Chapter 199: Chapter 191: Apprentice

“Walk slower, be careful of the little one inside your belly.”

Zeke Veridian quickly caught up with Luna Sutton, supporting her by the lower back, afraid she might fall.

The two of them rounded the mountain wall and soon arrived at the West District, where the Beastmen lived.

The living conditions in the West District were quite mixed; some lived in caves, while others were squeezed into grass sheds.

They were called grass sheds, but they were really just a few tree trunks forming a frame, with a thick layer of dry grass on top, leaning in various directions.

These grass sheds were extremely poor in keeping warm, with wind leaking from all sides, and a heavy snowfall could easily collapse them.

The air was permeated with a stench.

The surrounding environment was terrible, with people relieving themselves everywhere.

It was easy to accidentally step on feces.

Luna Sutton walked cautiously on her tiptoes amid the “land mines” scattered on the ground.

She pinched her nose and asked Zeke Veridian beside her, “Doesn’t anyone manage this area? Why don’t they dig a latrine?”

Zeke Veridian kicked away an unidentified dried-up object next to his foot, “Beastmen can’t even join the Hunting Party, who cares if they live or die?”

She understood instantly: Beastmen had no hunting skills, so tribes naturally neglected them and left them to fend for themselves here.

Of course, sometimes the siblings or offspring of some Beastmen would fail to transform and end up living in the West District. Families would occasionally send aid.

For example, after her third uncle’s child failed to transform, he moved to the West District.

Her third uncle specially helped dig a cave and would occasionally send meat and beast skins. It was said that life there was somewhat manageable.

Just then, a dozen or so Beastmen youths suddenly sprang out from the grass.

Some had wolf ears, others dragged tails, and some had a pair of wolf claws.

There was even one more outrageous; his upper body was human, and his lower body was wolf, running around like a mobile werewolf specimen.

Zeke Veridian frowned slightly, quickly pulled Luna Sutton aside, fearing these little wolf pups might accidentally bump into Luna.

The dozen or so Beastmen youths realized they had startled someone and quickly stopped in their tracks.

Then, in unison, they knelt before the two of them.

To be precise, they were kneeling in front of Luna Sutton.

Luna Sutton was momentarily stunned, instinctively stepped back two steps, nearly stepping on a fresh pile of wolf dung in the grass behind her.

Thankfully, she missed it by a hair.

She hadn’t noticed the back yet, frowning as she looked at the dozen or so Beastmen youths in front of her, “What are you doing?”

“Miss…”

The leading wolf-eared youth nervously rubbed his hands, “We heard you’re choosing apprentices?”

She knew immediately that her father had already sent someone to inform them.

She gently nodded, squinted to assess them, “Raise your hand if you can mold clay.”

“Swoosh—”

All the Beastmen raised their claws, and one overly excited youth even accidentally pulled off his nearby companion’s beast skin skirt.

Zeke Veridian coldly covered Luna Sutton’s eyes, “Don’t look.”

“I was looking at their hands!”

She pried apart Zeke Veridian’s fingers and pointed at the wolf-eared youth with the most stable hand, “Go dig some clay by the riverside, make a bowl and show me. If you don’t know what clay is, go to the kiln; there’s a pile of clay there.”

The wolf-eared youth who was pointed at wagged his tail in excitement, “Miss, I know clay, I secretly followed last time when you were making pottery by the river.”

With that, he dashed toward the river, almost tripping over himself due to his excitement.

Fortunately, he managed to regain his balance in time.

Zeke Veridian chuckled softly, “This young cub is rather clever.”

The other Beastmen youths grew anxious upon seeing this.

One of them, exposing his wolf tail, suddenly lunged and hugged Luna Sutton’s leg, “Please choose me, miss. I can go three days without sleep, and my hands are the most steady.”

“Let go.”

Zeke Veridian turned dark, grabbed the youth by the scruff of his neck, and tossed him aside, his emerald eyes flashing coldly, “Touch her again and I’ll break your leg.”

Just then, a gray figure appeared not far away.

The newcomer had wolf ears and a face still covered with silver-gray fuzz.

It was none other than Shawn Sutton, Luna Sutton’s third uncle’s child, holding a crooked clay bowl that was halfway dried.

Last night, his father told him that his cousin was looking to select a few apprentices skilled with their hands.

He spent the night molding clay by the river, and the crooked bowl in his hand was the result of his night’s labor.

“Cousin… I molded through the night, but it’s not good.”

Shawn Sutton stopped holding his clay bowl and looked at Luna Sutton, speaking nervously.

Luna Sutton recognized him as her third uncle’s child who failed to transform, acknowledging they were indeed cousins.

“Let me take a look.”

She reached out to take the clay bowl from Shawn’s hand and examined it closely.

Although the bowl was a bit misshapen, its walls were evenly thick, and he had carefully scraped patterns along the edges with his claws.

Her eyes lit up slightly, surprised at Shawn’s unexpected knack for decoration without any guidance—it was quite impressive.

Her fingertips felt the damp clay residue on the bottom of the bowl.

She turned the rim of the bowl to see several claw marks inside of varying depths, likely made by the boy as he repeatedly adjusted the thickness.

“This thickness…”

She tapped the bowl wall lightly with her fingers, and the clay form gave off a dull sound. “Just two more millimeters thinner, and it’ll be ready for the kiln.”

Shawn’s dusty face blushed, instinctively hiding his muddy claws behind his back, afraid his cousin would see him in his messy state.

“You did a pretty good job molding it, go directly to the kiln area tomorrow.”

Luna Sutton handed the clay bowl back to him with a light chuckle.

“Don’t worry, cousin, I’ll make sure to learn well.”

Shawn’s eyes were startlingly bright, and he seemed very excited.

At that moment, the half-beast youth who had initially gone to the river to dig up clay came running back.

In his arms was a big lump of wet clay, his hands and feet still dripping water.

His clay bowl was well-shaped, but the bottom was as thick as a pancake.

Luna Sutton glanced at it and couldn’t help but laugh aloud, “If this bowl can dry without cracking, I suppose it would do.”

Seeing the boy looking at her nervously, she smiled faintly, “Alright, you come along with Shawn tomorrow too.”

As soon as she finished speaking.

A cheerful voice suddenly came to her mind from the system: “Host, there’s a new development with Chloe Callahan over there, want me to show it to you?”

She was momentarily taken aback, glanced around, and silently said to the system, “I’ll check it when I get back to the cave.”

Quickly dispatching these half-beast youths, she soon left the West District hurriedly with Zeke Veridian.

Back in the cave, she made an excuse that she was a bit tired and needed a rest, then sent Zeke away.

As soon as Zeke left.

Luna Sutton eagerly had the system display the picture from Chloe Callahan’s side.

With the image cast, a transparent screen gradually appeared before her, like watching a movie.

Inside an unglamorous side hall somewhere in Beast King City.

Chloe Callahan was grinning at a basin of water, looking like a groundhog with two missing front teeth.

Especially when she smiled.

“System, you tricked me!”

Chloe Callahan screamed inside her head, “Nolan Sterling thinks I’m ugly now and won’t even meet me.”

Luna Sutton stared at the scene in front of her; she couldn’t hear Chloe Callahan talking with that rogue plugin as it was happening in her mind.

All she could see was Chloe Callahan’s twisted expression, flailing about.

But given she had a system herself, she could guess some of it.

Missing out on the eavesdropping was a bit disappointing.

“System, can you eavesdrop on Chloe Callahan and that rogue plugin’s conversation?”

Luna Sutton said to the system in her mind.

The system chuckled cunningly: “No rush, Host, I just cracked the rogue plugin’s voice channel!”

No sooner had she finished speaking, Chloe Callahan’s angry voice exploded in Luna Sutton’s mind:

“Nolan Sterling, that damned cleanliness freak.”

Chloe Callahan frantically overturned the water basin before her, spilling water everywhere, “When he had that disgusting poop-and-pee-smeared face last time, he didn’t look much better, yet the whole Beast King City was abuzz, and who knows how many people secretly laughed; I didn’t even mind his grossness, and he dares to think I’m disgusting? Seriously damned.”

The rogue plugin chillingly reminded: “Detected the host cursing the mission target, electric shock punishment initiated.”

“Zzzap—”

Chloe Callahan suddenly twitched all over like an electrocuted frog, her hair frizzing into a bird’s nest.

Luna Sutton stared at the screen before her, laughing so hard she clutched her stomach.

“Hahaha, that’s just killing me, this rogue plugin sure has some principles, huh?”

On screen, Chloe Callahan stood up with an explosion hairstyle, spitting a puff of black smoke.

She touched her singed bangs and nearly cried out, “I was a famous pastry chef before I traveled through time, and now I have to please a primitive man who’s never even seen a toilet!”

Her eyes suddenly lit up, “No oven… but I can make tiramisu!”

She stumbled to her feet, searching for ingredients, wind hissing through her teeth: “No coffee powder… I’ll use bitter tree root powder instead, no cheese… I’ll use fermented goat milk paste, ladyfingers… substitute with honey-baked thin pancakes!”

The rogue system icily reminded: “Host current appearance -50 points, recommend tidying up first.”

“Shut up!”

Chloe Callahan scratched her frizzled hair, “Nolan Sterling, that cleanliness freak, won’t even let me in the door now; looking good is useless, I’m going to entice him over here with fragrant food, humph, let him drool over this.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep