Chapter 2

The forest where Jimo Ling lives is called the Zhimu Forest, named for its predominant species of trees, which are massive and straight, requiring seven or eight people to encircle the trunk and growing forty to fifty meters tall before branching.

In this forest grows a unique medicinal herb with only two leaves throughout its lifetime. At its tip is a purple, spherical fruit, which, when boiled into a drink, treats the condition known as "instability of form."

This ailment affects beastman children between the ages of three and ten. The children cannot control their human and beast forms, shifting between them every five to six minutes. This causes significant harm to the afflicted children. Without treatment, the condition usually eases after the age of ten but never fully heals, and they rarely live past twenty.

Chen Lan and Li had ventured into the Zhimu Forest because one of Chen Lan's children and another child from the tribe had developed this condition. Each child needed three of these purple fruits. Once boiled, the liquid must be consumed in two doses per day for three consecutive days. However, the tribe's storage only had one fruit left, not nearly enough.

The preferred method to obtain the purple fruit isn't to forage in the Zhimu Forest, as the terrain is complicated and teeming with dangerous beasts. Instead, most people visit a woman living in the Ximu Forest, where she has a grove of ninety-nine purple fruit plants. The usual practice is to trade for the fruit or fulfill one of her requests in exchange.

Initially, Chen Lan went to Ximu Forest to trade for the fruit. However, the woman didn't want material goods this time. Instead, she demanded that Chen Lan marry off one of her younger brothers. The problem was that the young beastman already had a sweetheart, and they had agreed to marry after coming of age.

Chen Lan tried to explain the situation, offering more valuable items in exchange, but the woman was adamant and left no room for negotiation.

Unwilling to compromise, Chen Lan left Ximu Forest. After making arrangements for her family and thoroughly preparing, she set off for the Zhimu Forest with her strongest husband to gather the purple fruit. Despite several close calls, they managed to collect three fruits and, in a critical moment, encountered Jimo Ling. If they could find two more purple fruits on their way out, their mission would be a success.

"Lan, is this what you're looking for?" Jimo Ling poured three dark purple "ping-pong balls" out of the beast hide bag Chen Lan handed her. The surface of the fruit had a hard skin, and when cracked open, the inside was quite spicy. According to the memories of the original owner of Jimo Ling's body, the fruit was non-toxic and something she had always used as a spice! "What happens if an ordinary person eats it?"

"This is beneficial to all beastmen, though it's difficult to cultivate and not easy to collect, so the tribe stores it for sick children. For women, it has neither benefits nor harm; it just makes your mouth numb," Chen Lan said, having tasted it herself but not liking it.

Jimo Ling sighed in relief. "No harm, good. I've collected some of these purple fruits myself, but they're not of much use to me. I'll give them to you."

Chen Lan was overjoyed. "That's wonderful. Ling, you're the kindest and most generous recluse I've ever met. Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'm planning to go with you to your tribe anyway, so I'll rely on your help then." It had already been agreed that Jimo Ling would accompany Chen Lan back to her tribe, under the pretext that she had nothing urgent to do at home and could escort them out while also experiencing communal life. "By the way, why do you call me a recluse? Have you met many?"

"You're very welcome in our tribe!" Chen Lan was eager for her to join their Green Tribe. "People like you, who don't belong to any tribe, live alone, rarely interact with others, and possess great abilities, we respectfully call recluses. I've met the one from Ximu Forest—she's difficult to deal with, very arrogant, and always makes things hard when people go to ask for medicine." That was why Chen Lan had been so surprised by Jimo Ling's unpretentious demeanor upon meeting her. "But you're different. Not only did you help us and offer us shelter, you're even willing to personally escort us and now give me medicine."

These sincere words almost made Jimo Ling feel a little guilty. She wasn't as noble as they made her out to be—she had her own interests, though they weren't harmful.

As they chatted, Jimo Ling entered her storage room and brought out a stone bowl. Chen Lan stood respectfully at the entrance without entering, as was customary to show respect for the owner.

Chen Lan counted the fruits in the stone bowl and found nineteen of them. She immediately declined. "Ling, this is too much. I thought you only meant two or three."

Jimo Ling thought for a moment, then took the bowl back, carefully observing Chen Lan's reaction. She noticed that Chen Lan seemed relieved, not insincere or regretful. Satisfied, Jimo Ling smiled. "If you don't want them all, I'll just give you the two you need," she said, handing over two purple fruits.

"Alright, I'll gladly accept these two," Chen Lan replied, taking them gratefully. "I won't forget your kindness, Ling." The two fruits would save them a lot of trouble, allowing them to return to the tribe sooner and start healing the children.

The two women exchanged smiles, forming a new bond of friendship.

A little while later, Li returned from hunting. Chen Lan went down from the cave to help prepare lunch, while Jimo Ling packed the items she would take with her. These mainly consisted of various medicinal plants collected by the original owner, processed animal hides, homemade weapons, and some knockout mushroom powder Jimo Ling had recently made.

On the sixth day after Chen Lan and Li's arrival, the three of them left Jimo Ling's territory with a raft carrying their supplies.

They didn't take the northeastern path where they had encountered the three-eyed tiger; that had been a result of Chen Lan's multiple changes of direction. The most direct route back to the Green Tribe would have been southeast, but that would take them through the territory of a pair of violent tyrannosaurs, which none of them wanted to confront. So they took a slightly longer route eastward.

Thanks to Jimo Ling's clever use of the knockout mushroom powder, they didn't waste much energy on battles and made it to the Green Tribe in ten days without incident.

The Green Tribe was located in the northwest of the Dawa Plains, built against a small mountain. The tribe consisted of 190 people, ten of whom were women. If Jimo Ling were included, that would make eleven. The tribe was medium-sized, but the proportion of women was considered high, giving them a strong voice among neighboring tribes.

The tribe's houses were made of stone, mud, and thatch, with no specific layout. Other than leaving a communal square in the middle, families built their homes wherever they liked. Families with women had priority in choosing locations, and if there was a conflict, it was settled by drawing lots or fighting it out.