side.

“Tuantuan, I’ll hold onto this for now…” Just as the words left her lips, the great tiger pulled her straight into his embrace. “Tuantuan, don’t mess around…”

By her estimate, the adult Tuantuan was over two meters long, while she herself barely topped one meter sixty. At this moment, she was completely engulfed in his soft fur, even able to feel the warmth radiating from his belly.

“Awuu, awuu!”

“Alright, alright!” Chi Yuyang stroked Tuantuan’s head, trying to calm his inexplicable excitement.

She thought to herself that although Tuantuan’s body had grown larger, his heart still seemed like that of a cub. What she didn’t know was that Tuantuan had already reached adulthood.

And the reason Hu Jin was so excited was because Chi Yuyang had accepted his token of affection.

In the beastmen world, due to the imbalance between females and males, females could choose multiple males to mate with. Once a female accepted a male’s token, it signified the beginning of their partnership.

If a female wanted to end the relationship and start anew, she could simply return the token to the male. This was the universally accepted rule of the Beast Continent.

For mammals, these tokens were most often their milk teeth.

Hu Jin naturally assumed Chi Yuyang understood this rule, and since she had accepted his token, she was his—at least until the day she wanted to return the tooth.

And he would never let her have that thought. He would treat her well, no matter what.

Hu Jin lowered his head and placed a light kiss on her black hair.

But since he was still in beast form, in Chi Yuyang’s eyes, it only looked like he was acting cute.

Because of her wish, Hu Jin was eager to return to his original form. But his current strength was not yet enough to sustain his transformation into human form.

Writing words with piles of cat food was too time-consuming, and besides, due to his childhood experiences, Hu Jin only knew a handful of basic characters.

So despite the countless thoughts in his heart, he could only…

“Awuu!”

—

That night.

Chi Yuyang, afraid of the cold, naturally curled up against the white tiger for warmth.

Only after confirming she was fast asleep did Hu Jin quietly rise and leave.

During the day, Chi Yuyang had mentioned animal hides, and with winter approaching soon, he didn’t know what her beast form was like, but she clearly wasn’t resistant to the cold. So under the cover of night, he had to bring back a few furs.

Besides that, there was another matter he needed to take care of.

Hu Jin had always been one of the strongest among his kind. Even without fully recovering, his useless brothers combined might not be able to defeat him.

That was why they chose to strike viciously while he was crossing his tribulation.

Originally, he had no chance of survival—but unexpectedly, he had encountered Chi Yuyang.

Thinking of this, Hu Jin’s eyes, already glowing faintly in the dark, shone with an even brighter light.

He swiftly reached the place where he had left his scent last night and sniffed carefully.

As expected, they had already searched this area.

Though this place was far from the cave where Chi Yuyang resided, for the sake of safety, Hu Jin decided to leave behind a few false trails to buy more time. That way, he could have enough time to regain his human form.

By the time he returned to the cave, only two hours had passed—half the time it had taken him yesterday.

His recovery was indeed progressing quickly, though it would still take some time before he could transform again.

When he saw the one he missed most, Chi Yuyang, Hu Jin didn’t approach her right away.

He lay down on the ground, letting the warmth of the fire drive the chill from his body, and then pulled the sleeping Chi Yuyang into his embrace, wrapping her in his warmth.

“Tuantuan…” Curled on the ground by the fire, Chi Yuyang dreamily felt a familiar touch and murmured in her sleep.

“Awuu, awuu.” Wife, goodnight.