Chapter 64: Chapter 64: I Stole What Should Have Been Yours

"Da Hu!"

"Big brother!"

Bai Rong had barely caught her breath when she saw the scene. A sudden movement tore at her wounds, and she sucked in a sharp breath of cold air.

Most of the Beastmen were still underwater, not yet time to come up for air. The members of both tribes were surrounded by Beastmen in black. They weren’t killing anyone, merely trapping them.

Da Hu struggled relentlessly. Bai Rong was frantic, but Kong Qingqing’s Beast Husbands had already defeated Zhu Qingqing. Now they were surrounding Bai Rong, who could barely fend for herself, let alone get anywhere near Da Hu.

Kong Qingqing smoothed her messy hair, grabbed Da Hu’s neck with an air of arrogant triumph, and sneered, "Weren’t you trying to catch me? Why’d you stop? If I didn’t need you alive, I’d strangle you right now!"

’Housekeeper Han only said he wanted him alive,’ she thought. ’A little punishment should be fine, right?’

At that thought, Kong Qingqing viciously squeezed Da Hu’s neck, causing his face to turn pale with pain.

He gritted his teeth and didn’t cry out. Just as Kong Qingqing, dissatisfied, was about to squeeze again, he bit down hard on her hand!

"AHH!!"

Kong Qingqing shrieked in pain and her grip loosened. Da Hu took the chance to tumble to the ground.

He took a deep breath, and a tiger’s roar suddenly erupted—immature, yet fearsome.

"ROAR—"

Kong Qingqing was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage. "What are you all standing around for? Grab him!"

’Getting scared by a single tiger cub,’ she fumed internally. ’What a bunch of losers!’

As if waking from a dream, the Beast Husbands lunged menacingly toward Da Hu—

"Lu Lu, kill them!"

Yu An’s voice, cold as ice, boomed through the air. The next second, vines shot out and snatched Da Hu away, pulling him into a warm embrace.

He stared blankly at Yu An for a long moment before bursting into tears.

Before Ao Wu could even land, the black-clothed Beastmen who had trapped the others had already fled. Lu Lu’s primary targets were Kong Qingqing and her group, so they were now ensnared by the vines, unable to escape.

Yu An descended, holding Da Hu. She then gathered the teary-eyed Xiao Hu into her arms as well. Seeing Bai Rong and Zhu Qingqing covered in injuries, she was filled with a mixture of gratitude and uncontainable rage.

Seeing Yu An advance on her step by step, Kong Qingqing’s face went pale. "Wh-what are you doing!"

"Killing you."

Without another word, Yu An handed her cubs to Feng Xuan and plunged a sharp dagger straight into Kong Qingqing’s left shoulder.

"AHHH!!!"

She let out an inhuman shriek. Although the wound vanished before her very eyes, the damage transferred to her five Beast Husbands, the pain was still hers to bear.

The other members of their tribe watched coldly, none of them showing any intention of speaking up or pleading for them. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Don’t, don’t kill me!"

Kong Qingqing had never been strong-willed to begin with, and Yu An’s ruthlessness terrified her. "I’ll tell you who put me up to this! Just don’t kill me!"

Yu An was unmoved. She didn’t need Kong Qingqing to tell her; she already knew who was behind it. She stabbed her again.

A female’s injuries are shared among her Beast Husbands. But if the Beast Husbands cannot bear the burden and all die, the injuries can no longer be transferred, and the female must endure them herself.

"AH! It hurts so much! Clan Leader, save me! I’m a member of the Qingyan Tribe, too! Are you just going to stand there and watch an outsider bully me?"

It wasn’t just Kong Qingqing; her five Beast Husbands were also crying and begging the old Clan Leader of the Qingyan Tribe to save them.

The old Clan Leader leaned on his cane and snorted coldly. "So now you remember you’re members of the Qingyan Tribe! Lately, you don’t hunt, you don’t gather. You’ve spent more time in Han Ling City than you have at home. I was starting to think you’d found some powerful backer and were about to leap onto a high branch and become Phoenixes!"

Standing to the side, Ao Wu couldn’t help but purse his lips at the old Clan Leader’s words.

’Them, worthy of being compared to the Phoenix Clan?’

’What an insult!’

Kong Qingqing was struck speechless. Yu An noticed this and turned her gaze to the five Beast Husbands.

"I want to know who put you up to this, but I don’t want to hear it from Kong Qingqing. Which of you is willing to talk?"

The five of them looked at each other, none of them moving for a moment.

Seeing this, Yu An added, "Whoever talks, I’ll help them break their contract and set them free."

"Are you thinking that the contract can’t be broken? I was once an Imperial Princess. Naturally, I know a few things you don’t."

At these words, the eyes of Kong Qingqing’s five Beast Husbands lit up. They all scrambled to speak at once, and from their mouths, Yu An quickly pieced together the truth.

It turned out that Kong Qingqing had taken pleasure in bullying Zhu Qingqing since they were children. That time Yu An had helped Zhu Qingqing, she had naturally become an object of Kong Qingqing’s resentment.

But Kong Qingqing couldn’t possibly deal with Yu An on her own. The appearance of Housekeeper Han gave her hope.

She had proactively contacted Housekeeper Han, originally wanting only to borrow his power to teach Yu An a small lesson. But when Housekeeper Han met with them again to discuss the plan, he had suddenly changed his mind and told them to capture Da Hu and Xiao Hu today.

Since all six were from the Qingyan Tribe, their presence here wasn’t abrupt or conspicuous.

Yu An’s brow furrowed as she listened. Nevertheless, she kept her promise and had Lu Lu release the five of them.

Joy appeared on the five men’s faces. They stayed put obediently, firstly because they wouldn’t dare run without Yu An’s permission, and secondly because their contracts had not yet been broken.

Kong Qingqing broke down. "Why didn’t you let me talk? I knew anyone who hangs around with that bitch Zhu Qingqing is no good! You bitch, you... MPH MPH!"

Her foul language was too much to bear. Zhu Qingqing, who had been heavily injured, was so enraged that she forced herself to her feet and stuffed a piece of Beast Skin, caked with blood and dirt, into Kong Qingqing’s mouth.

Yu An had heard far worse insults; this was less creative than what a school kid could come up with.

"Why didn’t I let you talk? A story told by five people without consulting each other is naturally more credible than one told by you alone."

She quirked the corner of her lips. "Alright, I know everything I wanted to know."

The five males beamed with joy, waiting for Yu An to break their contracts and save their skins.

However, they didn’t get to see Yu An turn back to them. What they got instead were thorny vines piercing their hearts.

"Wh-why..."

Yu An shrugged. "Oh, I have this one little flaw. I don’t really keep my promises to bad people."

"So, sorry about that."

Considering that these five had grown up in the Qingyan Tribe and its members might still have some lingering affection for them, Yu An didn’t make the scene too gory.

The old Clan Leader seemed to notice her consideration and spoke up. "Boss Yu, thank you for helping our tribe dispose of these black sheep."

With him setting the tone, and since no one else had much fondness for the five anyway, no one would blame Yu An.

Watching her five Beast Husbands die before her very eyes, Kong Qingqing felt a mix of satisfaction and terror.

Those five wretched males had betrayed her, so they deserved to die. But she was also terrified that Yu An would kill her too.

She... she didn’t want to die!

Yu An, however, didn’t make a move on her. Instead, she stepped back a few paces, leaving the floor to Zhu Qingqing.

Seeing the blank look on Kong Qingqing’s face, Zhu Qingqing took a deep breath and asked, "Kong Qingqing, why have you targeted me all our lives? I don’t remember ever doing anything to offend you!"

Kong Qingqing first stared blankly, then burst out laughing. "Since I’m going to die anyway, I might as well make you suffer, too."

"I targeted you because I stole something that should have been yours. I was afraid that one day you’d make a comeback and take it back!"