Ephemeral clouds and works

Chapter 91: Subduing the Black Serpent

    

rang clearly in Liang Gang's ears. He saw a fissure appear on the edge of his blade, spreading rapidly across the entire knife.Liàn Yī aimed carefully and hurled the dagger, its tip striking precisel...As the bone knife was about to sever Dú's neck, he roared with all his might.

"By the Beast God above, the Black Serpent Clan swears here and now, for the next year to be the mount and follower of the female beastkin Ripple. We shall do her no harm. Should we ever betray this oath, may my intestines be ripped from my body and I be devoured by wild beasts!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Dú's beast-shaped emblem and Ripple's ripple-patterned beast-mark flared simultaneously, confirming the oath. Ripple's venom fang blade grazed Dú's pale skin on his neck.

"Too bad! I still wanted to try, using your own bone knife honed by your poison, if it could cut your throat."

Ripple looked at him with emotionless eyes and spoke alone.

He absolutely believes that if his reaction wasn't fast enough, before the oath was formed, this vicious female would cut his throat.

With the bone knife sheathed and the vines retracted, ripples spoke slowly:

"I'm hungry, you go find some food. I want unicorn beef, don't take too long."

He nodded silently, his face a patchwork of purple and green. He transformed into a serpent and slithered deep into the forest.

Lián Yī lightly curled her lips before slipping into the tree hollow, ready to study her Beast Mark thoroughly. Before she had tamed a solitary beast, she needed to be on guard against the ferocious orc who might attack her. This required a portion of her mental energy to defend herself, making it inconvenient to research her newly reappeared Beast Mark.

Now that the contract is fulfilled, with the lurking threat of Doku gone, Lian Yi calmed her mind and slowly sensed the beast mark between her brows.

This mark was removed during a ritual performed by the shaman after Lian's original choice to become a female beastman, but ripples felt that the shaman didn't have the power to erase the mark bestowed by the Beast God. It should have been concealed using some kind of power.

As Lian Ri slowly touched the beast mark, she felt a surge of immense power waiting to be tapped. It was this very power that had sensed her thoughts before, prompting the vines to ensnare Du. Now, all she needed was to familiarize herself with it and wield it for her own purposes.

As a former great Mahayana ancestor, Lianyi was very daring. She guided a strand of power from the beast seal and began to circulate it through her meridians. After going through all the main arteries, the power basically disappeared.

Opening her eyes, she looked down and saw that the skin exposed was as smooth as new, the injuries on her body healed without a trace.

Even with their strong bodies and fast healing abilities, the injuries on her would take at least ten days to fully disappear. Now, because she channeled power from the beast mark within her, her wounds recovered in just one hour.

Ripple seemed thoughtful. She was about to ask Duo, how male beastmen transformed. For millennia, the Beast World Continent had operated this way—no beast had ever researched the principle behind beastman transformation. It was considered an instinct bestowed upon them by the Beast God.

With a loud boom, there was movement outside the hollow. Lian Ri got up and left the tree hole to see that Di, who had just returned to human form, was lying on the ground in front of the tree hole, his abdomen caved in. He was dead, clearly strangled by Di's beast form.

"You go and clean up the game, we're having barbecue tonight, and give me the salt you have on you."

Ripple commanded unceremoniously.

Even though it was frustrating, he endured. He raised the rhinoceros unicorn, which was twice his size, and took it to the small stream where he had encountered the ripples, and began to dismantle the prey.

After the Ripple Plan had visited the site of the incident, she left the territory of the Lion Tribe and went to see other beast tribes' lands. So after she had eaten her fill, she cooked the remaining rhino meat one by one in a stone pot. Then she found a thin stone slab, put the sliced meat on top, and started drying the moisture from the beef by burning firewood underneath. This way, it would be easier to store.

The ripples made her watch the fire, constantly flipping the beef. She, however, entered the forest, following the clues given by the plants, and found a patch of small red chili peppers. Because of their spicy taste, they hadn't been ravaged by any wild beast.

She picked some, and also found a small patch of wild scallions. They were obviously underdeveloped, short and thin, but Ripple didn't mind; at least they could add some flavor. She pulled them all up, then dug out two palm-sized pieces of ginger and returned to the tree hollow.

The venison is still being grilled, the ripples take over the smaller pieces of meat after grilling, and then they smear butter on the stone pot before adding small peppers and scallions to stir-fry. Finally, the roasted meat slices are added in, a little bit at a time, starting to dry-fry. Of course, salt is also essential.

"Achoo! Achoo!" came a constant stream of sneezes from beside her. Lian'ri said with disdain,

"You keep drying the meat slices over there, and your sneezes are flying into the pot! How can I even eat this"

He gritted his teeth, covered his nose, and moved the thin stone slab. He stepped back a distance and continued to dry the meat slices without uttering a word. This pleased Ripple very much.

It took two days, and the ripples made a big bag of spicy meat jerky. After covering the tree hole, she was ready to leave.

After eating the spicy jerky, looking at Lian's eyes had changed a bit. This method could maximize food storage during the rainy and cold seasons, preventing spoilage. This trick wasn't used in their tribe; they tried their best to make grilled meat from their hunted prey. Unfortunately, even grilled meat would spoil over time.

Let's go!

With a ripple of command, Du transformed into a beast form, bearing Ripple and two figures wrapped in animal hides. It began to move forward according to the orders given.

Before Ripple even reached the place where her original owner had almost died, she spoke up on her own:

"There is the scent of a lion pride here, they must have been here recently."

How many people have come over

Ripples asked gently.

"Before, it should have been a group of orcs who came here. Later on, there was only one orc's scent that was the most intense, probably left behind after repeatedly coming here."

He has his own unique way of tracking, just spitting out the snake's core and he understands the situation.

Ripples' expression was indifferent, with a hint of mockery. He went back and forth so many times, just circling this one spot. He didn't even suggest broadening the search area. If he truly wanted to find it, how could he miss the tree hole half a day's journey away

"Alright, let's go!"

"Where to"

"Go to your tribe first!"

"I was expelled!"

He didn't want to be attacked by his tribe, so he could only tell the truth.

"What are you afraid of This time, you take me with you. Just say that you're atoning for your sins by bringing a method for long-term food storage, plus me as a female, they shouldn't attack you."

Ripple said it very easily.

"

Knowing that he was against it, he could only carry the ripples and slowly walk towards the Black Serpent tribe's territory.

On the other side, Sang had been heartbroken ever since learning that Lianyi was attacked by a beast and might have been killed. He would often go to the last place where Lianyi's scent appeared, waiting until the scent grew fainter and almost disappeared before giving up.

That day he was about to take one last look, and was just about to put it down, but when he got there, his face changed because the scent of ripples became strong again.uldn't cook.After each had a bowl of hot noodles, the four of them finally felt alive. Meanwhile, Cyclone buried his whole head in the cat food and ate at a pace no slower than anyone else.After they...