Chapter 81: I heard you bullied Su Yanrong yesterday
To be more exact, the first thing he noticed was Feng Yiren’s face and body still carrying the marks from the bee attack. The fox beastman looked good even injured, which was truly annoying, but the swelling on his skin and the faint red sting marks gave Wei Ranshu a sudden burst of joy inside.
So she really bullied him again.
That was the first thought that filled his mind, and it pleased him a great deal.
Since yesterday, ugly little rumors had started moving around the village saying that the rat princess was treating her males differently, that she had become softer, that she had even spoken protectively of them, and hearing those things had almost made Wei Ranshu lose his temper.
Because if Lin Huahua really changed and really started liking those males, then what would be left for him? All those years of her chasing him and making a fool of herself would become worthless. So now, seeing Feng Yiren’s state, he immediately felt much more at ease.
Good.
Very good.
That meant the vicious rat princess was still the same.
At least that was what he thought.
Then he looked at Lin Huahua properly.
And when he did, he almost forgot the thought in his own head.
Because the female standing there today looked so shockingly beautiful that even his proud peacock heart missed one full beat. Yesterday, there had been too much happening. Anger, confusion, punishment, and all sorts of ugly things. He had not had the chance to truly examine her. But today?
Today he saw it clearly.
Her skin looked fairer, softer, smoother, as if she had never been touched by hardship in her life. Her face looked fresh and vivid, her eyes wider and more alive than before, and even the little white rat ears above her head and the fluffy tail behind her made her seem delicate in a way that stirred something strange inside him. She looked like Lin Huahua, but also like a more polished, brighter, far more irresistible version of Lin Huahua.
That made something in Wei Ranshu shift.
He was still arrogant. Still stupid. Still too full of himself.
But now he was also attracted.
Very attracted.
And because he was a peacock beastman, he naturally took this new attraction as proof that he had excellent taste and that the female in front of him was lucky he had noticed her again.
Lin Huahua, however, was already feeling murderous.
Her males felt it too.
The moment Wei Ranshu came close, Mu Qingyi’s expression softened no more. The caring deer beastman had been the one holding her up just a moment ago, but now his whole body straightened and moved half a step nearer, placing himself in that protective spot a male took without needing to think about it.
Hu Baiyu was even more obvious. The white lion’s big body shifted, and a low animalistic growl rolled out from his throat before he could stop it. Yesterday he had not been in his best state, and even then he had still wanted to tear Wei Ranshu apart. Today he was stronger, steadier, and standing beside his female, so if this peacock dared too much, Hu Baiyu truly would not leave him with all his feathers intact.
Feng Yiren’s reaction was no lighter.
The fox beastman stood straighter, his red eyes narrowed, his bee bitten body still full of pride and annoyance, and although he could act like he hated Lin Huahua a hundred times a day, that did not mean he would stand by happily while a peacock came near her again.
Even Shi Yan’s lion cubs noticed the mood.
They had been wriggling around in the basket before, but now they gathered in front of their mother and peered toward Wei Ranshu with tiny serious faces, as if even their little cub brains had already decided that this male was bad news and therefore suspicious by law.
The sight almost would have been funny if Lin Huahua had not been so angry.
Wei Ranshu noticed the males first.
His face changed for one short second because no matter how delusional he was, he was still a weak striped beastman standing in front of one female who had two three-striped males and one two-striped fox male around her. That alone was enough to make anyone feel the pressure. A three-striped beastman could crush him. Two three-striped males and a two-striped fox standing together was enough to make even a whole weak tribe feel their hearts shake.
And yet he still had the nerve.
Because in his mind, Lin Huahua still liked him.
So after that one flicker of fear, his chest lifted again and his pride returned.
Lin Huahua watched all of this and felt that if she did not hit something soon, she might actually die of annoyance.
Then Wei Ranshu finally raised his voice and said, "I heard you bullied Su Yanrong yesterday."
The moment those words came out, Lin Huahua stood up from beside the basket of cubs.
She did it so suddenly that Shi Yan blinked in surprise, and all three of her males immediately watched her face with tension in their hearts, because they did not know what she would do next. One part of them feared that she might still care for this peacock after all. Another part of them hoped desperately that she truly did not.
Lin Huahua stepped forward and put both hands on her waist.
Her little white rat ears were standing high now, and her tail had become stiff with anger. Her face looked small and cute as always, but the expression on it made it very clear that she had had enough of this man’s existence.
"So what?" she asked.
That answer was not what Wei Ranshu expected.
At all.
He had thought she would explain herself to him. He had thought she would deny it, or soften her tone, or start acting flustered because he had come to scold her. Instead she was standing there with both hands on her waist looking as if she was one breath away from biting his head off.