Five cubs clung to her; the wicked woman was being targeted.

"Jin Xuan, Yue Zhui, come wash snails together," Niu Kou Shui called out to the two little ones.

Feng Qing was still engrossed in the new bird stand, Mi Tian had gone with her father to help with her studies, and Huan Lan and her son Huan Ye had not yet returned.

"Okay!" Jin Xuan and Yue Zhui transformed back into beastmen, picked up the small wooden basin, and ran to the stream.

"Wow, the water here is so clear!" Niu Kou Shui exclaimed. Moreover, no one was catching the fish and shrimp in it, and Niu Kou Shui could even see the fish swimming around.

Those little holes in the muddy walls of the stream must be where lobsters and crabs frequent.

"Jin Xuan, Yue Zhui, look, throw these tiny snails back into the stream and let them grow a little bigger."

"Why did Mother throw the little one back?" Jin Xuan asked, while Yue Zhui looked at Niu Kou Shui with the same curiosity.

"If we eat all the snails in the stream at once, there won't be any left. So we should release the smaller ones back into the stream so they can continue to grow and reproduce, and then we'll have an endless supply of snails!" Niu Kou Shui patiently explained.

"That makes so much sense!" The two little ones nodded, then tossed the tiny snails from the basin back into the water.

Three people, one basin each, three whole basins of snails!

After rinsing it many times, there was finally no more mud or sand left.

"Mistress, the earthen stove is ready." Mizuki said, taking the wooden basin from Niu Kou Shui's hands.

"Let's go cook the snails." Niu Kou Shui stood up, feeling that his legs were a little numb from squatting. He lost his footing and the snails he had just washed by the stream were a little slippery.

Luckily, Mijin reacted quickly and grabbed Niu Kou Shui by the waist, otherwise Niu Kou Shui would have almost fallen into the river.

"Thank you, Mizuki." Niu Kou Shui gave Mizuki a big smile.

"Mistress... Mistress, it's what I should do."

Mijin still can't shake the habit of stuttering whenever she's shy.

"By the way, Honey, don't you have any salt?" Niu Kou Shui asked. They couldn't rely on the salt in her space forever; it would run out sooner or later.

"How much does the mistress need? I'll go pick some salted leaves now. It's all my fault for forgetting these past two days." Mizuki felt a little guilty. She had been too careless. The mistress had recently started eating cooked food, and she had actually forgotten to pick salted leaves.

"Salt? We can go to the sea; the merfolk there sell sea salt." Jin Fei said, just as Jin Fei and the others returned.

"Sea salt!" Niu Koushui exclaimed in surprise. "This is good stuff!"

"What will we use to exchange it?" Niu Kou Shui asked.

"Beast Crystal".

"Ah, how many beast crystals do you have?" Sea salt sounds expensive, Niu Kou Shui sighed, unfortunately she only had the small red crystal from killing the owl last time.

Mi Jin scratched his head. He had absorbed most of his beast crystals; he should have saved some. Another reason was that he didn't have any storage space, and having too many beast crystals was inconvenient, so he just used them as soon as he got them. (Each male has a very small storage space, but it's quite small and can only hold a few things. This storage space is activated after they awaken their special abilities.)

"My lady, I'll go to the Black Forest tomorrow to catch more beast crystals," Mizu said, then took out her only remaining orange crystal.

"I have some here, I should be able to exchange some." Jin Fei took out a handful of beast crystals, mostly red crystals, and a few orange crystals.

"Okay, give them all to me, I'll keep them." Niu Kou Shui accepted the beast crystals from Jin Fei and Mi Jin without ceremony, then patted their chests.

After seeing the two exchange blows, Yue Lin hesitated for a moment before finally taking out a handful of red crystals and handing them to Niu Kou Shui.

There's no other reason than that he's afraid that wicked woman will slap him.

"Hmm?" Niu Kou Shui walked up to Feng Yu, put his hands on his hips and looked at him.

Helpless, Feng Yu also took out a handful of red crystals and handed them to Niu Koushui.

At this moment, Huanlan returned with Huanye, a big and a small furry creature.

"Huanlan, hand over the beast crystals!" Niu Koushui shouted.

Huanlan transformed into a beastman and looked at the group of people, their expressions varying, clearly indicating that they had already made contact.

Huanlan took out a handful of beast crystals, some red and some orange.

"Mijin, go quickly and pick some salty leaves. Fengqing, come and start the fire," Niu Kou Shui instructed.

"Yes, Mistress." Mizuki disappeared into the night in a flash.

"My dear husband, why don't you get some firewood and make a fire here?"

Jin Fei was already used to being called "cow saliva," nodded, and walked out.

The five little ones followed behind Niu Kou Shui, waiting to see if they would have any tasks to complete.

"My little ones, eat the prey your father gave you first. We'll eat the snails later."

"Yes, Mother." The five little ones transformed into their animal forms in unison.

Niu Kou Shui watched them eat, finding it so bloody and gruesome, to be honest. But it was bearable; it was much more elegant than zombies eating people in the apocalypse.

While using her fire-based abilities to light the earthen stove, Feng Yu glanced at the layout of the cave.

It actually feels quite like a home.

"Yuelin, come and add some water," Niu Kou Shui commanded.

The handsome young man with purple-gray fur looked like a pitiful little thing, silently using his tentacles to pour water into the pot.

There's no other reason than that I'm terrified of being slapped by a cow's saliva.

Soon, Mijin returned, bringing back many leaves covered with white frost.

"This is salty leaf, how amazing." Niu Kou Shui reached out and touched the white crystals on it, then licked them.

"Oh my god, it's too salty."

"There isn't even a water cup!"

"Mijin, Mijin, make me a water cup." Niu Kou Shui tugged at Mijin's sleeve, unaware of how intimate his actions were.

"Female... what kind of female master?"

"Like this...blah blah blah...like this," Niu Shui vividly described.

Mijin quickly made a wooden water cup, and Niu Kou Shui was absolutely in awe of him.

"Wow, wow, Brother Mijin, you're so handsome! You're so amazing! How can you do everything? Who else will pamper me if I'm not with you? Mwah, muah! ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭*ੈ✩" Niu Koushui launched a barrage of compliments, leaving the four handsome men beside him stunned.

What kind of move is this? I've never seen it before.

Although the others didn't want to listen, they saw her holding Mizuki's hand with eyes full of admiration, and the other four had different thoughts.

Mijin felt like she was about to bubble up.

"The water is bubbling," Feng Yu said, seemingly out of place.

The five little ones also came in from outside just after they finished eating.

"Father, this is called water boiling, not bubbling, that's what Mother said," Feng Qing said, transforming into a little phoenix and flying to her perch.

Feng Yu then noticed the exquisite bird stand. He never had anything like this to play with when he was a child. Damn it, the red-haired handsome guy's envy! He wanted to stand on it too, but it was so small.

"Alright, alright, add salt." Niu Kou Shui tossed in three salted leaves, thinking that should be about right.

"Mijin, go and get everyone a wooden skewer, the same as last time."

"Okay." Mizuki went off without hesitation.

Jin Fei stood in front of the lit fire, her expression unreadable, feeling a little uneasy. From childhood to adulthood, whether she liked him or not, Niu Kou Shui had always relied on him the most. How could things have changed now?

Feeling that it was almost time to eat, the five little ones brought their own small stools and sat around the stone pot. Huanye also brought over Niu Koushui's stool.

There wasn't a single spot left for Father, except for Feng Yu at the fire pit.