Transmigrating to the BeastWorld,I Picked Up an Adorable BeastHusband!-Chapter 51: You outshine us all

The entrance to the cave was suddenly flooded with energy as four figures stepped into the firelight.

Xiaoli, Puka, Nala, and surprisingly, Una who usually kept to herself marched in with a look of collective determination.

They weren’t here for a casual visit.

They were here to steal her away from Weijie.

"The time for sitting around is over."

Xiaoli announced, her eyes sweeping the cave. "Weijie, you’ve hovered over her long enough. The rule is simple: you two stay apart until the ceremony starts tomorrow night. No seeing each other, no talking."

Weijie froze, his knife still buried in the goat meat. "It’s still a day away." he growled, his knife scraping sharply against the stone table in irritation. "She hasn’t even eaten her meal yet."

"She’ll eat with us." Puka countered, stepping forward to take Ningning’s arm.

Her smile was warm, reminding Ningning of the bond they had formed during Jaren’s crisis. "We have the mammoth hide to fit, the needles ready, and the oils to prep. You, on the other hand, have a group of men waiting for you outside."

As if on cue, heavy footsteps echoed at the entrance. Hauk and Loki appeared, looking entirely too smug. Behind them, peering at a piece of slate with his usual intense focus, was Tolief.

Weijie stared at the scholar. "You actually left your cave for this?"

"The way a man acts before he takes a mate is... worth observing." Tolief murmured, finally looking up. "I want to see if your mind stops working entirely. Also, Hauk said he’d throw my stone records into the river if I didn’t come."

-_-

"Move it, Weijie." Hauk laughed, clapping a hand on his friend’s broad shoulder.

"You’ve been stuck to her side since she arrived. It’s time for us to get you ready."

Ningning looked at Weijie, her heart sinking slightly. The thought of being separated from him for over twenty-four hours, especially with all the noise from the other tribes in the valley, made her nervous.

Weijie looked like he wanted to argue, but he caught Ningning’s eye. He saw her hesitation and forced himself to relax.

He reached out, his hand lingering on her cheek for one last second.

"Don’t let them work you too hard." he whispered. "And remember what I told you. You’re the one I chose. Don’t let those Fox females get in your head just because they’re slim."

"I’ll be okay." Ningning replied, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. "Go. Go hang out with the males."

Before she could say anything else, her friends moved in. Xiaoli and Una led her out of the cave, while Nala waved at the males, following them out as well.

[Well, Dumpling, looks like we’re entering the ’Bridal Bootcamp’ phase]

Doudou noted as they were led down the mountain path toward the women’s area.

[On the bright side, no more sit-ups for now. On the downside? I suspect they’re going to be very picky about how that fur sits on you.]

As Ningning was hurried away, she looked back over her shoulder. She saw Weijie being led in the opposite direction by Hauk and the others. He kept his eyes on her, his expression a mix of longing and fierce protectiveness, until the curve of the mountain path finally blocked him from view.

As the women led Ningning into a wider, sunlit cave deeper in the mountain, they wasted no time.

This was the "Workroom." filled with the scent of dried herbs and treated fur. Nala spread out the mammoth hide, and even in the dim light, the fur shimmered.

A rare, snowy white that looked soft enough to be a cloud but felt as strong as iron.

"Stand still, Ningning." Xiaoli commanded, though her eyes were twinkling. "We need to see how it looks on you."

"Hold your breath." Xiaoli commanded again, wrapping a wide band of softened deer skin around Ningning’s torso. It wasn’t stiff, it had been chewed and worked until it was supple, acting like a snug, supportive wrap.

Puka sat nearby with a pile of tiny, glittering stones and pierced shells. She wasn’t just throwing them on, she was meticulously threading them onto the front of the chest-wrap using thin, dried animal sinew.

Every time Ningning moved, the stones clinked softly, catching the firelight like stars.

Down at her waist, Nala was busy.

Instead of one heavy piece of hide, she was attaching long, overlapping strips of mountain-goat skin that had been scraped so thin they were almost translucent.

They hung in a circle, creating a skirt that flared out with every small movement of her hips.

"Why so many pieces?" Ningning asked, looking down at the layers.

"It’s beautiful. All eyes will be on you with this on. You just have to trust us.."Nala said, not looking up as she tied a final knot in the sinew.

Then, the air in the cave seemed to grow warmer as Una and Xiaoli lifted the centerpiece: the mammoth hide.

They draped the massive, snowy fur over her shoulders. It was heavy, real mammoth hair was thick and coarse but the inside had been scraped smooth, feeling like a warm blanket against her skin.

It functioned like a majestic mantle, pinning at her throat with a sharpened bone carved into the shape of a serpent.

The look was unintended but striking: the jewel-encrusted top and the light, breezy skirt were almost completely hidden behind the wall of white fur, only peeking through when she moved her arms or took a step.

[I’m running a visual simulation] Doudou whispered. [The contrast is actually pretty high-fashion for 3000 BC. You’ve got the ’delicate’ shells and the ’flowing’ goat skin underneath, all encased in a literal tank of white fur. It’s the ultimate ’don’t mess with me’ bridal look. Can’t say how they got the idea but it’s brilliant.]

"It’s... a lot." Ningning whispered, feeling the weight of the promise Weijie had made years ago.

"It is exactly enough " Una said, stepping back and crossing her arms. She looked at Ningning’s frame, now draped in the rarest fur in the mountains and shimmering with stones. "You honestly outshine us all. Weijie was able to look deeper and saw what we could not. But now, that’s not the case anymore. We can all see it now, just how beautiful you truly are."

Puka, Nala and Xiaoli all nodded in agreement.

"And maybe your luck will rub off on us and we’ll also get bonded too." Puka smiled, Ningning was basically living every woman’s dream.

To find a mate and get bonded.

"That reminds me. Xiaoli how is it going with Tolief? He’s not moved by any female, and is way too serious. What exactly do you see in him?"

Xiaoli froze, her hand mid-air as she was about to adjust the hang of the mammoth mantle. A rare, deep flush crept up her neck.

She stopped fussing with the mantle and sat back on her heels, her gaze drifting toward the cave entrance as if she could see the scholar’s cave from there.

"It’s more than just him being quiet." Xiaoli said softly, her voice dropping a pitch. "There was a day, many days ago, when I went for a stroll near the lower ridges. I wasn’t being careful, I was watching a hawk and I took a bad fall. I sliced my leg open on a jagged rock, deep enough that I couldn’t stand."

Puka and Nala went quiet, listening. This wasn’t the version of the story they usually teased her about.

"I thought I’d be sitting there until someone found me." Xiaoli continued, looking at Ningning. "But Tolief found me first. He didn’t panic, and he didn’t call for others to carry me. He just... knelt. He used his own wraps to stop the bleeding, and he carried me all the way back."

She let out a small, huffed breath that sounded like a laugh. "For a man who spends all day holding stones and slates, he was surprisingly gentle. He came to my cave every single day after that. He didn’t say much, just checked the wound, cleaned it with herbs, and made sure I was eating. He stayed until the skin was completely healed, not a single blemish left."

Xiaoli looked down at her hands. "I used to think he only cared about the things he found ’interesting’. I thought people were just noise to him. But seeing a man that serious, that dedicated to the stars, stopped everything just to care for a clumsy girl... my heart was moved. He’s kind, Ningning. In a way that doesn’t need to shout."

Puka sighed dreamily, leaning her chin on her hand. "Ah. If only Jaren will look at me that way. Am I not beautiful enough?"

Ningning laughed slightly.

If Jaren still chose someone else apart from Puka who was with him at death’s door.

Then he was a fool.

Then again, he was not obligated to reciprocate her feelings just because she stood by his side.

She sighed again.

She did hope her investment would yield results.

After all it was a whole weapon’s codex.

[Ding!]

[Ding!]

[MISSION UPDATE REMINDER]