"How do you all know him? Is he that powerful?" Gu Weilan asked curiously.
Shen Mianzhou finally managed to speak first. "Ji Yanqing was once a highly regarded young talent of the Fox Clan. Before he was severely injured last year, he was already an Eleventh Rank Beastman. He frequently made the headlines on the Star Network.
"However, during a major battle with the Insect Clan, the Seventh Army he led suffered heavy casualties. To buy more time for the frontline beastmen to retreat, he took a devastating blow, which caused his Beast Rank to downgrade."
Gu Weilan let out a soft "oh" and shrugged. "Then he was actually pretty great when he was a Male Beast Soldier!"
Shi Lingfeng hurriedly took a small paw-step forward. "Even so, using such underhanded methods to break the match is still far too despicable."
Xie Jing’s mind worked quickly. He immediately fixed his silvery-white eyes on Gu Weilan. "So, Female Master, how many Beast Husbands actually sacrificed themselves on your Light Brain?"
Gu Weilan narrowed her eyes and opened the message. "Bai Yanli, Light Element Eighth Rank of the White Tiger Clan, and Rong Hua Jin, Fire Element Eleventh Rank of the Vermilion Bird Clan."
The air instantly went quiet. For a moment, Gu Weilan could even hear the sound of the wind blowing past. She couldn’t help but tilt her head to look at Shen Mianzhou, whose mouth was slightly agape. "What’s wrong?"
Shen Mianzhou looked earnestly into Gu Weilan’s eyes, which transitioned beautifully from light grayish-blue to black. "Female Master, do you rarely pay attention to the headlines on the Star Network and Star Wave?"
Gu Weilan nodded. "I have to work hard to survive and earn money to support myself. I rarely have any time to follow those things."
As an outsider, she had already spent a massive amount of time just researching basic common sense, not to mention her strenuous efforts to get into the Central Beastman Academy. She simply didn’t have the time to scroll through Star Wave every day. When she did have a bit of free time, occasionally looking at shirtless, handsome male beastmen to rest her eyes was enough to make her very happy.
Gu Weilan’s words made all the Beast Husbands ache for her. Had their Female Master really lived such a difficult life before? Why was this so different from what they had investigated?
Xie Jing frowned as he opened the information regarding the Third Army, his lips pressing together tightly. "Something really did happen to them. Rong Hua Jin is the Commander of the Third Army, and Bai Yanli is his highest-ranking adjutant."
Through his observation, Shi Lingfeng realized that his Female Master didn’t seem interested in or aware of many common sense facts outside of her own social class. He took the initiative to explain things to her. "Across our entire interstellar society, there are nine Beast Clans with top-tier combat power. They were once the attendant races by the Female Emperor’s side. The young talents hailing from these Beast Clans are particularly active and often feature on the Star Wave headlines.
"Female Master, your abilities must be incredibly formidable. The Beast Husbands you’ve been matched with... none of them are weak."
"Nine Beast Clans with top-tier combat power?" Gu Weilan looked at Shi Lingfeng curiously.
For some reason, Shi Lingfeng’s Gray Wolf cub appearance gave Gu Weilan the fleeting illusion of a stoic, ascetic handsome man loosening his tie.
He continued speaking in Uncle Qing’s voice to educate Gu Weilan. "The Dragon Clan, Vermilion Bird Clan, White Tiger Clan, Nine-tailed Fox Clan, Rift-Space Lion Clan, Dark Wing Bat Clan, Rock Armored Rhinoceros Clan, Golden Crow Clan, and Black Scaled Viper Clan are collectively known as the nine Beast Clans with top-tier interstellar combat power.
"They are considered top-tier because their ancestors once managed to form a bond with the Female Emperor. The pure-blooded, atavistic beastman cubs they produced vastly elevated the overall strength of their Beast Clans.
"Hundreds of years have passed. Even if they are at the same Beast Rank as us, their attack power is much higher. That is because their Spiritual Seas are far less susceptible to corruption than ours."
Xie Jing had been acting like King Jiji this whole time, desperately wanting to snatch the chance to speak before Shi Lingfeng, but he couldn’t find an opening to interject. Now that Shi Lingfeng had finished his explanation, Xie Jing finally spoke up. "Female Master! That means you currently have six Beast Husbands who have canceled their matches with you, right?"
Gu Weilan didn’t understand his implication, but she gave a slight nod. "Counting the two who unfortunately passed away, it should be exactly six."
Xie Jing, holding a tray, cleared his throat and strode over on his long legs. He sat down beside Gu Weilan, one leg half-crossed and the other propped up, forming a stable triangle with the ground to support his arm. He tilted his head slightly. It was as if his fiery red hair had bled its color, as a vivid blush spread across the tips of his ears and his cheeks.
"Do you... do you want to consider canceling our match annulment? Otherwise, the Beast God System will send you a notification next month. If you cancel matches with more than half of your Beast Husbands, you will be thrown back into the Beast God System for another round of matching."
Gu Weilan was just about to say something when she heard the doorbell ring.
The butler robot quickly walked over. Its thick eyebrows and large eyes blinked on its electronic face before it pulled up a holographic projection.
A tall, muscular male beastman standing at 1.87 meters with a light golden mullet and battle-damaged clothing was leaning against the front of Gu Weilan’s villa. His left eye was crimson—whether dyed red by blood or naturally that color was unclear—while his right eye was a deep amber-blue. He was frowning slightly as he stared at the villa’s front door. His smooth, distinctly boyish facial contours, combined with his exquisite features and a complexion so pale it was almost ghastly, made him look like an Elf Prince who had fallen into the mortal realm.
Gu Weilan stood up and headed for the door of the villa. Xie Jing and Shen Mianzhou quickly got up as well, following closely behind her.
Shi Lingfeng frowned. "Didn’t Female Master already break the match with him? Why is he...?"
Once the door opened, Lorenzo Snow, pressing the back of his hand against his lips, stumbled forward uncontrollably. Yet, he still managed to accurately dodge Xie Jing and Shen Mianzhou, who had tried to step in and support him, and collapsed softly right into Gu Weilan’s arms.
Gu Weilan caught this peerless beauty, marveling inwardly at his flashy zigzag footwork just now. Before she could even finish her sigh of amazement, she heard Lorenzo, now draped over her shoulder, ask her a question. In a pitifully aggrieved tone—and with a clear, youthful voice completely devoid of any dialect accent—he demanded weakly, "Female Master—why did you break our match? I was just transferring money to you. If you don’t like it, I can give you something else instead..."
After saying this, he finally passed out for real!
Shen Mianzhou and Xie Jing both had dark expressions. Taking one side each, they worked together to pull Lorenzo up.
Gu Weilan frowned and opened her mouth, but having forgotten the exact situation, she turned on her Light Brain and glanced at their chat history. Good heavens... It seemed this guy had just been blindly transferring money to her all along. He had never actually asked her to cancel the match. But now the man was out cold. She had wanted to ask him about that dialect accent—wasn’t that just a deliberate prank to force a match cancellation? However, there was no way she could ask him now.
Shen Mianzhou and Xie Jing carried Lorenzo away to the Healing Pod.
Gu Weilan looked at the darkening sky. Her sun-absorbing session for the day was over. She turned to look at Shi Lingfeng. "It’s your turn to receive appeasement today."
A hint of obvious joy could be seen on Shi Lingfeng’s wolf face. His Uncle Qing’s voice, however, remained steady. "Female Master, once my family matters are resolved, I will transfer all my assets to your name. That way, you won’t have to work so hard thinking about how to earn Star Coins anymore."
Gu Weilan looked at Shi Lingfeng, only to hear her Light Brain chime with a direct transfer of 7.2 billion Star Coins.
Her eyes widened slightly as she saw a somewhat fawning smile appear on Shen Mianzhou’s baby face. "Female Master, these are my savings.
"I’ve spent the rest on gear and other necessities. I’ll work hard on missions in the future and do my best to keep my Female Master well-fed and healthy!"
Standing on the stairs, Gu Weilan looked at Shen Mianzhou walking over from the first-floor corridor. For some reason, seeing the cautious inferiority filling his eyes made her feel a pang of heartache for him.
"Go pick a room first. If you are certain about me, we will register for the Engraving as soon as possible."
The moment Gu Weilan’s voice fell, time seemed to freeze for a split second.