Chapter One: Rebirth in the Beast World

“Hunger”

The intense pangs of hunger forced the female in the cave to open her eyes, only for a cascade of memories to relentlessly replay in her mind.

It was only after Yun Li painstakingly realized through these memories that she must have transmigrated her soul that a chilling, bone-deep cold seeped in from outside.

It was raining. Instinctively, Yun Li curled up her body.

From the original owner’s memories, she knew this was a beastman world with many more males than females. Beastmen were creatures capable of shifting freely between beast and human forms.

The original owner had been an orphan abandoned by her family because her mother died in childbirth. The mother’s beastman husbands blamed the original owner for her death.

By the time the original owner was three, the female-dominated family consisted only of her and her father.

But her father didn’t raise her either. When she was six and able to accompany the tribe’s males to gather food, her father abandoned her and never returned.

Recalling how the original owner had survived all these years, Yun Li became instantly depressed. She had never done any heavy work due to a heart condition and had never been mistreated. Now, starting with nothing and knowing nothing, she wondered if she was destined to die again soon after transmigrating.

So hungry!

Yun Li longed for food, but when she forced her weak body out of bed and searched around, she found only two half-rotten wild fruits and a hard, aged piece of salted meat.

Suppressing her nausea, she ate the unspoiled halves of the wild fruits, but the moment she swallowed, she couldn’t hold back vomiting.

She forced herself to keep eating, but before taking a bite again, she retched.

This time, Yun Li simply could not eat any more and threw the salted meat back.

She felt the original owner must have been so abandoned by her family that she had lost all will to survive; otherwise, how could the cave have no edible food at all?

But she didn’t want to die. In her last life, she had died at eighteen from a heart condition. This life couldn’t be worse.

Gritting her teeth, Yun Li headed toward the cave entrance. She remembered the original owner had been courted by a few males, though she had never accepted any out of insecurity.

But she was not the original owner. Now starving nearly to death, she couldn’t care about those things.

“Ah Li? Ah Li?”

Suddenly, a voice came from nearby. Dizzy from hunger and unsure if she could even descend the mountain, Yun Li pinched herself hard and replied with effort, “I’m here.”

It seemed the males who had courted the original owner had noticed she hadn’t joined the females of the tribe for days and had come looking.

Relieved, she also began to consider how to secure a steady meal ticket—or rather, find a pleasing mate.

Otherwise, with her frail body, she could hardly imagine trekking ten kilometers daily like the original owner to gather food, especially without meat, relying on half-satisfying wild fruits and vegetables.

But why were there two unfamiliar males waiting?

Yun Li was certain she had never seen these two beastmen in the original owner’s memories. The sudden surprise, combined with dizziness from hunger, overwhelmed her as the two males approached, and her vision went black—she lost consciousness entirely.

The timing of her fainting was impeccable. The two strong males, often targeted by females because of their strength, both instinctively paused, yet allowed Yun Li to collapse onto the damp ground.

Cold Xiao looked at the fallen female in disbelief. “Brother, have females nowadays really become this desperate to claim us as mates?”

Look at her—pretending to fall on them, and falling so hard at that.

He felt pity just listening to her.

Cold Xiu frowned, crouched down to check on Yun Li, then lifted her up without hesitation.

“Brother, why are you carrying her?”

Cold Xiao was surprised and somewhat anxious. “What if she clings to us...?”

“She’s genuinely unconscious. Can’t you see?” Cold Xiu gave his brother a look as if he were a fool. No matter how ill-tempered females in the tribe were, they were precious.

There was no need to injure themselves just to compete for a male. If they failed, the male would be punished by being sent on consecutive hunts outside the tribe. Then, instead of gaining a mate, the male would hate females altogether.

Uncertain why Yun Li had fainted, Cold Xiu carried her directly to the shaman’s dwelling.

The two single males carrying an unconscious female attracted many curious glances on the way, but once Cold Xiu set Yun Li down, the shaman’s voice came from inside, “Cold Xiao, have you and your brother found a female you fancy? Some beastmen told me you brought an unconscious female here.”

“It’s not like that! She suddenly collapsed right in front of us. If she weren’t female, my brother wouldn’t have brought her here,” Cold Xiao hurriedly denied any relationship with Yun Li. Both brothers were still pure, single males. They couldn’t be forced into pairing just because they rescued a female.

Especially such a scruffy, ugly female.

Yun Li thought: The original owner was always hungry and weak, so it’s only natural she looked a bit untidy.

Hearing this, the shaman smiled helplessly, about to say something to encourage them to settle down and stop being so picky.

Then Cold Xiu emerged. “I’ve brought her here. If there’s nothing else, Cold Xiao and I will take our leave.”

Seeing their agreement, the shaman nodded. “Alright, when you leave, remember to call her father and mother. Other than that, it’s no longer your concern.”

With that, he entered the stone house and began examining Yun Li.

The little female had no injuries or illness—she had simply fainted from hunger.

Thinking so, the shaman went out to summon someone to bring food.

Cold Xiu was still standing by the door when the shaman’s expression turned surprised. Before he could speak, Cold Xiu explained the family situation—that no other beastmen lived with Yun Li.

“I see. Well, if you two have no time, why not help me...” The shaman began.

Cold Xiu refused without hesitation. “We’ll be hunting in a couple of days and probably won’t have time. You should look for other males.”

He could tolerate an ugly female, but not a scruffy one.

The shaman shook his head. “Alright then, call Mu Qing for me. If you don’t want this chance, I’ll offer it to another male.”

Cold Xiu nodded indifferently and immediately informed Mu Qing.

Mu Qing was the tribe’s only snake beastman. Being cold-blooded, snake beastmen were perpetually shunned by the tribe’s females, making it difficult to find mates.

Now, with a fool apparently willing to forgo the chance to be the main mate, Mu Qing naturally seized the opportunity.

When Yun Li finally regained consciousness, the first face she saw was Mu Qing’s fierce, formidable visage.