Lily gave Qiao Mo a strange look. “Of course. Mating means you’re willing to give bear children for a male. That’s the highest praise and approval for a male.”
Qiao Mo was stunned. She recalled Harry’s hurt expression and his words. “You’re unwilling to give birth to my cubs?”
Back then, Qiao Mo’s reply was, “Of course.”
Qiao Mo asked Lily again, “What if I tell a male that I’m unwilling to bear his cubs?”
Lily said, “That’ll depend on what kind of relationship this male has with you. If he’s not your mate, that answer is tantamount to rejecting him. But if he’s your mate, then you’ve really hurt him beyond redemption.”
Qiao Mo could not fully understand.
Lily looked at her expression and stopped in her tracks. Holding the basket, she stared at Qiao Mo and said, “We females have an innate advantage in reproduction, so we can have many males. But what about the males? If it’s the lion race, it’s fine. Even if you abandon them, they can choose a new mate. But we from the wolf race represent loyalty. The wolf race’s males will only choose one mate in their lives and will never betray them. Even if they are abandoned, they will live the rest of their lives alone.”
“If you accept a wolf male, then don’t ever tell him that you’re unwilling to give birth to his cubs.”
Qiao Mo realized how cruel her words were to Harry.
Lily looked at Qiao Mo suspiciously. “Why do I feel like you don’t know anything? Have you been too well protected by your tribe since you were young?”
Qiao Mo nodded. “So can you tell me more? I feel like I might lack some basic common sense about the rules that you guys have.”
Lily smiled smugly. “No problem. What do you want to know?”
“Anything is fine. It’s my first time out and I don’t know anything.”
Lily stared at the basket in her hand and suddenly grabbed Qiao Mo excitedly. “Then come with me. I’ll show you something fun.”
Qiao Mo was pulled by her as they ran wildly in the forest. Lily was a wolf and had great stamina. Although females could not compare to males in terms of stamina, she was still worlds apart from Qiao Mo.
Qiao Mo panted heavily as she followed Lily through the forest. They were surrounded by thick towering trees with accumulating snow on them. The ground was white too. However, there was still rich emerald green amidst this white sea of snow.
The ecosystem here was very interesting and even contradictory. The fact that big trees were still green despite that it was winter proved this point.
They came to a tall grass patch. Lily pulled Qiao Mo to squat down and pointed to the front. “Look!”
Qiao Mo looked in the direction Lily was pointing at and saw that the forest in front of them was filled with fruit trees. There were red and green fruits on the fruit trees that were fenced up. Many males wearing animal skin clothing were patrolling near the orchard.
Lily said, “These fruit trees were originally from the wilderness and belonged to all the tribes in the Myriad Beast Forest. However, after some wars, most of the fruit trees that could produce sweet fruits were monopolized by powerful tribes.”
Qiao Mo asked, “So you can only pick those fruits that aren’t sweet?”
Lily shook her head. “On the beastmen continent, males are responsible for hunting while females are provided for. But we will also go to the forest to help pick fruits in our free time. Fortunately, these powerful tribes are not especially greedy. During the summer harvest, they will also allow other tribes to enter. However, the harvesting will have to be in accordance with their rules.”
At this moment, Qiao Mo saw a few naked and trembling female beastmen being instructed by some male beastmen to go up to the orchard and sit down on the ground in a row.
One of the soldiers who were guarding the orchard came over. Each of them picked a female beastman and brought her to a cave at the side. Some of the caves were not far from Qiao Mo and she could see inside from her angle.
Hence, Qiao Mo saw that after those female beastmen were brought in by the male beastmen, they actually started mating!
Qiao Mo blushed and covered her mouth in surprise. She turned her head and saw that Lily was not surprised at all.
“Isn’t this a matriarchal society? I mean, in the beastmen continent, don’t female beastmen have priority of choice?”
Lily said, “They’re prisoners of war. The war has never really ended. The females from the small tribes that have been annexed will always choose their males again. Of course, they’ve actually been randomly assigned to males who have no females.”
Lily pointed at the cave and said, “Once these males choose a female from them, they will take her away and mate with her. Then, the male will take on the responsibility of providing for this female. After this female has a male to provide for her, her status will rise and she will have the right to choose other males. This comes with the condition that the other males are willing to provide for her as well..”