“Big Brother, do you think she fell to her death?”
“She was asking for it.
It serves her right if she died.
If she’s dead, no one can abuse us anymore.”
“But…
but if she’s really dead, we won’t be allowed to stay in the tribe.”
“Don’t be afraid.
Even if we get kicked out of the tribe, your big brother will protect you.”
Two different, childish voices spoke up.
One trembled with fear, while the other forced a calm it didn’t feel.
Xi Yao felt her head buzzing, on the verge of exploding.
She tried to lift a hand to her head, but the slightest movement sent pain screaming through every bone in her body.
“Big Brother, the wicked female moved!
She…
she’s not dead.”
Xi Yao felt something poking her arm.
It was furry, but it also had sharp claws.
‘My arm must be bleeding.’
“Hmph!
She’s got tough luck.
To not even die after a fall like that.”
“Big Brother, I’ll go to the tribe and get the witch doctor.
The witch doctor can definitely save her.”
“You’re not going.”
“Big Brother, I don’t want her to die.”
Xi Yao struggled to stay conscious and opened her eyes, expecting to see a couple of kids.
But what she saw instead were two strange, white creatures.
Sheep heads, deer antlers, white lion bodies, and…
fox tails?
Xi Yao blinked, then blinked again.
‘This isn’t a hallucination?’
She stared at the two nearly identical little creatures before her and stammered:
“Wh…
What are you…”
The little monster who had just poked her with his claw snorted.
“Wicked female, if you don’t want us, just say so.
You don’t have to pretend you don’t know who we are.”
The one behind him gently bit his tail and gave it a small tug.
“Big Brother, is she going to abandon us?”
‘Wait, wicked female?’
‘Abandon?’
‘Lion bodies and sheep faces?’
‘How are they so similar to the characters from that novel I just started reading, *Beast World Sweetheart: The Fierce Beast Husband’s Nightly Pampering*?’
She tried calling out a name.
“Xi Nan?”
The little monster in front of her huffed, which was as good as an answer.
Xi Yao closed her eyes again.
‘This must be a hallucination from the insect venom.’
‘It has to be.’
“Hey, wicked female!”
Xi Nan poked her cheek with his little claw.
“Stop playing dead.”
He was also afraid she would actually die.
Once she was dead, the Beastmen of this tribe would surely cast the three brothers out.
“Big Brother, maybe I should still go get the witch doctor to take a look at her.”
If she really died, they would truly become unwanted bastards.
From birth, they knew their Beast Father was a pariah—a wandering beast.
No one had looked forward to their arrival.
Even their female mother wished they were dead.
If not for the clear laws in the Beast World that underage cubs could only be raised by their female mother and that a female could not abandon her own cubs, they would have been driven out long ago, as the tribe was forbidden from expelling cubs who had a female mother.
Xi Yao’s head throbbed.
Her mind was still hazy from the memory of the great battle against the Insect Emperor.
She had been a Healing Ability User in the Interstellar Special Forces Team, responsible for treating her squad mates.
The Insect Clan was too numerous, and her teammates were falling one after another.
With the lines breaking, the Healing Ability Users like her had no choice but to fill the gaps.
And she happened to be assigned to the squad tasked with encircling and destroying the Insect Emperor.
Her last memory was of being blown away, mech and all.
…
Xi Yao tried to summon the Healing Technique within her body.
It was her Companion Ability, one that would exist as long as her soul did.
The pain in her body slowly subsided.
She shifted slightly.
Feeling she could move, she opened her eyes and sat up.
She glanced around.
Everything was lush and green, brimming with life.
This was a sight unseen in the interstellar era.
‘So I really did die.
But it was worth it to drag the Insect Emperor down with me.’
…
When the two little ones saw her suddenly open her eyes and sit up, they were so frightened they scrambled back several steps.
Xi Yao took two minutes to recall the plot of the novel and quickly accepted the fact that she had died and been reborn.
The original book didn’t describe the original owner of this body much.
Every appearance was just about how vicious she was.
Xi Yao looked at the two little ones’ wary and fearful eyes, and her heart ached with a strange sorrow.
The emotion was sudden but not jarring, as if an invisible thread tied her tightly to these two children.
Seeing them cowering, her heart was tugged by a faint, painful ache.
She forced a smile, trying her best to look less terrifying.
But when the two little ones saw her smile, they became even more afraid.
Xi Yao sighed.
The book mentioned that the original owner of this body had been abducted by a wandering Beastman in heat while she was out gathering for the tribe.
She was forcibly mated with and unexpectedly became pregnant.
The Beastman disappeared after his rut ended.
She was already filled with resentment, and giving birth to three little “monsters” only made her hate them all the more.
She took her anger out on them daily; beatings and verbal abuse were common.
The three little ones were seen as monsters from birth.
The witch doctor had declared they were Beastmen forsaken by the Beast God.
Combined with their wandering Beastman bloodline, everyone in the tribe shunned them.
They were afraid of being tainted and earning the Beast God’s displeasure.
This made the original owner hate them even more, and the three little ones never had a single good day in the tribe.
Beatings, starvation, and freezing were a regular part of their lives.
So much so that when they grew up, they not only sadistically murdered her, their birth mother, but also slaughtered the entire tribe.
More than three hundred people in the tribe, and not a single one was left alive.
Her fate was even worse, a horror that the phrase “extreme torture” couldn’t begin to describe.
Flayed alive, doused in salt water, then roasted over a fire.
They kept her in agony without letting her die, tormenting her repeatedly for a whole month.
As a physician who was used to life and death, even she found it horrifying.
Just thinking about it made her scalp tingle.
…
She stood up from the ground and was about to wave the two little ones over to lead the way, but the moment she moved, they vanished in a flash.
“…”
‘Oh well,’ she thought.
‘There’s still plenty of time.’
This place wasn’t far from the tribe.
Using the original owner’s memories, she quickly figured out the way back.
She had only taken two steps when she suddenly stopped, spun around, and ran back the way she came.
‘Crap!’
‘I completely forgot about the little cub, Xi Mo!’
‘I’m done for, I’m done for!’
That damned original owner actually threw the second brother, Xi Mo, to the Hunting Team to be used as bait!
Judging by the sky, they should still be out hunting.
This was when Xi Mo was supposed to be mauled by a wild beast, having a piece of his tail bitten off and his left leg broken.
With no time to think, she sprinted desperately into the depths of the forest.
She had to find Xi Mo before he got hurt.
For some reason, her heart was pounding with panic.
Her walk turned into a run, her footsteps frantic.
After running for nearly an hour, she finally ran into the Hunting Team on their way back.
She frantically scanned the crowd but didn’t see the Little White Lion, Xi Mo.
She rushed up to the team leader, grabbing his arm tightly with both hands.
Her voice trembled as she asked, “Where’s Xi Mo?
Where is my Xi Mo?
Why didn’t you bring him back with you?”
“Are you crazy?
That little whelp was too badly injured.
He probably wasn’t going to make it, so we just left him there.”
The Beastman leader was startled by her sudden actions.
He frowned, wanting to impatiently shake her hands off.
But because she was a female, he froze, not daring to move.
“How could you do that!”
Her eyes were red as she glared furiously at the Beastman leader.
“He’s just a cub!
How could you be so heartless as to abandon him!”
A young Beastman in the team couldn’t help but speak up.
“Weren’t you the one who threw him to us to use as bait?
What’s with the act now?”
“I…
I was confused then!
Just tell me, where is he?
I need to find him!”
The Beastman leader snorted coldly.
“It’s too late for you to go now.
That area is crawling with wild beasts.
He’s probably been chewed up, not even bones left.”
Xi Yao’s mind exploded.
‘Was I too late?’
Without a second thought, she took off running again.
The other Beastmen grew anxious, seeing a female running recklessly into the deep mountains.
The Beastman at the very back of the group threw the prey from his shoulder to the ground.
“You guys take the kill back first.
I’m going to check on her.”