BTSBH 10

Chapter 10

The Marketplace

“Wait! Since when did I become your female?” Su Yuzhi cried out in alarm.

Claire, on the other hand, remained completely calm. He even understood the white snake’s way of thinking.

Because he often dealt with the Snake Tribe in the city, he knew that their thought processes were fairly straightforward. They did not overcomplicate things, and most Snake Tribe males had very simple logic.

For example, after half of the collected crystal stones were handed over to the City Lord’s tribe, the remaining half was supposed to be divided equally among the four major tribes. However, members of the other tribes often found ways to skim off a little for themselves, which resulted in the Snake Tribe consistently receiving the smallest share.

The white snake’s reasoning was simple.

He had saved Su Yuzhi, and she had been alone.

Therefore, naturally, he could bring her home and make her his female.

But from Su Yuzhi’s perspective, there were far too many problems with that logic.

Noticing the look on Su Yuzhi’s face, Claire spoke first.

“She doesn’t want to. You can’t take her back to be your female.”

Nestled safely in Claire’s arms, Su Yuzhi nodded furiously in agreement.

As her soft hair brushed against his arm and chest, Claire felt a faint ticklish sensation. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and gently pat her head, but he restrained himself.

“I see Then what should I do?” the white snake asked.

To him, Su Yuzhi had rejected him, so all he needed to do now was find a way to make her agree. Snake Tribe males tended to think in a very linear way, so everything had to be explained to them in simple, direct terms.

“You have to court a female first. Only after she accepts you can you become her mate.”

Court her?

That was a completely new word to the white snake.

He needed some time to think about it.

While he stood there deep in thought, Claire had already carried Su Yuzhi back to where they had been before.

Su Yuzhi had wanted to rescue the scattered Meimei Fruits, but after seeing that nearly all of them had been crushed, she could only sigh regretfully and remain quietly in Claire’s embrace as they left.

Meanwhile, unable to figure it out himself, the white snake decided to return home and ask his older brother, the only one among his clutchmates who already had a mate.

Transforming back into his snake form, he slowly slithered toward the Snake Tribe.

Back on Su Yuzhi’s side, her original plan had been to collect the seeds from three different fruits before returning to the tree house with Claire.

But after being terrified by the white snake, she decided she would stick as close to Claire as possible.

She absolutely could not handle being frightened like that again.

After setting Su Yuzhi down on a flat rock, Claire continued tanning the hides.

He wanted her to have enough leather skirts to wear and change into, so he worked on three hides at once, enough to make three skirts.

After hanging the hides up to smoke, he suddenly asked,

“Zhizhi, would you like to visit the marketplace?”

Today happened to be the marketplace held once every ten days.

He could also buy some fruit for her while they were there.

These marketplaces were usually established in areas where several tribes lived near one another.

Near the Leopard Tribe, for example, there was a region shared by several small herbivore and omnivore tribes.

The marketplace sold all kinds of goods.

Since there was no organized management, however, it lacked much order.

Bartering was perfectly acceptable as long as both parties agreed.

Crystal stones also served as universal currency because of their tremendous value.

Even so, very few beastfolk actually used crystal stones for purchases.

After all, they were difficult to obtain.

For weaker tribes, the entire tribe might not even possess more than a few.

Using crystal stones to exchange for leather, as Claire had done, was considered an extremely extravagant act.

But Claire was exceptionally strong.

Despite his young age, he could easily hunt powerful wild beasts that possessed crystal stones.

Obtaining crystal stones was never particularly difficult for him.

Still, he had never expected to meet the female of his dreams so soon, so he had not accumulated many crystal stones beforehand.

Claire smiled gently.

“Zhizhi, would you like to look around the marketplace?”

Su Yuzhi’s eyes lit up.

A marketplace!

She knew exactly what that meant.

There should be plenty of beastfolk selling fruit there, so completing her mission would be easy.

“Sure Shall we go now?”

She looked at him expectantly.

“Mm Wait for me a moment.”

Claire quickly extinguished the fire, shifted into his beast form, and agilely climbed the tree to hang the hides high above where they could continue drying in the breeze.

Claire’s tiger form was incredibly majestic.

Yesterday Su Yuzhi had fainted before she could get a good look.

Now that she saw him properly, she felt that he truly deserved to be called incredibly handsome.

Even his beast form was exceptionally impressive.

After hanging the hides, Claire leaped gracefully down from the tree.

He strode proudly toward Su Yuzhi.

His body was as solid as a small mountain.

His broad head and wide muzzle looked imposing.

His glossy fur gleamed beautifully.

His yellow, black, and white striped tail stood upright like an iron rod.

His golden eyes shone brilliantly.

He could have climbed the tree just as easily in human form.

To Claire, there was no real difference.

But males in the middle of courtship always wanted to show off in front of the female they liked.

To put it simply, he was showing off like a peacock displaying its feathers.

Among beastfolk, a powerful beast form was more attractive to females because a strong mate meant a safer and more secure life.

After changing back into his human form, Claire naturally lifted Su Yuzhi into his arms again.

Supporting her on one arm, he carried her so she sat comfortably against him.

Her view instantly became much wider, and she found the experience surprisingly refreshing.

So this was what the world looked like from over two meters up?

Having been so carefully cared for by Claire, she was gradually becoming accustomed to it and did not even realize anything felt strange anymore.

Since Claire was the very first beastfolk she had met in this world, she had unconsciously developed a bit of imprinting instinct toward him and felt naturally dependent on him.

Claire walked very quickly.

The journey took only about fifteen minutes.

If Su Yuzhi had walked by herself, it probably would have taken nearly two hours.

The marketplace looked nothing like she had imagined.

She had expected neat rows of shops like those on Earth, with goods displayed inside orderly buildings.

Instead, the place was rather chaotic.

Most beastfolk carried their goods in handwoven baskets, set them down wherever they found an empty spot, and called out to passing customers.

“I want some fruit Let’s buy some fruit.”

Su Yuzhi tugged lightly at Claire’s collar.

The upward lilt in her voice unintentionally sounded a little like she was acting spoiled.

Claire’s lips curved into a gentle smile.

“Alright.”

With the keen eyesight and hearing of beastfolk, he scanned the open area and quickly spotted a Deer Tribe beastman selling fruit.

After arriving at the stall, he carefully set Su Yuzhi down so she could choose the fruit herself.

Normally, only herbivores, omnivores, and females regularly ate fruit.

Most beastfolk simply picked their own whenever they wanted some, so the fruit stall had almost no customers.

Su Yuzhi was the very first one.

The Deer Tribe male immediately greeted them enthusiastically.

Ordinarily, someone as beautiful as Su Yuzhi would attract countless lingering glances.

But this Deer Tribe male already had a mate.

To him, every female other than his own mate was no different regardless of how beautiful she was.

If he had been an unmated male, he would probably already have been desperately trying to court Su Yuzhi.

That was exactly why Claire had chosen this stall.

He had noticed at a glance that the Deer Tribe male already bore a beast mark on his arm.