Chapter 188: Stinky Bear Provokes Su An’an
"You want to die!"
The Bear Clan female’s muscles tensed in an instant as she raised her Bone Spear and aimed it at Su An’an.
"Stop!"
Manda’s claws clamped down on the Bear Clan female’s shoulder like iron pincers. Her expression was complex as she looked at Su An’an.
"You can’t fight the Divine Army."
"Last month, the Black Rock Tribe rebelled. Now their skulls are being used to build a wall outside the Divine Army’s camp."
An arc of electricity at Su An’an’s fingertip expanded into a fine mesh. She said calmly,
"We don’t need you to lead the charge. We just need information."
Manda’s salt-and-pepper hair stirred as if moved by an unseen wind. Finally, she exhaled heavily. "Deal."
"Manda!"
The Bear Clan female slammed a heavy paw on the stone table, shaking dust from the walls.
"What if the Divine Army finds out we’re the ones who leaked the information!"
Her gruff voice suddenly dropped, laced with an uncharacteristic tremble.
"They’ll hang all the Beastmen of the tribe over the Acid Rain Pond to be air-dried!"
Manda’s gaze slowly swept across the cave.
Over thirty pairs of terrified eyes stared back at her.
There were emaciated cubs curled up in their mothers’ arms, gnawing on tree bark.
There were old females silently sharpening Bone Knives.
Her rough palm caressed the deep claw marks on the stone wall.
Those were the marks left by a cub who had scratched at the wall as it starved to death last year.
"We won’t have to wait for the Divine Army to act."
Manda’s lion tail drooped limply. "This rainy season will claim half our lives."
She pointed toward a distant swamp that glowed with a purple light.
"The hunting grounds have shrunk by another thirty percent since last year. We’ve nearly caught all the black-spined fish. At this rate, we’ll all die."
"Then let’s fight the Divine Army to the death!"
The Bone Spear in Jin Zhu’s hand scraped against the stone wall, creating a shower of sparks.
The hatred in her eyes was almost tangible.
"I’d rather die tearing out a Divine Army soldier’s throat than watch our cubs starve until they’re gnawing on their own paws!"
In a corner, a female from the Deer Clan clutched the cub in her arms, whose fever had just broken.
"But if we die, the cubs won’t even have a chance to gnaw on their paws."
Her chapped lips trembled. "As long as we’re alive, there’s still hope."
The cub weakly licked its mother’s fingers.
On its small, gaunt face, its large, sunken eyes were filled with a blank incomprehension.
Jin Zhu fell silent, and a deathly hush fell over the female cave.
"Don’t be so quick to despair!"
Su An’an’s voice was like a beam of light, piercing the gloom in the cave.
She took a step forward, meeting the astonished gazes of the beastmen, her dark eyes blazing in the gloom.
"I’ve faced situations far more desperate than this."
Manda’s lion ears perked up abruptly. "What did you say?"
The other females and cubs all turned their heads.
Even Seville’s gaze was drawn to her.
"Three months ago, the Divine Army used a Space Trap to throw me into the Land of Decay."
Su An’an took a deep breath, her voice solemn.
"I was blind and completely paralyzed. I only had one Beast Husband, who had lost an arm, to protect me."
"The Beastman tribes there, to survive, even signed a Soul Contract with the leader of the Mutant Beasts."
Seville’s pupils shrank.
’He never expected that Su An’an, a noble Princess, had been through such a desperate ordeal.’
"By the Beast God!"
Manda’s roar made the vines tremble. "They actually signed a contract with Mutant Beasts? Have they gone mad?!"
"Let me finish."
Su An’an held up her hands to quiet them and said calmly,
"That tribe came out in full force to hunt us, even bringing Mutant Beasts with them."
"But in the end, I was the one who survived. They all died."
"Impossible!"
The Bear Clan female’s Bone Spear fell to the ground with a CLANG.
She leaned in close to Su An’an, her rough fingers grabbing Su An’an’s slender wrist.
"With these little arms and legs of yours..."
"Let go!"
Seville’s Wings suddenly flared open between them. "Don’t touch her!"
His young voice carried a killing intent as cold as a thousand-year-old glacier.
"Unless you want to know what it feels like to have your hand cut off."
"Seville, calm down!"
Su An’an gently touched Seville’s Wings, and a green healing light soothed his agitated state.
She turned to look at Manda and the other females.
"Because I have the most powerful Guardians!"
The green light at her fingertip suddenly split, sketching four towering figures in the cave.
White Tiger Ying Jiuyao appeared amid crackling lightning, electrical arcs sparking wherever his tail swept.
Mermaid Lan Cangming emerged from a watery mist, blue frost freezing a vast ocean around him.
Poison Dragon Night Abyss spread his wings, a purple-black toxic mist corroding the very space around him.
Red Fox Fei Zhao swished his nine tails, and crimson lotus flames incinerated all in their path.
"They look like the Ancestor Spirits from the tribe’s legends."
Manda’s lion ears twitched violently, her beastly pupils shimmering with awe.
"No, they are real."
A small smile played on Su An’an’s lips as her fingers gently toyed with the Blood Crystal Stone pendant at her neck.
"And right now, they are at the other end of the starry sky, trying everything they can to find us."
Jin Zhu’s brow furrowed, and her fingers instinctively tightened around her Bone Spear.
"How are you going to summon these Guardians?"
A glimmer of hope appeared in the other females’ eyes.
"First, we need to find the Divine Army’s device for contacting the outside world."
Su An’an looked around at the females, her dark eyes flashing with confidence.
"As long as I can summon them, I can tear the Divine Army to shreds."
’Guardians?!’
Seville suddenly lowered his gaze, hiding an unreadable emotion in his eyes.
"Alright! Let’s do it!"
The Bear Clan female pounded her chest in excitement, her thick fur trembling with the impact.
Manda smacked her on the leg with her tail and warned in a low voice, "Don’t be in such a hurry to get yourself killed!"
She turned to Su An’an, her voice grave.
"First, help us win the hunting competition and get the right to cultivate Gang Vines. Then we can talk about the Divine Army."
"Alright."
Just as Su An’an finished speaking, a clamor of footsteps suddenly came from outside the cave.
Seville instantly tensed, spreading his wings to protect Su An’an.
The vine curtain at the cave entrance was roughly thrown aside.
The Old Wolf Clan Leader barged in menacingly with a team of Beastmen.
Behind him, the Beastman known as Stinky Bear clutched the bloody stump of his finger, glaring venomously at Su An’an.
"Outsiders!"
The Old Wolf Clan Leader let out a low growl, baring his bone-white fangs.
"Was it you who took the frog meat, went back on your word, and cut off my clan Warrior’s finger?"
"It was them."
Stinky Bear roared, pointing viciously at Su An’an and Seville.
"Clan Leader, this kind of outsider female doesn’t deserve to stay in our tribe! We must drive them out!"
The cave fell silent for a moment, then erupted into a commotion.
"Bullshit!"
Lu Ming stepped forward with the frog meat and shouted,
"Anan never agreed to anything! Stinky Bear was trying to force her to be with him and was getting handsy!"
"Stinky Bear, you got what you deserved!"
The Bear Clan female sneered, her thick arms crossed over her chest.
"With your disgusting behavior, I’d find you repulsive even if you offered ten head of Prey!"
"That’s right!"
The other females all chimed in, some even spitting on the ground.
"Bullying other beastmen all day just because you have the clan leader’s backing, do you really think you’re such a catch?"
Stinky Bear’s face turned livid with shame and anger as he roared,
"You bunch of Wasted Females, helping an outsider bully one of our own?"
"Pah! An outsider female is still a female! So what if I help her?"
"Enough!"
The Old Wolf Clan Leader’s thunderous shout instantly silenced the cave.
His cold gaze swept over the females, finally landing on Su An’an.
"I’ll give you one last chance. Either get out of the tribe immediately, or..."
He slowly bared his fangs. "According to the tribe’s rules, accept our challenge."
"If you lose, you’ll become Stinky Bear’s slave!"