Chapter 166: Chapter 166: The Three Are Fakes

"They were captured?"

Everyone looked over in surprise. "What happened? Who captured them?"

"Brother Mo, tell us the details. We’ll help you look for them after we get out of here."

"Yeah, yeah! My family does business all over the place. Maybe we’ve seen your wife and Zaizai."

After thanking them, Mo Yan omitted the fact that he was from the Beastman Continent and gave them a brief account of what happened.

Everyone promised to keep an eye out for them once they got home. After a short rest, they continued their climb.

Ao Yi had wanted to say he would help with the search after returning to the Dragon Clan. But then he thought, ’Since my younger brother Ao Wu is one of Mo Yan’s Female Master’s Beast Husbands, he’ll definitely return to our clan for help once he’s back on the Beast God Continent.’

’Come to think of it, I haven’t seen my fifth brother in several years. I wonder what the kid looks like now.’

The very Ao Wu that Ao Yi was thinking of sneezed several times in a row. He thought his fourth brother, Ao Si, was cursing him and muttered a few curses back.

Ao Si had also left when Yu Huang took her people back to the Invincible Alliance. He had taken the photo of Mo Yan’s family of three with him, intending to return to the Dragon Clan and order his clansmen to put all their effort into finding the trio.

’Oh, right! I also have to tell my big brothers to stop looking for our little sister, because she’s already been found.’

Ao Si rushed back, feeling quite pleased with himself. He was especially looking forward to the envious and jealous expressions on his three older brothers’ faces when they heard he was the one who found their little sister first.

For this very reason, he had specifically written a letter telling his three brothers to return to the Dragon Clan, saying he had something important to discuss with them.

—How could finding our little sister not be a big deal?

Ao Si figured that his three older brothers would have already arrived by the time he got back. But when he returned, he was informed that the three of them were impostors!

"What? What did you say?"

Ao Si thought his mind was fuzzy from traveling all night. "Great Elder, what did you say was fake?"

’Are my ears broken? How could I have heard the Great Elder say my brothers are fakes?’

’What does he mean? How can living, breathing people be fake?’

"Little Yi and the others are impostors," the Great Elder said resentfully. "I felt something was off when they came back. They were gone for a while, so how could they have become so distant with me after returning?"

Yu Huang and Ao Jin often went out traveling and sightseeing, leaving Ao Yi and the others with the Great Elder before taking off.

It was less that Ao Jin was their Beast Father, and more that the Great Elder was.

The poor Great Elder had worked himself to the bone raising them. He’d been looking forward to a good get-together now that Ao Yi and the other two had finally returned to the clan, but he found their interactions with him to be very... distant.

Later, when Ao Jin returned, he was the one who discovered they weren’t the real Ao Yi, Ao Er, and Ao Shan.

Ao Si was so stunned he couldn’t speak. He said angrily, "Who would dare impersonate my big brothers? Great Elder, have you interrogated them yet? If not, let me do it!"

He was an expert at interrogation. His unorthodox methods were often surprisingly effective at prying open the mouths of even the most tight-lipped Beastmen.

Then, a sudden thought struck Ao Si, and his face turned pale. "G-Great Elder, I ran into our little sister in the Mist Forest earlier, and I told my big brother... no, I told the people impersonating them! They won’t do anything to harm her, will they?!"

Because of the fake "Ao Yi’s" instructions, he hadn’t told many people about his sister. Within the clan, only his three brothers and their Beast Father, Ao Jin, knew.

Not even the Great Elder knew.

Ao Si had originally wanted to tell the Great Elder, but the fake "Ao Yi" stopped him, using the excuse that too many people couldn’t know about it.

Ao Si’s face turned green with regret. "I should have realized something was wrong back then. How could I have not noticed?"

’We were raised by the Great Elder. Big Brother is especially close to him; he would hide things from anyone but the Great Elder.’

"This isn’t the time to dwell on that," the Great Elder said, patting his shoulder. "We’ve only managed to confirm they’re impostors and that they took Little Yi’s and the others’ identities several months ago."

"Those three are too tight-lipped. We haven’t been able to find out who’s behind them, nor have we learned how many of the clan’s secrets they’ve uncovered."

"Also," the Great Elder’s voice dropped, "we don’t know where Little Yi and the others are now, or if they’re still... alive."

Ao Si immediately said, "Leave them to me. I guarantee I’ll make them spill everything!"

He gritted his teeth, rubbing his fists together, eager to make those men wish they were dead.

Meanwhile, Ao Er, who was being worried over by his family, had almost fully recovered from his injuries. The people secretly monitoring him saw that he hadn’t died and that, after his wounds healed, he seemed to have accepted his fate and was mining obediently. As a result, they stopped paying close attention to him.

One more person mining was better than one less. Newcomers were getting rarer, and if things went south, the overseers might even have to go back to mining themselves.

Since the higher-ups hadn’t demanded this Dragon Clan Beastman be killed, they could just turn a blind eye.

After that, Ao Er seemed to have given up all hope of escaping. He went to mine with Feng Xuan every day, working himself to the bone just to earn enough to survive.

In his free time, he would just sleep or find ways to cook up a little extra food. In any case, he no longer schemed about how to escape.

Only when the eyes in the shadows had completely disappeared did Ao Er finally breathe a sigh of relief.

One night, when all was quiet, Ao Er took out a faintly glowing piece of Fluorite and dug up a Beast Skin that had been buried underground.

"Little Xuan, this is the escape route I marked out before. This here is..."

He pointed out each spot to Feng Xuan, who silently committed them to memory.

"In a few days, they’ll have us transport the ore we’ve mined to a specific location. That place is very close to an exit."

Ao Er said solemnly, "If we leave from there, our chances of escaping will be much higher. Before, I was too impatient to get away, so I didn’t wait for the ore transport."

That was why his escape attempt had failed, and he had been dragged back.

He was even publicly whipped dozens of times as an example to the others, and he almost lost his life here.

Ao Er gave a bitter laugh. "The Dragon Clan has a flower that represents the life of every clan member. If someone dies, their flower withers."

"When I felt like I couldn’t hold on any longer, I even thought that if I died, maybe it would serve as a warning to my clan. That... it would be worth it."

"Second Brother Ao, don’t say that."

Feng Xuan comforted him, "We’ll definitely escape. Besides, my Zaizai will have to call you ’Uncle.’ When you meet them, you’ll have to give my Zaizai a generous first-meeting gift."

Ao Er smiled. "Of course, of course. I’ll make sure the little ones are satisfied."

"It’s going to cost you, then," Feng Xuan joked. "I have four Zaizai at home, and my Female Master is pregnant with another. You’ll have to treat all five of them equally."

The two chatted for a while, and Ao Er’s earlier melancholy was swept away. He couldn’t help but dream of the wonderful life that awaited him after escaping from this place.

’When the time comes, I have to rush back to the clan first and capture the people who are impersonating me and my brothers for interrogation.’

’Hmph! That Old Thief Yin from the Invincible Alliance really is a treacherous bastard. Not only did he forcibly take our Female Mother, but he also wants to destroy the Dragon Clan.’

’When I get back, I’m going to convince our Beast Father to go to war with the Invincible Alliance, once and for all!’