The males of the Liaoshui Tribe who had stayed behind turned pale when they saw the Crocodile Beastman charging at them.
“How could it be him?!”
“Quick!
Luo Jian!
Go to the forest and get Shi Wei and the leader back here!”
Su Yu fought to suppress her panic and asked the male Beastman shielding her, “Who is Yarui?”
“It’s perfectly normal for an outsider female like you not to know about Yarui.
Three years ago, he was the strongest warrior in the Liaoshui Tribe.”
The male Beastman quickly explained, “But he has too many impurities in his body.
On top of that, he’s a Cold-blooded Beastman, unpopular with females.
Without a female’s favor, he couldn’t alleviate the violent temper caused by the impurities.”
“So, one day three years ago, Yarui lost control.
The impurities in his body drove him to mate with a female.
He tried to force himself on his own mother, and when his father and mother fought back, he killed them both.”
“When Yarui came to his senses, the impurities had already twisted his temperament, making him vicious and cruel.
He killed several males in the tribe and tried to snatch the females, but was fought off by Shi Wei, who risked his life to do it.
Grievously injured, Yarui fled the tribe as a traitor.”
“From that day on, Yarui has been at odds with the Liaoshui Tribe.
He comes back every year to harass us, trying to snatch away any female he sets his eyes on.”
“He’s actually succeeded a few times over the years.
But he always comes to steal females right before the dry season.
Why has he shown up so early this time?”
While this male Beastman was talking to Su Yu, Yarui had already clashed with the males of the Liaoshui Tribe.
They had no intention of exchanging pleasantries.
They shifted into their beast forms and attacked immediately.
But unlike Yarui, who fought without restraint, the male Beastmen of the Liaoshui Tribe were hampered by their need to protect the females.
What’s more, Yarui hadn’t come alone this time.
He’d brought several other Cold-blooded Beastmen with him.
Members of the other tribes wanted to lend a hand, but they were powerless to help.
They had to protect the females of their own tribes as well.
Seeing they were about to be overwhelmed, Luo Ge roared at Sang Guo and the others, “Sang Guo!
Take Su Yu and run into the forest!
Find Shi Wei!
Gan Xin, you protect them!”
The male Beastman who had just been explaining who Yarui was—Gan Xin—decisively transformed into a large brown bear.
He lowered his body.
“Sang Guo, Su Yu, get on!”
Sang Guo said decisively, “Yu Yu, quickly change into your beast form!
I’ll carry you!”
Females could also transform into beast forms, which were usually smaller than those of the male Beastmen.
Su Yu quickly transformed into a black, one-tailed fox.
Sang Guo held her in her arms, quickly leaped onto Gan Xin’s back, and Gan Xin took off, running desperately toward the forest with them.
‘Yarui had searched painstakingly for so many days.
Now that he has finally found this sweet-scented female, how could he be willing to just let her go?’
He let out a piercing cry, sending a male Beastman blocking his path flying with a sweep of his tail, and quickly chased after Sang Guo and the others.
Even though Jinwei detested Su Yu, he didn’t want to see her fall into the hands of a vicious and cruel Wandering Beastman.
Almost instinctively, Jinwei took off after Yarui.
He hadn’t taken more than a few steps before Hu Ya’s terrified scream came from behind him.
“Ayala!” Jinwei’s expression changed.
He turned without hesitation and ran back in Hu Ya’s direction.
‘As for Su Yu, she’ll just have to fend for herself.’
「Meanwhile.」
Yarui was incredibly fast.
In the blink of an eye, he had caught up to Gan Xin and sent him flying with a lash of his tail.
Sang Guo, who was riding on his back, cried out in alarm as she and Su Yu were thrown violently aside.
The girl and the fox tumbled wretchedly through the grass before coming to a stop.
Su Yu shook her dizzy head and shouted, “Sang Guo!
Are you okay?!”
Sang Guo grimaced in pain as she scrambled up from the ground.
“I’m fine.”
She was about to ask if Su Yu was alright when she saw Yarui closing in.
Sang Guo shrieked, “He’s coming!
Su Yu!
Run!”
She quickly got up and stood in front of Yarui, trying to block him and buy Su Yu time to escape.
But to her surprise, Yarui didn’t even spare her a glance, heading straight for Su Yu.
Sang Guo’s face fell.
“Su Yu!
Run!
He’s after you!!”
Su Yu spun around and ran for her life, putting every ounce of strength she had into it.
Her vision was poor, making her nearly blind at night, but her hearing was excellent.
Plus, it was easier to run in her beast form than in her human one.
Yarui’s cold gaze fixed on the Little Black Fox scrambling before him.
He sneered, maintaining an unhurried pace.
“Stop running.
Save your strength.
You’ll need it to bear my cubs later.”
Hearing this, Su Yu’s four legs pumped even faster.
She couldn’t see and had no idea where she was running.
All she could do was focus on escaping from Yarui first and figure out the rest later.
‘Besides, I have Shi Wei’s Beast Mark on me.
He’ll find me soon.’
Yarui sneered again, his body twisting as he moved even faster.
He caught up to Su Yu in the blink of an eye.
Su Yu caught the foul, fishy stench coming from behind and decisively rolled to the side.
But she hadn’t expected there to be a slope there.
Su Yu’s world spun as her body tumbled downward.
「At that moment.」
At the bottom of the cliff, a giant, fluorescent blue python lay coiled.
He was resting with his eyes closed.
Suddenly, a rustling sound from up the cliff face caught his attention.
Shengqing slowly opened his eyes, his cold, vertical pupils fixed on the side of the cliff.
The bushes on the cliffside were shaking nonstop, as if something was about to come through.
Just as Shengqing grew alert, a little black furball of a fox tumbled down from above and landed right on top of him with a SPLAT.
It gave a surprisingly springy bounce or two.
Shengqing’s vertical pupils widened slightly.
‘This is…
a female?’
Su Yu didn’t know she had just crashed into a giant python.
All she knew was that it hurt.
It fucking hurt.
Every inch of her body ached.
Gritting her teeth against the pain, she grimaced and staggered to her feet.
She shook her slightly dizzy head, picked a direction, and painfully forced her legs to start running again.
She didn’t dare stop.
‘Because Wandering Beastmen don’t kill females outright, I won’t even be able to use the system’s protection mechanism to escape.’
So, Su Yu could only run for her life.
But her body was too weak.
That tumble down the slope had been a huge torment for her.
She hadn’t taken two steps before her vision went black and she collapsed.
Shengqing, who had been watching her quietly, was startled.
He quickly moved his head closer, flicking his tongue out to taste the air for her scent and breath.
‘Good, she’s still alive.
Looks like she just fainted.’
Shengqing was just about to shift into his human form and take the little fox in his arms when a sudden rustling sound came from the cliff above.
A huge, dark figure burst out of the bushes.
Yarui was about to follow the female’s sweet scent when his body was suddenly snared by an icy cold snake tail!
When he saw the color of the tail, Yarui’s face changed drastically.
‘How could Shengqing be here?!
Didn’t he go to the Exotic Beast Forest to hunt?!’
Shengqing’s name was widely known among the Wandering Beastman.
Although he was also a Stray Beast, he utterly detested other Wandering Beastmen!
Any Wandering Beastman who crossed his path was as good as dead!