Xiao Shuo opened his eyes and, by some unknown light, immediately spotted Tang Hongluan not far away, and Yan Chen pinned beneath her.
He frowned, feeling as if he’d blacked out for a moment. How had Yan Chen ended up cushioning that wretched woman?
And really, how shameless could she be? Burying her face right into Yan Chen’s chest like that?
With a disdainful snort, he grabbed Tang Hongluan and tossed her aside onto the ground.
Yan Chen, finally able to breathe freely again, also opened his eyes. The moment he met those silver pupils, he sprang up, and the two immediately began grappling.
Tang Hongluan was jolted awake, her entire body aching as if it had been disassembled, the surrounding air thick with heat.
She summoned her ability into her palms, gradually enveloping herself in its energy until she finally felt somewhat comfortable. Only then did she open her eyes and sit cross-legged on the ground.
Her limbs were unharmed, no burns. It seemed they hadn’t plunged into the volcano after all. But then… Her gaze swept around until it landed on her two beastly husbands.
A beam of light shone from above. Presumably, that was where they had fallen from.
The cave was filled with scorching heat, and considering how close they had been to the volcano’s mouth, they must have fallen in early, luckily avoiding a direct plunge into the lava.
Seems fortune favors the bold!
“What, did the mountain god not invite you to stay for dinner?” Xiao Shuo sneered.
Tang Hongluan scoffed. Enough already! Could he ever let it go?
“Done kowtowing?” She shot back, aiming to irritate him in return.
“Ask Yan Chen!” Xiao Shuo’s face darkened. After the fall, Yan Chen had forced him to kowtow a full thirty times.
Tang Hongluan gave Xiao Shuo an incredulous look. Had he actually done it? She turned to Yan Chen. “Did he?”
“He did!” Yan Chen’s expression was equally icy. After making Xiao Shuo kowtow, he had let his guard down, only for Xiao Shuo to flip the tables and force him to kowtow thirty times as well…
If word of this got out, neither of them would have any dignity left as alpha beasts…
Thankfully, no one had witnessed the kowtowing. Otherwise, the humiliation would have been unbearable!
[Little Host, the wildness values of your beast husbands have changed significantly!]
The system suddenly chimed in.
Tang Hongluan had nearly forgotten she even had a system!
She quickly checked the updated stats in her mind.
A panel appeared before her eyes:
[Xiao Shuo: Wildness Value 80
Yan Chen: Wildness Value 85
Qing Yuan: Wildness Value 85
Bi Ze: Wildness Value 85
Yun Li: Wildness Value 80]
They’d all dropped! Especially Xiao Shuo, from 99 down to 80. It seemed all the bickering with him had actually worked. The more she provoked him, the more effective it was.
Truly the type that improves with a little torment!
Yun Li had also dropped to 80. Maybe… She pondered. Was it the meals? A feeding strategy, more feeding, then.
As for the remaining three at 85… Tang Hongluan exhaled, glancing at Yan Chen beside her. She’d have to find a breakthrough…
The other two were still a headache. But at least their values had dropped a little… Probably because she’d visibly grown smarter. Unlike before, when everyone had been disgusted enough to want her dead…
“Seems the mountain god blessed us after all!” Tang Hongluan stood up, surveying the cave.
It wasn’t completely dark. Not far ahead, there was even a fiery glow. She cautiously approached, and froze in shock.
Beneath her feet, molten lava churned in a fiery red mass.
“Is this the mountain god?” Xiao Shuo appeared beside her without warning.
“We’d better start thinking about how to get out of here,” Tang Hongluan shot him a glare, then turned her attention to assessing their current predicament.
More accurately, it wasn’t just a cave, it was a limestone cavern.
Clearly formed by ancient volcanic eruptions, this place had somehow escaped the recent devastation. She carefully traced her fingers along the cave walls. They were standing at the mouth of a volcano, a place both perilous and wondrous. Who knew what treasures might be hidden here?
Her fingertips brushed lightly over the rough surface as she walked, but suddenly, her body lurched forward. Tang Hongluan gasped, but before she could even cry out, the world spun violently around her.
The next second, her vision flooded with light.
Gemstones embedded in the walls shimmered under an eerie blue glow…
Tang Hongluan’s eyes widened, her jaw dropping. Where… had she ended up?
But then again, what use were all these gemstones in the Beast World? She had never been one for vanity, and these glittering stones held no appeal for her.
Her gaze swept quickly across the cavern before landing on a sleek, obsidian-black rectangular object tucked in a corner.
It was a stone coffin, simple in design yet exuding an overwhelming presence. Carved from a single block of obsidian, its surface gleamed with a cold, polished sheen.
“System, did I transmigrate again?” Tang Hongluan wondered inwardly, though she still cautiously inched closer to the mysterious object.
[Host has not transmigrated. This is merely the activation of a side quest!]
A side quest?
Hesitantly, she approached the coffin, her fingers lightly grazing its icy edges. Her eyes inevitably drifted downward.
Inside lay a man.
A man so breathtakingly beautiful, it defied reality.
His skin was pale as snow, his features so exquisitely carved he might have stepped out of a painting. His lashes were absurdly long, and even with his eyes closed, his beauty was suffocating.
Tang Hongluan sucked in a sharp breath. Compared to him, her beast husbands might as well be background extras!
But the real question was… was he dead?
His skin didn’t look like that of a corpse. It was flawless, almost… warm to the touch. As if he were merely asleep.
The tomb was silent, adorned with burial gems along the walls. Beside the coffin, an array of meticulously crafted stone tools: knives, axes, bowls, were neatly arranged.
Tang Hongluan’s eyes gleamed as they locked onto one particular stone knife.
Such finely made, practical tools… Surely taking one wouldn’t hurt?
She had no idea who the tomb’s occupant was, but judging by the burial offerings, he must have been from a wealthy family. They probably wouldn’t mind.
Besides, fate had brought her here. She wasn’t greedy, just a couple of useful tools would do!
Gritting her teeth, she stealthily reached out, forgetting for a moment that her right hand hadn’t fully recovered. Her body swayed, her hand slipped, and suddenly, her palm landed squarely on the man’s face!
The sensation… wasn’t cold. It was soft, warm, and disturbingly alive!
“Ah! Are you dead or not?!” She yanked her hand back in panic.
Only to find her wrist caught in a firm grip.
“Was it you?” The man’s crimson lips parted, his voice so tender it sent her heart racing. A faint smile curled at the corners of his mouth, as though they were old acquaintances.
Tang Hongluan nearly leaped out of her skin. “A corpse coming to life?!!!”
Slowly, the man opened his eyes, golden-brown irises like a sunset sinking into the deep sea. Gentle, yet tinged with an unsettling hint of darkness, a stark contrast to his deceptively innocent face.
“Who are you, who are you, who are you…” Tang Hongluan’s mind short-circuited. Before she could scramble away, the man lowered his gaze, staring intently at her hand with something akin to affection.
“A damned curse…” he muttered through gritted teeth, his beautiful eyes flashing with fury.
“What… what kind of curse?” Tang Hongluan’s heart pounded with fear. The men in this beast world were all devastatingly handsome, but who could tell what color their hearts truly were? She was just about to pull her hand back when,
Sure enough, the next second…
“Baby…” The man suddenly changed his expression, grabbing her hand and showering it with a flurry of kisses. Not satisfied with just her hand, he then leaned in to kiss her lips…