Chapter 104: Chapter 104: Offended Princess Yu Yun

The moment the giant fishtail appeared, a fear rooted in their very bloodline surged forth. The beastmen stood frozen, not even daring to think of escape.

If it were beastmen of another race, or even an ordinary Merfolk, they could still run if they couldn’t win. But they had offended the Merfolk King...

Heh, running was useless. As the supreme ruler of the underwater world, Lan Ying held a natural suppression over them.

This time, when the vines bound them again, they didn’t even dare to struggle. Lan Ying snorted coldly, and a mist surged into their bodies.

"Th-this is... what is this?"

The Beastman Leader’s voice trembled. "Sir, we didn’t know the offend—no, we didn’t know Princess Yu An is your Female Master! Please, spare us!"

Lan Ying said nonchalantly, "You didn’t offend me, yet you’re begging me for mercy. Are you blind?"

The Beastman Leader jolted and immediately turned to Yu An, crying and begging.

Yu An ignored him, asking instead, "What was that you said earlier about a bounty?"

The Beastman Leader froze, thinking this was his chance to live. He hurriedly explained, "Someone posted a kill order in the Ghost Market. There’s a bounty for bringing you back, dead or alive."

Yu An frowned. "Then do you know who posted it?"

The Beastman Leader shook his head. "I don’t. When you enter the Ghost Market, you wear a black robe and a mask. Your aura is concealed, so no one knows who anyone else is."

He wasn’t lying. The Ghost Market was located beneath the Imperial City, and anyone could go there to trade. The Ghost Market itself didn’t charge any fees; it profited solely from renting out black robes and masks.

Of course, you could choose not to rent them, but after several incidents of robbery and assault, everyone entering the Ghost Market learned to obediently wear the full attire.

It was a bit expensive, but that was better than being robbed of your entire fortune, or worse, losing your life.

’Is the person who posted the kill order the same one who controlled the beasts in the exiled land and gave orders to Han Fengyun?’

Yu An frowned in thought.

’If it’s the same person, their status must be incredibly high. After all, the orders Han Fengyun received all came from the ’Beast Emperor’.’

Before Han Fengyun left, he had told her that the Su Family Master once hinted to him that some of the orders hadn’t actually come from the Beast Emperor. Yu An had asked the Su Family Master how he could be so sure.

The Su Family Master had a strange expression at the time and didn’t give a specific reason, only saying that the Beast Emperor wouldn’t deign to use such petty tricks.

’That makes sense,’ Yu An thought. ’If the Beast Emperor wanted to kill me, he could have done it before I was exiled. Why would he spare my life only to attack me in secret later?’

Seeing that she was silent, the Beastman Leader thought she didn’t believe him and quickly added, "Everything I said is true! If you don’t believe me, Princess, you can go to the Ghost Market and see for yourself. The kill order is posted right at the entrance. It’s the highest bounty!"

He then suggested cautiously, "The few of you are heading to the Treasure Pearl Sea, right? A lot of people have accepted the kill order. Why don’t you let us go? We can spread false information and send them looking in the opposite direction."

The Treasure Pearl Sea was in the same direction as the Tiger Clan’s territory. With the king of the Merfolk Clan by Yu An’s side, the Beastman Leader subconsciously assumed that’s where they were headed.

He genuinely wanted Yu An to accept his suggestion. He wouldn’t get the bounty, but at least he would keep his life.

The other beastmen thought the same, waiting expectantly for Yu An’s answer.

Yu An stroked her chin. "That’s a good suggestion."

The beastmen’s faces lit up with joy.

"But," Yu An said, spreading her hands, "you saw something you shouldn’t have. So, I’m sorry, but you can’t leave."

The Beastman Leader’s face stiffened. Recalling the "magical living fish transformation" from moments ago, he wished he could just gouge his own eyes out.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Yu An must have some kind of treasure that could hold people.

He couldn’t blame Yu An for casually using her treasure; he could only meekly blame himself. ’Why did I have to look? Now I can’t leave!’

"Besides," Yu An said with a grin, "I have a few things I need your help with. You... wouldn’t refuse, would you?"

What else could they say?

The Beastman Leader’s smile was uglier than a grimace. "O-of course we won’t refuse. Please, give us your orders."

Yu An nodded in satisfaction. "Excellent. This isn’t the place to talk. Come inside."

Before the beastmen could figure out where "inside" was, their surroundings suddenly changed.

They were surrounded by lush mountains and clear waters. Nearby were square plots of farmland growing all sorts of strange plants, and in the distance stood a magnificent, towering edifice.

Mo Yan and the others who were still in the space saw the strangers and quickly put down what they were doing to come over.

"An’an, who are they?"

Yu An gave them a brief explanation, and the beastmen found themselves on the receiving end of more hostile stares—from two adults and two children.

The beastmen: "..."

"All right, all right. Stop scaring them."

Yu An snapped her fingers, and the vines binding them loosened. "You have two choices."

"One: you stay here, do whatever I tell you to do, with food and shelter provided, and you can never leave. Two: you become flower fertilizer. At least your souls will be free."

"The choice is yours."

The beastmen’s expressions twisted. What kind of choice was that?

A miserable life is better than a good death. If you can live, who would choose to die?

Dejectedly, they chose the former. Only one of them, a small, thin male, didn’t make a choice.

As Yu An watched him, his body trembled. He stammered, "I—I don’t want to stay, but I can’t die either."

"I’ll do anything, just let me go..."

He begged, "My Female Mother is sick. She’s waiting for me to earn money to pay for her treatment. Please, I beg you, let me go!"

The Beastman Leader hesitated for a moment before also pleading with Yu An. "Princess Yu An, Xiao Quan’s spiritual power isn’t high. He just does odd jobs for us to earn money. He’s never done anything wrong. Please, spare his life."

"He’s timid; he won’t tell anyone about this. He’s not a loner like the rest of us. He has family waiting for him to save them!"

The others also plucked up their courage to say a few words in his defense. Xiao Quan himself began kowtowing directly to Yu An, striking his head against the ground until his forehead was scraped raw.

Yu An stepped aside to avoid his kowtow and glanced at the other beastmen. "You all seem quite loyal to each other."

The Beastman Leader gave a sheepish smile. "You may not know this, Princess, but we all offended Princess Yu Yun and were driven out of the Imperial City. We couldn’t make a living anywhere, so we took up this line of work. Loyalty is the most important thing to us."

"We have no family, no ties. It doesn’t matter where we stay."

The scenery here is beautiful. It would be a fine place to be buried.

A thought struck Yu An. "Who did you offend? And how?"

"We offended Princess Yu Yun," the Beastman Leader said honestly. "Princess Yu Yun was choosing a Beast Husband, and we weren’t willing, so... we were driven out of the Imperial City."

Confusion showed on Yu An’s face. "Yu Yun is a female with heavenly-level fertility, not to mention a princess. She’s a shoo-in for the next Beast Emperor. Why weren’t you willing?"

You were even willing to offend Yu Yun and get kicked out of the Imperial City.

From an outsider’s perspective, Yu An couldn’t understand why they would refuse.

Moreover, she also didn’t understand why someone of Yu Yun’s status would be interested in these males.

It wasn’t that she was looking down on them, but as a princess, her Beast Husbands should at least be males with Heavenly Level Spiritual Power.

Yet among these dozen or so males, only three of them had Advanced Spiritual Power.