Many had just rotted away in the soil—it was truly a pity.
She carefully picked the good ones, leaving the weak or small ones to continue growing.
In this way, she managed to gather two large basket-backpacks, filled to the brim, almost overflowing.
Good things were never too much—what couldn't be eaten right away could be dried and stored for the winter.
Since becoming a beastman, her strength had grown considerably.
She moved the basket full of mushrooms under the chestnut tree, placing it alongside the other baskets filled with supplies.
Counting them, she found a total of eight baskets, each packed full with today's harvest.
Though exhausted and drenched in sweat, she felt deeply satisfied.
Suddenly, her expression changed; her stomach ached—she felt the urgent need to defecate.
From her memories, the original owner hadn't gone to the bathroom for over a week.
Since arriving in this body, she still hadn't relieved herself.
Before, she hadn't felt the need and had thought maybe she'd lost that function altogether.
But now, the urge finally came, and she was genuinely relieved.
Eating more fruit really did have its benefits.
Quickly, she picked a few broad leaves, found a nearby water source to wash them, then slipped into the bushes to handle her business.
She didn't remove her beastskin skirt, just lifted it and squatted.
Looking at the clean leaves in her hand, her lips twitched sharply.
There was no toilet paper in this beast world—she had to use leaves or simply wash with water afterward.
Su Xiyue couldn't just run around bare-bottomed, so she settled for using leaves for now.
She thought urgently about making grass paper—she couldn't keep wiping with leaves forever.
What was the raw material for grass paper again?
She recalled it was probably straw.
She remembered the process: first chopping and steaming the straw to soften it, then washing and pulping to separate the fibers, followed by papermaking and drying. Eventually, it became grass paper.
The problem was where to find straw—where there was straw, there must be rice.
Just thinking about steaming, fragrant white rice brought tears to her eyes, and she felt terribly pitiful.
She had no idea if there was any rice growing nearby but planned to ask the beastmen later.
Just as Su Xiyue squatted there, feeling relief and comfort, she suddenly heard rustling from the bushes, accompanied by a foul, bloody stench and a dangerous aura.
She instinctively looked back—and what she saw nearly made her soul leave her body in terror.
A massive saber-toothed tiger had silently appeared behind her, its jaws wide open in a bloodthirsty snarl, eyes burning with ferocity.
Clearly, it saw her as prey.
Her face went pale with fright. Forgetting even to wipe, she grabbed her beastskin skirt and ran.
As she fled, she cursed silently in her heart.
What kind of terrible luck was this? Even when going to the bathroom, she had to face a saber-toothed tiger?
The tiger let out a mighty roar, "Roar!" and leapt forward in pursuit.
"Help! Somebody save me…" Su Xiyue ran while looking back, terrified as the tiger closed in, its face fierce and merciless.
She knew she couldn't outrun the beast but couldn't just stop and wait to die.
Her abilities were still only at level one—good for detoxing or simple healing but useless in combat.
She had no choice but to run for her life.
The saber-toothed tiger was incredibly fast and relentless, closing the distance quickly.
Almost at the point of panic, she shouted inwardly, "Tongtong, help me!"
The system's voice responded with a dry humor and faint sympathy but no sign of intervention, slowly saying, "Host, hold on a little longer. Male lead number two is nearby. He heard the noise and is coming this way. You won't die."
"What? Mo Lin is here? Where?" Su Xiyue's heart lifted slightly as she glanced around desperately for Mo Lin.
But scanning the surroundings, she saw no sign of him—not even a single snake.
Instead, the saber-toothed tiger was closing in, jaws snapping down just inches from her.
"Help! Somebody help me…"
Terrified, Su Xiyue rolled into the grass to avoid the bite.
But fate was cruel—she tumbled down a steep slope.
Before she fell, the beastskin skirt was caught by the tiger's teeth and ripped away a corner.
Still trembling from fear, she didn't care—protecting her head, she kept rolling.
The hill was steep and endless; she felt as if she was rolling toward the horizon.
Dizzy and aching all over, she didn't know how long she tumbled before finally coming to a stop.
The saber-toothed tiger seemed to have lost her trail.
Lying on the ground, gasping heavily, she felt as if all her bones had been shattered—painful and miserable.
After a long moment, she finally caught her breath.
She noticed several scrapes and bleeding wounds, sharp pains radiating from them.
She rubbed her sore arms and legs, then touched her head.
Fortunately, her head was fine—or she might have become a fool from the fall.
Ignoring her wounds, still shaken, she sat up cautiously, looking around to get her bearings.
Then she realized something was wrong.
Where was her beastskin skirt?
She looked down and discovered she was completely naked—there was nothing covering her.
The beastskin skirt was gone!
Su Xiyue's expression darkened as she suddenly remembered that before tumbling down the slope, the saber-toothed tiger had bitten and torn off a corner of the skirt.
Her face fell—without the skirt, was she really going to have to walk back naked?
Completely exposed like this—how could that be?
She didn't have a penchant for running around naked.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of some broad leaves nearby and her eyes lit up.
Quickly, she gathered a bunch of the large leaves and, using some vines, roughly wove them together into a simple grass skirt to wear.
Though crude, it at least covered her body—no more running around naked.
After finishing this, she used her ability to heal herself.
Only after the cuts stopped bleeding, gradually healed, and the pain eased did she stop.
Then, she began searching for the way back.
At that moment, sounds of a struggle came from up the slope, accompanied by roars of tigers.
"Roar…"
Mixed with the hissing of a snake flicking its tongue, "Ssssss…"
The noise was intense.
Su Xiyue's heart stirred; she guessed that the saber-toothed tiger and the arriving Mo Lin had started fighting.
Cautiously, she climbed the slope to take a look.
Though steep, the hill wasn't too hard to climb.
She quickly reached the top.
Hiding in the bushes, she peered through the foliage and saw a massive black python tangled in battle with the saber-toothed tiger.
The black python's body was as thick as a bucket, its length an astonishing several meters.
A faint black mist swirled around it, giving off an air of mystery.
The mist seemed corrosive—each time the saber-toothed tiger was struck, it let out a piercing scream as patches of fur were eaten away.
Clearly, this was Mo Lin's ability.
Hidden in the bushes, Su Xiyue watched the fierce fight in disbelief.
Though she knew the beastmen of this world were powerful and that Mo Lin himself was formidable, this was her first time witnessing a beastman fight a wild beast.
And not just any beast—it was a savage saber-toothed tiger.
Her gaze fixed on the combat zone as she saw that although the tiger was ferocious, it was clearly no match for Mo Lin.
Soon, Mo Lin's real body coiled tightly around it, the massive tiger's head enveloped by the serpent's body, squeezing tighter and tighter until it looked almost deformed.