Chapter 129: Chapter 129: Bonus Chapter for 100 Monthly Votes

Half an hour later.

Chang Xia was gasping for breath, supported on either side by Shanjue and Luyou as they walked her forward in small steps. She knew her stamina was poor and had prepared for it.

But she hadn’t expected she wouldn’t even be able to finish ten laps.

Even after learning Elder Yami’s breathing technique, she’d barely managed eight laps on her own.

“Here, have some water.” Elder Yami brought over a waterskin, crouched down, and pulled Chang Xia into her arms. She uncapped the waterskin and held it to Chang Xia’s mouth.

Then she looked up at the beast cubs gathered around.

“Shanjue, you all go finish your basic training.”

The cubs looked back longingly with every step, full of envy for Elder Yami—they wanted to hold Chang Xia-jie and feed her water, too.

“Chang Xia, you don’t have to push yourself so hard. The chinchilla tribe is naturally weaker than the black panther tribe. Even if you have bloodline power that breaks through those limits, getting stronger isn’t something that happens overnight. Take it slow, step by step,” Elder Yami said seriously.

Chang Xia drank most of the water and finally regained a bit of strength.

Now, Elder Yami’s hands gently tapped along Chang Xia’s beast form. As the rhythm of the tapping increased, Chang Xia felt her fatigue begin to melt away.

“Got it! I’ll remember,” Chang Xia nodded earnestly. She really had been too impatient. This body had never trained before—jumping straight into high-intensity exercise could easily lead to injury.

After the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, Chang Xia jumped down from Elder Yami’s lap.

She ran two laps and found that the soreness in her limbs had indeed faded.

Curious, she looked at Elder Yami—what she’d felt earlier definitely hadn’t been her imagination.

Elder Yami just smiled mysteriously and didn’t explain.

Sensible, Chang Xia ran off to join Shanjue and the others for training.

This time, Chang Xia didn’t try to show off.

She ran two laps, stretched, and then strolled around.

With basic training over, it was time for special training.

Elder Yami had the cubs pair up for sparring. This time, Chang Xia was paired with Luyou. Shanjue protested seriously, but Elder Yami shut him down.

Her reason: Shanjue always relied on brute force in fights, which wasn’t the point of training. Luyou, on the other hand, was much smarter and liked to use his head.

“Luyou, you’re in charge of teaching Chang Xia some basic hunting skills—pouncing, biting, grappling. These are all crucial,” Elder Yami said.

For beastfolk, the most basic attacks were just these few.

Of course, more advanced hunting skills depended on the individual.

Soon, the training ground was filled with a curious sight: the little fluffballs paired up and started sparring, while Luyou guided Chang Xia through the fight.

At first, they just tested each other out.

Gradually, their sparring became more back-and-forth.

It actually started to look like a real fight.

Chang Xia was very focused, but she wasn’t used to fighting in beast form. In her previous life as a human, it had taken her months just to get used to walking on four legs.

Even then, she’d stumbled around for ages.

“All right!” Elder Yami clapped her hands, signaling the end of today’s training.

Chang Xia flopped to the ground, too tired to move.

Soon, she was surrounded by a circle of fluffy cubs.

Shanjue shifted back to human form, pulled on his little beast-hide shorts and shirt, and ran over to Chang Xia. His chubby hands carefully tried to help her up as he said in a childish voice, “Chang Xia-jie, I’ll take you home!”

Chang Xia froze, stunned.

Wasn’t there something wrong with this scene?

Shouldn’t it be the other way around?

Seeing Chang Xia’s wide, round eyes, Elder Yami covered her mouth and laughed, making no move to rescue her.

One after another, Wuliu, Luyou, and the others also shifted back to human form.

Luyou walked over with Chang Xia’s clothes and said steadily, “Shanjue, you carry Chang Xia-jie. We’ll escort her back to White Lake.”

“Elder Yami—” Chang Xia called out, face twisted in distress.

“Chang Xia, I have to go see Pukang in a bit, so I’ll let Shanjue and the others take you back to White Lake. It’s normal to feel a bit unwell after the first day—just take a bath and get some sleep when you get home, and you should feel better when you wake up. Oh, and come early tomorrow.”

With that, before Chang Xia could say anything, Elder Yami turned and left.

So, Shanjue and the other cubs formed a grand escort to take Chang Xia back to White Lake.

Along the way, the tribe members all covered their mouths, watching and whispering.

Everyone had heard that Chang Xia was training at the tribe’s training ground with Shanjue and the others today. But, worried she might be shy, no one had gone over to watch.

Now, seeing Shanjue carrying the limp, utterly defeated-looking chinchilla, all the tribe members wore the same doting “auntie smile.”

Ah!

Changxia’s beast form is just too cute!

What a shame—I can’t hug or kiss her.

“Shan Que, what are you all doing at Bai Lake?” Dalai came running over and asked, “Weren’t you supposed to be digging for thatch roots today? I remember you’ve all been working hard lately!”

“Elder Dalai, we’re just escorting Sister Changxia home,” Lu You replied calmly.

Shan Que was grinning as she hugged Changxia, looking like a total creep. Honestly, if she were an adult beastman—even a female one—she’d probably get beaten up for acting like this.

“Little Changxia—” Dalai was startled, and quickly followed Lu You’s gaze to see what was in Shan Que’s arms. There, a beautiful chinchilla came into view. At this point, Changxia had clearly given up resisting, and she lifted a paw weakly to wave at Elder Dalai. “Hello, Elder Dalai!”

“Changxia, is this your first time getting exhausted from training?” Dalai reached out and gave her a gentle rub.

“Elder Dalai, I’m going to take Sister Changxia home now, see you later!”

But Shan Que was quick to dodge.

Dalai had barely managed a couple of pats before Shan Que darted off.

Seeing this, Lu You and the others quickly said their goodbyes to Elder Dalai and hurried after her.

Dalai looked after them with regret—little Changxia really was the cutest.

“So noisy—”

The courtyard of the cave dwelling had already been finished.

Chen Rong was building the last flower bed. According to Changxia’s plan, besides the central flower bed by the pond, there were four rectangular flower beds in the courtyard.

“Wow!” Shan Que, still holding Changxia, couldn’t help but exclaim as she entered the courtyard. She shouted, “Sister Changxia, your cave house is so beautiful!”

“It really is gorgeous!”

“I wish my parents would build our cave house just like yours, Sister Changxia.”

Instantly, a whole group of little ones came pouring into the courtyard.

Chen Rong and the others snapped out of their daze and hurried over.

Clearly, they hadn’t expected the tribe to let all these kids leave without a single adult accompanying them. What on earth was going on?

Suddenly, Maple Leaf’s gaze fell on what was in Shan Que’s arms. She blinked hesitantly.

“Changxia—”

In the end, Nan Feng reacted the fastest.

She rushed forward, snatching Changxia out of Shan Que’s arms.

Nan Feng hugged Changxia and started rubbing her all over, then buried her face in Changxia’s soft belly, inhaling deeply. “Changxia, you’re just too cute! Let me kiss you again… just one more!”

Changxia’s little legs trembled as she sent a desperate look to Chen Rong for help.

“Chen Rong, help—”