Chapter 282: Extra: Chi Yizhong - Old Ginger Is Spicier

His words were met with another long silence. Ignoring Feng Qiwu’s rather theatrical wails, Chi Yizhong’s mind was filled with doubt.

He couldn’t imagine who else, besides Feng Qiwu, would be so oblivious to the stakes as to steal the stone statue he had carved.

This bet wasn’t just a matter between them; most importantly, it was to help Chu Liangyu more easily obtain the Power of Faith.

Even if others didn’t understand the statue’s significance, most would drop any untoward ideas the moment they learned it was related to Chu Liangyu.

“Wait, you’re just going to leave like that?”

Seeing that he was about to leave, Feng Qiwu immediately shouted, “You beat me up for no reason! Aren’t you going to offer me some compensation?”

Chi Yizhong paused. He hadn’t wanted to bother, but he knew he was in the wrong. Thus, he still said, “My apologies.”

“That’s it?”

The indignation in Feng Qiwu’s heart didn’t subside much with that apology. He was about to say something more, but Chi Yizhong didn’t even spare him a glance. The moment the apology left his lips, his figure vanished from sight at an incredible speed.

“What’s his deal?”

With Chi Yizhong gone, he stopped wailing. He lightly patted the dust off his clothes and used a nearby tree trunk to pull himself to his feet.

His movements weren’t fast—in fact, they were downright slow—but at least he managed to get up without much trouble.

However, he had barely taken two steps before his expression twisted in agony.

A sharp pain shot through his body, and a fine sheen of cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

‘No way. I can’t let him get away with this beating!’

A glint flashed in Feng Qiwu’s eyes. It still hurt, but as a plan began to form in his mind, even the pain seemed to subside.

Meanwhile, Chi Yizhong returned directly to his courtyard, searching for any clues he might have missed.

He wasn’t expecting to find anything, but he actually discovered a few oddities.

There were drag marks where the statue had been, and beside them were two pairs of faint footprints. Based on their size, they seemed to belong to cubs who had only recently come of age.

As for the drag marks, the stone statue must have been too heavy for them. They must have struggled, leaving such traces behind.

‘But… who are these two cubs? And why would they steal my statue at a time like this?’

He followed the footprints out of the courtyard, but the trail went cold at a fork in the path.

“Don’t miss a single spot. We have to find the two people who infiltrated the tribe.”

“If you can’t even handle a simple task like this, then there’s no reason for any of you to remain on the Guard Team.”

Drawn by the voice, Chi Yizhong turned to see Hua Yao addressing a group of people, his expression grave.

Chi Yizhong wasn’t far away, so he had heard everything they said.

“From what I just overheard, two people infiltrated the tribe last night?”

When Hua Yao saw him asking, he didn’t hide the truth. “That’s right. It was a failure on the Guard Team’s part. We still haven’t found the two intruders.”

“I can help you catch them, but I’ll need your cooperation.”

Hua Yao had some understanding of his character. He knew Chi Yizhong wasn’t one to meddle in others’ affairs, so for him to proactively offer help, something must have happened.

Seeing that Chi Yizhong had no intention of elaborating, Hua Yao didn’t press the matter and readily agreed.

Chi Yizhong didn’t explain his plan for catching the two intruders.

After getting the information he needed, Chi Yizhong ended the conversation. Before heading back to his courtyard, he remarked out of the blue, “The bet starts tomorrow. It’s a good thing I’ve already finished carving all my statues.”

“Oh, and to prevent any mishaps, we should probably catch those two intruders as soon as possible.”

Hua Yao was baffled. He opened his mouth to ask a question, but after meeting Chi Yizhong’s gaze, he swallowed his words.

Watching Chi Yizhong walk away, Hua Yao fell into deep thought.

‘What did he mean by that?’

‘Was he worried those two would cause trouble during the bet and wanted me to increase the patrols?’

At this thought, Hua Yao shook his head, dismissing the idea.

‘He just promised to help me catch the intruders. Perhaps… that sentence was a hint.’

“Captain, should we continue the patrols?”

Hearing his subordinate’s question, a glint flashed in Hua Yao’s narrowed eyes, though it vanished in an instant. He paused, then replied, “We patrol. And we do it on a massive scale.”

Hua Yao led his men away. Without their voices, the area around the courtyard fell quiet once more.

Normally, two intruders wouldn’t be a major issue for the tribe, but the moment they heard it might affect the statues of the Beast God, everyone immediately took the matter seriously.

And when they heard the statues were already finished, many suggested that the Guard Team move them to the Beast God Temple for safekeeping.

With so much emphasis placed on the matter, Chi Yizhong found it hard to refuse and agreed to let them take the statues.

Night had not yet fallen, but numerous Guard Team members were already patrolling the area around the Beast God Temple.

This huge commotion in the tribe naturally did not escape the notice of the two young cubs, Chu Yue and Chu Li. Their supposedly foolproof plan had hit an unexpected snag, which inevitably aroused their suspicion.

“Sis, do you really think he could carve a statue as beautiful as this one in just half a day?”

Chu Yue shook her head, stating with absolute certainty, “That’s completely impossible.”

“But if that’s impossible, does that mean the statue he gave the Guard Team is a fake?” After a moment’s thought, Chu Li continued, “Or… what if the one we have isn’t his real work? What if this is just a decoy he made for show, to protect his real masterpiece from being destroyed?”

“That doesn’t seem right either. The bet is tomorrow. He wouldn’t be that audacious, would he?”

Chu Li muttered to himself for a while. Seeing his sister remain silent, he nudged her anxiously. “Sis, the plan to force him to be our Beast Father doesn’t seem to be working. What do we do now?”

“He only had three days to carve. It’s impossible that he had enough time to make a fake as a diversion,” Chu Yue said with conviction. “There’s no need to be anxious. All we have to do is wait.”

“But if this one is a fake, we’ll have no other way to force him to become our Beast Father!”

As he spoke, Chu Li glanced at the statue, paused, then added, “Other people might not be able to, but he’s the Beast Father. Nothing is impossible for him. Even if he’s just an avatar of the Beast Father.”

“Sis, we… we should go take a look. What if… what if…”

Chu Li had a point. They couldn’t afford to lose their only bargaining chip. After a moment of contemplation, Chu Yue nodded in agreement. “Alright. But we can’t go together.”