novelraw Chapter 120 - 99: Still So Weak
Chapter 120 - 99: Still So Weak
An Jin knocked hesitantly on the door. "Mi Yin, are you in there?"
There was no response. ’Strange, did he go out hunting?’ she wondered. ’With his lazy personality, he doesn’t seem like the type to go hunting in this heat.’
An Jin stood at the door for a long time, her mind racing. She didn’t know if she should call out to him again.
A short while later.
She heard the sound of a snake’s tail slithering.
Then, a faint "mhm" came from inside the room.
An Jin grew puzzled. "Why didn’t you say anything just now?"
"I was sleeping. I didn’t hear you."
She could tell he wasn’t in a good mood, and his reply was rather dismissive. She nodded, a little unhappy herself. "Alright then, I won’t disturb you. Get some rest..."
Outside the door, the light footsteps unique to a female sounded, then grew more and more distant.
In the darkness of the room, the python coiled in the corner lifted its head, its scarlet pupils flashing. Realizing the female was walking away, an intense sense of panic surged through it.
It suddenly arched its upper body and slithered rapidly toward the door, wanting to coil around the female and drag her back. However, just as its head was about to touch the door...
...it recoiled abruptly as if shocked.
"HISS~"
He wanted Jin’er to realize he was upset, so he hadn’t left the house to eat for two days. But her attention was always on that Wolf Beast.
’Just as I thought. No one cares about a Wandering Beast.’
’She probably... only accepted me because of the mate mark. I’m not that important to her at all, am I...?’
At this thought, Mi Yin grew even more dejected. The dozen-meter-long, black-and-red python slowly coiled itself back into a flat disk, huddling motionless in the corner.
However, to his surprise, the female’s footsteps soon returned, accompanied by the rich aroma of food.
A knock came at the wooden door, followed by the female’s gentle, concerned voice. "It’s evening already. I noticed you haven’t eaten much today, so I made you some chicken soup. Do you want some?"
The python tucked its head into its coils, winding its body even tighter. "Leave me alone," it said in a muffled, sulky voice. "I’m not hungry."
An Jin was speechless.
’He’s acting like a pouting child.’
She rubbed the bridge of her nose, realizing that this snake was indeed sulking at her. She never thought that the fierce and cold Mi Yin could be so childish when he was angry.
She had no experience placating anyone.
She placed the steaming chicken soup at the door and waited for a long time, but he still didn’t open it. An Jin’s patience was wearing thin, but she maintained a gentle tone. "Don’t be angry anymore. Just eat first. I’ll agree to any compensation you want, okay?"
"..."
Only after the footsteps outside had faded away again did the wooden door CREAK open a tiny crack.
A section of a snake’s tail snaked out from the room, wrapped firmly around the pot of chicken soup, and dragged it inside. Then, the tail quickly shut the door again...
’Can’t let the soup Jin’er made with her own hands go to waste.’
When An Jin returned with a plate of roasted meat, she saw from a distance that the large bowl of chicken soup by the door was gone.
’He really is like a cub. His cold shoulder didn’t last long at all.’
She couldn’t help but smile. She knelt and placed the roasted meat by the door. Before she could knock, the door CLICKED open.
A dark figure flashed before her eyes, and she was pulled into a cool, firm embrace by a man’s powerful arms. The wooden door then SLAMMED shut, and her vision was plunged into darkness.
Mi Yin leaned down, his thin lips whispering against her ear as his long fingers traced a path down from her waist. "You said you’d compensate me."
"..."
An Jin looked up, speechless. The light was too dim; she could only make out the man’s blurry silhouette. His deep, scorching red pupils were staring intently at her, easily drowning a person in their beautiful depths.
"Can’t you show a little restraint?" It wasn’t that An Jin didn’t want to be with him, but the thought of a Snake Beast’s stamina made her body go weak. She couldn’t handle it.
’Sooner or later, he’s going to wring me dry.’
"You’re my mate. Of course I’m going to come to you," Mi Yin said, his voice a mix of grievance and desire.
The experience had left him wanting more; after the first time, he craved a second.
Besides, it wasn’t that he was that desperate. It had just been a very long time since they had been together. An Jin’s mind was completely focused on the tribe, and she spent very little time with him.
Moreover, the overly peaceful life in the tribe was too boring for Mi Yin.
He was usually lonely and bored. Other than sleeping, all he did was shamelessly pester her.
An Jin couldn’t withstand Mi Yin’s passionate advances and eventually gave in. He pinned her against the wall, and they moved through every part of the room.
Usually, he preferred quiet and was always restrained and gentle out of consideration for her feelings. This time, however, he completely let go, becoming exceptionally fierce, as if venting his jealousy.
"Can’t you be a little gentler?" An Jin buried her head in his firm chest, her face flushed with discomfort.
She nervously glanced at the wall. Ling Hong and Xi’s room was right next door. It would be too embarrassing if they woke them up in the middle of the night.
But Mi Yin deliberately tried to make the female even louder. Furious from shame and anger, An Jin bit his firm arm several times, trying to get away from him.
"...Don’t move," he said, his voice strained as he rested his head on her neck.
An Jin truly didn’t dare to move. It wasn’t out of obedience, but because she could feel the snake’s barbs.
As Wandering Beasts, most snakes forced themselves on females. Through millennia of evolution, they developed barbs to prevent females from escaping, allowing them to complete the mating by force.
In the darkness, Mi Yin’s heavy breathing lessened slightly. The more she struggled, the more it drove him wild with the desire to possess her.
But he didn’t want to do that. It would hurt her.
When the first light of dawn broke through the night, Mi Yin, having tired An Jin out, finally let her go. He transformed into his snake form and easily coiled his body around her.
Watching the female sleep soundly with her eyes shut, her ink-black hair damp with sweat and her face flushed crimson—every detail of her drove him crazy with fascination.
’If I tire An Jin out, she won’t have the energy to go looking for other males.’
As a Wandering Beast unliked by females, Mi Yin was both proud and insecure. When facing her, all that remained was his extreme insecurity.
He could only conceal this insecurity with a fiercer, more domineering facade.
If she really took another mate, or if she accepted that Wolf Beast, then she would surely stop liking him, a Snake Beast.
This was the only way Mi Yin could affirm her feelings for him, increase his presence in her life, and fill the emotional void in his heart.
Based on past experience, Mi Yin predicted she would sleep until the afternoon. When the sky began to lighten, he carried her to the bed, carefully tucked her in, and prepared to go out.
The moment he opened the door, he saw the Wolf Beast pacing in the main hall. He let out a cold laugh and, with a sway of his snake tail, slithered forward to meet him without a sideways glance.
The Silver Wolf’s eyes were bloodshot. It stared intently at the approaching Snake Beast, the tension between them bristling with hostility.
He had been woken up by the sounds in the middle of the night. ’That beast dared to treat An Jin so crudely! As expected of a Wandering Beast, he has no idea how to cherish a female!’
The more Ling Hong thought about it, the angrier he became. He was a Sixth Rank Beastman now; he no longer had to be submissive and bow down like before. He could finally have a proper, all-out fight with him!
"ROAR!" Driven to battle by rage, the Silver Wolf lowered its body and leaped, lunging to bite and tear at the snake’s tail.
As a Wolf Beast, its bite force and combat prowess were already formidable, and now they were even more terrifying. A single bite could tear a chunk out of a wild beast.
But the scales on the python’s tail were like an armor of metal and stone. The bite merely left a few teeth marks without even drawing a drop of blood. Ling Hong was horrified. ’This level of defense isn’t something an ordinary Sixth Rank Beastman should possess, is it?’
’Even if he’s not a Seventh Rank, he must be close to breaking through.’
In the brief moment Ling Hong was stunned, Mi Yin seized the opportunity. His entire body transformed into a giant python, and in an instant, he had coiled his thick tail around the Silver Wolf. His sharp fangs pierced the Silver Wolf’s side.
Fresh blood soaked its silver-white fur.
"HISS~" ’So this is your strength now? Utterly useless.’
Mi Yin hadn’t intended to kill him; he didn’t even use his venom. With the air of a victor, he tossed the injured Silver Wolf to the ground like a piece of trash. His upper body transformed into that of a demonically handsome man, and he mocked him without restraint. "I deliberately waited for you to heal. I was looking forward to testing the strength of a Sixth Rank Wolf Beast, but I didn’t expect you to be so useless."
The Silver Wolf glared at him and snorted angrily. In the end, it dejectedly lowered its head and lay on the ground, silently licking its wounds and the blood on its fur.
’I can’t let An Jin see me in such a pathetic state when she wakes up.’
Xi was woken by the commotion. When he opened his door, he was nearly scared to death.
Seeing the two of them fighting an earth-shattering battle, he hid far away in a corner. A mere Third Rank Beastman like him couldn’t afford to get caught in the crossfire.
"HISS~"
Mi Yin shot Xi a cold glance.
A chill ran down the Little Merfolk’s spine, and he froze in his doorway, not daring to move. Fortunately, Mi Yin only gave him a passing glance before swaying his snake tail and hurriedly leaving.
...
An Jin woke up in the evening, rubbing her tired eyes. She stared blankly at the empty ceiling for a long while before finally coming to her senses. She slowly climbed out of bed and opened the door.
The main hall that greeted her was a complete mess.
She froze for a second. Her eyes darted around, and she saw Ling Hong and Xi cleaning up the house.
Mi Yin, however, was nowhere to be found.
She went out to help them clean. "What happ—" She didn’t finish her sentence. Her eyes landed on Ling Hong’s injuries, specifically the two bloody gashes on his side that had yet to heal.
She immediately understood most of what had happened.
’That Mi Yin...!’
’Honestly.’
An Jin was angry enough to start cursing. ’Was he that bored at home? Why did he start bullying Ling Hong again?!’
An Jin put the stone basin back in its place, then walked over to the dejected Ling Hong. Looking at his wounds, she said worriedly, "Let me treat your wounds and bandage them up. Otherwise, they might get infected."
"There’s no need."
Ling Hong shook his head, rejecting her kind offer. He listlessly continued to pick up the shattered stone bowls on the floor. "These wounds will heal on their own. Herbs are precious. Save them for the tribe members who need them."
For a Beastman, being injured by a rival in a fight over a female was a humiliating experience. He couldn’t accept the female’s concern with a clear conscience.
Ling Hong’s introverted nature meant he would endure it if he could, but Xi couldn’t stand this injustice.
The look that Snake Beast had given him was icy and bloodthirsty. A lingering fear remained in Xi’s heart; it was obvious the snake had wanted to smash him to death with one swipe of his tail.
Thankfully, the Snake Beast had looked down on him for being a mere Third Rank Beastman. Otherwise, he would have been the first to be taken out.