Favorite of the Beast-world: I Got Rich Through Farming-Chapter 282 - 186: Wanting a Scarf + Moon Wolf City
"Don’t say that." An Jin gave him a look of mock anger before getting up and heading to the kitchen. "Every time you shed your skin, I have Ling Hong help me make you chicken soup and roasted meat. I’m going to make some food for him now, so you just stay here."
Gu Yin watched her disappear into the kitchen, then, out of boredom, shifted into his beast form and coiled himself into a ball. His massive, coiled body, resembling a great "meat pancake," rose and fell with each breath. He was clearly in a foul mood.
After preparing a plate of roasted meat, An Jin didn’t just leave the earthenware dish in front of the door this time. Instead, she raised her hand and knocked.
"Ling Hong?"
An Jin asked tentatively in a low voice, "You haven’t eaten in so long. I brought you some food. Won’t you please eat a little?"
"It’s useless. He won’t answer you." Gu Yin lazily sidled up next to her and leaned in. His cool, ink-black hair brushed against her fair cheek, tickling her slightly.
With practiced ease, he plucked a piece of roasted meat from her plate and popped it into his mouth.
He took two casual bites before speaking slowly. "Whenever a Beastman is about to rank up, they enter a state of meditation or deep sleep. During that time, they feel no hunger or thirst, nor can they hear any sound from the outside world."
"Of course, the duration depends on the individual. Excluding my shedding periods, the longest I’ve ever been in that state was three days."
He paused. "I didn’t expect he would take this long either."
"Since it’s been so long, could something have gone wrong?" An Jin’s gaze shifted from the roasted meat in Gu Yin’s hand to his face as she asked, her voice laced with worry.
If the mate mark wasn’t still stable on her body, An Jin would have been truly terrified that something had happened to Ling Hong.
"Usually, there are only two possibilities in this situation."
Meeting An Jin’s anxious yet hopeful gaze, Gu Yin suppressed the pang of jealousy in his heart and said nonchalantly, "Either the Beastman has hit a bottleneck and is struggling to break through, or he has absorbed an immense amount of Energy and needs more time. If it’s the latter, he’ll likely skip a rank when he levels up."
"I hope it’s the latter."
"But what if it’s the former?" His tone changed as he leaned in, lifting a strand of her hair and coiling it around his finger. He spoke, his voice devoid of emotion, "Jin’er, don’t assume a Beastman’s advancement is so easy. My bloodline allows me to rank up faster than others, which may have given you the wrong impression. But the truth is, every advancement is a life-or-death struggle for a Beastman."
"There are many talented Beastmen, but why are High-Rank Beastmen so rare? Why do most of them languish at the third or Fourth Rank?"
"Because if they fail to advance, suffering a backlash and dropping a rank is considered a lucky outcome. They could even die."
An Jin’s heart skipped a beat, and her clenched fists grew damp with sweat. Gu Yin took in her entire reaction, his eyes narrowing, their depths dark and unreadable. "Jin’er, since he planned to use a Mutated Crystal Stone from the start, he must have been aware of the danger. He has to bear the risk of his own choice."
’As if I don’t know what that wolf is up to. He’s trying to use a Mutated Crystal Stone to contend with me. He’s truly overestimating himself.’
Gu Yin’s lips curled. In truth, he had a way to help Ling Hong, but he simply didn’t want to.
’If he happened to die, it would save me the trouble.’
’He was no saint, after all. He was intensely jealous and wanted to eliminate, without exception, any potential threat to his position.’
An Jin didn’t notice anything unusual about the Snake Beast beside her. She just sighed, glanced at the sky, and handed the rest of the roasted meat to Gu Yin. "You finish it, or it’ll get cold. I’ll get him something to eat when he finally stirs."
With that, she returned to the bed and resumed knitting a scarf, figuring it was as good a way as any to pass the boring hours.
Gu Yin silently finished the meat, only to realize it didn’t taste all that good. ’It’s not like she made it specially for me, anyway,’ he thought.
"I want one of those, too..." Gu Yin paused, searching for the word. "A scarf. I want a scarf."
"You need a scarf?" An Jin turned to look at him, utterly bewildered. He was usually too lazy to even wear clothes; why would he want to wrap something around his neck?
"Just because I don’t need it doesn’t mean I don’t want it," Gu Yin said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and rested his head on her shoulder, his voice a low, bewitching murmur. "Besides, I get cold. I need one."
’Well, that was a pretty good reason.’
An Jin lowered her head and continued knitting the scarf. "Alright, I’ll knit one for you. What color do you want?"
