They chatted for a while longer, when Yue Ling suddenly felt a strong urge in her stomach. At last—her bowels were moving. A wave of relief washed over her, and she couldn't help feeling a little happy. The sensation of eating without being able to relieve herself was truly miserable. What worried her more was that she had no idea where people went to the bathroom in this world.
When Bai Ying noticed her face turning pale, he immediately stepped closer, concern written all over his expression.
"Yue Ling, are you feeling unwell somewhere?"
"It's nothing," Yue Ling said, pressing a hand to her stomach. "I just… need to go to the bathroom."
It hurt, and she genuinely didn't know where she was supposed to go. Worse still—there was no toilet paper.
The moment she thought of toilet paper, her scalp practically exploded.
What was she supposed to wipe with?!
"Go to the bathroom?"
Bai Ying frowned in confusion. "What's a bathroom? Why do you need to go on it?"
Yue Ling pinched the bridge of her nose. "I mean… pooping."
So many concepts in the beast world were still completely undeveloped—it was no wonder he didn't understand.
Only then did Bai Ying realize what she meant. Without another word, he quickly scooped Yue Ling up in his arms.
Yue Ling: …Huh???
He carried her more than ten meters away from the cave, straight to a patch of thick grass, then crouched down and dug out a shallow sand pit with practiced efficiency.
By now, Yue Ling's expression had grown rather ugly. After several days without a proper bowel movement, this one came on fiercely—bloated, painful, and urgent. She was set down beside the pit, clutching a small scrap of animal hide in her hand. Using leaves to wipe herself—would that even work properly?
"Can you please go away?" she urged.
Just as she was about to squat down, she realized Bai Ying was still standing there, not moving at all.
Was he seriously planning to guard her while she… did her business?
Absolutely not. This would completely destroy her dignified image.
Her stomach hurt too much—she was about to lose control—so she impatiently urged him again. Bai Ying hesitated, then finally walked away, glancing back every few steps.
Yue Ling's figure disappeared into the bushes. Quite a while later, she emerged shakily, legs trembling. She'd squatted so long she felt like she'd nearly crippled herself.
Bai Ying had been waiting the whole time. The moment he saw her come out, he hurried over and headed straight for the sand pit. Yue Ling immediately grabbed him.
"What are you doing?"
"There's a scent after a female relieves herself," Bai Ying explained seriously. "This area is remote. I'm worried wandering beasts might appear. It needs to be covered."
Yue Ling thought of what she'd just left behind. "…Uh. I'll do it myself."
In the end, she failed to wrestle the task away from him. With a darkened expression, she stood there watching Bai Ying carefully cover up her waste.
This was beyond mortifying—an absolute social death moment.
Deciding it was better not to dwell on it, Yue Ling turned around and marched back into the cave without another word.
Bai Ying didn't notice anything amiss. He cheerfully stayed by her side, chatting away from time to time even though she didn't respond.
"We should build a toilet inside the cave," Yue Ling finally said. "You know—an indoor place for pooping."
She truly hated doing it out in the open. The breeze alone was bad enough—when the cold season arrived, it would be unbearable.
Bai Ying thought it over and nodded.
"That makes sense."
The two of them stayed in the cave, and Yue Ling explained all her ideas in detail. She wanted to expand the space: dig through the rock to connect their two caves, merge them into one. There would be two bedrooms, a shared living area, a small kitchen near the entrance with a fire pit, a bathroom, and even a cellar specifically for storing food through the cold season.
Her cave was too small—once a bathroom was added, there wouldn't be room for anything else. Cooking at the entrance would become cramped as well.
Since Bai Ying was already "one of her own," Yue Ling openly shared everything with him.
Bai Ying was astonished. Her ideas were completely unprecedented—new, ingenious, yet strangely logical. The more he listened, the more impressed he became.
His hands-on ability was remarkable. In just a few hours, he'd dug out a cellar and constructed the basic structure of the bathroom. The caves here were solid stone and unlikely to collapse. The most troublesome part still remained, though—the drainage system. They would need to find a way to guide waste and water from the toilet out of the cave and into a prepared sand pit outside.
Just then, Xiong Da's booming voice called out from the cave entrance.
"Female Yue Ling! Bai Ying! The tribespeople and the old witch doctor are asking you to come to the bonfire place."
Yue Ling poked her head out. As long as they didn't force her to become the wolf tribe's witch doctor, everything was negotiable.
"We'll be right there," she replied.