Chapter 2 Dual Special Abilities_1

In her previous life, she was a Dual-Element Ability User with Wood-based Ability and Spatial Ability, a rare dual-ability genius in the apocalypse. Si Yan leaned against the wall to stand up and began to test if the abilities she had possessed in the apocalypse were still present. With a thought, she attempted to activate her Spatial Ability, which was extremely arduous to engage. She expended all her strength just to open a small crack into her dimensional space. She saw her own little space. Unfortunately, the space was not large; she only had one cubic meter of it. Survival in the apocalypse was difficult, but her desire to live remained very strong. Although one cubic meter wasn’t much, it was packed full. Si Yan found a disinfectant wipe in her dimensional space and felt the connection becoming increasingly unstable and difficult to maintain. In the final moment before withdrawing, she hurriedly took out her silver dagger, a lighter, and a bag of salt. Once the dimensional space closed, she tried to open it again but seemed unable to. After many attempts, it still didn’t work. Maybe crossing worlds had made her Spatial Ability harder to use. She pulled out the alcohol-based disinfectant wipe and cleaned the back of her head, performing a simple disinfection. After putting away her silver dagger, she spread her hands. A green Special Ability struggled to emerge from her palms. Covered in sweat, she watched a tiny blade of grass sprout in her hand, and finally, a smile appeared on her face. She was very grateful that her dual abilities had also come with her. Her spirits somewhat restored, she saw a raw sweet potato at the cave entrance. She used her silver dagger to peel it and ate some, which slightly eased her hunger. Upon exiting the cave, she saw the lush forest outside. The trees were enormous, with leaves larger than a person’s face—a sight never seen in the contaminated apocalypse. Having lived in the desolate apocalypse, Si Yan finally accepted the fact that she had transmigrated into a book the moment she saw this world brimming with life. Feeling the beauty of life, she smiled with gratitude. However, when she turned and saw the foul-smelling cave behind her, her smile instantly vanished. Expressionless, she gathered a few withered branches from outside the cave, tied them together, and managed to fashion a makeshift broom. She returned to the cave and used the makeshift broom to sweep out all the filth. The sun was shining brightly outside. Si Yan took the only two pieces of animal hide from the cave to the river to wash them, then hung them on a tree near the cave to dry. Only after cleaning her surroundings did Si Yan feel much more comfortable. Having done all this, Si Yan took a look at herself. She was only draped in a large gray wolf hide, which was stiff, its fur matted and caked with grime; it was incredibly dirty. She desperately wanted to wash, but there was no time today. She was very hungry; she needed to eat, and so did those two little villain cubs. However, there was no food at all in the entire cave. Remembering the sweet potato she had just eaten, Si Yan recalled that in the original story, this world had potatoes and sweet potatoes. With this in mind, Si Yan felt confident. She was a Wood-based Ability User with a strong affinity with plants. Finding edible plants was her forte. She ventured alone into the forest, focused her senses for a moment, and indeed detected the presence of potatoes not far away. She dug a little and was lucky to unearth a pile of them. She placed the potatoes on a large leaf, carried them to a nearby stream to clean them, then wrapped them in the leaf and brought them into the cave. No sooner had she stepped back outside than a Beastman at the cave entrance called out to her. "Si Yan, the Hunting Team is back! Come get your meat!" The name of this tribe was Rock Village. In the Beast World, males could transform into beasts or assume human form. They were physically robust and possessed formidable attack power. Females, however, were weaker; after reaching adulthood, they could only remain in human form and were unable to transform. As the world changed, the birth of females became increasingly difficult, and the ratio of males to females reached almost ten to one. Females were considered gifts from the Beast God, objects whom males competed for and protected. If a male Beastman harmed a female, he would be punished by the Beast God. So, even though Si Yan was a foul-smelling, dark-skinned, lazy, and ill-natured female who didn’t look like she would live long, she was still well cared for by the tribe. Every day, after the males returned from hunting, they would leave a few pieces of meat for Si Yan. However, because Si Yan was foul-smelling, dark-skinned, skinny, and small—a typically unattractive female in the Beast World—no other male Beastman had taken an interest in her over the years. Apart from a snake-shaped mark on her waist, indicating she had a snake Beastman as a mate, she had no other markings. The one who called her was a gray wolf Beastman named Lang Feng. He wore only an animal hide skirt around his waist, his upper body bare, revealing sturdy, well-defined muscles. Si Yan’s round eyes stared at him for two seconds. Males in the Beast World... truly a feast for the eyes. She quickly snapped out of her thoughts and asked, "Where do I go to collect it?" Lang Feng glanced at her. "The usual place, under that big tree ahead." Si Yan ran in the direction Lang Feng indicated and, sure enough, saw a group of handsome, bare-chested Beastmen using their sharp claws to divide the meat. A large pile of bones and innards had been tossed to the side. Si Yan saw the Beastmen seemed to be lining up, so she also got in line to wait for her share of meat. An older male Beastman said, "Si Yan, you’re a female; you can go straight up and take your share." In the apocalypse, women were considered a burden and always received supplies last. She hadn’t expected women to have priority in this world. Si Yan adapted quickly. She wasn’t one for false modesty and briskly cut to the front of the line. The Beastman distributing the meat used his claws to cut a neat strip for her. After Si Yan received her meat, she saw some Beastmen taking bones and animal entrails to discard. Bones and entrails are good stuff! Si Yan hurried forward and asked, "Are you going to throw these away?" Lang Feng explained amicably, "It’s spring now, so prey is plentiful. The entrails and bones don’t taste good, and there’s no use keeping them, so of course, we throw them away." Si Yan quickly said, "If you don’t want them, can I take some?" Si Yan’s eyes lit up as she gazed at the "trash" these Beastmen were discarding. How long had it been since she’d last had fresh, delicious bone soup? Her mouth was watering just thinking about it. One of the male Beastmen said dismissively, "That stuff is useless. If you want it, just take it." Gratefully, Si Yan selected some marrow bones. She then noticed several moss-covered stone pots lying in a corner on the ground, guessing they were also unwanted. She inquired, "Can I have these?" The male Beastman glanced at the stone pots. A single stone pot was nothing; they could carve one out with a few swipes of their claws, so they didn’t care in the slightest. "If you want them, take them." Si Yan smiled happily and said, "Thank you." With that, she packed her meat, bones, and entrails into a stone pot and started carrying it back. So heavy... She could barely move it. She’d need to rest every few steps. After Si Yan left, a few male Beastmen discussed among themselves. "Females are too frail. She can’t even carry that little bit." Although they said this, none of them considered helping her. After all, that female Si Yan was dark-skinned, skinny, ill-natured, and ugly. What if they helped her and she latched onto them? "Still, it’s strange. That ill-natured female Si Yan was actually polite today, even saying ’thank you’?" "Who knows? Never mind her. Let’s hurry and finish dividing the meat." Si Yan took her haul to the small stream to wash it clean, then carried it back to the cave. Only then did she take out her lighter and start a fire. In fact, Si Yan had been very particular about survival skills back in the apocalypse. Besides the lighter, her dimensional space also held two small pieces of flint and a magnifying glass—all tools for starting a fire. She put the lighter away safely and then used her silver dagger to begin preparing the food. The stone pot heated slowly. It took a long time to render enough fat from some of the meat. Afterward, she used this rendered fat to make a potato and meat stew and also simmered a large pot of bone soup. Having read the original novel, Si Yan knew that salt was rare and valuable in the Beast World. She didn’t have much salt herself and wouldn’t use it wastefully, but she also wouldn’t be too stingy with it. By the time the stew and soup were ready, the sky had gradually darkened, and the food had cooled. However, Xi Qing and Bei Ji, those two little rascals, had still not returned.