Chapter 261: Why Is It Different?

Chapter 261: Chapter 261: Why Is It Different?

Yan Lie opened his arms to catch his beloved. "Why are you running so fast?"

Bai Wanwan’s heart pounded like a drum. The urge to pee was gone; now, she just wanted to get out of there.

She only had Yan Lie with her. What if Roger had other males with him?

If a fight broke out, it wouldn’t end well.

She offered no explanation, simply grabbing Yan Lie and pulling him along.

Her pace grew faster and faster, until Yan Lie noticed something was wrong.

"Wanwan, what’s wrong?"

"I want to go back and see which male ends up defeating that Bear Beast."

Yan Lie stepped in front of her and crouched down. "Hop on, then. I’ll carry you back."

In the woods, Roger stood in the shadows, watching her retreating figure grow smaller in the distance.

A self-mocking smirk touched his lips.

"Cunning liar!"

He’d spent so many days with Bai Wanwan. ’How could I not know what a ruthless, cunning female she is?’

’For a moment there, I was truly bewitched. But I snapped out of it after she’d only taken a few steps.’

’If I had wanted to stop her, I could have pulled her back in an instant.’

’But I didn’t. What would be the point of pulling her back?’

’I don’t even know why I followed her trail all this way, just to see if she was alive...’

’But what she said to me just now... it stirred something in me.’

’To be her Beast Husband...’

’It was as if something had suddenly sprouted within his heart.’

’To his surprise, it filled him with anticipation.’

By the time Bai Wanwan and Yan Lie returned to the plaza, one of the bouts had already ended.

Just as Zhu Xiu had predicted, the short male was indeed the victor.

The ferocious Bear Beast from before now lay motionless inside the wooden cage.

As Bai Wanwan returned to her seat, the wooden cage was opened. The Bear Beast was dragged out, and a Tiger Beast was quickly thrown in to take its place.

Bai Wanwan was in no mood to watch the spectacle. Sitting down behind the stone table, she took a drink of water to calm her nerves.

"What’s wrong?" Xin Feng noticed she was a little pale and asked in a gentle voice, "Are you feeling unwell?"

Zhu Xiu reached out and touched her forehead. Confirming she didn’t have a fever, he asked, "What happened just now when you left?"

Bai Wanwan had no intention of hiding anything from her Beast Husbands, so she immediately told them about her encounter with Roger.

"Roger?" Zhu Xiu’s brow furrowed as he seemed to search his memory for the name.

Noticing his confusion, Bai Wanwan reminded him of the time he had severely injured Roger.

"So it was him!"

Zhu Xiu’s expression instantly darkened, and an icy chill radiated from him.

"He actually dared to come here? What did he do to you?"

’If he dared to touch Wanwan... He had gravely injured him last time; this time, he would kill him.’

Bai Wanwan quickly grasped his hand. "It’s nothing. I think it was just a chance encounter. He was just surprised to see that I was still alive."

’Roger really didn’t hurt me,’ she thought. ’If he’d wanted to go back on his word at the end, I never would have made it out of those woods.’

’As long as Roger understood her position and they could all mind their own business, she didn’t want Zhu Xiu to hurt him again.’

Hearing this, Xin Feng’s usually warm expression gained a frosty edge. "Roger found you?"

"Yes."

Yan Lie, who had also just heard Bai Wanwan, was astonished. "Wanwan, you ran into a Beastman in the woods just now?"

Zhu Xiu and Xin Feng both turned to look at him at the same time, their gazes cold.

Yan Lie’s voice trailed off. "But when I called for Wanwan just now, she kept answering me."

The scents in the woods had been too overwhelming, and the noise from the plaza too loud; it had clouded his judgment.

"Don’t glare at him," she said. "I was the one who kept answering him so he wouldn’t get suspicious. It’s not a big deal. He’s probably here with a merchant caravan and will leave in a few days."

At this, she thought about Roger’s face and how it had changed. She couldn’t help but ask Xin Feng, "Xin Feng, I remember you said that Roger resists and is repulsed by females because he was almost... you know... by one?"

’She hadn’t seen any evidence that he was repulsed by females at all—not when he used to show up at her home every other day in the Cat Clan Tribe, and not just now, with that dark, complicated look in his eyes as he held her.’

’It was a look she had seen in the eyes of Zhu Xiu, Xin Feng, and Yan Lie before.’

’That wasn’t the look of a male who felt nothing for females.’

"Yes," Xin Feng said, looking at his mate with concern. "But Wanwan, you’re different from other females. He might be repulsed by them, but that doesn’t mean he’d be repulsed by you."

At Xin Feng’s words, all of her Beast Husbands turned to look at her.

Bai Wanwan quickly forced a smile. "How am I any different? We’re all the same. I just thought his face looked a little strange, different from the last time I saw him."

"That’s because he used a Rubber Fruit. When prepared in a special way, a Rubber Fruit can be used to change one’s appearance."

Bai Wanwan’s eyes went wide. "It can be used for disguise? You mean he doesn’t normally look like that?"

"Yes. He didn’t look like that when I rescued him. He probably used the Rubber Fruit to avoid being pestered by females."

’So that means I’ve never actually seen Roger’s real face...’ she realized.

Bai Wanwan stopped talking. On the stone table before her were several plates of raw meat and fruit.

She didn’t touch the raw meat, instead reaching for a piece of fruit and popping it into her mouth.

She took a bite and looked up, her eyes meeting Jin Yi’s from across the way.

Bai Wanwan paused. She was about to give him a smiling nod, but Jin Yi quickly averted his gaze.

She didn’t think much of it and continued chewing her fruit.

Down below, the Warrior in the wooden cage was still fighting the Tiger Beast. Bai Wanwan glanced over, and her heart leaped into her throat.

The Tiger Beast’s claws slashed past the male’s chest again and again, nearly disemboweling him several times.

But in an instant, the tables turned. The male had intentionally herded the Tiger Beast into a corner.

With a swift movement, he dodged to the side and leaped onto the Tiger Beast’s back.

The Tiger Beast, enraged, threw its head back, trying to shake the male off.

But no matter how it bucked and thrashed, it couldn’t dislodge the male clinging to its back.

Its sharp teeth and claws seemed useless.

At that moment, however, the male transformed into a Golden Lion. He opened his jaws, clamped down on the Tiger Beast’s neck, and tore viciously...

Blood sprayed everywhere in a gruesome display.

The Tiger Beast collapsed. As its blood drained away, it twitched for a moment before finally going still.

ROAR...

ROAR...

A series of roars proclaimed his glory.

The Golden Lion leaped majestically from the Tiger Beast’s body.

It turned around slowly, its golden eyes seeming to sweep over Bai Wanwan.

"Jin Luo, Jin Yuan, come forward," the Jin Cang Clan Leader said, beaming as he beckoned them over.

The male called Jin Luo quickly reverted to his human form and walked forward alongside the short male from the previous bout.

"Clan Leader, the Beast God blesses us."

"Excellent work. What reward would you like?" Jin Cang was in high spirits. His gaze swept over the two males; both were promising members of the tribe, on the verge of advancing from Green Rank to Yellow Rank.

Yellow Rank Males were few, and every single one was precious.

Just as Bai Wanwan was wondering what they would ask for, the male who had just defeated the Tiger Beast suddenly turned his head and looked right at her.