Chapter – 79
None of You Are Allowed to Stay
Mu Ling quickly covered his mouth.
But the words had already left his lips—there was no taking them back.
Seeing Yi Yuexi laughing at him, Mu Ling shot him a glare.
“The one the female master should sweep out is you! When spring comes and your people bring the Golden Soul Fruit, hurry up and leave! Our little home can’t accommodate you!”
Yi Yuexi raised his fox-like eyes, glanced at the female master’s back as she turned away, then withdrew his gaze and said with a smile,
“Spring, huh… who knows what will happen then?”
“What if my people don’t come?”
“What if they come but don’t bring the Golden Soul Fruit?”
“And what if they bring it… but I don’t want to leave?”
Jiang Xi’s ears twitched. She hadn’t quite reacted yet.
By the time she replayed Yi Yuexi’s words in her mind and understood them, Mu Ling had already exploded.
“Yi Yuexi!! What do you mean!!”
Mu Ling jumped to his feet, pointing at Yi Yuexi as he questioned him.
“Didn’t you say you’d leave when spring comes?! Now you’re saying you won’t leave—what’s that supposed to mean?!”
Yi Yuexi was more popular-looking than him. If he stayed, the female master would definitely be seduced by him!
Then if he whispered sweet words into her ear, what if she didn’t want Mu Ling anymore?!
Yi Yuexi spread his hands. “Did I say I wasn’t leaving?”
Jiang Xi, who had just stiffly turned around, relaxed a little when she heard that.
But before she could fully exhale, Yi Yuexi’s next sentence made her heart jump again.
“Whether I leave or not is not for you to decide.”
Jiang Xi’s heart tightened. She immediately cut off their nonsense.
“No! All of you have to leave!”
The words Mu Ling had been holding in his mouth were swallowed back down.
He looked at the female master with some grievance, then crossed his arms over his chest, turned his head away, and spoke stubbornly.
“I’m not leaving anyway.”
“Even if the female master beats me or scolds me, I won’t leave!”
Not only would he not leave—he was even a little expectant, hoping the female master might hit him.
Yi Yuexi, pretending he had no choice, shrugged.
“No Golden Soul Fruit, no leaving.”
Jiang Xi didn’t believe his nonsense for a second.
“Your people will definitely bring it. And if they can’t, we can look for it together. We can also ask Huo Lun—he’s from the Golden Lion clan, I think he should have a way to get it.”
“There are always more solutions than problems!”
If none of them left, how was she supposed to explain things to Lu Liufeng?!
She had already promised Lu Liufeng that she would only have him.
She couldn’t be fickle!
Yi Yuexi smiled. “That’s right—there are always more solutions than problems.”
Lu Liufeng sat to the side and didn’t join in.
The female master’s continued firm choice filled his heart with mixed emotions and unease.
He was afraid that if things went on like this, he would develop thoughts he shouldn’t—selfish thoughts of monopolizing the female master.
Lu Liufeng pressed his lips together.
After taking a deep breath, he raised his amber-colored eyes to look at her, wanting to tell her that she needed more male mates.
But before he could speak, a familiar voice suddenly sounded outside the door.
“Female Envoy, may we come in?”
It was the chief, Rupert.
Jiang Xi quickly stood up and called out, “Please come in.”
Lu Liufeng pursed his lips. For some reason, he felt a sense of relief.
He thought, Let’s deal with the important matters first…
The matter of male mates can be postponed…
Rupert entered with two beastmen—Hong and his son, Gaxi.
When Gaxi walked into the fire room and saw the female envoy’s other male mates, he remembered what his father had told him and became a little nervous.
Jiang Xi invited them to sit.
However, there were too few chairs in the fire room—only five.
With Huo Lun absent, one seat was free. Lu Liufeng stood up as well, freeing another chair.
In the end, only the chief and Hong sat down.
Gaxi stood behind Hong and nodded at Lu Liufeng, who was standing behind the female envoy.
Lu Liufeng smiled slightly and returned the nod politely.
Rupert didn’t bother with small talk. After sitting down, he first explained why the chief female hadn’t come, then went straight to the main topic.
“The chief female is handling Chen Ya’s matter and likely won’t be able to come until tonight or tomorrow.”
Jiang Xi nodded. “Tribal affairs are more important.”
Rupert looked at Hong. “You explain the rest.”
Hong nodded and reported to the female envoy.
“We’ve already questioned Kang Ya and Kater. Kang Ya ate the black fish inside the tribe. Kater ate it last night.”
“He said he felt hungry last night, smelled a strange fragrance, and then became unclear-headed. He caught a black fish in the ice river and ate it. He said that every time he tried to talk about the black fish, it felt like some force sealed his mouth, preventing him from speaking.”
As Hong spoke, his expression grew serious.
“Kater said the black fish was found in the ice river, but along our route, we didn’t find a single black fish.”
“These black fish are likely consciously hiding themselves, seeking out beastmen with weak willpower to bewitch and contaminate.”
In other words, behind the black fish—or behind the curse pollution—there was an intelligent existence.
For many years, the Cursed Lands had been searching for the source of the curse. The major tribes had sent large numbers of beastmen beyond the wall.
But very few ever returned.
Those who did said that cursed beasts revived from a pitch-black hole.
That hole wasn’t fixed, and there was more than one.
Beastmen couldn’t even find it deliberately—if they accidentally encountered one, they would be instantly sucked in and turned into cursed beasts.
Later, the Holy City sent a powerful expert of the Earth rank to investigate the black hole.
Once he entered beyond the wall, his abilities continuously declined, showing signs of falling back to the fourth major rank.
He found the black hole and entered it, but in the end, only four words were transmitted back:
“Black Abyss.”
“Wait.”
After analysis and discussion by the Holy City and the major tribes, the conclusion was reached: as long as enough time passed, the power of the curse could be worn down.
Thus, over the years, the Holy City’s orders had always been to resist, not to explore or attack.
As for “Black Abyss,” they believed it to be the source of the cursed lands—the Cursed Black Abyss.
Now, with heavy snow sealing the mountains, it was impossible to report to the Holy City.
Even if they did, it would take months for a response.
If there truly was an intelligent existence in the cursed lands, and it was launching a planned invasion within the wall, then the tribe could no longer wait for the Holy City’s decision—they had to make a choice themselves.
Otherwise, what awaited them would only be total destruction.
And if anyone had the ability to decide, it could only be the Female Envoy sent down by the Mother Tree.
Perhaps the Mother Tree had foreseen this disaster, and that was why she sent the Female Envoy—to help the tribe survive this crisis.
Rupert and Hong explained all of this to the female envoy in detail.
This explanation lasted an entire afternoon. Even Huo Lun, who had been resting, came over to listen.
After all, much of what he knew about the cursed lands came from records. In terms of details and key points, he certainly couldn’t compare to a chief and a warrior who had lived there for decades.
Finally, Rupert stated their ultimate purpose.
“This exploration toward the ice river near the Mangjiao Tribe has already revealed black fish, which proves that our direction is correct.”
“So we want to send a team along this route to investigate, find the black fish, and eliminate them.”
