The next morning, the village was already awake long before the sun climbed fully over the trees, and the whole place carried that rough primitive life that never really slept deeply.
Smoke curled up from a few early fires, the air slled of warm stone, damp earth, drying hides, and roasted at from sobody’s breakfast, and everywhere Lin Huahua looked, there were beast people already moving about.
So males were skinning prey near the flatter stones, so females were sorting fruits into baskets, and so cubs were already running around with dirty little feet and loud little voices while their mothers pretended to be angry and their fathers hovered nearby with the kind of careful eyes that said they would bite anything that ca too close.
Lin Huahua was outside with her three old friends, and for the first ti since arriving in this world, the strange walk through the village did not feel lonely at all.
Tu Xiaotao walked on her left side and talked so much that her reddish-brown rabbit ears kept bouncing with every word, her bright round eyes shining with endless gossip and curiosity as if the whole morning existed only so she could ask more questions.
Mao Qingyue walked on Lin Huahua’s right with her usual quiet calm, her soft gray civet ears turning now and then whenever so distant sound caught her attention, and her long tail only moved when she truly felt sothing.
Lang Yinzhi was a little farther ahead, though only by two or three steps, and even the way she walked showed her no-nonsense wolf nature.
Her shoulders were strong, her sharp brows were set in their usual cool line, and her dark tail swayed behind her in slow dangerous motions that made people unconsciously give her a little more space.
Their own males followed at a respectful distance too, which was only natural in this world. Tu Xiaotao’s males were farther behind because she kept waving them away and acting like they were embarrassing, but every few breaths one of them still looked up from whatever he was carrying just to check that she had not tripped, gotten too hot, or been kidnapped by the wind.
Mao Qingyue’s males stayed even quieter, shadowing her from farther back like silent guards who understood their female liked space but still needed soone nearby in case she decided she suddenly wanted fruit, shade, or violence.
Lang Yinzhi’s males were the funniest, because they pretended they were only walking in the sa direction by coincidence, yet every ti another male ca too close to their female, all three pairs of eyes turned at once.
Lin Huahua’s own males were behind them too, only farther than usual because of the friends, and the whole thing looked a bit silly when one really paid attention.
Mu Qingyi moved like a calm mountain in the distance, shirtless as always with only his hide beast skirt around his hips, broad chest bare to the morning light and antlers catching bits of sun through the trees.
Hu Baiyu, with his white hair and lion ears, looked even more eye-catching, because even when he tried to stay back and give her room, his whole body still leaned in her direction as if so invisible rope kept tugging him closer.
Feng Yiren was the easiest to notice, mostly because the bee marks on his handso face and neck still made him look like a fox who had lost a very personal war with the sky.
Lin Huahua saw those fading sting marks once and almost laughed again, but she swallowed it down because Feng Yiren had already caught her looking and was now glaring at her with the exact expression of a fox who rembered every debt and planned to collect interest later.
Tu Xiaotao noticed that look imdiately and leaned closer to Lin Huahua with a wicked little grin. "Speaking of collecting debts," she said, and her rabbit ears perked high with pure excitent, "did you mate with them last night?"
Lin Huahua almost stumbled on the path.
Her little white rat ears shot up, then folded halfway back from shock, and her whole pale face heated so fast that even Lang Yinzhi, who was still walking ahead, stopped and turned around.
Tu Xiaotao saw that and grew even more delighted. "Aiyo, look at your face. You really did sothing."
"I did nothing," Lin Huahua said far too fast.
Mao Qingyue’s narrow eyes moved over her once from head to toe, and although her voice stayed calm, there was a very clear aning in it when she said, "At least sothing happened."
That made Lin Huahua’s blush deepen so badly that it almost reached her neck. She turned her face away at once, but that only exposed the pink tips of her white ears even more.
Tu Xiaotao gasped as if she had just discovered treasure. "Sothing really happened. What happened? Tell us. Quickly. What could be better than mating? Did sobody kiss you? Did sobody touch you? Did sobody cry? I feel like sobody cried."
Lang Yinzhi folded her arms and gave Lin Huahua a long look. "With your face right now, more than one thing happened."
Lin Huahua wanted to sink into the ground.
Back in the sci-fi world, even when people spoke openly, this kind of direct village female talk still felt too shaless to her. Yet the worst part was that these won around her clearly did not think it was vulgar at all. To them this was normal. They were only being close, teasing, curious, and maybe a little too interested in their friend’s private life.
Lin Huahua looked away and muttered, "I am not telling you."
Tu Xiaotao clutched her own chest dramatically. "You kissed them and now you have turned selfish. Fine. Fine. Keep your secrets. I will simply die from curiosity."
"You will live," Mao Qingyue said.
"Unfortunately," Lang Yinzhi added.
That made Lin Huahua laugh a little despite herself, and the sound seed to make all three won soften. Then the conversation turned, as it naturally would, back to what happened yesterday with Su Yanrong, and Tu Xiaotao was the first one to bring it up because of course she was.
"That ugly bitch finally got what she deserved," Tu Xiaotao said with great satisfaction. Her rabbit ears stood straight with rembered joy, and she even mid a slap in the air with her hand. "You should have seen her face after. No, actually, I saw it myself, so let say it properly. It was swollen exactly the way it should be."
Lang Yinzhi gave a low sound of agreent. "Too light."
Mao Qingyue’s tail moved once, slowly. "Much too light."
Lin Huahua looked at them then, really looked, and sothing in her chest tightened.
Yesterday there had been too much happening for her to fully process it, but now in the clearer light of morning, with no imdiate danger and no peacock screaming in front of her, she suddenly understood how much these won had gone through because of the old placeholder’s actions.
They had cared enough to warn her, cared enough to get angry when she refused to listen, and still cared enough to stand by her yesterday when she needed help.
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