8: Give him a dream, in exchange for my temporary peace.

Not much time had passed before Li returned, carrying a heavy bag that he tossed onto the ground.

The floor of the cave had already been tidied up by Tu Nan; Li's expression softened slightly, but his words remained blunt.

"Why are you moving things around?"

Fishing the remaining Sand Scorpion meat out of the pot, he drew his scimitar and began to mince it.

The heavy scimitar moved in his hand like an extension of his own arm; the meat was quickly reduced to a fine mince without the blade hardly touching the cutting board.

"You said you eat gruel," he said coldly. "Then minced meat should be fine. I went to Grey's to borrow a bag of Flour."

He added the minced meat to the boiling water, grabbed a handful of Flour, sprinkled it in evenly, and stirred. The pot bubbled and boiled, gradually turning into a mixture that was hard to describe.

"Mm... You are so good to me."

Tu Nan looked away, hypnotizing herself into not thinking about what that scimitar had been used for earlier.

He managed to get Flour?

That should be a rare resource in any desert.

He was really... trying very hard to keep her alive.

Good.

The gruel was finally finished, and Li glanced at her. Tu Nan understood immediately, hurrying to find a deep dish from the corner to hand to him.

Tu Nan knelt on the ground, holding the dish, and took a small spoonful into her mouth.

The taste was indescribable, but it was warm and immediately soothed her cramping stomach.

Li set down the spoon and looked down at her. "Can you eat it this time?"

Tu Nan looked up at him, her eyes slightly reddened by the steam, her voice low and soft. "Yes, I can eat this."

She hesitated for a moment before adding at the end,

"Li..."

She swallowed the word 'Lord,' so his single-syllable name was held between her lips and teeth, spoken with a lingering, melodious tone.

In that instant, Li's heart felt as if it had been lightly scratched by a cat's claw.

Feeling somewhat annoyed, he turned away quickly and pushed the bag of Flour toward her.

"This bag is for you to eat from now on."

"You'll make it yourself in the future."

***

There was no day or night in the cave, but the clamor outside gradually faded, meaning the day had come to an end.

Li watched Tu Nan, trying to treat her as an important mission.

He finally realized that the upbringing provided by a Foster Mother was a completely foreign Domain to him, yet he had personally carried this fragile little beast back.

His own standards did not suit Tu Nan; this was the lesson Li had learned from the recent incident.

For example, this bed had only a single sheet and a thin quilt.

He was fine; as long as he had a safe place sheltered from the wind and rain, he could fall into a deep sleep quickly. But what about Tu Nan? What kind of house did she live in at the Nursery? Could she sleep on such a hard bedboard?

He knew nothing about Foster Mothers, but he knew about the Nobles.

He'd heard those delicate noble Young Misses could only eat fruit and certain types of particularly tender meat. They had delicate skin, could only sleep on soft beds, and got sick easily... Tu Nan looked very much like them. Did a Foster Mother need to be raised by those standards?

Too much trouble, maybe he should just forget it.

It was only sixty thousand currency; it wasn't an unbearable loss.

Or, could a Foster Mother be resold? Even at a slight loss.

Li kept calculating the accounts in his head.

Tu Nan had been busy in the cave for a while now, washing and organizing all the utensils she could see, as if trying hard to prove she was worth keeping.

Feeling his gaze, Tu Nan dithered for a moment before cautiously approaching.

"Li~"

Tu Nan's hand lightly tugged at the corner of his clothes.

Her skin shimmered coldly under the light. Because she was thin, the veins beneath her cheeks were faintly visible.

Tu Nan's movements were too slow and too submissive. Li's heart inexplicably skipped a beat. He stared intently at this restless Foster Mother, and his ears twitched uncontrollably.

Tu Nan didn't look up; she didn't dare.

She just kept her eyes down, her eyelashes trembling just right, the tip of her nose red as if she had just cried.

A cold hand touched the side of Li's waist.

Tu Nan's hand reached for his belt, trembling as she tried to undo the buckle.

Li moved like lightning, pinning Tu Nan's hand down.

"What are you doing?"

His tone was cold, but his voice was dry.

"Your injury isn't healed, did you forget?"

"I don't want to use you this early." He paused, then said with annoyance, "Don't you know how terrible your body is? If you get pregnant now, can you even give birth to the cub? Don't waste my money."

Tu Nan still kept her head down, but her movements froze.

She wanted to pull her hand back, but Li held her in a firm grip.

Tu Nan was forced to look up, and only then did Li see her panicked expression.

Tu Nan trembled for a long while before squeezing out a sentence.

"I saw your pants were dirtied when I vomited earlier, I wanted to take them off to wash them for you..."

Her lips quivered, as if she didn't know whether to continue acting according to Li's words.

In the end, she still summoned her courage.

"I... I was meant to serve you anyway."

"If you want to use me, the injury doesn't matter, I can endure it."

"I will also eat well and take care of my body. Even if I die, I will give birth to your cub."

Li suddenly flung Tu Nan's hand away as if he'd been burned. He quickly unbuckled his belt, pulled off his pants, and threw them over.

Tu Nan's head and face were covered by the pants, which still carried his body heat.

She scrambled to pull the pants down; Li had already pulled the quilt over to cover his waist and abdomen.

He glared at Tu Nan.

"Wash them quickly, it's getting late."

With a slightly flushed face, Tu Nan nodded quickly and held his pants tightly.

She ran to the corner with small steps, found a basin, and began to ladle water into it.

Hmm... this man probably didn't know his ears were twitching like crazy.

Who did he think he was fooling with that stiff face?

Tu Nan scrubbed the clothes, the corners of her mouth curling up triumphantly.

Whether they were human men or beastmen, as long as they were male, they were really easy to manipulate.

And as Li watched her squatting in the corner, her waist moving up and down as she scrubbed the clothes, the thought that popped into his chaotic mind was—

Tomorrow, he would try to find a giant Sand Scorpion and remove a complete carapace, so he could take it to the city to trade for some things.

Clothing, dishes, fruit, or a set of soft bedding.

It was just raising a Foster Mother; what was so hard about it? It wasn't like he couldn't afford it.

The washed clothes were hung up inside the cave, and Tu Nan rubbed her cold hands.

Even with an underground river and the protection of the rock cave, one could still feel the temperature plummet during a desert night.

She crept to the bedside. Li was already lying stiffly on the outer side of the bed, as if he had already fallen asleep.

The inner spot was apparently left for her.

She studied this man she was forced to live with, no longer controlling her expression. Thus, her hidden sharpness and indifference surfaced from the depths of her heart.

This man was poor, stubborn, and also dull. But he had high combat power, spoke little, and was very goal-oriented.

At the same time, he had no demands for life and no expectations for the future.

He seemed very ignorant when it came to women?

Incredible. According to Tu Nan's understanding, if a man lived on the edge of danger, he would often release his pressure on women.

But Li was like an ascetic monk, wanting nothing.

No... his desire had already been stirred by her, along with the deep longing for Bloodline Legacy.

She guessed he must be a child who grew up wild on his own, with no one to love him.

In that case... as long as she gave him the warmth of a home, it would be a fatal temptation for him.

Just like she once was.

She had walked into that "home" full of lies with great anticipation, and then, she paid with her life.

Tu Nan would not make the same mistake again, but that didn't stop her from tempting others.