Chapter 16: Contractual Constraints

Su Muyao didn't dare to move recklessly anymore, nor did she dare to place her hands on Hua Linye's fox fur.

Although it was truly beautiful and felt wonderful to touch—the texture of the fox fur was simply too good—she still wanted to live a long life.

She loved the lush forests and the abundance of resources here. The environment and everything about this place were incomparable to the apocalypse.

But when she thought of Hua Linye's murderous intent and hatred, she felt like crying without tears.

Sensing that something was wrong with her, Hua Linye transformed directly into his human form, pulled her into an embrace, and then slowly placed her on the ground.

"Mistress, what is wrong?"

She kept her head lowered, looking pitiful, as if he had done something to her. He had never seen her like this before. It made him reluctant to say even a harsh word to her.

Su Muyao stared at her toes and explained in a low voice, "I didn't grab your fox fur on purpose. You were just running so fast; if I hadn't grabbed it, I would have fallen."

She certainly wasn't going to admit that she had been stroking his fur. If the snowy season arrived and the weather turned freezing, hugging him while sleeping would surely be warm and comfortable.

Realizing this thought, Su Muyao felt a sense of horror. *Heavens, how could I have such a thought?* She shook her head vigorously, trying to shake the idea out of her mind.

Hua Linye looked down at her. It was rare to see her like this—somewhat soft and quite cute.

*Cute?*

The realization of that word startled Hua Linye. Moreover, at this moment, his heart stirred, and he actually felt a sense of weakness. He had clearly loathed her in the past, but his pheromones were telling him clearly that she was different now.

Hua Linye instinctively wanted to touch her hair, but the feeling of his body's previous aversion to her remained, so he restrained himself from reaching out.

His magnificent lips moved slightly as he said in a softened voice, "It's fine. You can grab it however you like."

Su Muyao was stunned and looked up at him. She immediately met his magnificent, moving eyes, which held a shimmering, enchanting, and tenderly soft light.

*He isn't thinking of taking revenge on me here?*

Su Muyao slowly breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay!"

It seemed that the Beast Husband Contract was restricting him; he wouldn't do anything to her. However, she also had to control herself. She couldn't wait until the contract was broken for them to turn around and seek revenge.

Su Muyao didn't believe for a second that they truly felt differently about her. The previous owner of this body had done so many abominable things that if she were those beast husbands, she would have torn her into pieces for revenge. Therefore, she actually understood their inner feelings quite well.

Hua Linye transformed back into his beast form and used his fox tail to carefully coil Su Muyao up and place her on his back again.

Just as he was about to move, Su Muyao suddenly saw something nearby and hurriedly said, "Wait a moment!"

"What is it?"

"Put me down first."

Hua Linye complied. After getting off him, Su Muyao walked to a tree not far away.

"Is this a wheat tree?"

It was thicker and taller than the wheat stalks she had seen in the apocalypse, and it was covered in large, golden wheat grains. Su Muyao initially doubted her own eyes, but upon closer inspection, they were indeed wheat grains. They were truly such large grains.

The crops here seemed to have much larger grains than the wheat in her previous world—about three to four times the size.

Hua Linye walked to her side and looked down. "What's wrong?"

"This is food. It's called wheat!"

Su Muyao was very happy and excited, unable to help but share this thrilling news with Hua Linye. However, Hua Linye had no idea what wheat was. He only looked at the grains and, thinking of foods like rice, guessed it might be something similar.

The key was that with wheat, they could eat flour-based foods!

Understanding her meaning, Hua Linye asked, "Does Mistress need to harvest these?"

Su Muyao nodded. "Yes, we can cut the whole thing down. The stalks can be used as fuel for fires."

The stalks could also be used to weave straw hats, fans, or mats. They were a bit thick, but they could also be used to make wood ash.

Because of the wheat harvest, Su Muyao found Hua Linye much more pleasing to the eye. If he hadn't led her along this path, she wouldn't have discovered the wheat at all.

"We can make flour dishes later."

Hua Linye didn't know what flour dishes were, but he knew Su Muyao was very happy. Although half of her face was covered in dirt, the smile between her brows was so genuine; her beaming eyes looked like a pool of clear, pristine water.

Hua Linye quickly helped her cut down the wheat stalk, and Su Muyao immediately placed it into her spatial dimension.

Seeing the wheat vanish instantly, Hua Linye was stunned. "Spatial ability?"

Su Muyao nodded.

Inside Hua Linye, waves of emotion surged. Dual abilities—and even more rare, a spatial ability and a healing ability. It was incredible.

And this was their Mistress. When she was in the Beast Emperor City, she was called a useless, incompetent, and malicious female beast. There were many rumors about her, and she had endured the disdain and contempt of countless people.

If those people knew she possessed dual abilities, who knows what they would think. Or perhaps, it was because she gained these abilities that her entire being had changed. Regardless, it was a positive change.

Over the past two days, seeing her act like a normal female beast, they were shocked, yet they also feared that she might revert to her old self upon waking up. Of course, because they were her beast husbands, they had also been mocked and ridiculed in the Beast Emperor City. Their Mistress couldn't even soothe the mental seas of her husbands during their berserk states—a basic ability for any female beast.

But a healing ability was far more powerful than the ability to soothe a mental sea.

Su Muyao looked at Hua Linye; his fox-like eyes were currently complex and deep.

"What is it?"

Hua Linye said calmly, "It's nothing. Does Mistress need anything else?"

As long as she remained this normal, he would do whatever she needed.

Su Muyao looked around and said, "Let's first see if there is more wheat nearby."

But after circling around, they found nothing.

"Spatial System, have you found anything?"

The Spatial System replied, "Host, no wheat has been detected within a hundred meters."

Seeing Su Muyao's disappointed expression, Hua Linye transformed into his original form, leaped onto a tall tree, and looked into the distance. Using his fox-eye ability at the cost of some energy, he discovered another patch of wheat in a half-valley several hundred meters away.

Hua Linye climbed down from the tree and looked at Su Muyao. "There is another patch. I'll take you there."

Su Muyao's eyes instantly brightened. "Great, let's go!"

Hua Linye placed Su Muyao on his back and leaped toward the destination. He quickly cut the wheat and placed it on the ground, and Su Muyao collected it into her space with her mind.

Just then, the Spatial System said excitedly, "Host, sixty meters to the right is cabbage—large cabbages!"

Su Muyao's eyes shone even brighter. She quickly looked in that direction and indeed saw a cabbage patch. There were many cabbages, though they were of normal size.

That was enough. With these cabbages, she could make dumplings, wontons, pancakes, and other foods.

Su Muyao had brought a bone knife this time and began excitedly digging up the cabbages.

Watching her, Hua Linye walked over and silently helped. "Let me do this. Mistress, just rest nearby."

To him, these things looked like grass, but seeing Su Muyao's excited expression, they were clearly not grass. Could these be food as well?