Sam handed over all the follow-up matters to Xia, then followed Xuan down from the platform.
No sooner had they stepped off than a crowd of people swarmed over, greeting him warmly. Sam stuck close to Xuan, smiling and nodding in response to their enthusiasm.
Xuan gently pushed the crowd aside with one hand while guiding Sam away with the other. It wasn't until Xia had someone bring over a flat stone slab, placed the three types of herbs on it, and announced that everyone could come up to look at them that the crowd's attention was diverted.
"Now you can come up to examine the herbs closely," Xia said loudly. "You may *look*, but do *not* touch them—I'll post guards to keep watch. These herbs will only be on display for three days. Members of the hunting and patrol teams will have priority to view them first. Study them carefully, and keep an eye out for them when you go out tomorrow."
Once they'd escaped the crowd, Sam patted his chest in relief. "They're *so* enthusiastic."
"It's because you did something amazing," Xuan said, looking at him with a smile in his eyes.
Back in his room, the system sent a task completion notification:> Random Quest: Promote the three medicinal herbs (Completed)> Reward: Energy added to host's usable energy pool. Please check details yourself.
Sam opened the energy storage space—there was a bit more mist-like energy floating inside, but it was still nowhere near enough to buy anything from the Mall.
He closed the space and began to think about the potential uses of nettlegrass, and how he could find more new medicinal herbs. The herbs in this world were far more potent than he'd imagined. Saving Luo today had been a shot in the dark—he hadn't been sure he could pull it off until Luo was out of the woods. Luckily, the two herbs had worked wonders.
The next morning, Sam took the remaining nettlegrass and asked Qiuye for a stone bowl and a wooden pestle to mash it with.
Qiuye frowned disapprovingly, insisting that Sam wait until Xuan came back before he started messing with the toxic grass. Sam couldn't argue with him, so he resigned himself to flipping through the *Beast World Compendium* in the system instead.
When Xuan returned, he found Sam sitting at the door, staring blankly into the distance.
"What are you thinking about?" Xuan walked over and waved a hand in front of his eyes.
Sam snapped out of his daze, and his face lit up when he saw Xuan. He jumped up and threw his arms around him. "You're finally back!!"
Xuan was caught off guard by his sudden enthusiasm, freezing in place. His grip loosened, and the small wild animals he'd brought back with him scattered and bolted in all directions.
"Hey!! Catch them!! They're really useful!!" Sam let go of Xuan, gave him a couple of quick pats when he still didn't react, then took off after the animals himself.
There was no way Xuan would let a sub-beastman chase wild animals—even small ones. He sprang into action immediately, rounding up the fleeing creatures one by one and tying them up again.
Qiuye heard the commotion outside, poked his head out to take a look, then quickly retreated back into the house. Ah, young people—no need to meddle too much. As long as they get along well, that's all that matters.
They ate lunch in a hurry. Xuan was about to head back to continue building the house when Sam grabbed the nettlegrass and the mashing tools, then looked at Qiuye with bright, hopeful eyes. Qiuye sighed and waved him away.
"Go on then—be careful."
With Qiuye's permission, Sam cheered and followed Xuan out the door.
"Xuan—what kind of weapons do you usually use?" Sam asked, skipping along beside him.
"Weapons?" Xuan looked confused. "Us beastmen don't need weapons. Our teeth and claws are our best weapons."
"Then when you fight or hunt in human form, do you just charge in empty-handed?"
"Why would we fight or hunt in human form?" Xuan countered. "We always use our beast forms for that."
Sam was stumped for a moment. Oh right—beastmen's beast forms *are* their best weapons. Wait a minute—what about the sub-beastmen? Sub-beastmen don't have beast forms at all.
"But sub-beastmen don't have beast forms," Sam pointed out. "Without weapons, we have *no* way to defend ourselves."
Xuan stopped in his tracks and turned to look at him, his eyes softening with a familiar look of sympathy. Sam blinked in confusion—what was he imagining *now*? First he'd thought Sam was underage, and now… what was it this time?
"We will protect you," Xuan said earnestly. "If a beastman can't protect his tribe's sub-beastmen, he's useless."
"That's not the point," Sam argued. "Even if you're strong enough to fend off every danger, we're still separate people. There will inevitably be times when we're apart. What if danger strikes when you're not around? We'd be completely defenseless."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Sam suddenly realized what he'd said and clamped his lips shut, glancing nervously at Xuan.
Xuan stared at him silently, his eyes clouded with a hint of sadness. Sam quickly tried to backtrack. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"
"You're right," Xuan cut him off before he could finish. He looked down at the nettlegrass in Sam's hand, then his eyes lit up with understanding. "Is this what you want to use this grass for? To make weapons?"
"Exactly!" Sam nodded vigorously. "If we coat a blade with the juice from this grass, then as long as the blade pierces someone's skin, the toxin will kick in quickly and take them down."
"In that case, we need something really sharp," Xuan said, thinking seriously about the logistics. "Stone knives won't work—grinding them sharp enough to pierce a beast's skin would take too long, and they wear out easily. They're not suitable."
"Don't worry about that for now," Sam said. "First we need to test the potency of the toxin. If we need a huge amount of juice to make it effective, then coating it on weapons won't be worth the trouble."
Xuan nodded, agreeing with his logic.
They arrived at the construction site, where Mu and Lie were already waiting. They exchanged quick greetings, then Xuan and the others got back to work building the house. The small wild animals Xuan had brought were tied up with vines, unable to move.
Sam squatted down on the ground, put the nettlegrass into the stone bowl, and began mashing it into a pulp with the wooden pestle. Once it was thoroughly crushed, he dipped a small stick into the green juice and stood up, walking toward the tied-up animals.
Xuan had been keeping an eye on him the whole time. As soon as he saw Sam approaching the animals, he said something to Lie, then walked over to join him.
"Let me do that," Xuan said, holding out his hand. "Tell me what you want to do, and I'll handle it."
Sam looked at the small animals—even the smallest one was about the size of a large dog. He promptly handed over the stick and the bowl. Better to let Xuan do it. Even though they were tied up, you never knew what could happen. Sam definitely wasn't equipped to handle a struggling wild animal with his bare hands.
"Rub the juice into their wounds," Sam instructed. "Then watch to see how it affects them. Be careful not to get any on yourself."
"I will," Xuan promised.
The animals had small wounds from when Xuan had caught them. As soon as Xuan got close with the stick, they began to thrash and snarl at him threateningly.
Lie paused his work and watched them intently as Xuan carefully applied the nettlegrass juice to each animal's wound, then stepped back to observe their reactions closely. Sam joined him, leaning in to watch.
"System—can you time this?" Sam asked silently.
"Yes, host."
"Start the timer."
The animals' struggles gradually weakened. The smallest one closed its eyes first and went completely still. One by one, the others followed suit, their collapse time varying depending on their size. The largest animal, about the size of a yellow ox, held out the longest—but even it only lasted a little over a minute before it went limp.
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