Pretending To Be A Boss

"Can you go kill one and bring it back?"

"Why should it be me who goes?"

"Because you're cuter."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Cute ones should get out more. There, good girl, I'll make you lamb offal soup, you'll love it."

Qing JiuYu gave Tang Xian a lazy glance, realizing that this man always came to boss her around.

"Will you come with me?"

"That works. Shall I ride on your back?"

Thinking of Bai Mansheng's speed, which allowed him to disappear from sight in a few moments, Tang Xian deduced that even if Qing JiuYu turned into a human, he wouldn't be able to keep up with her pace.

Qing JiuYu found it unfair.

"I want to ride Taotie too."

"..." Tang Xian hadn't expected the little fox to be so cunning.

So he blurted out a made-up tradition that Taotie cannot be ridden. Clan rules.

Eventually, after a lot of persuasive talk, Tang Xian convinced Qing JiuYu and brought Tang Xiaojiu along.

When Qing JiuYu left, she cast a deliberate glance at Tang Suoye, who was still unconscious, a hint of confusion in her eyes.

Silence fell upon the cave instantly.

Tang Gazi and Tang Bingxiang hid in the corner, not daring to speak.

Dong Ran was the first to break the silence.

Originally, to them, Akasi seemed as rare an existence as a natural disaster.

But Akasi was easygoing, and after two days, both girls felt he was much nicer than Tang Xian, the big boor.

Dong Ran opened the conversation.

"Akasi, you don't seem surprised at all."

Qiao Shanshan noticed it too; she and Dong Ran had seen too many unbelievable things today.

Beautiful women to the extreme, and those natural disaster-level Nvwa Snakes; these creatures, though the most terrifying beings, were so peacefully standing behind the two women.

That fleeting glance from Qing JiuYu gave them a shiver deep in their souls.

Everything subtly pointed to a certain place, but they still didn't dare to think in that direction.

Akasi's expression was serious; he didn't feel unsurprised, it was just that... he had been mentally prepared for a couple of days.

He nodded and said:

"Try to think in the boldest direction; their conversation with Tang Xian has already explained a lot."

Thinking in the boldest direction was just a hint.

But soon, the expressions on the faces of the two girls gradually changed from confusion to horror.

In the end, both of them were so frightened that they each took a tactical lean back.

"... Do we... have we encountered monsters?"

"I heard Tang Xian say this is a biological mine, also known as the ability of a Soul Crystal. Only a very few mine creatures can do this."

The words 'mine creature' and 'Soul Crystal' nearly gave them the answer.

"So... so... so... the two women we saw just now... were actually...?" Dong Ran was a bit scared.

Akasi smiled, feeling he needed to reassure the two girls, and said:

"It's what you're thinking, but don't be afraid. The captain is handling it, isn't he?"

After a long while, Dong Ran and Qiao Shanshan finally accepted the truth.

But another question emerged.

Is Tang Xian human?

...

...

Tang Xian rode atop Qing JiuYu, who revealed her true form, holding Tang Xiaojiu in his arms.

In this world, the two nine-tailed fox spirits were closely linked to him.

The unlucky Mount-Control Beasts, sensing the fox spirits' aura, even forgot to resist.

The Mount-Control Beasts, like black goats only much larger, possessed the strength of elite boss creatures, but their defensive power and regenerative ability were significantly below the average for creatures of that stage.

This allowed Tang Xian to finally find a creature that was good to eat, easy to kill, and had relatively tender meat.

Tang Xian struck while the iron was hot and, with the help of Qing JiuYu and Tang Xiaojiu, plunged into the nest of the mountain-taming beasts, emerging with two cubs in his arms.

In terms of size, the cubs of the mountain-taming beasts were actually smaller than young lambs.

They looked quite adorable.

"Tang Xian, are we going to raise them? Just like the kitty birds and kitties?"

Tang Xiaojiu stroked the black-furred cub of the mountain-taming beast.

Tang Xian said:

"Are they cute?"

"They are cute. Fluffy and soft to touch."

Tang Xiaojiu caressed the two mountain-taming beast cubs, which, due to their young age, did not yet possess the ability to sense dangerous creatures.

They instinctively grew somewhat close to Tang Xiaojiu.

"When they grow up a bit, we will eat them."

Tang Xiaojiu was stunned.

"I suggest you raise the mountain-taming beasts here on the Bloody Wilderness. Once they've grown, you can eat them."

These words were not meant for Tang Xiaojiu, but for Qing JiuYu to hear.

The fox clan was about to journey to the Bloody Wilderness, a grassland vast enough to sustain an entire herd of cattle, and naturally, it could support the mountain-taming beasts as well.

Qing JiuYu wondered if she wanted to eat a full-grown mountain-taming beast, why not just capture one?

Why raise them?

Tang Xian bent down, along with Tang Xiaojiu, and stroked the mountain-taming beast.

"Catching a mountain-taming beast is easy, even my clanspeople can manage it without difficulty," Qing JiuYu said, puzzled.

"Foxes are carnivorous, and the Bloody Wilderness is a grassland. The distance traveled each time to hunt must be quite far, right?"

Qing JiuYu nodded.

"Then why not consider capturing a bunch of mountain-taming beast cubs? These little lambs will grow to be much bigger than the six-tailed and three-tailed foxes, and one alone would be enough for many of your tribe to eat. If raised to a certain scale, your fox clan won't need to roam too far for food here.

"As long as the factors of food supply and environment are well thought out, they will reproduce faster than you consume them. Then, wouldn't you have an endless supply of mountain-taming beasts?"

"I could also have lamb to eat regularly," Tang Xian casually added.

Qing JiuYu's eyes lit up; she had never thought about this before.

Lions hunt antelopes often by killing whenever they encounter one. Such is the hunting amongst animals—depending on luck to find food. Who would consider raising their food deliberately, waiting for it to grow and multiply before eating it?

"Let's go find some more mountain-taming beast cubs later, and have your tribe herd them in a certain area of the Bloody Wilderness."

"Herding? What do you mean by that?"

"The mountain-taming beasts will ultimately grow large, and due to their immense size, using human fences is impractical. You will need to alter the local environment somewhat, raise them in a place that's easy to observe, and assign your foxes to take turns guarding them. In short, let them get used to this kind of environment from a young age, to develop a dependence on it."

Qing JiuYu stared at Tang Xian in amazement, finding his ideas to be quite numerous.

Tang Xian said:

"This is the rudimentary form of animal husbandry. The development of future animal husbandry actually lies within the breeding process, such as how to make the livestock's meat better quality, grow faster—these are all documented in human texts. From time to time, I'll share some of these experiences when I come over to pick up some lamb."

Qing JiuYu nodded, genuinely astonished by Tang Xian's ideas.

Tang Xian could understand her surprise.

Most creatures live from meal to meal, and countless millennia of wild instincts have stopped them from considering changes at this level.

Moreover, the creatures of the mines are not like humans. Although humanity has many countries and cultures, there is a general consensus among them because they can reproduce together and their dietary needs are almost identical.

But mine creatures are fundamentally different. Take Qing JiuYu and Bai Mansheng, for example.

What they eat differs greatly, and they are not the same species to begin with.

This inevitably leads to secrecy and is detrimental to the progress of civilization.

Therefore, although a few powerful creatures in the mines possess human intelligence, their level of civilization is still at the most primitive stage.

Tang Xiaojiu felt a bit upset.

Because the cute little lambs would be eaten.

Seeing the expression on the young girl's face, Tang Xian said:

"In this world, being cute certainly has its advantages, but the rule that the weak serve as prey and the strong as hunters cannot be changed."

"You can make friends with a weaker creature because you like it, but even if one day you have to eat it, as long as it's permitted by your tribe's laws, then no one has the right to blame you."

Tang Xiaojiu didn't understand all this, and after a long pause, she said:

"Then... do they taste good?"

"They taste great. I guarantee that you'll forget all these troubles soon enough."