Chapter 07
Hearing the words “Yaoluo Tribe,” Zhong Zhen instantly woke up. He braced himself and sat upright, only to tug at the wounds on his body, the pain making him suck in a sharp breath.
How had Father and the others come here?
Zhong Zhen wanted to get up and go to the cave entrance to see what was happening, but the injury on his leg was too severe—he simply couldn’t stand. His struggling movements pulled at the medicated wound, and fresh blood quickly seeped through again.
The dim evening sky was soon lit up by large flames outside, accompanied by noisy voices. Zhong Zhen grew anxious.
Still, he forced himself onward, supporting his body against the stone wall as he slowly moved toward the cave entrance. Standing at the elevated opening and looking down at the rocky shore crowded with moving figures, he spotted his father at a glance.
Beastmen possessed extremely sharp senses of smell. The moment he appeared at the cave entrance, Ling Chengen, who was standing beside the stone stove, suddenly looked over expressionlessly.
Zhong Zhen met her gaze and, despite the poor lighting, could see her clearly. Instinctively, he wanted to avoid her eyes, but then he straightened his back and quietly watched the scene below.
Zhong Zhen’s father, Zhong Guang—the chief of the Yaoluo Tribe—had several prey animals slung over his shoulder. His eyes were dark and heavy as he stared at Ling Chengen standing by the fire, his expression grim.
Throwing the prey onto the ground, he coldly demanded, “Where is Zhong Zhen?”
“At the cave entrance.” Ling Chengen pointed toward the dazed-looking man standing not far away and curled her lips slightly. “You came to take him back?”
“Yes. We can hand over even more prey. We only ask that you release Zhong Zhen.”
Although Zhong Guang was furious that Ling Chengen had taken away his badly injured son without warning, handing him over had originally been one of the surrender conditions forced upon them after Ling Xiao fought his way to their tribe’s gates.
Ling Chengen raised an eyebrow. “Your Yaoluo Tribe can’t heal his injuries.”
Zhong Guang replied word by word, “We can seek help from a more skilled shaman healer from another tribe. We will cure Zhong Zhen.”
Ling Chengen merely smiled. Before she could say anything else, Ling Xiao—who had tossed the prey aside—strode over in large steps. His tall body positioned itself protectively in front of his daughter.
“Zhong Guang, stop going back on your word! We already agreed on handing him over. If you want to renege now, do you want another fight?”
Ling Chengen set down the spoon in her hand and looked somewhat surprised at Ling Xiao’s broad back.
Truthfully, it had been a long time since anyone had stood in front of her to shield her.
Her biological parents had died before she came of age, and afterward she had lived under the care of relatives.
The relatives who took her in weren’t bad people, but they certainly weren’t particularly kind either. They merely made sure she had food to eat. Her clothes were hand-me-downs from others. Besides doing housework and farm labor, she had also needed to work odd jobs herself to pay for living expenses and school fees.
She had long since grown used to facing difficulties alone, never expecting anyone to stand in front of her and protect her.
But Ling Xiao’s instinctive act of stepping forward without hesitation made her feel both touched and unexpectedly happy.
Even though she was essentially a counterfeit occupying someone else’s place, she had truly encountered a very good father.
She had never intended to steal the original owner’s body. She had simply woken up here one day.
Earlier that afternoon, she had asked the system about it. The answer it gave was that the original owner really had already died.
The cause of death was still unclear, while Ling Chengen’s appearance in this beast world was entirely due to her unusually high mental power, which had a compatibility rate of 100% with this body.
The original owner’s death definitely needed to be investigated. At the very least, an explanation was owed.
Though Ling Chengen lacked patience and could be cold and selfish at times, now that she had borrowed this body, she had no intention of abandoning the original owner’s family. She had already decided she would properly take care of Ling Xiao and Ling Xiaoxi.
As Ling Xiao stepped forward, confronting Zhong Guang head-on, the dozen or so warriors from the Yaoluo Tribe and the dozens of warriors beside Ling Xiao gradually formed a tense standoff thick with hostility.
“Father, don’t rush.” Ling Chengen stretched out a hand to stop Ling Xiao from clashing with Zhong Guang. Calmly and unhurriedly, she squeezed through the crowd and stood directly between the two groups. Pointing toward the cave entrance, she said, “Father, go carry Zhong Zhen over first. His leg is injured—he can’t walk.”
Ling Xiao looked at his daughter, who only reached his shoulder in height. His previously imposing arrogance instantly vanished, though he still cast Zhong Guang a wary glance.
“Go on. They wouldn’t dare cause trouble on our territory.”
From beginning to end, Ling Chengen remained completely calm. After Ling Xiao left, she smiled at Zhong Guang, who was clearly sturdier and older than Zhong Zhen, and spoke in a composed tone.
“Even if I hand Zhong Zhen back to you, all you can do is seek out a healer from another tribe.”
“Not only is there no guarantee he can be cured, but first you’ll have to pay an even greater price to persuade another tribe’s healer to act.”
“You still need to hand over enough prey to the Shilin Tribe within the required time limit. You want to offer even more prey in exchange for keeping Zhong Zhen, and on top of that prepare additional prey to request treatment from another tribe’s healer…”
“…but his injuries clearly can’t wait that long.”
“By the time you finish preparing everything, you’ll only be collecting his corpse.”
“What nonsense are you saying?!” one of the beastmen beside Zhong Zhen shouted angrily at Ling Chengen.
Completely fearless, Ling Chengen merely glanced at him indifferently.
“Am I wrong? When I went to bring him back today, his wounds were already rotting and infected. His fever wouldn’t go down. Your tribe’s healer couldn’t cure him and could only make him endure it while you prepared enough prey to seek medical help elsewhere.”
“But if I hadn’t brought him back today, he would definitely have died within two days.”
“Could you really have taken him to another tribe for treatment within two days? And his injuries are extremely severe—the later they’re treated, the lower the chance of recovery. He might even be permanently crippled…”
Before Ling Chengen finished speaking, Ling Xiao had already returned to her side, lowering Zhong Zhen from his back. Ling Xiao’s face looked awful, though he still tried hard to maintain a fierce expression.
He had thought he’d found a fair-skinned and handsome beast-husband for his daughter.
But instead… the man was half-dead!
What a loss. A terrible loss!
Deep down, Ling Xiao regretted it terribly. Honestly, returning the man wasn’t impossible. Since Zhong Guang treasured his son so much, asking for more prey in exchange wasn’t a bad deal.
As for beast-husbands—another could always be found.
But after hearing his eldest daughter’s words just now, alarm bells immediately rang in his head.
His daughter wanted to keep him!
Everything about his daughter was wonderful except for one thing—she was too stubborn. She had only just climbed out of the massive pit called Bai Qingyu, only to immediately fall into another pit occupied by the half-dead fox Zhong Zhen.
Ah… was his En’en some kind of “attracted-to-disasters” constitution?
Being a father was truly too difficult.
Zhong Zhen was no longer burning with fever. Though the wound had reopened slightly and his body was still weak, his senses were clear and sharp now. He had heard every single word Ling Chengen said.
The way Ling Chengen spoke was truly merciless.
Yet he also knew she was absolutely right—every word struck directly at the heart of the matter.
Although he didn’t like this female, it was an undeniable fact that Ling Chengen had saved him today.
No one understood his condition better than he himself did.
This time had truly been dangerous. Without the shaman healer of the Shilin Tribe stepping in—and without that strange bowl of medicinal soup Ling Chengen had given him at noon—he would never have been standing here conscious and awake now.
“Father,” Zhong Zhen finally spoke, “I chose to come to the Shilin Tribe with her of my own accord.”
The wrinkles at the corners of Zhong Guang’s eyes tightened instantly. Looking at his weakened son, the always stern and unyielding man nearly had tears welling up in his eyes.
