Xi Yao pulled the three little ones behind her, kissing each of them on the cheek.
“Don’t be afraid, my darlings.
Mother will protect you.”
She had originally planned to stay until the end of the cold season, but these people were just…
“Xi Yao, do you have a way to wake them?” Dair, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up.
Xi Yao was taken aback.
She hadn’t expected him to ask such a question.
“You should stay away from us, just in case something happens and the witch doctor decides to blame us again.”
Instead of backing away from them like the others, Dair took a step closer.
“Xi Yao, we can talk about other things later.
Save them first.”
The current stalemate could only be broken if she saved Ni Duo and her family.
“I can save them.”
“Good.
You save them, and leave the rest to me.”
Xi Yao nodded.
Ignoring the voices of accusation and banishment around her, she turned and walked toward the stone bed in Ni Duo’s cave.
Ni Duo and her Beast Husband were breathing faintly, their faces ashen.
Xi Yao placed a hand on Ni Duo’s forehead, closed her eyes, and mobilized the Healing Power within her body.
A gentle healing energy emanated from her palm, slowly flowing into Ni Duo’s body.
After she had cleansed the residual poison from Ni Duo’s body, she began to survey the cave, and her expression suddenly changed.
“What’s wrong?” Dair asked, noticing her expression.
Xi Yao shook her head.
Her headshake was misinterpreted to mean that Ni Duo and her family were beyond saving.
The crowd instantly erupted, and a flicker of smug satisfaction, almost imperceptible, crossed the witch doctor’s face.
“Xi Yao, if you want them to pass on peacefully, take your brats and leave.
Otherwise, the Beast God will not forgive them.”
Xi Yao couldn’t even be bothered to roll her eyes.
“You female!
You said you could save them, and now you’ve failed!
Get out of our tribe with your brats, now!”
“That’s right!
Leave our tribe immediately!
Don’t stay here and bring disaster upon us.”
The three little ones huddled together, their eyes red-rimmed as they watched everything unfold in fear and shock.
Xi Bei fought back tears and retorted loudly, “My Mother would never lie!”
Xi Yao crouched down to comfort her Zaizai before standing up to face the witch doctor.
“I never thought you’d go to such lengths just to deal with me.”
The witch doctor shook her head with a sigh of feigned exasperation.
“Sigh.
Still spouting nonsense at a time like this.”
Xi Yao’s gaze swept over the crowd of Beastman females, and she couldn’t help but laugh.
“What are you laughing at?”
“I’m laughing at how foolish you all are.
Believe it or not, as soon as you leave this cave, you’ll start to feel unwell.
All sorts of ailments will appear.”
She paused intentionally before continuing, “And when that happens, the witch doctor will say it’s because you came into contact with us, displeasing the Beast God and drawing down his divine punishment.”
“Am I right, witch doctor?”
The witch doctor’s expression changed, a guilty conscience flashing in her eyes.
“Don’t you spout such nonsense here!”
Hearing Xi Yao’s words, the Beastman females showed traces of panic, their eyes filled with unease.
A timid female couldn’t help but ask, “Xi Yao, is what you’re saying true?
Are we really going to get sick?”
“Dina, what kind of question is that?”
A female beside her pulled her away.
How could she not be afraid of offending the witch doctor by asking that?
Before Xi Yao could answer, the witch doctor cut in, “Don’t listen to her nonsense.
She’s just trying to scare you so you won’t drive her away.
She’s a female abandoned by the Beast God!
She doesn’t know the first thing about healing arts, let alone the will of the Beast God!”
Xi Yao sneered, crossing her arms.
She spoke unhurriedly, “We’ll soon find out if it’s nonsense or not.”
“After all, your great witch doctor administered the poison herself.
If there are any nasty side effects, you’ll just have to ask her!”
“Xi Yao, it seems the tribe has no place for you.
You should take your brats and leave!”
The Clan Leader walked in from outside the cave, looking at her with displeasure, his eyes full of reproach.
The witch doctor was a highly respected female in their tribe.
If Xi Yao drove her away, their losses would be immense.
Even if Xi Yao and her family had nothing to do with it, he had to make a choice.
“Father!!”
Dair looked at his father disapprovingly.
“Xi Yao did nothing wrong in this matter.
Isn’t banishing her from the tribe going too far?”
The Clan Leader frowned at Dair.
“Dair, the witch doctor has been in the tribe for many years and has done much for everyone.
How can we so easily doubt her?”
“Then what does that have to do with Xi Yao?”
“She contradicted the witch doctor.
That is her fault!”
Dair’s face flushed red with urgency.
He took a step forward and said loudly, “Father, if you insist on banishing her, then I will leave as well.”
“You brat!
Do you have any idea what you’re saying?”
“Father, you taught me since I was a child to understand gratitude and repay kindness.
But what are you doing now?
Even if Xi Yao was at fault, is it necessary to go so far as to banish her from the tribe?
Her Beast Father and mother died saving the tribe, and she herself, because of…”
Dair couldn’t bring himself to continue.
“Dair, your words wound my heart.
I have dedicated myself to this tribe.
How could I possibly do such a thing?
Now that things have come to this, only one of us can remain.”
“Dair, stand down for now.
Leave this to me.” The Clan Leader admonished Dair, then turned to the witch doctor with a promise.
“Witch doctor, please don’t be angry.
I will certainly give you a satisfactory resolution.”
“Xi Yao,”
Xi Yao cut him off.
“Enough, Clan Leader.
You don’t have to say another word.
I have no desire to stay in a tribe like this anyway.”
Just then, Ni Duo, who had been unconscious, suddenly let out a faint moan and slowly opened her eyes.
She looked at the people around her and said weakly, “I…
I’ll go with you…”
Ni Duo struggled to sit up.
“If it weren’t for you, my Beast Husband and I would have been dead long ago.
Now that you’re being treated like this, I no longer wish to stay here either.”
Ni Duo’s Beast Husband also forced his weak body up, grasping her hand and nodding slightly.
“That’s right.
We’ll go with you.”
A warmth spread through Xi Yao’s heart as she looked at them.
‘At least I didn’t save the wrong people,’ she thought.
“You don’t have to do this.
You’ve lived here for so long, you have family and friends.
There’s no need to leave just out of spite.”
“I’m serious.
Xi Yao, I wronged you in the past.
It took a brush with death for me to realize who around me is a person and who is a demon!”
Her Beast Husband pulled her into his arms to comfort her.
After a moment, Ni Duo continued.
“Witch doctor, I have always respected you.
I followed nearly every word you said.
Why did you try to harm me?”
Hearing Ni Duo’s words, some of the surrounding Beastmen turned their gazes to the witch doctor, their eyes filled with confusion.
‘Did the witch doctor really poison Ni Duo?’
Those who had blindly trusted the witch doctor before now had looks of doubt on their faces.
The witch doctor’s eyes darted about, but she forced herself to remain calm, her tone even more severe than usual.
“Ni Duo, what nonsense are you spouting?
Why would I harm you?
The illness must have addled your mind!”
Ni Duo shook her head, her eyes full of disappointment.
“Witch doctor, stop trying to deny it.
I remember it clearly.
Xi Yao had already healed me.
You said you were worried and came to check on me, and you left a bowl of medicine.
After I drank it, I started to feel unwell, and then I fell unconscious.”
Her Beast Husband also glared angrily at the witch doctor, his voice weak but filled with rage.
“That’s right!
Witch doctor, you are highly respected in the tribe.
We’ve always revered you, yet you do something so heinous!
Can you live with yourself?”