After Shen Qi returned, it was still a bit early. Bai Yuwei hadn’t come back yet. Since the roots had a lot of dirt, she went to the river to wash the baby bok choy, separating the leaves one by one before heading back.
She saw many Beastfolk outside starting fires and roasting meat. When they saw her, they greeted her.
It was mealtime, so he should be back soon.
She thought she’d first cook a dish of bok choy with meat, so there would be both meat to eat and vegetables to cut the greasiness.
Thinking as she worked, she cut the vegetables and meat into evenly sized pieces. When the water was hot, she put the meat in first. This time, there was a bit more scum, so she rinsed it and boiled it again before adding the baby bok choy and salt.
With the flavor of the baby bok choy, it smelled even more fragrant, without the plain meaty odor.
While it was cooking, she used wood to make a few simple bowls, smoothing them out and cleaning up the wood shavings.
After washing them with clean water, she rinsed them several times with the broth and then washed them again with clean water until the wooden smell wasn’t as strong.
She served herself a bowl. It had a savory aroma. She took a bite of the baby bok choy—thin, tender, rich, and sweet.
The taste was pretty good, and she finished the bowl of boiled meat and vegetables in no time.
Only after satisfying her hunger did she hear Bai Yuwei returning.
She lifted her eyes to look at him and saw him rubbing his stomach, his eyes fixed on the food in the pot as he swallowed hard. She said softly, “You should eat first. Later, I’d like to ask you about some things.”
“Oh, okay.” Bai Yuwei picked up the pot and brought it to his mouth, making gulping sounds.
Shen Qi was slightly surprised by his appetite today. It seemed he had been starving after going out.
Bai Yuwei put down the pot, not a drop of water left, let out a burp, and then looked at Shen Qi with an expectant expression. “Qiqi, what did you want to talk to me about?”
Shen Qi lowered her eyes. “Has your tribe ever had missing Females?”
Hearing a topic related to Females, Bai Yuwei’s expression turned serious. “Yes. Those Beastfolk said they saw the Evil Beasts take them, and they couldn’t fight them off, so it was just left at that.”
“Were they taken from within the tribe?”
Bai Yuwei shook his head. “No.”
Shen Qi told him what she had seen and heard that day, though she only mentioned hearing about it in the tribe.
Hearing that such a thing endangering Females had happened in his tribe, Bai Yuwei’s brow furrowed deeply.
“Did they say which Female it was?”
“They didn’t mention the Female’s name.”
Anger flashed in Bai Yuwei’s eyes. Tomorrow, he would find out which little brat was colluding with the Evil Beasts. Such behavior was no different from that of the Evil Beasts.
Hiding so deeply within the Tiger Tribe, making everyone think it was all the Evil Beasts’ doing—their actions were even more infuriating, living in comfort while betraying the tribe.
Bai Yuwei clenched his fists tightly, then told her to stay quietly inside the house while he went to inform the Shaman about how to handle this.
Shen Qi nodded.
After Bai Yuwei told Darui about this, Darui also showed a look of shock, followed by anger consuming his entire being.
His beard trembled with rage. “Tomorrow, what do you plan to do?”
“Round them all up.”
“The Evil Beasts might be a bit difficult to deal with.” Darui couldn’t help but frown at the thought of the Evil Beasts.
“Most importantly, we still don’t know which two betrayed the Tiger Tribe. Shaman Darui, tomorrow, bring a few trusted Beastfolk with me to deal with them.””Possible. If one of the Beastfolk is someone who has frequently been rejected by Females, then I might know who it is.”
“The Female he wanted to trade with the Evil Beasts using beast cores is Xin Lei.”
The next day, the sky was clear and azure, with not a wisp of cloud in sight, as if all impurities had been filtered away.
Bai Yuwei brought several Beastfolk with him and followed Shen Qi to the location early. These Beastfolk were equally shocked to hear about the traitor within the tribe.
Filled with righteous indignation, they followed to the spot where the traitor had made the deal the day before.
The area was overgrown with weeds, with only a patch in the middle trampled bare, indicating that the group frequented this place.
Following Bai Yuwei’s instructions, they split up and hid nearby.
Bai Yuwei kept Shen Qi by his side, ready to protect her if danger arose.
His larger frame enveloped her as they hid behind a tree. Her breath brushed against his neck, sending a slight tickling sensation.
Shen Qi noticed his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down and turned her head away, only to spot several dark figures in the distance.
She pinched his arm, snapping him out of his thoughts. Realizing that Beastfolk were approaching, he focused and leaned in closer, concealing the slight exposure of his form.
“Has the Tiger Tribe’s Beastfolk not arrived yet?”
Hearing this voice, they knew the Evil Beasts had arrived first.
They didn’t have to wait long before two figures appeared, one of them carrying a Female over his shoulder.
“Apologies, we were slightly delayed by some matters.”
“I’ve brought the Female as promised.” Mi Nuo set Ai Chu down. “Where are the beast cores?”
“Of course, I won’t disappoint you.” As the low yet somewhat youthful voice faded, Bai Yuwei held Shen Qi back, signaling her to stay put.
Immediately after, he transformed into his Tiger Beast Form, his sharp claws lunging toward the nearest Evil Beast.
Another Evil Beast, sensing the anomaly, swiftly transformed its lower body into a serpentine form, coiling around the nearby Evil Beast to evade the attack.
Shen Qi peeked out and saw seven Evil Beasts. Two of them looked almost identical, except one had a scar near the corner of its eye.
“It’s a trap! These Tiger Beasts have deceived us!” The Evil Beast with the scar near its eye glared angrily at the suddenly appearing Tiger Beasts.
Sen Yan hadn’t expected these two Tiger Beasts to betray them this time. If not for his lingering vigilance, his brother would have been severely injured moments ago.
This Tiger Beast seemed quite formidable…
Sen Zhu also eyed the fierce Tiger Beast, frowning slightly. If not for his brother pulling him away from his previous position, he would have been injured.
Mi Nuo and the Tiger Beast beside him stared wide-eyed in shock at Bai Yuwei’s sudden appearance.
Realizing the situation, Mi Nuo quickly distanced himself from the Evil Beasts. “Bai Yuwei, they wanted to take Ai Chu away!”
Bai Yuwei cast a cold glance at him. “Are you sure it was them trying to take her, or was it you who wanted to trade her to the Evil Beasts?”
Hearing this, Mi Nuo knew his scheme had been exposed. Before they could resist, the Tiger Beasts who had appeared from behind restrained them, leaving them unable to move.
Bai Yuwei turned his attention to the Evil Beasts. The tallest was the one with the scar near its eye, followed by the one he had protected earlier—one at the fourth tier, the other at the third. The remaining Evil Beasts were of little consequence.
He charged first toward the fourth-tier Evil Beast. Though both were at the fourth tier, this Evil Beast had clearly only recently advanced to that level.
The other Tiger Beasts joined the fray, clashing with the Evil Beasts.
Sen Yan fully transformed into his Beast Form and engaged him in battle.Sen Zhu saw his brother in trouble and wanted to help, transforming into a snake-like tail to strike at him. Unexpectedly, a sharp object suddenly shot toward his tail, forcing him to swiftly retract it.
Turning sideways, he saw a petite figure, neither fully feminine nor masculine, standing beside a tree, holding a rope. She pulled it back, and the sharp object from earlier returned to her hand.