Chapter 170: "Do You Even Believe That Yourself?

Chapter 170: Chapter 170: "Do You Even Believe That Yourself?

By the time Ophelia arrived, Kohen and Dan’er were already severely injured.

"Stop it! Stop!" Wendy cried out, tears streaming down her face at the sight of her brothers getting hurt.

Ophelia’s cheeks flushed red with anger. Unlike the level-headed Kohen, Dan’er was much more impulsive. He shook himself, attempting to shift into his beast form. A faint light glowed from his slightly parted mouth.

Ophelia noticed it, and her heart sank. She thought, "Oh no."

Lobak, being the closest to Dan’er, also noticed his unusual state and saw Kohen’s expression darken. Pressing his lips tightly together, he fended off the attacks of the other male cubs while rushing toward Dan’er.

Seeing that Dan’er was about to transform, Kohen gritted his teeth and used all his strength to ram into the male cubs around him. Knocking them away, he sprinted to Dan’er’s side, grabbed hold of him, and plunged into the stream. The superpower Dan’er was about to unleash from his mouth was instantly extinguished by the water.

"Kohen! Dan’er!" Ophelia breathed a sigh of relief. Holding Wendy, she sprinted toward the stream.

She crouched down and hauled the two boys onto the bank, her face dark with displeasure. The cold water had sobered Dan’er up considerably. Feeling guilty, he didn’t dare to look his mother in the eye.

"Mother, I know I was wrong."

Ophelia said nothing. She cast a long look at the battered and bruised male cub beside them. "Why were they beating you?"

Lobak pursed his lips and remained silent, looking as though he would rather die than speak.

Ophelia sighed and turned to the other male cubs, who were also sporting various cuts and bruises. "Why were you beating him?"

Ophelia’s presence gradually snapped the irrational male cubs back to their senses. Seeing her displeased expression, they shrank back in fear.

"W-We..."

Seeing that neither side was willing to speak, Ophelia realized the severity of the situation. She lowered her gaze to Hu Ya. As the ringleader of these little beastmen, he definitely knew what was going on.

"Hu Ya, you tell me!"

Hu Ya thought for a moment before saying with a smile, "It’s nothing serious, Ms. Ophelia. We were just playing around. We play rough like this in the tribe all the time. Isn’t that right, Lobak?"

He shot a threatening glare at Lobak, who merely glanced up for a second before lowering his head again.

"That’s not true, Mother. I saw it with my own eyes. Hu Ya and the others were trying to drown this male cub!"

Since Lobak and the other male cubs refused to tell the truth, Wendy stepped forward with a righteous look on her face. Seeing Wendy squeaking and babbling, Hu Ya knew she was trying to talk to Ophelia. A sly smile flashed across his eyes. What a pity, he thought. Cubs only started speaking at one year old. Wendy had just turned a month old; she couldn’t form words yet.

Ophelia didn’t miss the look in Hu Ya’s eyes, and her impression of the male cub plummeted instantly. She looked at her two sons again. "What do you have to say?"

While Kohen was still thinking, Dan’er blurted everything out all at once. However, his account was somewhat exaggerated and embellished. Ophelia didn’t just take Dan’er’s one-sided story at face value. Her gaze shifted back to Kohen.

After organizing his thoughts, Kohen slowly spoke. "This male cub is named Lobak. His father is a Snake Beast, and that’s why these other cubs are targeting him."

"A Snake Beast? Is his father a Wandering Beast?" Ophelia couldn’t help but ask.

Seeing that Ophelia knew Lobak’s identity, the other male cubs stopped trying to hide the truth.

"Ms. Ophelia, Lobak’s father is a Wandering Beast! He’s no good either. He already knows how to seduce people into feeling sorry for him at such a young age. Don’t you think he deserves a beating?"

"Ms. Ophelia, Lobak’s father seduced my aunt and caused her tragic death! That’s why we’re so angry."

Hearing this, Ophelia frowned slightly.

Hu Ya’s words provoked Lobak. He snapped his head up, his eyes bloodshot. "My father and mother loved each other! It was your father, the White Tiger Clan Leader, who wanted to tear them apart to save face. You’re the ones who killed my parents!"

Each side stuck to their own story, and neither seemed to be lying.

"Mother."

Ophelia looked down and saw Kohen tugging at her dress.

"Mother, Lobak is not a Wandering Beast, and neither is his father."

Children born to Wandering Beasts would only ever be Wandering Beasts, and vice versa. Snake Beasts were cold-blooded animals, but not all Snake Beasts were Wandering Beasts.

Kohen’s small face was solemn. "At the very least, what they’re saying isn’t entirely true."

This was the conclusion he had come to after careful thought.

"Ms. Ophelia, it’s getting late. We should head back," Hu Ya said, waving at the snake beast cub. "Lobak, come back with us."

Lobak remained unmoving. He knew that if he returned to the White Tiger Clan today, it would mean certain death.

Seeing that he wouldn’t obey, Hu Ya secretly gritted his teeth. He thought, "Damn little mutt. I planned to kill him in the Fu Clan today and make it look like an accident, but Wendy and the others ruined everything!" Once they returned to the White Tiger Clan, he definitely had to eliminate this nuisance.

"Mother, you can’t let him go back with Hu Ya! They’ll beat him to death!" Wendy cried out nervously, anxiously hugging her mother’s arm.

"How do you know?" Ophelia raised an eyebrow.

"That’s what he said in his heart! They originally planned to kill Lobak here in the Fu Clan today so that outsiders would just treat it as an accident, completely wiping the White Tiger Clan clean of any suspicion."

Ophelia’s eyes turned cold. She could tolerate the little beastmen’s petty fights, but she would never allow them to secretly plot against the Fu Clan. Moreover, such a scheme was absolutely not something a seven- or eight-year-old child could come up with on his own.

Hu Ya signaled his companions, preparing to take Lobak away by force. Ophelia took a step forward and blocked their path.

"Ms. Ophelia?" Hu Ya asked.

"You can’t leave yet. I’m going to notify your families about this matter."

"There’s no need for that, Ms. Ophelia. We play rough like this at home all the time, and our fathers never say anything."

"No. I said you’re not leaving, which means you’re not walking out of the gates of the Fuzu Tribe today. Tyler, send someone to notify the White Tiger Clan, Lion Clan, and Leopard Clan Leaders. Tell them to come and pick up their unruly brats."

Hu Ya had wanted to try and slip away, but upon hearing Tyler’s name, he completely deflated.

Tyler and Klein hauled the male cubs back to the stone house, while a few male beastmen from the Fu Clan went to fetch the respective Clan Leaders.

Barely half an hour later, the Clan Leaders hurried over. Seeing his male cubs facing the wall in dejection as punishment, the White Tiger Clan Leader frowned slightly.

"Ophelia, what’s going on here?"

"Yes, did the cubs do something wrong?"

Ophelia took a sip of tea and shot a meaningful glance at Tyler beside her. Tyler stood up and turned the male cub beside him around.

When he saw Lobak’s battered and dirt-streaked face, the White Tiger Clan Leader’s expression drastically changed.

"Don’t you have anything to explain, White Tiger Clan Leader?"

The White Tiger Clan Leader choked on his words, his mind racing as he tried to come up with an excuse. "T-This is just a petty squabble among the cubs. You don’t need to be so serious, Ophelia. When they’re at home, Hu Ya and the others often play with Lobak like this. They actually have a very good relationship."

Ophelia gave a disdainful smirk and scoffed. "Do you even believe that yourself?"