[Quick, look!]
Tang Hongluan’s eyes sparkled. If they weren’t so wild, could she turn the tables and control these lunatics?
[Xiao Shuo: Wildness Value 60
Yan Chen: Wildness Value 60
Qing Yuan: Wildness Value 65
Bi Ze: Wildness Value 65
Yun Li: Wildness Value 55]
Staring at the panel only she could see, Tang Hongluan’s grin nearly reached her ears. What was the target value again?
[30!]
The system’s voice was equally cheerful.
The five beast husbands, who had been silently devouring their meal, seemed to sense something and simultaneously turned their gazes toward Tang Hongluan. Some couldn’t help but curl their lips in disdain, what was this woman fantasizing about with that expression?
Realizing she had slipped up, Tang Hongluan quickly coughed twice, reined in her grin, and buried herself in her food.
She had no idea how many times each beast husband had gone back for more meat or refilled their bowls with soup, but by the end, the entire massive pot of beef and broth had been polished off, not a single drop remained.
Tang Hongluan’s lips twitched. A whole cow! These gluttons had demolished an entire cow!
After the meal, the beast husbands obediently washed the pots and bowls, wiped the table clean, and each went home.
Tang Hongluan glanced at her own bowl, someone had thoughtfully washed it for her. She smiled in satisfaction. At least these dog men knew how to behave.
Exhausted from two days of nonstop running around, Tang Hongluan was truly spent. She didn’t even bother using her powers to heal her face before sprawling out on the large kang bed she had built, falling asleep in no time.
Little did she know that while she slept soundly, Jiang Xin, desperate to avoid being exposed by Yan Chen, had already taken preemptive action by running to her father, Jiang Mao, the tribal chief, to lodge a complaint.
“Dad!” Jiang Xin’s face was full of grievance, her eyes brimming with tears as she threw herself into Jiang Mao’s arms.
Jiang Mao, who had always doted on his precious daughter, chuckled. “What’s wrong, my dear? Who would dare bully my girl?”
“Dad!” Jiang Xin sniffled, hesitating as if struggling to speak, then burst into tears.
“What happened?” Jiang Mao’s expression turned serious. His daughter was usually domineering, he had never seen her cry like this. Just how badly had she been wronged?
“Yan Chen… Yan Chen forced me to mate with him!” Jiang Xin, humiliated, covered her face and sobbed. “Luckily, my friend arrived in time and stopped him…”
“What?!” Jiang Mao was shocked. Yan Chen was an outstanding beastman in the clan, one who had awakened divine beast bloodline, a rare talent among the younger generation. “How could he do such a thing?”
“Wahhh…” Jiang Xin wept pitifully. “I don’t know either. Yesterday, I was out in the nearby woods when I suddenly ran into Yan Chen. Maybe he was in heat, unwilling to mate with Tang Hongluan, and just happened to see me, so he… I struggled for so long, but thankfully, a beastman from the Lion Tribe passed by and drove him off!”
“Outrageous!” Jiang Mao slammed his palm down, nearly shattering the stone table in the room. “How could Yan Chen commit such a despicable act? Back then, I worried that these young beastmen, without females to mate with, might cause trouble, that’s why I kept Tang Hongluan and assigned her to them. Who would’ve thought they still couldn’t control themselves!”
“Before leaving, Yan Chen was furious and threatened to expose me… saying I was caught mating with that Lion Tribe beastman in the wild…” Jiang Xin cried even harder…
“Not only is he lacking in virtue, he’s downright wicked!” Jiang Mao was truly angry. “I always thought Yan Chen was straightforward and upright, but who knew he could be so vile inside!”
“Daughter doesn’t care how Yan Chen slanders me, but I’m afraid it might damage Father’s reputation. You’re the tribal chief, if Yan Chen really spreads such lies about me, where would that leave your dignity?” Jiang Xin sniffled. “I didn’t know what to do, so I came to tell you the truth. I didn’t want Father to be deceived by Yan Chen!”
“My precious daughter, you did the right thing!” Jiang Mao patted Jiang Xin’s head. “If you hadn’t spoken up, given how convincingly Yan Chen usually plays the honest man, I might have really been fooled by him!”
Jiang Xin smiled, her mission was accomplished.
The next day, after a good night’s sleep, Yan Chen indeed remembered Jiang Xin’s affair. This was something he couldn’t ignore, so he went to see the tribal chief first thing in the morning.
When Jiang Mao saw Yan Chen approaching, he already had a rough idea of what was coming, undoubtedly some nonsense about Xinxin having an affair outside.
“Tribal Chief, there’s something I must tell you,” Yan Chen cut straight to the point without any preamble.
Jiang Mao kept his expression neutral, though inwardly he sneered. It seemed his Xinxin had been right!
“Yesterday, on my way back, I saw Jiang Xin secretly meeting with Mo Xuan of the Lion Tribe in the wild! The clan has always demanded that females only mate with their own beast husbands, yet Jiang Xin, as the tribal chief’s daughter, is setting a terrible example by secretly coupling with a beastman from another tribe! This is completely unacceptable!”
Yan Chen was blunt and to the point.
Even though Jiang Mao had anticipated this, the sheer audacity of Yan Chen’s accusations still made his blood pressure spike. A secret affair in the wild? Coupling? The tribal chief ‘s daughter leading the way?
Using such filthy words to slander his daughter?
“Yan Chen…” Jiang Mao pressed his fingers to his temples. “You saw this with your own eyes?”
“Yes!”
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” Jiang Mao glared at Yan Chen.
Never in his wildest dreams did Yan Chen expect the clan leader to respond like this. He stood frozen. “You… you can ask Jiang Xin-”
“Hmph!” Jiang Mao dropped the pretense. “It was you who tried to force yourself on my daughter! And now you dare accuse her of coupling with someone else?”
Yan Chen was utterly bewildered. What was going on?
Since when had he tried to force himself on Jiang Xin? What had even happened? Him, wanting to mate with Jiang Xin?
That was absolute nonsense!
“Yan Chen!” Jiang Mao knew Yan Chen’s strength, even if this had happened, he couldn’t afford to sever ties completely. “How about this? You become Xinxin’s sixth beast husband, and I’ll let this matter drop!”
This decision was the best solution Jiang Mao had come up with after thinking it over all night. If Jiang Xin’s five beast husbands found out Yan Chen had tried to force himself on their mate, they would undoubtedly cause trouble, and the situation would escalate. Besides, Yan Chen was exceptional, he regretted having matched him with Tang Hongluan before. This was the perfect opportunity to reassign him to Xinxin. Yan Chen would avoid further trouble, and Jiang Mao would gain a son-in-law with awakened divine beast bloodlines. A win-win!
But Yan Chen couldn’t care less about Jiang Mao’s scheming. Become Jiang Xin’s sixth beast husband? Ha! He had seen that shameless woman coupling with Mo Xuan in the wild with his own eyes…
“I refuse!” Yan Chen’s crimson eyes blazed with fury. He had merely come to report Jiang Xin’s illicit affair in the wilderness, how had it escalated to him being forced to become that despicable woman’s beast-husband in the blink of an eye?
This was utterly unjust!
“Yan Chen!” Jiang Mao adopted the stern expression of an elder. As the tribal chief and a senior, he couldn’t tolerate such insolence from a younger tribesman, especially one as unruly and undisciplined as Yan Chen. “Do you have any idea what you’ll face if this scandal spreads?”
“What?” Yan Chen couldn’t care less. What scandal? What was there to spread? Jiang Xin was the one in the wrong, why should he bear any consequences?
“You’ll be utterly disgraced! Xinxin will be humiliated! And her beast-husbands will seek vengeance on you!” Jiang Mao was livid. Did he really have to spell out something so obvious?
“Why should I be disgraced? It was Jiang Xin who cheated!” Yan Chen argued again.
“Still lying to my face?!” Jiang Mao roared. “You have two choices, become Xinxin’s sixth beast-husband, or rot in the dungeon!”
Yan Chen froze. The clan did indeed have a rule: if a beastman forcibly mated with another female, unless she consented, the accused would be imprisoned in the dungeon until death.
“Of course, you could also choose to resist!” Jiang Mao glared at Yan Chen, his expression murderous. “But that would mean making an enemy of the Tiger Clan forever!”