Help! I transmigrated to a Beast World-Chapter 62: Tiger in the Kitchen

"Okay!" Xin Yi clapped her hands together. "We’re making the BEST soup you’ve ever tasted! I need vegetables! Meat! Fish! Everything!"

The cooking team scrambled into action.

Within minutes, there was a pile of ingredients in front of her:

- Wild mushrooms (the safe kind, she hoped)

- Some kind of river fish (scaled and gutted, thank god)

- Deer meat (fresh from today’s hunt)

- Root vegetables that looked like carrots

- Leafy greens

- Her precious seasoning packets from dimensional storage

"Perfect!" Xin Yi looked at the ingredients, then frowned. "Wait. I need a pot. A BIG pot."

"System? Do you have cooking equipment?"

[DING! (◕‿◕)]

[Of course! ☆]

[BASIC COOKING SET: 100 points]

[Includes: Large cooking pot, ladle, cutting knife, wooden bowls x50, cooking oil (5 liters)]

"Buy it!"

[DING!]

[PURCHASED!]

[Items added to Dimensional Storage!]

She reached into her dimensional storage and pulled out a massive iron cooking pot. The warriors gasped.

"Where did that come from?!"

"Pink Skin just made a ’pot’ appear!"

"It’s MAGIC!"

"Not magic!" Xin Yi grinned. "Just....storage skills! Now—Xiao Long! You’re in charge of washing the vegetables!"

"Yes, Pink Skin!" The little boy grabbed the vegetables and ran to the well.

Xin Yi set the pot over the fire pit they had built and pulled out a bottle of cooking oil from her storage. Clear, golden oil that would make everything taste AMAZING.

She started working.

First, she heated the oil in the pot. Then she threw in chopped aromatics, wild onions and garlic-like bulbs that grew near the swamp.

The SMELL.

[DING! (≧▽≦)]

[Cooking Aroma: LEGENDARY]

[Everyone within 50 meters: DROOLING]

"What IS that smell?!" someone gasped.

Xin Yi grinned and kept cooking. She added the meat, letting it brown. Then the fish, cut into chunks. Then the vegetables. Then water from the well. Then her secret weapon, the seasoning packet.

The soup started to bubble.

"Hmmmmm," she hummed, stirring. "That smells PERFECT."

Xiao Long came running back with clean vegetables. "Pink Skin! I washed them three times! They’re VERY clean!"

"Good job, baby!" She ruffled his hair and added the vegetables to the pot.

The soup turned even MORE golden.

Warriors were gathering around now, drawn by the smell like moths to a flame.

"Is it ready?"

"Can we taste it?"

"PLEASE Pink Skin!"

"Not YET! It needs to simmer!" She shooed them away. "Go! Sit! Wait!"

They obeyed reluctantly, sitting in a circle around the cooking area, staring at the pot like it held the secrets of the universe.

[DING! (¬‿¬)]

[Cooking Skill: MAXIMUM]

[Tribe Dependency on Host’s Cooking: INCREASING]

[They will literally die for this soup!]

Xin Yi was stirring the soup, making sure nothing stuck to the bottom, when she felt someone behind her.

Close behind her.

A hand reached toward the pot with a ladle.

"Just one taste—"

"NO!" Xiao Long LAUNCHED himself at Qing Lin’s hand. "You can’t steal bites! Xin Yi said to WAIT!"

Qing Lin looked down at the small child clinging to his arm. "Xiao Long. Release me."

"NO! You’re the KING! You have to set a GOOD EXAMPLE!"

"I just want ONE—"

"HISSSSSS!" The little boy hissed, his baby fangs showing.

Qing Lin’s eyes flashed green. "Little prince. Remove yourself. Or I will make you run laps around the entire territory."

Xiao Long paled. "You wouldn’t—"

"Try. Me."

"QING LIN!" Xin Yi spun around, hands on her hips. "Don’t threaten the boy!"

He turned his green eyes on her. "But I’m hungry."

"Everyone’s hungry! You can WAIT like everyone else!"

"But—"

"NO BUTS!"

His shoulders slumped. Actually SLUMPED. Like a kicked puppy. "...Fine."

[DING! (╥﹏╥)]

[Snake King: WHIPPED]

[Xiao Long: VICTORIOUS]

[Female Warriors: CACKLING]

Xin Yi went back to stirring, trying to ignore the way Qing Lin was STILL hovering.

She dipped a small wooden spoon into the soup, and tasted it.

Her eyes went wide.

"Oh. OH. This is PERFECT!"

"Is it sweet?" Qing Lin’s voice was right in her ear suddenly.

She jumped. "What—yes? I mean, it is savory but there’s a sweetness from the vegetables—"

"Good."

Before she could process that, he grabbed her chin, tilted her face up, and kissed her.

FULL kiss. With tongue. Right there in front of EVERYONE.

Then he licked her lips.

"Mm." He pulled back, his eyes half-lidded. "Very sweet indeed."

Xin Yi stood there, her brain completely offline.

"I... H... I..."

The female snake beastmen were SNICKERING.

"The King is so SHAMELESS!" one whispered.

"In front of EVERYONE!"

"The goddess’ face is so pink!"

Qing Lin just smiled. "We will be waiting for the soup, little female." He walked away, leaving her standing there like a malfunctioning robot.

"Pink Skin?!" Xiao Long tugged her leg. "Mama Xin Yi, are you okay?! Did Uncle Qing eat your face?! Are you hurt?!"

She swallowed hard. "I’m.....fine."

[DING! (≧▽≦)]

[Host Status: BROKEN]

[Coherent Thought: 0%]

[Qing Lin’s Smugness: 1000%]

"Damn it," she muttered, her face BURNING.

~

Twenty minutes later, the soup was ready.

They served it in wooden bowls, fifty bowls, filled to the brim with golden, steaming soup.

The warriors ate like they had never tasted food before.

"THIS IS AMAZING!"

"I’M CRYING! IT’S SO GOOD I’M CRYING!"

"Pink Skin is a GODDESS! A REAL GODDESS!"

Xiao Long was slurping his soup happily, his little legs swinging. "Pink Skin makes the BEST food!"

"Thank you, Xiao Long." Xin Yi sat beside him, her own bowl warming her hands. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Qing Lin settled on her other side, his arm automatically going around her waist. "This is excellent, Xin Yi."

"I know." She grinned. "I’m amazing."

"Yes, you are." He pressed a kiss to her temple. "My brilliant little female."

Her heart back flipped in her chest.

[DING! (◕‿◕)]

[Wholesome Family Dinner: ACHIEVED]

[Tribe Morale: MAXIMUM]

[Everyone is Happy and Fed]

[This is PEAK civilization!]

The clearing was filled with happy chatter. Warriors comparing whose bowl was fuller. Xiao Long trying to get seconds. Qing Lin feeding Xin Yi bites of fish from his own bowl.

It was perfect.

Peaceful.

Beautiful.

Then—

Sniff sniff.

One of the warriors lifted his head. "Do you smell that?"

"Smell what?"

"It smells like... like..." He sniffed again. "...cat?"

Xin Yi froze.

"Cat?" Qing Lin’s arm tightened around her. "There are no wild cats in Azure Scale territory."

Sniff sniff sniff.

More warriors were catching the scent now.

"It IS cat!"

"Big cat!"

"VERY big cat!"

"ATTACK FORMATION!" Qing Lin was on his feet instantly, pushing Xin Yi behind him. "Protect the female and the child!"

Warriors scrambled up, shifting partially, fangs out, eyes glowing—

A roar echoed through the trees.

Loud. Powerful. VERY tiger-like.

"Oh no," Xin Yi whispered.

The trees at the edge of the clearing rustled, and then parted.

Feng Huang stepped out.

In full tiger form, MASSIVE, orange-and-black striped, muscles rippling, his golden eyes scanning the clearing until they locked on—

"XIN YI!" He shifted mid-leap to human form, landing with a BOOM. "MY FAVORITE FEMALE! I HAVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR YOU FOR—"

He stopped.

Sniffed.

His eyes narrowed on Qing Lin standing protectively in front of Xin Yi.

Then dropped to the mark on her neck. The NEW mark. Right next to Hei Yan’s.

His face went through several emotions:

Confusion.Realization. Disbelief.

And finally—

RAGE.

"What," he said very, very slowly, his tiger eyes starting to glow, "did the SNAKE do to MY female?"

[DING! (⊙_⊙)]

[OH BOY]

[Feng Huang has entered the chat!]

[Snake vs Tiger confrontation: IMMINENT]

[Xin Yi’s stress level: CRITICAL]

[This is about to get MESSY! ☆]

Qing Lin’s eyes flashed. "YOUR female? She was never YOUR female, tiger."

"She had MY summoning claw!" Feng Huang’s claws extended. "That means she’s MINE!"

"Having a claw doesn’t mean—"

"SHUT UP, SNAKE!" The tiger took a threatening step forward. "You STOLE her! You manipulated her while I was gone! You—"

He sniffed again....and his eyes went WIDE.

"You MATED her?!"

Every warrior in the clearing held their breath. Xin Yi wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole.

"Yes," Qing Lin said calmly. "I did. She accepted my mark willingly."

"WILLINGLY?!" Feng Huang looked at Xin Yi, his expression wounded. "Xin Yi, tell me he’s lying! Tell me you didn’t—"

"I did," she said quietly. "Feng Huang, I—"

"NO!" His voice cracked. "You—you were supposed to WAIT for me! I was bringing you gifts! I was going to court you PROPERLY! And you—you let THIS SNAKE—"

"Watch your tongue, tiger." Qing Lin’s voice dropped to a whisper. "You are in MY territory now."

"I DON’T CARE WHOSE TERRITORY THIS IS!" Feng Huang shifted partially, his arms growing tiger stripes, claws fully extended, fangs elongating. "You took what was MINE!"

"She was never yours."

"SHE WAS GOING TO BE!"

[DING! (╯°□°)╯]

[FIGHT INCOMING!]

[Danger Level: EXTREMELY HIGH]

[Recommendation: RUN! ☆]

Feng Huang lunged.