Chapter – 73
Beast Husbands in a Brawl
Chen Ya was dead.
She died right when Jiang Xi was treating the beastmen.
Everyone had just seen the curse pollution on the beastman’s body begin to fade. They hadn’t even had time to feel relieved when another beastman rushed over to report—
Outside the tribe, Chen Ya’s corpse had been found, along with her beast husband, Kairi, who was lying beside her, barely clinging to life.
Kairi had been polluted and had killed his female master.
The backlash of the marriage contract caused Kairi to collapse, but due to the pollution, he had not yet completely died.
Thus, why the two beastmen in the cages looked the way they did was now self-evident.
The beastman Jiang Xi had been treating had only just shed half of the pollution when the marriage contract backlash struck. After struggling for a moment, he instantly lost his life.
After hearing all this, Jiang Xi was stunned for quite a while.
Lu Liufeng stood up with his female master in his arms and looked toward the First Female Leader and the others.
“My female master’s mental energy has been completely exhausted. I’ll take her back to rest first.”
“The fact that my female master can treat curse pollution may reduce casualties for the Lion’s Roar Tribe when resisting beast tides, but it may also cause the tribe’s beastmen to let down their guard, increasing unnecessary losses.”
“Moreover, my female master’s mental energy is limited. She likely can only treat beastmen in the incubation stage or those whose pollution has just begun to manifest.”
Curse pollution, according to severity, was divided into three stages: incubation, manifestation, and terminal.
In the incubation stage, the beastman retained rationality and appeared no different from a normal beastman.
In the manifestation stage, rationality was nearly lost. The body could no longer control its form, and visible signs of pollution appeared.
In the terminal stage, the beastman completely transformed into a black, red-eyed beast form, becoming a full-fledged cursed beast, losing all rationality.
Only pollution in the manifestation and terminal stages could be detected by other beastmen.
The incubation stage could only be known by the beastman himself and could not be detected externally.
If a beastman in the incubation stage did not report it, the pollution would manifest within one to three days. One day after manifestation, it would enter the terminal stage, completely degenerating into a bloodthirsty cursed beast.
There were always beastmen in hiding who believed they would be the exception and refused to report their pollution, ultimately causing great disasters and harming their closest family and friends.
This was why incidents of polluted beastmen going berserk and injuring others frequently occurred within the tribe.
Rubert nodded.
“That the Female Envoy is willing to help is something the tribe is deeply grateful for. We will absolutely not allow the beastmen to recklessly consume the female master’s mental energy.”
“After discussing this with the First Female and the elders, we will certainly give the female master a satisfactory response.”
“For now, please have the female master return to rest quickly. The wind and snow are heavy outside—don’t let her catch a chill.”
Lu Liufeng carried his female master away, and the other three beast husbands followed along.
On the way back, Lu Liufeng couldn’t help but ask,
“Female master, why did you just now choose to empower the First Female instead of establishing your own authority?”
Mu Ling, Yi Yuexi, and Huo Lun all looked over as well, their eyes filled with the same confusion.
In their view, only by gaining sufficient prestige within the tribe could others be made afraid to act recklessly.
Leaning in his arms, Jiang Xi closed her eyes and said,
“Why would I need to establish authority for myself? I’m not managing the tribe.”
If she established authority, then whenever anything happened in the tribe, big or small, they would bypass the First Female and come straight to her. What then?
She’d be exhausted to death.
Out of respect for her status, the First Female would certainly listen to her.
Over time, people would only come to her.
And gradually, even trivial matters would be brought to her.
She didn’t want to shoulder that burden.
Because beyond worry, it was also a responsibility.
To Jiang Xi—or rather, to who she was now—the Lion’s Roar Tribe was merely a place to live. She didn’t have a deep sense of belonging, and naturally, no strong sense of responsibility either.
Of course, to live comfortably and in mutual courtesy, she would still help with things within her ability.
But to bind herself forever to the Lion’s Roar Tribe as a Blessed Female, becoming their eternal pillar of support—that was unlikely.
After all, if the opportunity arose in the future, she wanted to travel around and see the scenery of this world.
She preferred a life of freedom.
Or rather, a free heart.
Unbound, unburdened by responsibility, living only for herself.
Coming and going as she pleased.
Lu Liufeng, Yi Yuexi, and Huo Lun all understood that the female master had no intention of intervening in the Lion’s Roar Tribe’s affairs.
Mu Ling, however, didn’t quite get it. He scratched his head and asked,
“Isn’t that a good thing? If the tribe listens to the female master in everything, big or small, then things like today wouldn’t happen again.”
Before Jiang Xi could speak, Lu Liufeng explained,
“If that happens, the female master would be bound to the Lion’s Roar Tribe. The more you manage, the greater the responsibility. That’s how generations of First Females and elders ended up staying.”
Otherwise, with the abilities of the First Female and the elders, they could have accumulated enough contribution points to leave the Cursed Land.
Power was intoxicating—even in the barren Cursed Land.
Or perhaps it was precisely because the Cursed Land was dangerous that people became even more unwilling to let go of the power they had grasped.
Although for the female master—and for them—this little bit of power held no appeal.
Still, once some things began, they were hard to stop.
Lu Liufeng also didn’t want his female master to be burdened day after day by such trivial matters.
Once the issue of staying or leaving was explained, Mu Ling finally understood.
That’s right!
They came from the Holy City. Once they accumulated enough contribution points, they would leave. There was no reason to spend their entire lives here or invest all their time into the tribe.
After figuring it out, Mu Ling was full of motivation.
He wished cursed beasts would attack that very day so he could slaughter dozens of them and rack up more contribution points.
As they were about to reach home, Mu Ling noticed the female master lying weakly in Lu Liufeng’s arms and suddenly remembered something.
“Didn’t the female master say she wanted to test today whether combat other than against curse pollution could restore mental energy?”
“How about we find some beastmen to fight now and see if it helps the female master recover her mental energy?”
Hearing this, Jiang Xi slowly opened her eyes, a spark of interest appearing.
The feeling of being completely drained was simply too uncomfortable. Even now, her limbs were weak and she had no strength at all.
At that moment, Yi Yuexi stroked his chin and swept his gaze over everyone with a smiling expression.
“I do have a suggestion.”
“How about we try combat between beast husbands first?”
The moment he said that, everyone froze—Jiang Xi included.
Come to think of it… that suggestion was actually quite interesting.
A few minutes later, in the open area by the frozen river in the backyard.
Lu Liufeng spread his wings behind him, holding his female master as he hovered in the air.
Wind and snow swirled around them, snowflakes parting as they approached.
On the frozen river, Mu Ling flashed in front of Yi Yuexi and swung a punch straight at him.
Balancing on his toes, Yi Yuexi slid backward on ice-blue snowflakes.
With a roar, Huo Lun’s golden scales spread from his neck up along the side of his face.
He smashed a fist into the ice river. The surface cracked, and streams of golden energy spiraled upward, sweeping toward Yi Yuexi’s retreating back.
Stepping on snowflakes, Yi Yuexi shot into the air. The golden energy collided with the rapidly advancing Mu Ling, instantly carving a bloody gash across his face.
Mu Ling flashed in front of Huo Lun. His fist had just struck Huo Lun’s chest when it rebounded off the hard scales, numbing his arm. Golden energy surged back at him, and he quickly dodged away, shouting in dissatisfaction,
“Huo Lun, you actually used your bloodline talent! Was there really a need to be that serious?!”
