Chapter 101: Chapter 101: The Divine Spring is Sentient? A Midnight Visit

"An’an, it—it kicked me!"

Feng Xuan’s eyes went wide. He stared at Yu An’s belly without even blinking.

"It moved again?"

Yu An stroked her belly. "When I was pregnant with Da Hu and the others, the little ones didn’t start kicking until they were a month along. The snake zaizai moved once before, but I didn’t expect the second time to be now."

A faint flutter vibrated against her palm again. Yu An took Feng Xuan’s hand and pressed it to her stomach, startling him so much he didn’t dare move.

The little zaizai was quite active, kicking a few more times before settling down.

"You’re luckier than Mo Yan," Yu An teased. "Mo Yan never got to feel Da Hu and Xiao Hu’s first kicks, but you’re the first to feel the snake zaizai’s."

Feng Xuan agreed that he was very lucky. He couldn’t stop staring at Yu An’s belly, as if he could see right through it.

’Great,’ he thought. ’I wasn’t tired before, but now I’m wide awake.’

Feng Xuan hadn’t been with Yu An when she was pregnant with and gave birth to the other cubs. He secretly swore that this time, he would be there for all of it.

「The next morning」

Feng Xuan was ready to set off with Feng Yue, but Feng Yue was clinging to the three zaizai, a reluctant look on his face.

"Brother, you can just go back by yourself. Why should I go back? Just to get in your way?"

"Aww, Second Uncle’s little darlings, come let Second Uncle give you a kiss..."

’The zaizai are so cute! I haven’t had enough of them yet!’

The three zaizai endured something no cub their age should have to, their little faces wrinkling as they looked to their Female Mother and Beast Father for help.

Seeing the zaizai all making the same pitiful face was a rare sight, so Yu An didn’t rescue them right away. First, she took out her camera and snapped a few pictures.

Feng Xuan waited until she had taken enough photos before hauling Feng Yue away. "Alright, An’an will give you a few pictures. You can look at them on the road."

’Don’t hug my zaizai so tightly,’ he thought. ’Even I haven’t held them like that!’

Feng Yue was confused. "What’s a picture?"

When he got the photos, he started hollering in amazement, looking like he’d never seen anything like it in his life. It made Feng Xuan want to cover his face in embarrassment.

After tucking a photo of just Yu An into the pocket over his heart, Feng Xuan dragged his foolish little brother outside.

Once they were outside Quan City, Yu An brought out the fried chicken cart. Feng Yue became even more excited than before, running circles around it.

Feng Xuan frowned. "An’an, Yue and I are very fast. We don’t need this. What if it gets broken..."

"Yue hasn’t fully recovered yet, after all," Yu An said, leaving no room for refusal. "Don’t worry. As long as a single piece of the cart is left, I can put it in my space and it’ll be good as new."

Every time she completed a mission, Yu An would gain permanent usage rights to the dining utensils, and that included the cart.

She had specifically chosen this fried chicken cart for Feng Xuan and even stocked it with plenty of food that would keep well.

"This is sugar, and this is oil. Even if you don’t know how to cook, you can at least make a sugar and oil mixture, right?"

It had nothing to do with cooking skill; anyone with hands could do it.

"If you run into anyone you can’t deal with easily, make this and throw it at them. I guarantee it’ll scald a layer of skin right off!"

"If that’s not enough, heat the oil, turn on the gas, and light it to blow them up. Let’s hope you don’t have to use that ultimate move..."

Yu An gave them a series of instructions. The zaizai were also reluctant to see them go. Only after watching the two brothers disappear into the distance did they all head back to the city.

「In the afternoon」

Yu An and Mo Yan set up their stall, while the other three started a small culinary class, teaching the Beastmen how to grow sweet potatoes and wheat.

After selling out all three hundred portions of hot and sour noodles for the day, Yu An and Mo Yan split up to teach them how to make sweet potato starch noodles and how to griddle flatbreads.

The Beastmen were very clever. Without Yu An even having to tell them, they thought outside the box and came up with other ways to eat sweet potatoes and flour. After Yu An gave them a few more pointers, she let them explore on their own.

The Quan City Lord Mansion also sent people to learn. The person from the mansion said that if the Quan City Lord hadn’t been so busy with affairs lately, he would have wanted to come and learn in person.

The teaching location was originally set to be an open area in the city, but it suddenly started to rain. The City Lord had someone lead them to one of his small courtyards to continue the lesson.

Yu An sighed with emotion. "The City Lord is truly a great person. With such a good City Lord, you all must be very happy."

Zhang Tian happened to be standing beside her and chimed in, "Of course! Our City Lord was chosen by the Divine Spring!"

Yu An was surprised. "Chosen by the Divine Spring?"

"That’s right," Zhang Tian said proudly. "Although the Divine Spring has dried up, It has a spirit. Every time a new City Lord is chosen, the candidates have to stand before the Divine Spring and pray for rain."

"Each person prays for one day. If it rains that night, it means he is the City Lord chosen by the Divine Spring."

"The Divine Spring has never been wrong. Every City Lord It chooses is exceptionally good."

Yu An found it fascinating and thought about going to see the Divine Spring again later.

The last time she saw it, she hadn’t noticed anything special about it—it was just an ordinary little pool, as plain as could be. ’Could I have missed something?’ she wondered.

When the class was over, the Beastmen said their goodbyes to Yu An one by one. Upon hearing that Yu An wanted to go see the Divine Spring, Mo Yan and the others happily went with her.

At this time of day, every household was busy cooking. White smoke drifted from many homes, and for a moment, the rich aroma of food filled the air of Quan City.

There were very few people near the Divine Spring. Yu An walked several circles around the small pool but still couldn’t see anything unusual about it.

She asked Mo Yan and the others, and they also said they couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

It wasn’t until the zaizai complained they were hungry that they all went home.

Slurping the hot and sour noodles was addictive, but the only downside was that it was the kind of spicy food that could leave you feeling overheated. Yu An decided to make something lighter for dinner tonight.

She took a stroll through the vegetable patch in her space and picked some vegetables.

She chopped fresh corn into small sections and peeled and diced some winter melon. She first stir-fried the winter melon in a pot, added a suitable amount of water, and brought it to a boil. Then she added the corn, and once it was cooked through, she seasoned it with a little salt. It was light and delicious.

Da Hu vehemently requested scrambled eggs with tomato. Yu An agreed with a smile, then turned and asked Mo Yan to make it.

Han Li and the others weren’t good at making much else, but they could handle boiling porridge or steaming rice.

They wanted to cook too, wanting Yu An to eat the breakfast, lunch, and dinner they made with love, but even with the same methods and the same seasonings, the food they made just didn’t taste very good.

And that was the evaluation Yu An had given after careful consideration, so as not to hurt their fragile little feelings.

"HISS—"

"An’an, what’s wrong?"

Hearing Yu An’s sharp intake of breath, Mo Yan, who was stir-frying, quickly turned off the stove and walked over.

Yu An shook her head. "It’s nothing. I just bumped into something by accident and scraped my leg a little."

Lu Lu, who was even more concerned about her body than she was, had already healed it for her.

Mo Yan breathed a sigh of relief. "That’s good. Let me finish up here. You go rest for a bit."

Last night was supposed to be Mo Yan’s turn to accompany Yu An, but considering Feng Xuan was leaving for a long time, she had let him cut in line. Today, the rotation started over with Mo Yan.

Yu An went into the room and waited for a while before Mo Yan came in from outside. Since she was far along in her pregnancy, the men only warmed the bed for her at night and didn’t do anything else. Tonight was no different.

Lying in the crook of Mo Yan’s arm, Yu An closed her eyes and listened to him tell her a bedtime story.

"An’an," Mo Yan’s mouth twitched. "Do you really want me to tell a ghost story?"

’Are you sure this is going to help you sleep?’ he thought.

"Oh, just tell it. Stop wasting time."

’Fine,’ he thought. ’The Female Master has given an order, so a little Beast Husband like me, with no say in the matter, has no choice but to obey.’

Mo Yan cleared his throat and began the story. "Legend has it, there’s a type of ghost in this world that will quietly sneak in when the night is dark and still..."

The night was dark and still, the room was dimly lit, and the terrifying atmosphere was set perfectly.

Just as she was getting into the story, Yu An suddenly felt an itch on her calf. She subconsciously reached down to scratch it, but when her hand went under the blanket and grabbed—

It was cool and smooth, clinging to her calf like a hand... The shock sent a violent shiver through Yu An!