Su Qinglan sat quietly for a while after Rong Ye’s screams faded away into the distance. The cave was silent again.
She blinked, still not understanding what just happened.
Hu Yan and Han Jue were pretending to be very busy with their food, but their faces looked tense, as if they didn’t want to talk about what they had just witnessed.
Su Qinglan frowned. "Um... can I ask something?"
Both of them froze at once.
Hu Yan slowly lifted his head. "...Yes?"
She hesitated, glancing toward the cave entrance where Rong Ye had disappeared. "Why was Rong Ye teasing Xuan Long like that? What did he mean by that... ’in heat’ thing?"
There was a long silence.
"W–What?" Hu Yan stammered, eyes wide. "You... you don’t know what that means?"
Su Qinglan shook her head seriously. "No. I mean, I can guess a little... but I’m not sure if I’m thinking right."
Han Jue’s face turned bright red. "Ahem, well, it’s, uh... it’s just a... natural thing. You know, for beastmen."
"That’s not helpful," she said flatly. "What kind of natural thing?"
Hu Yan rubbed the back of his neck, his ears twitching nervously. "It’s... uh... when... it’s like a... season. Yeah, a season."
"A season?" she asked, frowning. "Like?"
"No!" both of them said at once, too quickly.
Su Qinglan tilted her head. "Then what kind?"
Hu Yan looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him. Han Jue suddenly stood up. "We, uh... we have to go hunting!"
Hu Yan jumped up right after him. "Yes! Hunting! Very important. We need meat!"
Su Qinglan frowned. "But..."
Hu Yan said quickly. "Lan Lan, take good care. We’ll be back later!"
Before she could say another word, both of them rushed toward the cave entrance, practically tripping over each other.
She stared after them, speechless, as their footsteps disappeared into the forest.
The cave went silent again.
Su Qinglan blinked, completely confused. "Why are they all behaving so strangely...?" she muttered under her breath.
The fire popped softly in reply, as if it didn’t know either.
Su Qinglan sat alone in the quiet cave after Hu Yan and Han Jue ran off.
She still didn’t understand. Everyone had acted so strangely, and now they had all left her alone.
She poked at the fire with a stick and muttered, "What’s so hard about explaining one simple word?"
Just then, a familiar voice suddenly rang in her mind.
"Host, are you serious right now?"
Su Qinglan blinked in surprise. "Xuyu? You finally came online?"
"Yes, and the first thing I hear is that you don’t even know what ’heat’ means. Honestly, I can’t believe you sometimes!"
Su Qinglan frowned. "Then tell me! Everyone keeps running away whenever I ask!"
Xuyu sighed deeply, the kind of sigh that sounded like he had lost all hope in her host.
"Fine. Listen carefully. ’Heat’ means the beastman is in his mating time. They want to mate with females."

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