Chapter 22
Chapter 22: Hidden Task and Rewards
Ashley was giving birth in mouse form.
That alone startled Su Yan.
Ashley lay weakly on a beast-hide blanket, blood pooling beneath her faster than anyone could clean. The air carried the sharp, metallic tang of it, and the room felt too warm, too crowded, too close.
“You came,” Ashley whispered, her voice thin as thread.
Su Yan stepped closer, eyes fixed on the small trembling body. “Why are you giving birth in mouse form?”
“When beastman females give birth, they do it in beast form,” Shava explained softly from the side.
Su Yan’s mind flashed forward—if she had to give birth in mouse form, how tiny would her child be? On that point, at least, the System felt almost humane.
“I’m sorry,” Su Yan said. “I didn’t know.”
“It’s fine…” Ashley’s breath hitched. “I’m the one who should apologize. After the devil beast attacked the tribe, Lin Lang asked me to look for you outside. I didn’t go. I even lied and said you were eaten by a devil beast. I shouldn’t have hidden it. I shouldn’t have deceived you. I wronged you.”
Her words came out in broken pieces, as though each confession cost her another mouthful of air.
Su Yan glanced at Grom. The old shaman had turned her head away, refusing to look at Ashley’s suffering, jaw clenched tight enough to crack stone.
Su Yan stepped closer and took Ashley’s small paw. It was about the size of her own palm, cool and trembling. “You married Lin Lang. You’re partners for life. I have Zulu now. He treats me well.”
Ashley’s eyelids fluttered. “I heard. Bless you both. Zulu is a very good male.”
“He is,” Su Yan said. “And just like our tribe—we migrated and got a new beginning. We can let go of what came before. We’ll still see each other. When I have a child for Zulu, our descendants will play together.”
Ashley’s eyes blurred, shame flooding her face. “Sadly… I might not make it through this. Thank you for forgiving me.”
Her head drooped.
She went limp.
“Ashley!” Su Yan leaned in, heart jolting.
She slipped the tiny Peaceful-Birth Pill into Ashley’s mouth, guiding it past her lips. “Wake up. You still have to deliver. Don’t sleep—”
“Ashley!” Grom shoved Su Yan aside and pressed herself close, her hands shaking as she checked her granddaughter. In the span of a breath, she looked years older.
Su Yan stumbled. Shava caught her. “Careful.”
“I’m fine,” Su Yan said, voice tight. She forced herself steady, then looked around. “We need clean blankets. We’re going to help her deliver.”
Shava didn’t move. Anyone could see Ashley was failing.
So Su Yan moved instead. She grabbed a dry, soft beast-hide blanket and replaced the one soaked through with blood, her hands quick despite the tremor in her fingers.
The moment she finished—
Ashley drew a harsh breath and screamed, raw and loud, the sound scraping against the walls.
Then the birth came in a rush.
One, two, three, four, five—five mouse babies, still wrapped in thin membranes, slipped free one after another, tiny bodies squirming with sudden life.
Su Yan froze, stunned by how quickly everything turned.
The pill… it worked.
“Shava,” she snapped, catching herself, “help me!”
Before Shava could even respond, Grom moved like someone dragged back from the edge. “I’ll do it.”
Su Yan didn’t know how to handle newborn mouse pups. She stepped aside, hands clenched, letting the others take over.
From that position, she saw Lin Lang standing outside the delivery room.
No one knew how long he’d been there. His expression was tangled—shock, regret, and something darker that wouldn’t name itself.
Su Yan offered him a gentle smile. “Ashley gave birth to five mouse babies. Come see.”
Lin Lang stepped inside—then started toward Su Yan.
Su Yan immediately backed away, her gaze flicking to the birthing bed.
Ashley was looking at Lin Lang with thin, desperate hope.
Grom’s voice broke into the moment, bright with relief. “One female and four males. All strong.”
“The Beast God blesses us,” Grom murmured, over and over. “The Beast God blesses us…”
Lin Lang stopped, his eyes turning at last to the tiny pups that shared his blood.
Su Yan didn’t hesitate. She stepped in and shoved him, hard enough to jolt him forward. “Go to Ashley. She risked her life to give you offspring. Treat her well from now on.”
Then she turned back to Ashley. “Congratulations. You delivered safely. I’ll go prepare a gift and come back later.”
“No gift,” Ashley said weakly, but her color already looked better—too much better for someone who’d been on death’s edge. “You came. That’s enough.”
Su Yan felt a pang for the points she’d spent.
But she couldn’t watch a life end when she had a way to stop it.
Points could be earned again. If Ashley and these children died, Lin Lang might collapse with them.
“Thank you,” Lin Lang said hoarsely, voice rough with something he couldn’t swallow.
Su Yan nodded once and left the delivery room.
Zulu was waiting outside.
She walked toward him, and before she could speak, he clasped her hand.
“Let’s go home,” he said.
“Okay.”
As she turned to leave, a bright, mechanical chime rang inside her skull.
“Congratulations, Host. You have triggered a hidden merit task and received a merit reward bundle: 100 points; a System Space expansion scroll that automatically expands by 10 cubic meters; 50 jin of refined salt; 30 jin of sugar; one cotton quilt set; three cases of instant noodles; one case of compressed biscuits; 5 jin of soybeans; ten cans of fruit; 20 jin of rice; and ten large jugs of purified water.”
Su Yan’s smile spread slowly.
So the System had hidden rewards. And it sounded like anything tied to childbirth might become a path to points and supplies.
Zulu eyed her expression. “What is it? Why are you smiling like that?”
Su Yan rose onto her toes and kissed him quickly. “Ashley delivered five mouse babies safely. I’m happy for her.”
Zulu’s body went hot from the kiss. His eyes darkened. “Should we… work a little harder too?”
It wasn’t about wanting a child.
It was about wanting the act that made one.
Su Yan asked quietly in her mind, Little Mei, can I still do it while I’m pregnant?
The reply was immediate: Your fetus is protected by a Pregnancy Pill. It will not be affected, and it is beneficial to delivery.
Su Yan’s lashes lifted. She nodded at Zulu. “Okay.”
Zulu scooped her up and carried her straight to his own place—the closest.
By the next afternoon, Su Yan returned home with her legs weak and her waist aching, moving like someone who’d been wrung out and left to dry.
Oro was tanning hides. One glance at her, and he knew exactly what she’d been doing. He chuckled, pleased. “Back? Hungry?”
“Not hungry,” Su Yan said, leaning on the doorway. “Just thirsty. Do we have cow’s milk?”
“We do. It’s in the kitchen.”
Su Yan shuffled inside, one hand bracing her back.
Outside, heavy footsteps thudded into the yard.
Zulu appeared, hauling a dairy cow over his shoulder like it was nothing. “Father-in-law, where should I put this?”
Oro’s eyes lit up. He dropped the hide in his hands. “Perfect! Now Yan Er will have fresh cow’s milk every day.”
“Yes. Where’s Yan Yan?”
“In the kitchen drinking milk. She loves it—deer milk doesn’t suit her taste. Give me the cow. I’ll set up a pen for it.”
“Sorry to trouble you, Father-in-law. I’ll go check on Yan Yan.”
“Go on.”
After Su Yan finished her milk, she finally had a quiet moment to review her System rewards.
In the end, she took out the 5 jin of soybeans.
Zulu walked in just then and saw her facing away, hands busy with something. “Yan Yan?”