Ch35 – Before the Ceremony
Xiong Ye cleaned himself up thoroughly by the river and calmed himself down slowly. This gave him more attention to think about other matters.
Although Zhou Ji had woken up, he couldn’t relax completely and was still quite worried about him–Zhou Ji still hadn’t looked like he was in a good state.
However, he couldn’t show it–Zhou Ji was sick and must be feeling terrible. He would need someone to rely on, and in this situation, Xiong Ye needed to be stable and become Zhou Ji’s support.
Xiong Ye’s expression firmed up, and he squeezed his uneasiness to the bottom of his heart.
Today was the day he and Zhou Ji would become mates; he should be happy.
While Xiong Ye was washing his hair, he couldn’t help but recall how Zhou Ji had washed it for him before. He took a deep breath, then sped up his movements.
He needed to hurry up and go back to accompany Zhou Ji.
Xiong Ye soon finished washing himself clean and even managed to catch two frogs to bring back with him when he returned.
Zhou Ji hadn’t eaten anything for an entire day. He wanted to cook something for Zhou Ji.
By the time Xiong Ye returned to the tribe, it was already dawn, and everyone in the tribe had already woken up.
Many people smiled as they greeted him, and Xiong Ye nodded back to them before quickly entering his cave.
“Xiong Ye’s hair is still wet. Did he go out to wash up so early in the morning?” Some people were puzzled. The tribespeople didn’t really enjoy bathing, and Xiong Ye could already be considered very particular about being clean. He washed often, but he had never gone out to bathe so early in the morning before.
“It’s probably because the scents on his body are too strong, so he had to go wash up.” Someone giggled.
The priest hadn’t told the rest of the tribe about Zhou Ji’s sudden illness, so at this moment, the tribe believed that Zhou Ji had been hurt by Xiong Ye while they were being intimate.
“Xiong Ye practically never left his cave after coming back yesterday.”
“They were probably too intense. It was their first time, you guys should understand.”
“I wonder if Zhou Ji can handle it…”
……
Xiong Qi heard the conversation and found an opportunity to praise Xiong Ye again, “Xiong Ye is really excellent in all areas! He’s a real man!”
Niu Er nodded earnestly.
Xiong Bai: “……”
Xiong Bai endured it, then endured it some more and finally couldn’t hold back any longer, “Can you guys stop talking about it? Think about how I feel!”
Xiong Ye, who she had liked for so many years, was going to thoroughly become someone else’s today!
Zhou Ji was really a lethal beauty…
“Xiong Bai, I’ll consider your feelings. How about you consider me too?” One of the men, whose animal form was a black bear just like Xiong Bai, spoke up.
Xiong Bai glanced at him, “Let’s talk about it later!” Xiong Ye was going to form a mated pair with Zhou Ji today, so she was in a bad mood and didn’t have time to think about these things!
That man was delighted when he heard her reply, “Alright. I’ll ask you again tomorrow!”
Xiong Bai spoke carelessly, “Sure!”
Shi Li watched as these people chattered together noisily, and his eyes flashed with disdain.
In fact, many of the people here wouldn’t live for long.
Shi Li’s expression looked a little gloomy, and everyone around him noticed it. After they took note, n.o.body went over to talk to him–he looked so bitter and hateful that they all just wanted to keep their distance.
Also, they used to feel that Shi Li was very handsome, but now when they looked at him again… How was Shi Li handsome? His skin was so coa.r.s.e, and his face was covered in welts!
Speaking of which, Zhou Ji was actually very good-looking.
Before, Zhou Ji had been an invisible person in the tribe. He didn’t interact with others, and n.o.body would purposely interact with him, so n.o.body had ever taken a proper look at him.
Lately however, he had always been at Xiong Ye’s side. Everyone began to notice what he looked like, and then they discovered… It was very natural for Xiong Ye to have chosen him.
Lang Yin began to gossip about it with her friends, “I saw Xiong Ye bring Zhou Ji back yesterday, and only just discovered that Zhou Ji really looks pretty good, and his body isn’t bad either… If I become very strong, I would definitely want to find a man like that to bring back to my cave and have him serve me!” Unfortunately, she wasn’t strong enough, sigh!
Lang Yin’s friends nodded in agreement and asked, “Right, Lang Yin, have you chosen who you’ll have children with yet?” Xiong Qi had started chasing Lang Yin after she had reached adulthood, and it had already been a year.
“I’m still considering it.” Lang Yin said. Xiong Qi was pretty strong, and their child definitely wouldn’t go hungry, but he was rather old…
While everyone outside was still talking, Xiong Ye had already entered his cave.
He first went to check on how Zhou Ji was doing. Zhou Ji was still lying there, but his weak breathing was stable, so he went to the entrance of the cave to boil the frogs. After he set everything up, he went back again to check on Zhou Ji, “Zhou Ji, how are you feeling now?”
Zhou Ji opened his eyes to glance at Xiong Ye and didn’t speak. All of his attention was focused on dealing with the energy within his body, and he had no spare time to talk.
However, Xiong Ye was already satisfied with this glance, “It’s fine as long as you’re awake. Don’t worry, you’ll definitely get better.”
Zhou Ji also knew that he would definitely get better, but he would have to spend most of the next two days lying down…
“Later…” Xiong Ye wanted to say that they could postpone the mating ceremony, but when he recalled that Zhou Ji had woken up as soon as he said that they wouldn’t make it in time for the mating ceremony…
Zhou Ji must really be looking forward to the mating ceremony. He might be sad if it was postponed.
Also, even though Zhou Ji had woken up, he might not be able to pull through… Zhou Ji must be suffering a lot right now. If he proposed postponing the mating ceremony at a time like this, it would be the same as giving up on Zhou Ji.
Although he would only be able to form a mated pair with one person in his entire life, he had already promised Zhou Ji. In that case, even if something happened to Zhou Ji, he would still become mates with Zhou Ji.
Xiong Ye embraced Zhou Ji and said, “Later, I’ll carry you to our mating ceremony.”
Zhou Ji didn’t have any particular objection to this, but he was increasingly certain about one thing–Xiong Ye definitely felt very strongly about the mating ceremony.
Since that was the case, they must attend the ceremony even if he couldn’t stand.
As for being held by Xiong Ye… It would save him a lot of effort. How great was that?
After spending a few decades in the world after the apocalypse, Zhou Ji really didn’t care about things like self-respect. He would be happy as long as he could live a good life.
With this in mind, Zhou Ji glanced at Xiong Ye again and gave him a tiny smile.
Xiong Ye saw that Zhou Ji was very happy when he heard about the mating ceremony despite being so weak. Zhou Ji had even smiled at him, and Xiong Ye’s heart clenched at the sight.
He had asked the priest to help him plan a wonderful mating ceremony. It would definitely make Zhou Ji even happier.
Perhaps Zhou Ji would get better after so much happiness…
No. Zhou Ji would definitely get better. He had already woken up!
With this in mind, Xiong Ye reached out and stroked Zhou Ji’s face.
Zhou Ji’s face was tender and smooth, and now it seemed to be even softer and smoother than it had been before… Xiong Ye kissed Zhou Ji on the cheek, “You’ll definitely get better!”
Zhou Ji gave another small smile and secretly sighed.
His current weakness was really limiting him; he had actually just gotten teased by Xiong Ye…
Xiong Ye and Zhou Ji stayed in the cave by themselves for a while before Xiong Bai came by, “Xiong Ye, Xiong Ye, Grandpa Priest asked me to bring you the clothing.”
A long time ago, Xiong Ye had asked some people to make mating clothes for him and Shi Li. Later, Shi Li had backed out, so he had withdrawn the request. Then later again, he had gotten together with Zhou Ji, so he had asked them to finish the clothing after all.
These clothes were made from dinosaur leather that was the same color as flame flowers. They were a very beautiful red color. Xiong Ye brought it over for Zhou Ji to see, “Look, Zhou Ji, these are the clothes for our mating ceremony. They’re beautiful, right?”
Zhou Ji didn’t open his eyes. He planned to absorb a little more energy in order to ensure that he would have the energy to say, ‘I do’… but perhaps people who got married in this place would say something else?
Xiong Ye’s heart sank when he saw Zhou Ji like this, but he still tried very hard to show a cheerful front, “I’ll change first and then help you change. You’ll certainly look great in these clothes.”
After saying so, Xiong Ye went and changed first.
He called them clothes, but in fact, they were just like animal hide skirts; two pieces of leather were laced up to cover the front and back, like a simple sleeveless dress.
Xiong Ye carefully helped Zhou Ji get dressed after he had dressed himself.
Zhou Ji indeed looked great in these clothes. The bright red clothing made Zhou Ji’s skin appear even paler, and it was also at this point that Xiong Ye discovered that the small wounds on Zhou Ji’s arms and legs had already disappeared.
Zhou Ji’s wounds were already healed? They had really healed particularly quickly…
After dressing Zhou Ji, he fed Zhou Ji some frog soup.
He had wanted to give Zhou Ji something good to eat so that Zhou Ji would recover faster, so he specifically added some honey into the frog soup.
Although Zhou Ji had woken up a few times, he hadn’t reacted much at all, so Xiong Ye said, “I’ll feed you the same way as yesterday… In any case, we’re about to become mates anyway.”
So, Zhou Ji was fed frog soup just like this.
His first reaction was that this thing must be dark cuisine.
His second reaction was that Xiong Ye must be trying to test his endurance. If it hadn’t been for his firm willpower, he would definitely have ‘cultivated down the wrong path’ and spat up blood to prove it.
Fine, even with his firm willpower, the energy in his body was still racing about chaotically when he was kissed like this by Xiong Ye…
Zhou Ji kept his eyes closed and had no choice but to continue playing dead.
Regardless of whether it was the Beast G.o.d Sacrifice or the mating ceremony, they would both start in the afternoon. However, the people of the tribe had many things to do in the morning, so everyone was quite busy.
Logically speaking, Xiong Ye and Zhou Ji were supposed to be busy as well, but the priest said, “Today is the day when Xiong Ye and Zhou Ji will become mates, so they don’t need to do anything today.”
Although Xiong Ye said that Zhou Ji had woken up, there was no way he could recover so quickly, so the priest wanted to give Zhou Ji the chance to rest a bit more.
As for the things that needed to be done… Before, when there had only been a hundred people in the tribe, hadn’t they still been able to hold the Beast G.o.d Sacrifice in the same old way?
The Beast G.o.d Sacrifice was held next to the tribal grounds. The reason why they chose that location was because many flame flowers grew there. At the moment, the priest was directing people from the tribe to water the flame flower plants.
Clear water sprinkled onto the flame flowers, and the flame flower buds slowly began to open up…
The petals of the flame flowers were a fiery hot red, with a yellow center. They looked very striking against the green leaves as they opened towards the rays of sunlight. The beads of water left on the petals reflected a beautiful light under the sun.
If Zhou Ji had seen this scene, he would know that the flame flowers that bloomed at the same time and had originally seemed so mystical and special, were actually a kind of flower that would blossom at a set time after rain or water fell…
In fact, if a bout of heavy rain suddenly occurred, and the flame flowers bloomed ahead of time, the people of the tribe would happily move the Beast G.o.d Sacrifice forward–Look, the flame flowers had already bloomed, the Beast G.o.d had come early!
Of course, Zhou Ji wasn’t there right now, and there was only the priest who directed everyone around him. He also had the children of the tribe go and pick some flowers–Xiong Ye wanted the best mating ceremony he could come up with.
Although Zhou Ji was in a very bad state right now, the priest would still try his best to make Xiong Ye happy.
The upcoming Beast G.o.d Sacrifice made everyone in the tribe very excited, and only Shi Li was left looking on coldly.
After thinking things through yesterday, he was no longer brokenhearted. He only felt full of pity as he watched the people of the tribe now.
Time pa.s.sed by slowly, and it was finally noon. According to their customs, the mating ceremony would be held before the Beast G.o.d Sacrifice.
At this time, quite a few people couldn’t help but feel a little curious–How come Xiong Ye and Zhou Ji hadn’t arrived yet?
They were still wondering when they saw Xiong Ye, who was dressed in red dinosaur leather, arrive. He was holding Zhou Ji, who was also dressed in red, in his arms.
Xiong Ye had already been very good-looking, but he looked even taller and more handsome right now. As for Zhou Ji? He was lying in Xiong Ye’s arms, and the red clothing set off his snow-white skin, making him appear extraordinarily beautiful.
Only… Had Zhou Ji been tossed about so much until he couldn’t get out of bed? He actually needed to be held?
xiin: oh, the misunderstandings…