Chapter 17
Chapter 17: She Accidentally Ate an Aphrodisiac Fruit
“Zulu… I’m afraid that won’t be easy either,” Oro said, looking older all at once.
Su Yan raised an eyebrow. “What happened?”
“Today at the rabbit clan’s tribal shaman, I learned something.” Oro sighed. “The rabbit clan’s clan chief wants Zulu to marry the fox clan chief’s daughter. An alliance.”
Fox clan females were famous for their beauty—sharp, alluring, the kind that made men forget their own names. Being tied to them, one way or another, was considered a prize.
Su Yan’s brows drew together. “Then it’ll be hard to toy with him.”
“Yan Er, what did you say?”
“Nothing.” She cleared her throat, smoothly changing the subject. “Dad, where is the snake clan?”
“The snake clan is far,” Oro said. “East of our old tribe, almost inside the Senyu Beast Forest. I even went there once, to help build the beast god temple.”
“I heard the snake clan has one of the West District’s strongest fighters.”
“It does.” Oro’s face darkened. “But that one isn’t kind. He killed his own brother to steal a female. The snake clan branded him a traitor, drove him out, and banned him for life. Recently, though, people said he showed up around Greenwood Plain.”
Su Yan’s eyes lit. “Oh?”
Oro narrowed his gaze. “Why are you asking?”
“No reason. Just curious.”
In her mind, she was already mapping routes through trees and shadow. Greenwood Plain, then. She would go more than once.
Oro rubbed his chin, then added, “That refined salt of yours—the rabbit clan’s tribal shaman likes it a lot. He asked if we could supply it long-term. He said the terms could be negotiated.”
Su Yan shook her head. “Probably not.”
Her salt wasn’t something that came from a workshop. It was a reward from the system—earned by giving birth to a child.
“Then forget it,” Oro said. “Maybe another time.”
“Salt is the king of flavors,” Su Yan murmured, eyes narrowing in thought. “You can’t live without it. I’ll see if I can find a way to make it.”
Oro laughed. “Salt-making is a secret as good as a clan’s lifeline. No one would tell you.”
“I’ll find a way,” Su Yan said stubbornly. She pointed toward the pile of yams. “Dad, help me store these somewhere cool. They’ll last a long time.”
Oro still looked doubtful. “Why bring home something beasts eat?”
“To eat,” Su Yan said, grinning. “If they can eat it, so can we.”
“Beastmen eat meat,” Oro insisted. “Only meat makes you strong enough to hunt and protect the tribe.”
“Eating only one thing isn’t good,” Su Yan said. “Tonight I’ll make yam-and-chicken stew. You’ll try it and see.”
She went to work.
The kitchen filled with sound—knife against board, pot against stone, water poured and fire coaxed. Her fire-type talent made everything simple: a breath, a spark, a steady flame. No worrying about tinder, no fear of losing the heat.
Oro hovered near the doorway, listening, watching with curiosity.
Beastmen feared fire and didn’t eat cooked food, but they didn’t dare lose their fire source either. If the flame died, they sometimes had to borrow fire from another clan. Fire was danger—and also survival.
Oro still remembered the first time she’d roasted a deer leg. He’d been shocked.
“Yan Er,” he said now, voice thick with wonder, “even leaving fertility aside, your talent alone is enough to stand your ground in the clan.”
“Your daughter knows.” Su Yan spoke lightly, but her eyes were clear. “Females are precious because they’re rare. My talent isn’t high, but it’s rare enough to bluff people, and useful enough to cook and live.”
“Then why won’t you let me tell the clan chief?”
“Because your daughter used to wander,” Su Yan said. “My fertility is unknown. If I’m going to be judged either way, I’d rather keep moving and live free.”
“You don’t want to be bound.”
“That’s right.” She looked at him and smiled. “Do you agree, Dad?”
Oro’s expression softened. “You didn’t grow up by my side. Just having you come back and call me Father is enough to make me happy. As for the rest—of course we do it your way. If you want to settle down, come back and I’ll raise you for life. If you want to wander, you can. Just keep yourself safe.”
Su Yan’s eyes curved. “Long live understanding. Thanks, Dad.”
She mashed steamed yam into a smooth paste, then spooned wild fruit jam over it—purple and glossy on snow-white yam, like dusk poured over snow.
“Try it,” she said, handing it to Oro. “If we set up a stall, could we sell this?”
Oro stared at the bowl like it might be a prank. “This… is edible?”
“Eat. If it sells, I’ll teach you how to make it.”
Oro didn’t want to crush her enthusiasm. He took a big bite.
His eyes went wide. His beard nearly lifted on its own.
“This is incredible!”
A sudden crash shook the yard.
They rushed outside—and found Zulu standing there, a little dusty, a little wild-eyed, with an enormous boar at his feet. It had to weigh eight hundred pounds. Its bulk made the ground seem smaller, as if it had stolen space just by existing.
Sunlight hit Zulu’s grin, bright enough to dazzle.
“Sister Yan,” he called, “can I eat chicken tonight?”
Su Yan stared at him for a heartbeat, then turned back into the kitchen without answering.
She came out with another bowl of yam mash. This time she sprinkled a coarse, pepper-like salt over it.
In the beast forest she’d found a spice as big as a walnut. It tasted like pepper, so she’d named it pepper-like.
“Try this first,” she said, holding it out.
Zulu took it without hesitation. One bite—and his eyes went distant, then sharp.
“This is…”
“Pepper-like yam mash,” Su Yan said, smiling. “Good?”
Zulu looked at her like he didn’t know whether to laugh or swear. His voice came out tight. “You put aphrodisiac fruit in it.”
“What?” Su Yan froze.
Oro snatched the bowl, sniffed it, and his face changed. “Yan Er… there are bits of aphrodisiac fruit in here. You…?”
Su Yan’s cheeks went hot. Was the pepper-like spice actually aphrodisiac fruit?
“But I ate it too,” she said quickly. “Nothing happened.”
Oro gave her a look that was equal parts helpless and amused. “Daughter, aphrodisiac fruit is for males. Females can eat it and feel nothing.”
Su Yan’s stomach dropped. “Then what do we do?”
“Easy.”
Zulu’s grin turned sharp. His teeth flashed white. The tips of his ears were already red, betraying him. Heat rolled off him like a living thing.
“You help me settle it,” he said.
Su Yan took an instinctive step back. “But aren’t you engaged to the fox clan?”
“I never agreed.”
Before she could say another word, Zulu swung her up at the waist and strode toward the inner room. Over his shoulder he called to Oro, “That boar is my meeting gift. I heard Lin Lang gave sixteen crystal coins as bride price—I’ll give sixty!”
Su Yan struggled, but his arms were iron. She couldn’t shake him loose unless she asked the system for help.
And the system would never help her escape a chance to conceive. Little Mei had already approved Zulu’s talent.
So Su Yan clenched her jaw and said the truth before the door even closed.
“I won’t marry you. And I might have other beast husbands in the future. It won’t be only you.”
Zulu didn’t even blink. “Fine.”
Su Yan stared at him. “You really don’t mind?”
“As long as you like it,” he said, utterly shameless.
Su Yan let out a helpless laugh. “All right.”
Outside, Oro looked at the boar again. A decent gift. He dragged it into his slaughter room.
That night blurred into heat and exhaustion.
Su Yan swallowed the free pregnancy pill and the golden marrow pill, one after another.
Even so, Zulu’s stamina was frightening. If she hadn’t taken a vitality-restoring pill twice, she wouldn’t have endured.
When it was over, she fell limp with fatigue.
Zulu held her as if she might break, kissed her again and again, and carefully tucked a leather blanket over her.
Then he returned to his own place, gathered his savings and bedding and a few personal tools, and prepared to move in with Su Yan.
But before he could even step out—
someone blocked his way.