"Where does it hurt?"
"My stomach hurts."
Lan Cang couldn't be bothered with anything else. He left Manla and the others behind and strode home with powerful, urgent steps.
Two Beastmen suddenly began sniffing the air excitedly. One of them was so thrilled that he transformed into his beast form and let out a long howl at the sky.
Manla was already annoyed, and seeing this, she became so enraged that she kicked him. "What is wrong with you two? You useless things! Get lost! Both of you, get lost!"
The Leopard Beast whimpered pitifully a few times. He seemed to have caught a lingering scent in the air—an incredibly sweet pheromone that drove a Male Beast to the brink of a crazed excitement. The females couldn't smell it, but seeing that Manla was on the verge of exploding, he didn't dare say another word and scurried away with his tail between his legs.
As soon as he got home, Lan Cang's eyes landed on a just-finished glass of juice on the guest room table. A bit of red liquid remained at the bottom.
He walked over, picked up the glass, and sniffed it. His expression changed slightly. "You drank this?"
"Mhm."
It was the juice Li Man had someone deliver this morning. She'd said it was freshly squeezed, tasted great, and wanted her to try it.
Sang Luo had been thirsty on her way out earlier, so she drank it. 'It really did taste pretty good,' she thought.
"Ahem... It had Aphrodisiac Fruit in it." He gave a helpless smile. "No wonder you're feeling unwell. Sweet Fruit is something females usually only drink when they're preparing to mate. You haven't entered your heat cycle yet, so drinking so much of it recklessly can, at best, cause your cycle to start early, and at worst, lead to physical discomfort. But it's nothing too serious. Just drink some more Water and get some rest. The effects will wear off soon."
An incredibly sweet and rich scent filled the air, growing stronger with each passing moment, nearly causing the primal desires within a Beastman's body to boil over...
Lan Cang had been so worried about her that he hadn't noticed it before. Now that he had relaxed, he twitched his nose, and his breathing involuntarily deepened.
The scent was wafting from her body in waves.
A certain possibility occurred to him, and Lan Cang's expression changed again. A mix of shock and joy on his face, he laid Sang Luo on the bed and reached to lift her skirt, but she quickly stopped him, her face flushed red. "Um, I think I'm in heat..."
'She didn't know how to describe menstruation to a Beastman. The meaning of 'being in heat' should be pretty similar, right?'
'She hadn't been well recently, and her period was late. She hadn't expected the juice with the Aphrodisiac Fruit to take effect so quickly.'
Lan Cang was visibly thrilled and excited. He had thought she was infertile and wouldn't have a heat cycle, so he never even considered it... From the looks of it, there was nothing wrong with Luoluo's body. She was healthy!
"I'll go get you some Water!" He was suddenly flustered, rushing out the door in a hurry.
Soon, Lan Cang returned with a bucket of Water from the river. Sang Luo didn't let him help, washing her lower body herself and finding a few clean cloths in the house to use.
Perhaps it was the effect of the Aphrodisiac Fruit, but Sang Luo's emotions were unstable all day. Especially at night, she tossed and turned, her thoughts a jumble and her heart in a flutter, feeling an agonizing desire to just pounce on a man and do the deed...
Lan Cang took a bath in the river before coming inside. He walked to the bedside and started taking off his shirt. Sang Luo forced herself to close her eyes and pretend to be asleep, but her senses were a hundred times more sensitive than usual. The rustle of fabric, the cool, enticing scent of Water from the man's body, and his uniquely strong male hormonal scent were enough to make her blush and her heart race. Her mouth was completely dry, and her mind was uncontrollably filled with certain images. Her body was even having a shameful physiological—reaction.
She couldn't take it anymore and pounced, throwing him onto the bed.
Lan Cang, now pinned beneath her, hesitantly touched her waist.
Her body was unusually hot.
Sang Luo was lost in a haze of desire. She desperately wanted to be closer to him, even closer, to absorb the coolness from his body. Her clothes felt like a nuisance, so she lowered her head and focused on pulling at his.
"Luo... Luoluo, the effect of the fruit... it hasn't worn off yet?" Lan Cang was so flustered he turned his face away in embarrassment. He hadn't even finished his sentence before he paused.
'He'd almost forgotten again that she was a healthy female. Once she entered her heat cycle, regardless of any fruit's effects, she would have a primal urge to mate with a Male Beast. He didn't know which race Sang Luo belonged to; some Beastman Clan heat cycles could last for two or three months, while the shortest were still several days long.'
Lan Cang's Adam's apple bobbed again and again. Aroused by her advances, he decided not to hold back any longer. He pressed his lips to hers, taking control.
After a long while, he finally released her. His voice was hoarse, his breathing unsteady. "...I'll sleep outside."
'She's still bleeding. We definitely can't do... that.'
The house wasn't very soundproof. Listening to the sometimes soft, sometimes heavy sounds from outside, Sang Luo's face burned with shame, and she bit down on her blanket.
'Once this period is over, I will make him mine!'
「The next day.」
Lan Cang went out to hunt as usual, but he was even more diligent than before, working overtime. He would often only come back in the middle of the night, just before dawn, to rest for a short while before leaving again before the sun was up.
Lan Cang knew he was just venting his energy. He'd been too restless these past few nights. The pheromones a female secretes during her heat are a fatal blow to a Male Beast. A Wolf Beast's sense of smell was so sensitive that these few days had been sheer torture for both his body and mind. If he stayed by her side and couldn't do anything, he would truly go insane.
The two of them endured this agonizing separation for a few days. Tonight, Lan Cang returned from his hunt a little earlier than usual. Sang Luo went up to him and gave him a cup of Water to drink. After he finished it, he realized something was different. His pupils contracted slightly, but before he could speak, she sealed his lips with her own.
Then, she wrapped her legs around his waist, her entire body clinging to his tall, sturdy frame like a dodder vine, their skin pressing tightly together.
Lan Cang's face turned so red it looked like it might bleed. He held her waist with both hands, at a complete loss.
"I'm not bleeding anymore," she whispered against his ear, nibbling on its hot lobe.
Lan Cang's eyes lit up, but he restrained himself from moving. "Are you... are you ready?"
"Mhm, I want you."
Lan Cang's breathing instantly hitched. His Adam's apple bobbed again and again, and his eyes darkened like an impending storm.
'Her constitution really was different from that of a true Beastman female. The Sweet Fruit's effect was only temporary on them, but on her, it seemed to linger indefinitely. Whenever she saw Lan Cang, she had an insane urge to press herself against him and do some unspeakable things. As time went on, this impulse only grew stronger, no different from taking a potent aphrodisiac.'
'Looks like there's no way around it. I have to find a man and... you know.'
'Might as well get it over with! Better to rip off the band-aid!'
'The love between a man and a woman is just a matter of mutual desire. There's no need for all these complicated twists and turns.'
By midnight, she was weakly holding his broad, straight back as it rose and fell, their passion still not having subsided.
When Lan Cang was aroused, his ears would pop out. In her daze, Sang Luo felt something soft and furry. She gave it a subconscious squeeze. The man's movements paused for a moment, then became even more intense.
A long time later, he lost control and bit down hard on her shoulder. A line of blood trickled from his teeth down her snowy skin...
A young man experiencing love for the first time has no technique. A Beastman's stamina is vigorous and difficult to endure.
Thankfully, he had fed her quite a few Beast Crystals in the past. Otherwise, after an entire night of non-stop lovemaking, she was afraid she really would have died of exhaustion—in bed.
Afterward, Lan Cang's forehead was also covered in a fine sheen of sweat. He looked at Sang Luo, her clothes in disarray, sleeping soundly in his arms. A smile of pure bliss and satisfaction spread across his face. He kissed her again and again before carrying her to wash her body.
Sang Luo was too exhausted to move the entire time, letting him scrub and handle her as he pleased.
In the morning, he kissed her ear, his deep, hoarse voice now holding an alluring maturity. "I've made breakfast. I'm going out to hunt, so remember to get up and eat."
She gave a lazy "mhm," her eyes still closed. She felt the man kiss her lips again and again before he reluctantly departed.
Sang Luo slept until noon. Only when someone knocked on the door and called out for her did she slowly get dressed and out of bed.
Surprisingly, her legs weren't sore and her back didn't ache as she'd expected. In fact, she felt incredibly refreshed and clear-headed.
Sang Luo stood before the mirror and took a look.
The woman in the mirror had dark hair and snowy skin. Her complexion was rosy, and she looked radiant, as if she had been thoroughly... nourished.
Suddenly, she sensed something, and her eyes lit up.
That thread of mysterious power inside her... it had grown! It had grown by a huge amount!
Before, the power had been like a thin, almost invisible spider's thread. Now, it was nearly as thick as a rope—tough and strong.
'Could it be... that she was practicing the Taoist Skill of the Joyful Sect, the kind that specializes in absorbing Yang Qi???'
"Sang Luo, are you home? The weather is great today, let's go pick fruit together!"
The person outside called again. It was Duoji and the others.
Sang Luo picked up the bamboo basket from the corner and opened the door. "Coming."