“Dair, this is too dangerous.
What will you do if you run into a wild beast alone?
If something happens to you, how are we supposed to explain it to the Clan Leader?”
Dair’s brow was furrowed, his gaze fixed on the direction where Xi Yao had disappeared.
His tone was resolute.
“It’s too dangerous for her to be in the forest alone.
I have to follow her.
I promised her Father I would take care of her.
I can’t just ignore this.”
“You’ve been secretly helping her for so many years.
Whatever debt you owed should be paid by now, right?
She’s just asking for death, why bother with her?”
“Yeah, you’re not still planning to listen to her Father and become her Beast Husband, are you?”
Dair shook his head without a word and started after Xi Yao.
…
Xi Yao sprinted wildly through the dense forest.
Sharp blades of grass cut her skin and branches snagged her hair, but she was completely oblivious.
The thought of Xi Mo’s injuries made her heart ache fiercely, even though she had never actually met him.
Finally, in a low-lying area covered with fallen leaves, she saw a flash of white.
The Little White Lion, Xi Mo, was curled up in a pile of leaves.
His once fluffy, beautiful fur was now matted and stained with blood.
The fur on his left hind leg was dyed red with blood, hanging limply on the ground.
A section of his once-fluffy tail had been bitten off, and the fur around the wound was caked with mud and blood.
“Xi Mo!”
Her breath hitched at the sight.
No description could ever compare to the shock of seeing it with her own eyes.
She staggered to his side and fell to her knees.
With trembling hands, she gathered his entire body into her arms.
‘How did he manage to crawl all the way back to the tribe with such severe injuries?’
Xi Mo struggled to open his eyes.
When he saw her, his dark green pupils widened in disbelief.
‘It must be a hallucination before death.
That awful female didn’t want him anymore.
How could she possibly be here?’
His eyes slowly closed again.
‘But he was so unwilling to accept it.
Why him?’
‘Why was he thrown to the Hunting Team as bait?’
It wasn’t until he was lifted into her arms that he dared to believe it wasn’t a dream.
His Mother was finally willing to hold him.
‘But he was about to die.’
“Xi Mo, I’m sorry!
Mother was late.”
“Weren’t you hoping a wild beast would bite me to death?” His voice was weak, but every word was clear.
Xi Yao opened her mouth, wanting to explain, but found her throat choked up as if blocked by something.
She couldn’t get a single word out.
Seeing her silent acquiescence, the warmth of being held slowly chilled.
‘She doesn’t love him, so how could she feel sorry for him?’
‘He wanted to ask her, why was she so cruel to him?’
‘If she didn’t want him, she could have just abandoned him.
Why did she have to let him be bitten to death?’
He opened his mouth several times, but in the end, only managed to say one thing:
“After I die, can you be a little nicer to Xi Nan and Xi Bei?
Food…
they can find it themselves.
Can you just…
not hit them anymore?”
Just saying those few words exhausted all his strength.
Xi Yao shook her head as she examined his body.
“You’re not going to die.”
‘So what if he didn’t die?
His hind leg was broken.
Even if he grew up, he wouldn’t be able to hunt.
He was already a cripple.’
When Dair arrived, he saw her sitting limply on the ground, clutching Xi Mo tightly in her arms, her whole body trembling.
Xi Mo’s eyes were shut tight, his breathing faint.
His small body twitched from time to time in pain.
The surrounding leaves were soaked red with blood, emitting a heart-pounding metallic scent.
Xi Yao had originally planned to use her Healing Technique on Xi Mo and wait until his injuries were mostly healed before returning.
But sensing someone approaching, she had to give up the idea.
Before Dair got too close, she secretly used the Healing Technique to stop Xi Mo’s bleeding.
Dair strode forward and knelt on one knee, reaching out to check Xi Mo’s breathing.
His expression was grim.
“He’s still alive.
We can’t delay.
We need to hurry back to the tribe and get the witch doctor to treat him.”
‘He knew the witch doctor couldn’t possibly treat such a severe injury.’
‘Going back was just waiting to die.’
…
Xi Yao didn’t hand Xi Mo over to Dair.
A Beastman who would abandon a cub wasn’t worthy of her trust.
She walked back, holding Xi Mo, who had fainted from the pain.
She hadn’t taken more than two steps when a faint sound came from nearby.
Xi Yao’s arms around Xi Mo tightened abruptly, and her body instinctively fell into a defensive stance.
“Careful.”
Dair also grew alert, pulling her behind him protectively.
‘The scent of blood must have attracted a foraging beast.’
Xi Yao glanced at the tall figure shielding her and said nothing.
She placed the unconscious Xi Mo on a high tree branch.
‘She summoned her life-bound weapon—the Blood-tooth Vine Whip.
Her terminal had been unresponsive since she arrived here, but thankfully, her Companion Ability and life-bound weapon were still usable.’
Dair was just about to tell her to find a place to hide when he saw that she was already prepared for battle.
Surprise flashed in his eyes, but there was no time to think.
The beasts were already closing in.
It was two enormous Saber-toothed Tigers.
Dair swallowed nervously.
He was a Three-star Beastman, much stronger and faster than an ordinary Beastman.
He could barely handle one adult Saber-toothed Tiger; with two, and a female to protect…
‘He was probably going to die here.’
“Xi Yao, climb a tree and hide!”
Xi Yao ignored him, swinging her whip as she charged toward the nearest Saber-toothed Tiger.
‘This body still isn’t agile enough, but her Blood-tooth Vine Whip is coated in a highly concentrated anesthetic powder.’
‘As long as it lands, the barbs on the whip will tear the flesh, and the anesthetic powder will take effect upon contact with the wound.’
The Saber-toothed Tiger seemed to look down on a weak female like her, not even bothering to dodge as she rushed forward.
It opened its massive jaws and lunged at her.
Xi Yao leaped sharply to the left, flicking the Blood-tooth Vine Whip in her hand and successfully wrapping it around the Saber-toothed Tiger’s neck.
Using the tiger’s forward momentum, she pulled hard, slamming its head violently against a large tree trunk.
The blow took all her strength.
The Saber-toothed Tiger was dazed from the impact, and with the added effect of the highly concentrated anesthetic powder, its eyes slowly closed and it collapsed to the ground.
Dair wanted to rush over and help, but he was pinned down by the other Saber-toothed Tiger and couldn’t get away.
By the time he killed his Saber-toothed Tiger and turned to look at Xi Yao, he found she was already butchering the first one.
!!!
‘Was this still the Xi Yao he knew?’
After she disappeared and was found again a few years ago, her personality had changed drastically.
She became not only lazy but also vicious.
She would attack any Beastman indiscriminately.
Those who had originally sympathized with her plight were all driven away by her crazed beatings and curses, too afraid to get close.
She became even worse after giving birth, going so far as to throw her newborn, hairless cubs into a frozen river.
If he hadn’t been on watch that night and secretly rescued them, those cubs would have frozen to death.
Dair shook his head, closed his eyes, then opened them again.
Xi Yao was still butchering the Saber-toothed Tiger.
Her technique was as skilled as that of a Beastman who had been hunting for years.
“How did you do that?”
His confidence was shaken.
He, a Three-star Beastman, was actually outmatched by a female.
“I don’t have a male beast to protect me, so naturally, I had to learn some skills to defend myself.”
…
Xi Yao’s hands didn’t stop moving, regardless of whether Dair believed her or not.
“Let’s get this back,” Dair urged.
“The smell of blood here is too strong.
It’s going to attract more wild beasts.”
Xi Yao knew this as well, which was why she was quickly butchering the tenderest parts of the Saber-toothed Tiger to take with her.
This body of hers couldn’t possibly carry a beast weighing several hundred kilograms.
She skewered the tender meat she had cut with a vine, then took Xi Mo down from the branch and continued on her way back.
Dair hoisted the Saber-toothed Tiger he had killed onto his shoulder and followed behind her.
Back at the tribe, Xi Yao found her home based on the plot’s description and the original owner’s memories.
By now, the sky was already growing dark.
What was called a home was really just a cave.
The two little ones, Xi Nan and Xi Bei, were standing under a tree at the cave entrance, looking out.
“Big brother, the bad female didn’t get angry and run away, abandoning us, did she?”
‘Why else would she not be back this late?’
Xi Nan frowned, forcing a calm expression as he comforted his younger brother.
“No, she wouldn’t.
Even if she doesn’t want us, she still has to come back to this cave.”
‘They had nowhere else to go.
They could only wait for her to return.’
Despite his words, a trace of worry still showed in his dark eyes.