Chapter 80: You cannot get to him until this season is over
Shi Yan stood there in utter confusion, basket of cubs in hand, because she had not expected such a violent reaction from the simple mention of a name.
Lin Huahua looked around at them with pain in her eyes and then whispered, "I am a monster."
Her voice was so soft it almost did not sound like her own. She did not even dare look at them properly after saying it. Her fingers curled into her skirt, trembling so badly that she could not hide it.
In that moment, every kind look they had given her, every time they had protected her, every bit of patience they had shown her only made the guilt cut deeper. One male had been forgotten in a death pit for years, and the others were still standing here worrying about her.
Hu Baiyu shook his head immediately.
No.
Absolutely not.
He shook his head so hard his pale hair moved with it. His lion ears were tense, his expression full of denial, and he even crouched a little in front of her as if trying to make sure she would look at him. If he could speak, he probably would have said it a hundred times. To him, monster and Lin Huahua could no longer exist together.
Mu Qingyi, meanwhile, did the first thing that came to his mind.
He lied.
"He is not dead," Mu Qingyi said quickly.
It was said so fast that even Feng Yiren looked at him.
Because the truth was that Mu Qingyi did not know. He did not know whether Long Xuan was alive or dead. He only knew that if Lin Huahua believed he might still be alive, then maybe she would not collapse right here in the middle of the village. Mu Qingyi rarely lied, and he hated doing it, but when he saw the look on her face, he could not bear to say anything crueler.
And Lin Huahua believed him immediately.
Because this was Mu Qingyi.
This was the soft patient deer beastman who never gave her any reason to doubt him. So when he said Long Xuan was not dead, her whole gaze clung to him like he had just thrown her a rope while she was drowning. Her eyes even turned red at once, because that tiny bit of hope, although not enough to soothe her, was enough to stop her from sinking completely.
"Quick," she said at once. "Quick, we have to get him."
Mu Qingyi’s chest tightened.
Shi Yan’s confusion doubled.
Hu Baiyu looked between them and felt even more worried.
It was Feng Yiren who finally spoke up, because unlike the others, he had enough distance from the emotional center of this to say the hard thing plainly.
"You cannot get to him until this season is over," Feng Yiren said.
Lin Huahua froze.
The little bit of light that had just returned to her face seemed to shatter on the spot.
Then she remembered.
They were still in summer.
The season would not turn for another two or three months.
That meant she had to wait.
Wait while that dragon, if he was still alive, remained in a place where even three-striped beastmen often died and even four-striped ones came out broken if they came out at all.
No matter how much she panicked, no matter how badly she regretted it, no matter how desperately she wanted to run there now, she could not.
She had been too late then.
And she was still too late now.
The weight of it crushed her.
At the same time, another horrifying thought rose in her mind. If Long Xuan was alive and she did somehow bring him back later, then would he not hate her so much that he might actually kill her on sight?
Lin Huahua slowly sat down on the ground.
She did not sit so much as fold in on herself. It was as if all the strength in her body had suddenly drained away. Hu Baiyu immediately knelt beside her, one hand hovering near her back but not quite touching, as if he was afraid she might break further if he moved too carelessly. Mu Qingyi also crouched near her, his usually calm eyes filled with helplessness. Even Feng Yiren’s expression changed a little. At this moment, none of them felt the slightest bit of victory over the forgotten dragon. They only felt terrible.
She truly looked broken now.
Shi Yan, who had been watching everything in growing alarm, finally understood enough to feel moved. The princess had changed. Completely changed. Whatever had happened inside her, this reaction was real.
So the lioness gently handed the basket of cubs to one of her nearby males who had just approached her sensing the tension, then came forward and held Lin Huahua’s hand. "It will be alright," Shi Yan said softly. "It will be fine. I always knew you were a kind person. You were only blinded by that peacock."
Those words only made Lin Huahua feel worse.
Kind?
What kind person forgets someone in a place like that for almost three years?
What kind person needs to learn from another’s memories before realizing just how much damage was done?
And then, just like that, another face flashed through her mind.
That peacock.
That shameless, useless peacock.
The sorrow in Lin Huahua’s eyes instantly twisted into disgust.
"Who was in love with him?" Lin Huahua said at once, as if the idea itself was offensive.
And then, as if the heavens were listening only to mock her, she heard a voice she instantly wanted to throw into the river.
That stupid peacock had arrived.
And Lin Huahua thought only one thing.
Oh my God, why?
"Lin Huahua" The voice reached them just as Lin Huahua was still sitting there with her heart heavy and her head full of the terrible memory of Long Xuan, and the moment she heard that familiar peacock voice, her whole small body went stiff with disgust before she even turned to look.
It was really that immediate.
Some people heard the voice of the person they liked and their heart beat faster.
Lin Huahua heard Wei Ranshu’s voice and immediately felt like the sky had sent another punishment down just to make sure her life in this beast world remained interesting in the worst possible way.
When Wei Ranshu walked into view, he still looked a little wounded from the beating the Rat King had given him few days ago because of Lin Huahua.
And although beastmen healed much faster than ordinary people, the difference in power and rank still mattered a lot, so even now he carried himself with a little stiffness in places he clearly wished nobody would notice.
Yet because he was a peacock beastman and deeply in love with his own reflection, he still tried very hard to walk with a proud lifted chin and a puffed chest, as if the whole world was lucky to look at him.
Su Yanrong was with him too.
Of course she was.
That vulture woman came with her usual group of males surrounding her like she was some precious jewel instead of a woman who looked like she had swallowed bitterness and never let it go.
Her males were all close around her in the protective way beastmen naturally behaved around their female, even though every one of them disliked Wei Ranshu and could barely hide it. That part was very easy to understand. They knew their female liked Feng Yiren.
They also knew she kept trying to use Wei Ranshu to stir trouble, so that Lin Huahua would accept the peacock and then she could keep reaching for the fox. Even they were tired of her games, but since they were her males, what could they do except stand by her and guard her anyway?
The moment Wei Ranshu’s eyes swept over the scene, the first thing he noticed was Feng Yiren.