Chapter 520: Chapter 519: What Kind of Move Is This?

Jing Qi’s lips tightened as he slowly shook his head. "Mother used to care so much about being beautiful. She was a famous beauty in our Far East Land. Every day, she was clean and fragrant, with fresh flowers in her hair.

Even during the rainy season and the coldest season, Father would gather flowers for her to wear.

We can barely even recognize her anymore.

Auntie was right. Mother definitely wouldn’t want us to see her like this."

"Let’s use Invisibility to stay with Mother," Jing Lin said softly. "Her life has been so hard. At least this way, we can help her with her chores a little..."

Sweet Ring stood on tiptoe to pat their shoulders. "Don’t be so sad. For Mother Ding Yin, maybe death, and seeing Father Jing Jiang by the Beast God’s side, would be its own kind of happiness."

A heavy weight settled in everyone’s hearts, but they were utterly helpless.

For the past two days, the little ones had been following Ding Yin’s every move. Whenever she went to gather firewood, the paths were suddenly lined with dry branches that burned long and produced little smoke. When she went to pick wild fruit, monkeys would drop them from the trees. When she went to the river to wash clothes, a few fat fish would be flopping about in a small pool... She accepted it all in silence, pretending not to know anything, but her eyes constantly stung.

The males who usually took pleasure in tormenting her had all but forgotten her, as if they’d all become busy at once.

Ding Yin hadn’t felt such peace in a long time. She worked alone, ate alone, and slept alone. But she didn’t feel lonely; she had simply developed a habit of talking to herself.

"The weather is getting colder. I wonder if Little Qi and Little Lin are dressed warmly enough. I know they have clothes that change with their forms, but the deep winter is just too cold..." She stitched together the Beast Skins she had collected, piece by piece, until they formed a sizable blanket. "I hope they don’t think this blanket is too ugly..."

Jing Qi and Jing Lin desperately covered their mouths to keep from making a sound, but tears streamed uncontrollably down their faces. They should have grown up under the doting care of their Father and Mother.

The autumn sun’s warmth had softened, now carrying a hint of a chill. Ding Yin had a lot of dried fish hanging by her door. Every day she went to the river, she would bring back even more fish than the day before. However, she also noticed that a few pieces of her dried fish went missing each day.

She gathered fruit, eating only a little and drying the rest. "I wonder how much food Little Qi and Little Lin have stored up this year... There’s plenty of fruit in the autumn. It can at least fill their stomachs if they’re hungry..."

Everything she did, every busy moment of her day, was for her two winged lion cubs. The two little ones had endured the tribe’s endless scorn and sarcasm, with no one to love them. Now, feeling their Mother’s love and concern so deeply, they treasured every single moment with her all the more greedily!

Si Shuo and Xu Chi paid the little ones no more mind, returning to their search for the Bone Tokens.

That day, as the sky turned dark, a menacing group suddenly rushed over. Leading them was the very same Winged Tiger Beastman that Si Shuo and Xu Chi had thrown into the swamp. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

He was now wearing a tiger skin, and the head that was once shiny and bald now sported dark stubble. His expression was ferocious, a far cry from the terrified, sobbing mess he had been before.

"Clan Leader, this wretched female must be behind this!" he snarled through gritted teeth. "I was in the grove, having my fun with her, when the next thing I knew, I’d been kidnapped and thrown into the swamp.

They stripped me and hung me from a tree... Look at my head! And look at these wounds on my body...

At first, I thought it was too embarrassing to mention, but to be humiliated like this on our own territory... I had to let everyone know, so that none of our other brothers suffer the same fate..."

"I was wondering about that, too. I got a bunch of new Beast Skins a few days ago and was going to give her one to ’entertain’ me. But every time I came near, I’d end up either cracking my head or cutting my foot on a stone..."

"I sprained my neck, or threw out my back..."

"I’d suddenly remember something urgent..."

Putting their stories together, the group turned to glare at Ding Yin with malice.

"Ding Yin, don’t you have something to explain? You live in the Winged Tiger Tribe, you eat our food. Isn’t it your duty to serve us? You’d better confess who stood up for you, and bring them here. Or else... heh, those two winged lion cubs of yours might end up suffering for it..." They knew exactly how to control Ding Yin; they knew those two cubs were what she treasured most in the world.

It was a threat that never failed to work.

Ding Yin clenched her fists, her voice hoarse. "I don’t know what you’re talking about."

"Don’t know?" Ming Lei snarled. "The other day, when we were in that grove, who was it that kidnapped me? Need me to help you remember?"

"I don’t know. I was unconscious," Ding Yin said flatly, her eyes lowered.

Ming Lei’s chest heaved with rage. "Heh, fine. It doesn’t matter. Besides, who in this world would dare to stand up for you, other than those two cubs of yours back in the Winged Lion Tribe?

Our Winged Tiger Tribe was already on bad terms with the Winged Lion Tribe. And now some Beastman from their tribe dares to run wild on our turf? This is a score we must settle.

After we drag your two cubs back from the Winged Lion Tribe, let’s see if you’ll talk then!"

Ding Yin glared at him furiously. "It has nothing to do with them! Come after me if you want!"

"Oh, but Ding Yin, we’re just trying to help you. You’re always going on about those two cubs of yours, aren’t you? Think how nice it’ll be when we snatch them and bring them here for you to raise. At the very least, they can serve us drinks while we’re having our fun..."

The Beastmen all cackled. "I hear those two winged lion cubs are the spitting image of their father. Doesn’t that mean it’ll be like Jing Jiang is watching us ’love’ on his female? The thought alone is a thrill!"

Ming Lei not only laughed along but stepped forward to hoist Ding Yin onto his shoulder, ready to turn his fantasy into reality.

A memory of his cruelty sent a shiver through Ding Yin’s body, and she took a step back by instinct. She might be a walking poison, but she could still feel pain, and that part of her was especially fragile.

Ming Lei loved seeing that look of terror and helpless resistance on her face. But just as he reached Ding Yin, he suddenly snapped to attention, dropped to his knees with a THUD, and began to kowtow to her furiously, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP!

The crowd stared, dumbfounded. What in the world was happening? But Ming Lei himself was breaking out in a cold sweat. He had been watching for a long time and was sure she was alone, going about her chores just like any other day.

That was why he had grown bold again, especially since he had brought so many others with him today.

He just never imagined they would be so brazen as to force his body to kowtow against his will.

"I’m sorry! I was arrogant and overstepped! I’ll never bully Ding Yin again, I swear!" Ming Lei’s massive frame was prostrated reverently on the ground, looking as if he would tear out his own heart to prove his sincerity.

’If I had known the Beastman protecting her was still around, they couldn’t have dragged me here to cause trouble!’

Ding Yin kept her eyes lowered, not saying a single word.