Shen Mianzhou nodded. Observing the trace of disbelief mingled with her shock, his expression grew more solemn. "Yes."
Gu Weilan rested her forehead against her hand, falling silent.
She had joked earlier, mocking herself as a jinx who could curse her Beast Husbands to death. But never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that one of her matched Beast Husbands would actually die before they even met.
Little did she know, on the distant Kh023 Star, two charred beastmen in their cub forms still clung to a single breath...
Taking the opportunity, Shen Mianzhou sat beside her. With his ears burning bright red, he reached out and gently patted her back to comfort her.
Meanwhile, Xie Jing’s eyes widened, his hand freezing just as he was about to push open the villa’s back door.
Shi Lingfeng, however, was losing his patience. "By the time your dense ass walks over there, they’ll have already popped out a whole litter of cubs! You useless fool! If you can’t do it, move aside! Don’t block the way!"
Zhan Heng glared at his younger brother with his crimson eyes, not wasting a second glance. He shoved his head against the villa’s tempered glass door, bursting it open, and dashed straight toward Gu Weilan.
In his Gray Wolf cub form, Shi Lingfeng threw his four legs into a sprint, following close behind Zhan Heng toward her.
Holding a plate of small cookies, Xie Jing grumbled under his breath, "I’ve never done anything to curry favor with a female before, of course I’m out of practice! You can tell just by looking at that stinking Dream-Eating Tapir that he’s used to sucking up to females! That’s why he’s so smooth!"
Zhan Ci stood nearby, an apron tied around his waist. Hearing the young master still muttering behind the door, he couldn’t help but remind him, "Young Clan Leader Xie Jing, if you still don’t go, canceling the unmatching process is something you’ll only be able to dream about!"
Xie Jing’s ears flushed red. He shot Zhan Ci a sideways glance and lifted his chin haughtily. "Who needs your unnecessary reminders? Hmph! I will definitely get Female Master to cancel the unmatching! Just you wait and see! Heh."
Shi Lingfeng trotted to Gu Weilan’s feet and squeezed Zhan Heng out of the way. He tilted his face up, looking entirely serious and deeply concerned about her, as if he hadn’t just sneakily shoved another beastman aside. "Female Master, what’s wrong? What happened?"
Gu Weilan let out a heavy sigh. "The male beastman I was matched with... is dead."
Shen Mianzhou looked slightly startled, while Zhan Heng’s tension instantly deflated as he rested his chin on his front paws.
Frowning slightly in thought, Shi Lingfeng finally asked in his calm, mature Uncle Qing voice, "How many Beast Husbands is Female Master currently unmatching with?"
Gu Weilan looked at him in curiosity. "Can’t you guys see the information of the other Beast Husbands?"
"The Interstellar Beast Alliance Federation’s Beast God System shields and protects the information of other matched Beast Husbands," Shi Lingfeng nodded, explaining steadily. "Unless all the Beast Husbands who haven’t been unmatched undergo Engraving with the Female Master. Only the Engraved Beast Husbands can add each other as friends and share their family location maps."
Gu Weilan was somewhat confused. Shen Mianzhou sharply caught onto her bewilderment and was just about to clarify it for her when Shi Lingfeng beat him to the punch, continuing his unhurried explanation.
"Because some beastman races are naturally extremely possessive. For instance, the Snake Clan, Python Clan, Wolf Clan, Dragon Clan, Yan Clan, and Golden Crow Clan.
"In the past, male beastmen from these clans, driven by the desire to monopolize their Female Master, would look up the IP addresses of other Beast Husbands who had not yet arrived during the matching period and brutally slaughter them.
"Therefore, the Beast God System now hides the information between Beast Husbands."
Understanding dawned on Gu Weilan, and she nodded before answering his previous question. "The ones I’m unmatching with include Mo Jincuan..."
Shi Lingfeng sucked in a sharp breath. Clearly, he knew who this male, Mo Jincuan, was!
Not minding his reaction, Gu Weilan continued, "Xie Jing. Though, of course, I’m only letting him stay in the house so I can earn Star Coins.
"Because if I were to affiliate myself with a female mental soothing studio, I’d have to take hovercars out to the studio to receive the males needing treatment.
"Not only is the hourly wage lower, but it would also drain a lot of my time.
"If nothing else, just traveling back and forth to the nearest studio takes over an hour."
She figured that Shi Lingfeng, Zhan Heng, and Shen Mianzhou were all inclined to undergo Engraving with her, so it was best to make things clear right from the start. Mutual respect was the only way to ensure a lasting life together.
Shen Mianzhou never expected that a Female Master would voluntarily and good-naturedly explain the reasoning behind her decisions to them. Other Female Masters would only speak up if questioned by their Beast Husbands. Some females would even grow impatient while explaining and throw temper tantrums, accusing their Beast Husbands of being too controlling. To think his Female Master would actually take the time to clarify her circumstances to him—he truly felt like he had struck gold!
As Gu Weilan continued scrolling through her Light Brain, the next name she saw was Lorenzo Snow. "I also initiated an unmatch with Lorenzo Snow."
Zhan Heng’s head was no longer resting on his arms; instead, he sat up straight in his Mo Qilin cub Beast Form.
This time, it wasn’t just Shi Lingfeng and Shen Mianzhou. Even Xie Jing, who had just walked over holding the Little Qilin cookies, gasped sharply. "Is that Lorenzo Snow from the Starlight Rabbit Clan?"
"Yes, it’s him," Gu Weilan nodded. "Is there a problem with him?"
Xie Jing remembered that Gu Weilan had chosen Pharmacy, not a Combat Discipline. That meant their Female Master wouldn’t have to go to the battlefield for credit grading or front-line combat practice. Therefore, she wouldn’t need a High-level Beastman by her side to protect her and increase her chances of returning alive safely. He let out a massive sigh of relief and nodded in approval. "Nothing. It’s perfectly fine!"
Shi Lingfeng stayed silent for a moment before calmly asking, "Female Master, if you don’t mind me asking, why did you unmatch with Lorenzo Snow?"
Gu Weilan took a deep breath and couldn’t help rolling her eyes. Shaking her head with a mean-boy-like attitude, she said, "They kept coming up with all sorts of ridiculous gimmicks to force me to unmatch with them, one after another, so I just went ahead and unmatched them!"
To prove her point, she pointed at Ji Yanqing’s chat window on her Light Brain and played one of his vocal fry voice messages. "[Ba~be~]"
Xie Jing’s hand trembled, nearly spilling the Little Qilin cookies all over the floor.
Meanwhile, Zhan Heng’s fur instantly fluffed up in sheer agitation!
Finding Zhan Heng’s puffed-up state incredibly amusing, Gu Weilan tapped on another one of Ji Yanqing’s voice messages. "[Ba~be~ Do you know why I’m so emo? Beca~use~ I’m E-ndlessly MO-ping for you~]"
The Ju-On-like vocal fry successfully forced both Zhan Heng and Shi Lingfeng to unsheathe their claws and dig them into the turf. Stimulated by the sheer cringe, both of them puffed up their fur at the same time!
Shen Mianzhou’s deer-like eyes widened in horror as he looked at Gu Weilan. "Female Master... You’ve had it too rough... How could the Beast God System match you with such a bizarre male... That’s terrifying!"
"Right?! This guy named Ji Yanqing is definitely going overboard! I don’t get why they can’t just talk about unmatching like normal people instead of resorting to such bizarre tactics!" Finding Shen Mianzhou’s validation completely relatable, Gu Weilan vehemently agreed!
Xie Jing was utterly dumbfounded. "Who? Did you say Commander Ji Yanqing of the Seventh Army? The Ji Yanqing from the Fox Clan with a Fire Element Beast Rank?"
Gu Weilan nodded. "That should be him..."
Shi Lingfeng’s wolf face wrinkled into a deeply conflicted and indescribable expression.