Zhao Ci frowned, but he still went over and drank it.
He downed the large bowl in one go, casually wiping the soup that had spilled from the corner of his mouth.
He then casually washed the bowl, put it back, and walked back to Jiang Mian.
He spoke indifferently, “Done.”
Jiang Mian paused.
Her gaze fell on the sofa across from her, and she said, “Sit.
Let’s talk.”
Zhao Ci glanced at Jiang Mian and swung his long legs to sit on the sofa opposite her.
His expression was still tinged with a cold, rebellious beauty, as if he had a defiant spirit that could never be broken.
Jiang Mian: …
“What happened this morning wasn’t my intention.
Punish me however you see fit.” Zhao Ci’s expression was cold as he looked quietly at Jiang Mian.
“I won’t fight back.”
Jiang Mian paused.
‘I thought he’d figured things out and had come to accept my rules.
I hadn’t expected it was about what happened this morning.’
But then, inspiration struck.
This was a good first step toward mending their relationship.
An idea came to her, and she said, “I won’t punish you, but you have to follow the rules I set for all of you a few days ago.”
Hearing this, Zhao Ci sneered.
“Suck up to you?
In your dreams.”
Jiang Mian took a deep breath.
‘Why do these people always twist my words?’
“When I say ‘be good to me,’ I mean good in the way friends are, not the fawning way of a Beast Slave to a master.” Jiang Mian had no choice but to explain.
She also looked at the other Beastmen.
“The rest of you, listen up.
This is what I mean by ‘good.'”
She began to explain slowly, “The purpose of this rule is so we can coexist peacefully.
We’ll let bygones be bygones and call it even, with no one owing anyone anything.
‘Being good to me’ is the standard I’ll use to judge you.
When I feel you’ve met that standard, I can let you go.
I can even grant you the status of Free Men.”
Jiang Mian gave a lengthy explanation, hoping they wouldn’t misinterpret her meaning again.
“Why make ‘owing each other nothing’ so complicated?” Zhao Ci looked at her coldly.
Jiang Mian’s eye twitched.
Then she heard Zhao Ci say ominously, “You cut off one of your arms, and we’ll be even.”
His wings were broken by her predecessor, and now he wanted her, Jiang Mian, to cut off her own arm?
Jiang Mian: …
‘First of all, I’m not the one who tortured them, so why should I be the one to cut off my arm?’
‘Besides, the current me is a different Jiang Mian from the future.
Of course I’m not going to cut off my arm.’
Zhao Ci saw Jiang Mian’s silence and gave a mocking smile.
“What’s wrong?
Don’t you want to be even?”
Jiang Mian considered herself a fairly good-tempered person, but being mocked like this time and again…
‘Do they really think I have no temper?’
“Fine, then.” Jiang Mian was so angry she laughed.
“You don’t have to follow the rules.
That’s fine.
When the time comes, the other Beastmen can leave, and you can stay by my side forever as my Beast Slave.
You can wash my clothes, cook my meals, and serve me on your knees.”
As expected, Zhao Ci’s expression turned ugly when he heard this.
“Sister, can we really be friends?” Chi Lin suddenly asked with an interested smile.
“We don’t have to be lowly Beast Slaves anymore?”
Jiang Mian paused and glanced at Chi Lin, wondering what the point of his question was.
‘Because for the past half-month, they hadn’t treated my predecessor as their master at all.
They didn’t show the slightest awareness of being Beast Slaves.’
‘Every single one of them acted more like the master than she did.
They all treated my predecessor like an enemy.
Saying they should act like friends was already a generous offer.’
‘I don’t dare hope for anything more.’
‘After all, in my predecessor’s memories, other people’s Beast Slaves served their masters on their knees.
They had to keep their heads bowed and their eyes down, always a station below their master.’
‘But the five Beastmen on this Starship were anything but subservient.
They were full of defiance and were just looking for a chance to break free from the control of their brain area chips and kill my predecessor.’
“Yes.” Jiang Mian reined in her thoughts and just nodded lightly.
She herself didn’t like the way humans and Beastmen interacted in this era, with humans keeping Beastmen in captivity.
When she returned to this era, she was happy that humans had a high status and weren’t the ones being kept in captivity.
But she didn’t like this way of life.
“You’re so kind, Sister,” Chi Lin said, a faint smile playing on his lips.
Jiang Mian always felt like he was being sarcastic.
But she didn’t say anything more.
Zhao Ci just frowned, stood up, and left by himself.
She had no idea if he had taken her words to heart.
However, in the following days, whenever Jiang Mian called him out to drink the nutrient soup, he would come, although he never gave her a pleasant look.
Later, he would come out on his own, even when Jiang Mian didn’t call for him.
Moreover, they were almost at the Pollution Star they were being exiled to.
Jiang Mian finally felt that her relationship with the five Beastmen had improved.
While they weren’t exactly good friends, she had at least unlocked the achievement of them no longer wanting to kill her.
But that thought was shattered this morning.
When Jiang Mian woke up this morning, she felt dizzy and her vision was blurry.
Her whole body felt unwell, especially her head!
After washing up, Jiang Mian stared at her reflection in the mirror, which had split into two or three overlapping images.
She shook her head slightly, and the images instantly multiplied.
She was sure there was nothing wrong with the nutrient soup she drank.
So the nutrient solution must have been fine too.
As for the plants from which she extracted the nutrients, she was also certain they weren’t poisonous.
‘Could someone have put something in the nutrient soup?’
Jiang Mian’s slender, pale fingers braced themselves on the white porcelain of the washstand, her fingertips pressing down slightly.
A moment later, a wave of nausea washed over her.
She clung to the washstand and retched violently.
After a while, she recovered a bit, and the blurry images in her vision finally disappeared.
Jiang Mian’s slender fingertips slowly rested on her own wrist to take her pulse.
In no time, her heart sank.
First, she splashed her face with water and wiped it clean.
Only then did she slowly walk out, take out her medical kit, and begin to prepare an Antidote.
This body was poisoned.
It had been poisoned even before she arrived.
And it was a slow-acting poison.
First, it would slowly make the victim disoriented, then gradually turn them into a complete imbecile, and finally, kill them.
As for the poisoner, Jiang Mian suspected many people.
It could be the fake young lady of the Jiang Family from the Imperial Capital Star, or it could be any of the Beastmen on this Starship.
The poison was likely administered more than half a month ago, which meant any of them could have poisoned her.
The fake young lady of the Emperor City Jiang Family had always wanted to kill her predecessor, so poisoning was certainly a possibility.
Zhao Ci, as a Butterfly Beastman, had sparkling dust on his wings that acted as an aphrodisiac during mating, but as a deadly poison when used to kill.
Lin Yu, a Snake Beastman, had venom in his fangs.
Chi Lin, a Scorpion Beastman, had a venomous stinger on his tail.
Rong Fei was a Lizard Beastman, but he was skilled in medicine.
That syringe last time had instantly taken down a full-grown Beastman.
He could have been the one to administer the poison.
Li Yan, a Wolf Beastman, had no obvious means to be suspicious of at the moment, but it was still possible he had poison hidden somewhere.
A chill ran down Jiang Mian’s spine.
Countless memories flashed through her mind, but she couldn’t identify the poisoner.
‘Every single one of them is highly suspicious.’