Yarui was kicking himself.
He’d been so focused on chasing the female who’d tumbled down that he hadn’t noticed this was Shengqing’s territory.
If he had smelled Shengqing’s scent, he would never have set foot here, not even on pain of death!
Yarui struggled, his eyes darting toward Shengqing.
He opened his mouth, about to beg for mercy.
But Shengqing gave him no chance to speak.
With a powerful twist of his snake tail, he snapped Yarui’s neck.
Yarui’s body convulsed once before he went still, his mouth agape as he breathed his last.
Shengqing tossed the corpse aside and shifted into his human form.
He walked over to the small female lying on the ground, gathered her into his arms, and headed for the cave he had carved out for hibernation.
Su Yu didn’t know how long she’d been unconscious.
When she finally struggled back to awareness, her mind was still foggy.
On instinct, she leaped from the stone bed and burrowed into a pile of Beast Skins stacked nearby.
As her mind gradually cleared, she could just barely make sense of the blurry image before her.
She appeared to be in a cave.
Su Yu’s heart sank.
‘It seems that Stray Beast caught up with me after all.
I’ve fallen into the hands of that Crocodile Beastman.’
Su Yu grit her teeth, her heart filled with defiance.
Hiding in the pile of Beast Skins, she pricked up her ears, listening intently.
She discovered the cave was desolate and silent.
Besides herself, there seemed to be no other Beastman around.
Su Yu held her breath, her ears twitching as every nerve in her body tensed.
‘That Crocodile Beastman seems to have gone out.’
‘Perfect!
I can use this chance to escape!’
Su Yu mustered her courage and scrambled on her weak limbs, running for her life toward the cave entrance.
She had just dashed out of the entrance when, a second later, a huge figure appeared before her, blocking her path.
Su Yu: “!!!”
‘Oh no!
The Stray Beast is back!’
Su Yu grit her teeth and tried to bolt in another direction, but the scruff of her neck suddenly tightened.
She was lifted clean off the ground!
A low, gentle voice, tinged with helplessness, sounded by her ear.
“Little female, why are you running?”
Su Yu didn’t answer.
She squirmed, twisting around to slash at his wrist with her claws.
To Shengqing, her attack was no more than a tickle.
Holding the struggling Su Yu in one hand and his gutted prey in the other, Shengqing walked into the cave.
Shengqing casually tossed the prey onto a clean Beast Skin.
Then, with a slightly clumsy motion, he pressed the struggling Su Yu against his chest and stroked her head reassuringly.
“Don’t worry, I’m not a Bad Beast.
I won’t hurt you.”
Su Yu, who had been struggling, suddenly froze.
Her ears twitched.
This Beastman’s voice was different from the Stray Beast’s.
She tilted her head up to ‘look’ at him and asked warily, “Are you the one who saved me from the Stray Beast?”
Shengqing said, “I am.”
Su Yu instantly let out a sigh of relief and slumped weakly against his thigh.
Forcing herself to stay conscious, she said, “I’m a female from the Liaoshui Tribe.
We were attacked by Stray Beasts during a gathering, and I was separated from my Beast Husband.
Can you take me back?”
Shengqing shook his head.
“I’m afraid not.”
Su Yu was disappointed, but she understood.
They were strangers, and the forest was fraught with danger.
He probably couldn’t get her back safely on his own.
Shengqing keenly sensed her disappointment and explained in a gentle voice, “Your injuries are too severe, and you’re running a fever.
If I tried to take you back now, you wouldn’t survive the long journey.
The exhaustion would kill you.”
“Besides…” He paused.
“You’re pregnant.
You can’t engage in any strenuous activity for a long time.”
Su Yu was stunned.
Her two paws went to her flat belly.
‘I…
I’m pregnant?’
Just then, the system’s broadcast rang out.
[Ding!
Congratulations, Host, on completing the second mission: Conceive a cub with the Wolf Beast Shi Wei.]
[Ding!
Congratulations, Host!
You have received 100 points, one 100-cubic-meter Storage Ring, one Beauty and Beauty Pill, and one Power Pill.]
250: [Now issuing the third mission: Take a Five-star Beast Husband.]
[Mission Reward: 100 points, a 100-cubic-meter expansion for the Storage Ring, two Beauty and Beauty Pills, two Power Pills, and one Talent Awakening Pill.]
[As the Host is in beast form and cannot wear the Storage Ring, the rewards will be held by the System for safekeeping.]
Su Yu’s feelings were a complicated mess.
Although she had long been prepared for the possibility of having a cub, the reality of it felt surreal.
Most importantly, this cub had come at the worst possible time.
Her situation was uncertain; she was in no position to raise a cub.
The more she thought, the more her spirits sank.
As the adrenaline wore off, the wounds all over her body began to ache, and her breaths came in hot gasps.
The combination of physical pain and emotional distress was too much for Su Yu to bear.
Tears began to fall.
Seeing Su Yu fall silent, Shengqing assumed she was still determined to leave.
He was about to offer more words of comfort when he suddenly felt something hot on his thigh.
He looked down.
The little female curled up on his thigh was crying.
Shengqing was instantly at a loss.
He carefully picked her up by her two front paws.
“Don’t cry.
How about this?
Once you’re healed, I’ll take you back to the Liaoshui Tribe.”
Su Yu managed a choked “mhm” between sobs.
Her constitution was already weak, and this ordeal had taken a heavy toll.
In the middle of her crying, she drifted off to sleep again.
Shengqing carefully placed her on the stone bed and turned to find a soft Beast Skin to cover her.
When he turned back, he discovered that the Little Black Fox on the stone bed had, at some unknown point, shifted back into her human form.
The Little Black Fox’s human form was stunningly beautiful.
Her skin was as white as snow, and her long, raven hair lay disheveled across her body, just barely concealing her private areas.
She was curled up, a hand protectively over her stomach, looking vulnerable.
The corners of her tightly shut eyes were still wet with tears, and her small nose was bright red, making for a pitiful sight.
Shengqing froze.
A flash of stunned admiration crossed his eyes before he snapped out of it, the tips of his ears turning bright red.
He scrambled to find a soft Beast Skin and gently draped it over the small female’s nearly naked body.
As he did so, he saw the bruises and scrapes that marred her exposed skin.
They looked especially glaring against her snow-white skin.
Shengqing frowned.
He tentatively placed his large, well-defined hand over one of her injuries, and a green light began to glow softly in his palm.
The scrapes on Su Yu’s body gradually began to heal.
Seeing her furrowed brow relax slightly, Shengqing finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He wrapped her completely in the Beast Skin, then went to find some new ones, intending to make a set of clothes for Su Yu.
Male Beastmen were born with the innate talent for making clothes passed down through their lineage.
After all, what female would want a male Beastman who couldn’t make clothes?
But as he set to work, on some strange impulse, Shengqing swapped the Beast Skin for his own Snake Shedding.
He tried to convince himself.
‘It’s already spring, and the weather is getting warmer.
My Snake Shedding is thin and cool to wear.
The little female will definitely like it.’
While Shengqing was making clothes, Su Yu, lying on the stone bed, began to run a high fever.