Chapter 76
Nina watched the cubs’ astonished expressions and blinked playfully. Lowering her voice, she whispered, “This is our little secret, okay p>
Men could be fooled—but not her babies.
Yinny and Didi nodded happily.
Yes! This was their secret with Mother.
Smiling, Nina gathered them into her arms and fed them their milk.
After breakfast, the rain had conveniently stopped, so they resumed their journey.
Halfway along the path, Dahn and his group reappeared. The moment they saw Nina’s current appearance, they nearly jumped out of their skins.
“L-little female, y-you… you Dahn stammered, staring in horror. “How did you suddenly become so ugly p>
All his previous romantic fantasies were shattered in an instant.
Nina sighed faintly. Climbing down from Sal’s back, she deliberately walked closer to Dahn.
“Yes,” she said sadly. “I was poisoned. I turned ugly. I might stay like this forever p>
Up close, she looked even worse.
She tilted her head slightly. “Do you still like me now p>
“I—I Dahn took two steps back. “Maybe… forget it p>
Nina exhaled in relief.
Finally. That should do it.
She turned to the others. “And you p>
The other males also instinctively stepped back. Whatever fleeting affection they’d had vanished completely.
They shook their heads.
As expected.
Nina climbed back onto Sal’s back and said lightly, “Then we’ll be on our way p>
As she left, Dahn felt a strange pang of reluctance. Thinking of what he had endured, he couldn’t help calling out, “Little female—there’s a powerful mutated beast pack roaming this area. Be careful p>
A mutated beast pack?
Mino and the others’ expressions tightened.
Mutated beasts rarely lived in groups. At most, there would be three or four together. A pack was highly unusual.
Mutated beasts were already stronger and more intelligent than ordinary ones. If they were gathering in large numbers, that would be extremely dangerous.
“About how many are there?” Sal asked.
“No idea. Just… a lot. More than some demonic beast packs,” Dahn replied grimly.
Nina frowned. She had heard of mutated beasts before. Something about this felt wrong.
“Can you tell us more?” she asked.
Dahn’s face darkened. “They appeared suddenly some time ago. My tribe was wiped out by them. I only escaped because my father stayed behind and fought to the death to cover me p>
The buck-toothed male nodded. “Same for my tribe. I survived because I’m good at running—and I happened to be farther away p>
“Mine too,” said the dark-skinned male quietly.
“So… you’re not really wandering beasts?” Nina asked.
They shook their heads. “No. We weren’t before p>
Dahn looked desolate. “After we escaped, we were too weak to venture deep into the dangerous forest, and too weak to compete with strong tribes for prey. We were often starving p>
He sighed. “Eventually, we met each other. Still starving. So we thought… maybe we could try being wandering beasts and rob small groups passing by p>
He scratched his head awkwardly. “You were our first target p>
And what luck that had been—robbing someone far stronger than them. Not only had they gained nothing, but he had ended up trailing after Nina for days because of his so-called love.
Nina turned to the others. “Have your tribes been attacked by mutated beast packs p>
They shook their heads.
She rubbed her chin thoughtfully and looked back at Dahn. “When they attacked your tribe, did you notice anything strange? Or… did your tribe possess something that might have attracted them p>
Dahn thought hard. “Now that you mention it… when they chased me, there were especially many. Even when I flew into the sky, the flying mutated beasts followed me p>
He frowned. “As for something attracting them… I’m not sure p>
“Did you carry anything special?” Nina pressed.
“Nothing unusual in smell. But He suddenly froze, then reached for his neck.
From beneath his collar, he pulled out a blue stone.
“Our tribe found this by chance. My father said it felt special, so he had me wear it p>
Sal stepped closer to examine it. “Nina, that’s a primal stone. It contains a great deal of energy, but it requires special methods to activate and absorb. And only certain beastmen can use it p>
“May I see it?” Nina asked.
“Sure.” Dahn removed it and handed it over.
The moment Nina took the stone, the spirit pearl at her chest flickered with excitement.
It pulsed eagerly, as if saying: Master, I want this. I want to eat it.
Nina sensed its yearning. After a moment’s thought, she looked at Dahn.
“Would you be willing to sell it to me? I can pay you in beast crystals or other goods p>
Ever since obtaining the little pearl, her ability recovery had noticeably accelerated. It was worth feeding it.
Over the past days, she had quietly gathered supplies and built up quite a reserve. She could afford it.
Dahn waved generously. “Of course. It’s useless to me. Two black crystals will do p>
Beast crystals ranked from low to high as: white, black, blue, green, yellow, purple, red, with a 1:100 exchange rate. One black crystal equaled one hundred white crystals, and so on.
Nina felt that price was too low. Dahn had warned them about the mutated beasts; she didn’t want to take advantage.
“Sal, how much is it really worth?” she asked.
“About one green crystal,” Sal replied calmly. He retrieved one from his space and flicked it toward Dahn.
Dahn caught it and stared in disbelief.
“One green crystal? This stone is worth that much p>
“Keep it,” Nina said gently.
After a moment’s hesitation, Dahn accepted. That single green crystal would sustain them for quite some time.
The buck-toothed male shuffled awkwardly, then dug into his pouch and pulled out a similar stone—this one yellow.
“Little female… do you want this too? I dug it up after the attack on my tribe p>
Sal examined it. “Also a primal stone p>
Nina accepted it. The spirit pearl glowed again.
“Yes. I’ll take this one too p>
Sal handed over another green crystal.
The buck-toothed male beamed. “Thank you p>
Nina studied the stones thoughtfully. If primal stones truly attracted mutated beasts, perhaps that explained the strange pack behavior. She only hoped the little pearl could truly consume their energy—and not backfire on her.
After completing the trade, they parted ways.
Dahn watched Nina’s departing figure with a faint sigh before turning to begin his own uncertain journey.
Nina and the others pressed onward through the damp forest.
Suddenly, Mino sensed several familiar auras.
He turned toward a distant direction, his brows knitting together.
I’m sensing trouble.
His clansmen had found them.