The heavy rain continued to pour relentlessly.
As Lin Xi fled through the downpour, her rain-soaked clothes grew increasingly heavy. The backpack on her shoulders seemed filled with water, weighing her down like a stone!
The sound of snapping branches from the pursuing beast grew closer behind her. Each crack seemed to strike directly at her frantically beating heart. Gritting her teeth through the pain, she discarded the backpack, hoping that lightening her load would increase her escape speed.
However, almost the moment she threw the bag away, a cold gust of wind swept from behind. The already dim light above was instantly blocked by a massive figure, plunging her vision into complete darkness!
Lin Xi instinctively looked up and was met with a pair of gleaming, cold eyes rushing straight toward her forehead!
“Roar!”
It’s over! She was going to die!
This was the only thought that surfaced in Lin Xi’s mind before her brain went blank.
The impact of the giant creature charging at her face and the terror of impending death made her instinctively widen her eyes, scream, and then crouch down while covering her head.
“Ahhhhhhh!!!!”
“Roar!!”
“Evil beast, get away!!”
The Giant Beast’s roar pressed down from above, and Lin Xi’s instinctive scream mixed with the chaotic rain sounds, so she completely missed the angry, ice-cold male voice that rose amidst the noise.
“Roar!!”
Another furious roar sounded beside her ear, followed immediately by the heavy thud of something massive hitting the ground nearby, causing a faint tremor beneath her feet.
Everything around instantly fell silent.
Lin Xi remained crouched for a long moment before suddenly realizing—she was still alive!
How was that possible?
Where was the beast?
She cautiously turned her head to look beside her and gasped in shock at what she saw!
About ten meters away from her side, a massive brown bear lay motionless. And standing on the bear’s back was a human figure that had appeared out of nowhere!
A man’s figure!
The man quickly approached.
As the distance closed and her vision cleared, Lin Xi’s eyes gradually filled with astonishment!
This man actually had a pair of black feline ears!
And behind him, a thick black tail swung back and forth as he moved on two long, bare legs!
What was this?
A mutant?
No… that wasn’t right!
Lin Xi thought about her inexplicable experiences over the past few days. First, she had been in a car accident during her journey, but emerged completely unharmed, only to find herself transported from the city to a primitive forest!
Then there were the small animals she had seen. While some were familiar creatures like this brown bear, there were others she had never heard of—strange-looking little animals that she was certain couldn’t exist on the Earth she knew!
And now, before her eyes, stood a being that was half-human, half-beast… a man?
Uncontrollably, a term she frequently encountered in online novels suddenly popped into Lin Xi’s mind!
This was… a Beastman!
Had she been inexplicably transported to a world of Beastmen because of a car accident?!
So, Lin Xi looked up at the dense, boundless forest canopy above her head!
That explained why, after walking for so many days, she hadn’t seen any signs of human habitation or found the highway where the accident had occurred…
While Lin Xi was still in shock, the Beastman had already approached her.
Lin Xi quickly rose and took a step back, her gaze filled with wariness.
Although the female protagonists in those online novels she had once been obsessed with mostly ended up in epic romances with Beastmen from other worlds, that was, after all, human imagination.
The Beastman before her was not of her kind!
No one could be sure whether a human would be considered a different species of “Beastman,” a competitor for resources within the same biosphere, or perhaps…
Weak prey?
As the heavy rain poured down, Lin Xi’s eyes remained fixed on the Beastman before her, her mind a chaotic mess!
Her heartbeat quickened, and waves of unease and exhaustion washed over her. In her peripheral vision, the dark, oppressive sky behind the towering Beastman grew increasingly pale, whiter and whiter.
She sensed something was wrong, but before she could react, the chaotic sound of rain in her ears suddenly faded. Her legs gave way, and she completely lost consciousness.
Time passed in a daze. Lin Xi vaguely remembered being forced to drink a bitterly potent liquid.
Much later, faint voices reached her ears, occasionally accompanied by the roars of wild beasts, but she couldn’t open her eyes no matter how hard she tried.
Meanwhile, in the cave, Wu Chen, the Beastman, stood panting heavily over Lin Xi’s unconscious form on the ground. He hunched slightly, his hands transformed into leopard-like claws, and stared warily at Hu Cong standing at the cave entrance.
Unable to control himself, he bared his teeth at Hu Cong, his tone icy: “This Female beast was saved by me. I won’t let you take her away!”
Seeing Wu Chen’s tense posture, Hu Cong’s beautiful eyes darkened with gloom.
He raised a hand to touch the wound on his neck—a scratch from Wu Chen’s claws—and couldn’t help but grimace. When his gaze returned to Wu Chen’s solid muscles, he feigned surrender by spreading his hands, smirking slyly:
“Wu Chen, I’m not denying your credit for saving the little Female beast. But can you really keep her?”
“Don’t forget, you’re just a Crippled beast. Even if this little Female beast is tricked into agreeing to stay with you, once we return to the tribe, the chief will let her choose a male Beastman again. More males will compete with you then.”
“Rather than ending up with nothing later, why not hand the little Female beast over to me? I can give you my second Mate-bond opportunity.”
At this, Hu Cong suddenly chuckled, his words dripping with malice:
“Or, as you know, Hu Mei has always wanted to Mate-bond with you. I can persuade our parents, as long as you give this little Female beast to… Wu Chen!!”
Before Hu Cong could finish, he saw the Beastman opposite him suddenly expand and transform. A sharp, murderous aura surged through the air, and Hu Cong instantly knew things had gone wrong! Without another glance, he instinctively shouted and turned to flee!
But he had barely taken a few steps when a tremendous force slammed into his back, jolting his internal organs. The impact sent him flying through the air!
“Roar!”
“Thud!!”
“Wu Chen! Have you lost your mind?!”
Hu Cong’s entire body rapidly shifted into fox form mid-air, landing on the grass and tumbling far before slowly coming to a stop.
He struggled to his feet from the muddy ground, glaring furiously at the massive black leopard now standing at the cave entrance.
And he had only meant to offer a friendly reminder!
Even if Wu Chen’s strength surpassed his, that couldn’t change the fact that he was a crippled beast.
It was well known that most crippled beasts, the more powerful they became, the less they could control their emotions in battle, often even accidentally injuring their companions.
When the Beastmen in the tribe who were his age were young, they had frequently been beaten up by Wu Chen during his sudden frenzies!
With such poor emotional control, how many female beasts would favor a crippled beast prone to sudden madness?
Even Hu Mei, who had liked Wu Chen since childhood, had first formed a mate-bond with the powerful bear beast Hei Li before extending a mate-bond invitation to Wu Chen!
“Hu Cong, leave this place.”
Wu Chen paid no heed to Hu Cong’s anger. Using his body, he completely blocked the view into the cave. In his leopard beast form, his leopard eyes coldly regarded the mud-covered red-furred fox not far away:
“You know perfectly well—deep in the eastern forest, killing a Beastman would go unnoticed by any other!”
“And let me say this once more: I will not form a mate-bond with Hu Mei. Tell her to stop bothering me.”