Chapter 447 - 445: Protecting Her in His Arms

Chapter 447: Chapter 445: Protecting Her in His Arms

On the third day, the rain finally eased up noticeably. The fine drizzle gave way to scattered raindrops.

The gray of the sky also seemed to have lightened, revealing a sliver of faint, pale light.

Just like the past two days, Bai Wanwan was already keeping watch at the entrance, wrapped in thick beast hides, her gaze stubbornly fixed on the distance.

She had been standing for so long that her legs were starting to go numb.

Suddenly!

Deep within the rain-swept curtain, at the edge of the forest blurred by mist, several indistinct dark figures appeared.

They moved slowly, hobbling along, but one of them was tall and straight, his steps steady.

Even through the rain, mist, and distance, Bai Wanwan recognized him in a single glance.

It was Jiao Yin!

A dazzling smile suddenly bloomed on her pale face, sweeping away the gloom of the past few days. She subconsciously wanted to rush out and greet him.

"Jiao Yin!"

She had only staggered a few steps forward when the tall figure rushed over even faster, reaching her in an instant, bringing with him the thick stench of muddy water, blood, and the unique, foul odor of the swamp.

"Don’t come out! The ground is covered in mud and water!" Jiao Yin’s voice was extremely hoarse, laced with the exhaustion and urgency of a long journey.

He reached out with a large, mud-caked hand—not for an embrace, but in a protective gesture—and steadily held her shoulders, gently pushing her back into the dry entryway of the stone house.

His movement seemed like a rejection, but the force was controlled and extremely gentle, as if he was afraid of hurting her.

Only then did Bai Wanwan get a clear look at him.

Jiao Yin was soaked to the bone. His Jue Sha was covered in mud and dried blood. On his bare arms and calves were several fresh claw marks so deep the bone was visible. Though they had been crudely bandaged with rough leaves, they were still oozing blood.

His face was pale and his lips were chapped, but his azure pupils were astonishingly bright, filled to the brim with joy.

His other hand tightly clutched a similarly mud-stained Beast Skin Bag. Peeking out from its opening were a few leaves shimmering with a faint, silvery light.

Almost by instinct, he raised the back of his relatively cleaner hand and carefully reached for Bai Wanwan’s forehead.

His fingertips were ice-cold, carrying the dampness and earthy smell of the swamp, yet they made Bai Wanwan feel incredibly safe and warm.

"The fever... it’s gone?" his voice was raspy, and he seemed to let out a huge sigh of relief.

Hearing his voice, Hua Han also walked out quickly from inside. Seeing Jiao Yin back alive, though in a wretched state, a smile appeared on his face. "It broke on the morning of the second day! But for the past few days, Wanwan has been so worried about you, planted at the door like a stone post. No amount of persuasion could get her to come inside and rest properly. I was really afraid a gust of cold wind would be too much for her newly recovered body to handle!"

Hua Han’s tone was reproachful, but it held more heartache than blame.

When Jiao Yin heard this, a warm current surged through his entire body.

His gaze toward Bai Wanwan softened immensely, deep emotions swirling within. His voice became even gentler. "You’ve just recovered. You can’t push yourself like this."

"I know my own condition. It’s fine," she smiled at him.

’When I’m awake, I can control the system, so I’m not afraid of getting sick again at all.’

Hua Han watched the undisguised intimacy, dependence, and joy of having him back that filled Bai Wanwan’s gaze as she looked at Jiao Yin, and a faint, hard-to-ignore sourness welled up in his heart.

But he quickly suppressed this emotion.

Jiao Yin was his ally, and more importantly, he had risked his life to save Wanwan.

He gave the two a silent glance and, very tactfully, chose not to disturb them. He turned and quietly retreated back inside to look after the cubs, who had become a little restless from the noise, leaving the small space at the entrance to them.

Jiao Yin carefully guided Bai Wanwan into the warm stone house.

"I was supposed to... find the Silver Leaf Grass and be back by last night," his voice was low and tinged with exhaustion, "but I ran into some trouble on the way back. At the edge of the swamp, I found a few foreign Beastmen trapped in the mire."

Bai Wanwan tilted her head to look and only then noticed that a few steps behind Jiao Yin were three other male Beastmen, equally caked in mud and in a sorry state.

They had clearly also endured a great ordeal. They were injured, their breathing was unsteady, and their gazes toward Jiao Yin were filled with gratitude and awe.

When they saw Bai Wanwan’s gaze sweep over them, the three male Beastmen immediately supported one another and hurried forward.

The leader, a burly Beastman with a hideous scar on his face, immediately bowed deeply to Bai Wanwan, his attitude exceedingly respectful:

"Honored female! Thank the Beast God for his guidance! If not for your esteemed Beast Husband saving us, the three of us brothers would have been buried in that man-eating swamp today!" His tone was emotional, filled with sincere gratitude.

The other two also hurried to bow, saying in unison, "Thank you to your Beast Husband for saving our lives!"

As he spoke, the scar-faced Beastman fumbled inside his own soaked beast-hide wrap and pulled out something carefully wrapped in oilcloth that gave off a faint, strange fragrance. Cupping it with both hands, he respectfully offered it to Bai Wanwan. "This is just a small token of our appreciation. It’s not much, but please, female, you must accept it!"

Having just seen the female’s concern for the male, they had directly assumed Bai Wanwan was Jiao Yin’s "Wife."

Hearing the address "your Beast Husband," Jiao Yin’s ears instantly turned beet red, the blush spreading uncontrollably down to his neck.

His heart pounded like a drum, and a secret joy coiled around it like a vine.

He subconsciously glanced at Bai Wanwan and saw that she seemed a bit stunned by the surprise and the sudden form of address, not immediately refuting or clarifying it.

Jiao Yin’s heart couldn’t help but skip a beat, and a sense of satisfaction he had never felt before filled him.

He even forgot the pain from his injuries, only feeling a hot, burning sensation in his chest.

However, in this delicate, slightly romantic moment, the instant the scar-faced leader extended the gift and got a closer look at Bai Wan’s face, his expression of gratitude and respect suddenly froze!

His pupils contracted violently, as if he had seen something utterly unbelievable, or even terrifying!

The hand holding the gift trembled almost imperceptibly.

At the moment the scar-faced Beastman lost his composure, his two companions behind him also subconsciously lifted their heads, their gazes landing on Bai Wanwan’s face.

In an instant, the same shock and disbelief spread across their faces like a plague!

The three of them quickly exchanged a look, an expression filled with horror, astonishment, and a trace of... a complex emotion bordering on fear that Bai Wanwan couldn’t understand!

Jiao Yin, standing beside her, was still immersed in the secret joy of "being mistaken for a Beast Husband." Only now did he keenly sense the abrupt shift in atmosphere.

He followed the three Beastmen’s alarmed and uncertain gazes back to Bai Wanwan’s face.

He then looked at the three males, whose faces had changed drastically, as if they had seen a ghost. A flash of vigilance crossed his azure eyes.

He subconsciously pulled Bai Wanwan into his arms protectively and looked at them. "What’s wrong?"