novelraw Chapter 433 - 432: Mumu, We’re Home
Chapter 433 - 432: Mumu, We’re Home
Si Shuo said with lingering fear, "It’s a good thing Father had the foresight to emphasize to you, Xu Chi, not to trust anyone. Otherwise, with that dense head of yours, who knows how many times you would’ve been sold out by so-called friends!"
Xu Chi chuckled lightly and buried his head in the crook of her neck. "Mhm, that’s also because A shuo and the brothers are trustworthy."
"You never thought we might have ill intentions toward you?" Si Shuo pulled his ear in annoyance, tugging him out of her embrace, and asked seriously, "There are many strange superpowers among the Beastmen on the Beast World Continent, making them impossible to guard against. What if someone disguised themselves as one of you?"
"You wouldn’t," Xu Chi pecked her with a kiss, his eyes gentle as he spoke. "The moment I saw A shuo, I just wanted to follow you forever. Even if it meant I had to offer myself up as a sacrifice..."
Si Shuo hastily covered his mouth. "Don’t say things like that! Xu Chi, you must remember, I have nine lives, and our cubs have nine lives too.
Compared to us, you seven are the fragile ones, the ones who need protecting. The cubs and I need your protection, so you must take good care of yourselves. Don’t spend all day thinking about such nonsense! Got it?"
Xu Chi smiled and nodded. "Alright, I’ll listen to A shuo!" Saying any more was less practical than simply working to improve his cultivation.
"Xu Chi, do you want to help them?" Si Shuo noticed that the five had been assigned to three adjacent Beast Soldier Camps.
Guangshou City had twenty-four camps in total. The five of them seemed scattered, but the odds of them being assigned this way were slim.
Xu Chi looked a bit lost. "I don’t know. I just pulled a few strings to keep them from being too scattered, assigning them all to the first, second, and third Beast Soldier Camps in the western district. It’s not far from our North City District.
I don’t know how many people are aware of their identities, how much strength they have left, or if they can even survive on their own out here."
He had been very young when he was forced to leave his clan’s territory, and in all these years, this was the first time he had met his own kind. Remembering the tragic and heroic sacrifice of his Father and clansmen as they fought to protect him while he fled, he couldn’t bring himself to truly abandon these kinsmen.
If his Father and the others were still alive, they would also hope for the Horned Deer Clan to regain its former glory and strength. Their bodies were treasures, but they weren’t born to be coveted by others. They were born to live proud and tall, inspiring such awe that no one would dare to covet them!
Si Shuo smiled gently and took his hand. "Xu Chi, every Beastman has their own destiny. We can help if we can, but on the condition that we don’t expose ourselves.
There are definitely people in the city who know their identities. So if they want to truly escape the fate of being treated as living life-preservers, they’ll have to leave this place, maybe even leave the Central Continent..."
Xu Chi lowered his eyes in thought for a moment, then nodded. "A shuo, didn’t you say you wanted to go back to the Southern Continent to have a look someday? When we return, we can use Teleportation to bring them over there. The living conditions in the Southern Continent are harsher, but the general Level of the Beastmen isn’t very high. As long as they’re vigilant enough, they shouldn’t be captured again."
Si Shuo smiled, lips pursed, and said, "And I can remove the marks on their faces. That way, they won’t attract so much attention."
"No need," Xu Chi said, his arm around her shoulder, his voice returning to its usual coolness. "With those marks, they’ll remember how treacherous people can be. They’ll work hard to hide themselves, and at least they won’t forget the pain once the wound has healed."
Si Shuo sat there with Xu Chi, watching as dusk slowly swallowed Beast City. Beastmen lit bonfires and torches, the light snaking through the streets like a Fire Dragon with shimmering scales.
But the darkness was too deep and vast, making the Fire Dragon seem small and feeble. It was like the Beastmen, oppressed by life, who could only see a tiny speck of light ahead, filled with a sense of lonely powerlessness.
She turned into a white cat, snuggled into Xu Chi’s arms, and he began to scratch her gently.
As Xu Chi’s hand stroked her fur, again and again, Si Shuo let out a comfortable purr that eventually turned into a light snore.
Her carefree appearance put Xu Chi’s heart at ease as well.
A major event had occurred in Guangshou City, and many Beastmen were busy, so they didn’t go to the Southwest Forest to train that night.
The next morning, Si Shuo woke up with bedhead. She chewed on a Dust Cleaning Talisman and instantly became clean and refreshed. She had even improved the Dust Cleaning Talisman, adding a faint floral and grassy fragrance.
Her clothes and hair were thoroughly cleaned. She sat on the edge of the bed and silently counted to three. Sure enough, Gong You came in to feed her a Crystal Stone.
During the meal, Da Hai was nibbling on a small fish, his eyes sparkling as he looked at her. "Mother, can we go play at the Tongdong Tribe?"
Si Shuo said with an amused laugh, "It’s only the second day."
"Yeah, it’s the second day, so Sister Nong Mu will definitely have to meet the other people in the tribe. Someone might get jealous and bully her!" Little Jing also nodded repeatedly. "Otherwise, by the time Mother remembers her, that poor sister will have been bullied into depression and seclusion."
The cubs all wanted to go play at the Tongdong Tribe, but with so many cubs at home and the males having their own business to attend to, the family rarely went out all together.
So they had a tacit understanding: whichever Father accompanied Mother on an outing, that Father’s biological cubs would go along.
Si Shuo didn’t have much else to do, so she transformed into the likeness of an actress who played Daji in her own world, taking on the appearance of a female Red Fox with red fur.
Gong You, in turn, transformed into the likeness of a White Wolf Beastman from the Far North. The two cubs also applied Transformation Talismans.
After the family of four had finished their disguises, they teleported to a hidden corner outside the Tongdong Tribe, then walked out openly...
Nong Mu had waited until Nong Yan finished discussing matters with the other Clan Leaders and leaders. It was just before dawn when they returned to the tribe together.
Staring at the familiar yet strange homeland, she stood there in a daze, greedily drinking in the sight of everything. Her mind flashed with images of the happy times before she was abducted.
If not for the fact that she couldn’t make a sound when she opened her mouth, she might have thought the past four years were just a nightmare she had finally woken up from.
"Mumu, we’re home! I’ve kept your house for you all this time. I’d go clean it every few days, just thinking that you could move right back in when you returned!" Nong Yan was overjoyed, his expression as excited as a young Beastman’s.
Seeing her Father so happy, Nong Mu suppressed the bitterness in her heart and followed suit, forcing her lips into a faint smile.
She used to be beautiful. Everyone praised her smile, saying it was like a flower swaying in the spring breeze—dazzling and lovely—or like a summer wind in a mountain stream that refreshed one’s spirits.
But now, with her face mottled by scars of varying depths, her smile looked like a writhing mass of worms.
Nong Yan, of course, wasn’t repulsed by her disfigured appearance. He just couldn’t bear the thought of such a young female suffering such a catastrophe, and the pain in his heart showed in his eyes.
And that look was like a soft blade, piercing Nong Mu and making her tremble.
But she didn’t want to cry and make her Father unhappy, so she had to pretend that nothing was wrong.
As they drew closer, however, they found the door to the house was bolted from the inside. Nong Yan’s expression turned cold and grim. He pounded on the door. "Who’s in there? Come out now!"