Xi Yao dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the punch.
She seized the opportunity, drove an elbow back, and struck the Beastman hard in his side.
The Beastman grunted but didn’t back down at all, turning to kick at her again.
“Ori, you useless oaf!
You can’t even handle a single female.”
Seeing her main husband fail to subdue Xi Yao and get hit instead, the heavy-set female’s face flushed with rage.
“You, you, you…
what are the rest of you waiting for?
Get up there!” she shouted, pointing at the other three standing to the side.
The three Beastmen also hadn’t expected that Ori, a Two-star Beastman, couldn’t even defeat a female.
“Don’t be angry, Ah Ji.
We’ll catch her in a few days and let you take your anger out on her.”
The several Beast Husbands also swarmed forward, surrounding Xi Yao and trapping her in the middle.
They had strength in numbers, and just as Xi Yao was beginning to struggle, a majestic roar full of anger suddenly echoed from outside the cave:
“Stop, all of you!”
Everyone turned to look and saw a male Beastman, about forty years old with a scar on his face, walk in.
His gaze swept over the crowd, finally landing on Xi Yao with a complicated expression in his eyes.
When the heavy-set female saw the newcomer, she acted as if she’d found her backer and immediately began to wail, “Clan Leader, you have to stand up for us!
This Xi Yao threw our child into a cesspit and even injured so many of us!”
The Clan Leader glanced at the bruised and swollen females, and his eyelid twitched.
“You did this?”
Xi Yao looked at the Clan Leader, her eyes turning red.
“Clan Leader, it was her child who insulted my children first.
I couldn’t stand by and watch, so I stepped in to teach them a lesson.
Just because I don’t have a male to back me up, does that mean my children deserve to be bullied?”
The Clan Leader frowned slightly, his gaze shifting back and forth between Xi Yao and the heavy-set female.
Seeing the Clan Leader’s hesitation, Xi Yao knew he wasn’t planning to get involved.
‘That won’t do.’
‘No matter why he came today, now that he’s here, he’s not getting away so easily.’
“If it weren’t for me back then,” she pointed at the females in front of her, her voice a choked scream as tears streamed down her face.
“They would have been the ones abducted and tortured by stray beastmen!
But how do they treat me, their savior?
They insult me, curse me, and even beat my children!
They let their cubs steal our things, and now they want their Beast Husbands to beat us to death!”
“By what right?!”
The cave fell silent.
All eyes were on Xi Yao.
The heavy-set female’s face went from white to red.
She opened her mouth, wanting to retort, but was left speechless by Xi Yao’s furious accusation.
After a long moment, the heavy-set female recovered and shrieked in a shrill voice:
“Who asked you to save us?
You’re the one who stuck your nose in it!
For all we know, you were in league with those stray beastmen, putting on a show on purpose!
And now you’re trying to twist the truth!”
Xi Yao was stunned by her shamelessness and looked toward the impassive Clan Leader.
“Clan Leader, you must help me!
I risked my life to save them, and this is how I’m repaid.
They’re so ungrateful.
Aren’t they afraid of being forsaken by the Beast God?”
Xi Yao looked around, tears welling in her eyes.
“Everyone knows that when the stray beastmen attacked, if I hadn’t risked my life to lead them away, I’m afraid all the females of our clan would have suffered a terrible fate.
But now, instead of a single word of thanks, all I get is their scorn and ridicule.”
“You females, you keep saying my Zaizai are forsaken by the Beast God, but who here truly deserves to be forsaken?
You repay kindness with cruelty and bully the weak.
Aren’t you afraid your actions will anger the Beast God and bring disaster upon the entire clan?”
A stir went through the crowd.
Some people showed expressions of shame, remembering the day Xi Yao had returned covered in injuries.
But the heavy-set female, Ah Ji, remained stubborn.
“Hmph,” she said obstinately, “stop trying to scare us with the Beast God.
Your little monsters are the ones forsaken by him!
Keeping them around is what will bring disaster to the clan!”
Hearing this, Xi Bei’s body couldn’t help but tremble.
His eyes instantly turned red, and his beast ears drooped slightly.
Xi Nan, on the other hand, glared angrily at the heavy-set female, but then fearfully hid behind Xi Yao again.
Xi Yao pulled her two children behind her and glared daggers at the heavy-set female.
“Watch your mouth!
Forsaken by the Beast God?
That’s just the wild speculation of ignorant fools like you.”
“Stop making excuses!
Even the witch doctor said they’re monsters.”
“And the witch doctor is always right?” Xi Yao shot back, not backing down.
She didn’t care if she offended the witch doctor; if it weren’t for her words, Xi Nan and his brother wouldn’t have had such a miserable life.
“The witch doctor is only flesh and blood, not the Beast God himself.
What right does she have to pass such a judgment on my children?
You have no minds of your own!
All you know is how to use the witch doctor’s words to bully a few children.
Aren’t you ashamed?”
The heavy-set female was momentarily silenced by Xi Yao’s barrage of questions but still tried to argue illogically:
“The witch doctor is the wisest person in our clan, the one most able to communicate with the Beast God.
What she says can’t be wrong.
Everyone thinks your children are monsters.
Keeping them here is just asking for trouble.”
Xi Nan’s little face flushed red with anger.
He peeked his head out from behind Xi Yao and shouted, “You’re lying!
We’re not monsters!
We’ve never done anything to hurt the clan!”
Xi Bei’s claws nervously scraped the ground as he fought back tears.
His fluffy tail poofed up behind him.
“I… We’re… we’re not a menace!
We’re trying our best to contribute to the clan.”
Suppressing the ache in her heart, Xi Yao lifted her head to look directly at the heavy-set female and said, her voice firm as iron:
“Did you hear that?
My children are far kinder than yours.
They have never thought of causing trouble for the clan.
It’s your children who spend all day ganging up on the weak.
That is the real tragedy of this clan.”
Just then, a female who hadn’t spoken yet muttered under her breath, “That may be so, but their beast forms are just too strange… they’re unsettling to look at…”
Xi Yao’s gaze shifted to her.
“Should they be discriminated against just for looking strange?
The Beast God created all living things, and each is unique.
Judging others by their appearance is the real disrespect to the Beast God.
If you condemn someone based on their looks, what makes you any different from the wild beasts outside the clan?”
The heavy-set female was cornered by Xi Yao’s words and, for a moment, didn’t know how to retort.
All she could do was puff up her cheeks and say angrily:
“Hmph!
Well, no one is ever going to accept them anyway.
Just you wait!”
Xi Yao sneered.
“I don’t need your acceptance.
But I’m warning you, don’t you dare speak ill of my Zaizai again, or I won’t be so polite.”
Xi Yao turned to the Clan Leader.
In this clan, besides the witch doctor, he had the most authority.
If he spoke up to stop this, life in the clan would be easier for her Zaizai.
“Clan Leader, do you also think my children are monsters?”
“Xi Yao, no matter what, they are still children of the clan.
Rest assured, I won’t let the other children bully them in the future.”
The Clan Leader’s words seemed comforting, but they weren’t a direct answer.
A deeper chill settled in Xi Yao’s heart.
‘If the next clan wasn’t so far away, and if she wasn’t so uncertain that they would face the same prejudice there…’
‘She would absolutely take her Zaizai and leave this clan.’