Beastmen: She Tames the Land-Chapter 165: Risking Her Life

The forest was quiet. The trio had been alert ever since stepping into the maw. No matter what they were doing, they had to be on alert. Now, with Alin lying here and an unknown threat, they were more tense.

They waited. And waited. Even after cleaning up Alin, no threat appeared. They couldn’t understand what he was running from. There must be a threat. He had come over so quickly and in such a panic that they could not expect otherwise.

Yet, waiting here, they were unable to see anything. It had been more than half an hour since they had been waiting. Since no danger presented itself, they could only wait for Alin to wake up and tell them what the issue was.

In the meantime, they could only stay alert and wait.

This wait lasted for more than three hours. It was only then that Alin stirred. He shot up as if to run away. Then he noticed the trio.

"Did they trap you in here, too?" This was the first thing he said when he saw them standing there.

"Who?" asked Xeno

"The plants!" he shouted.

Visha looked at the man who had been so boisterous when he was at their pack. She wondered what happened to him that made him act like this. This was not the confident boar beastman she had seen some time ago.

"Calm down. Speak slowly. First, tell us what happened," Visha said.

Alin took some time to calm down. He was obviously agitated. He wanted to leave, but there was nowhere for him to go. The plants didn’t magically open a space for them to leave when he arrived. The only path was the one he came from.

Taking a deep breath, Alin took his time telling them what happened.

According to him, they were lured into the maw by some small shrubs. One of his tribe members had been sucked dry by a plant. After noticing, they ran for safety. They ended up in this place. Before they could leave, the path they came from closed around them. They could only follow the path the plants opened for them.

They walked for what seemed like forever. Then they were attacked by a tree. It would whip them and shoot leaves, but never really harmed them. It wasn’t until one of the beastmen shifted and ran towards the tree in order to break the trunk that the tree really made a move.

The moment he was close enough, a tree branch shot towards him, piercing him in the next. It then wrapped him up in the vines. They watched in shock as their tribe member was dismembered by the tree. It used his body to water its roots. Then it sprinkled some of the remaining blood on its leaves and branches.

In their shock, they saw the tree absorb all the blood before another plant appeared. That plant took the body and opened its mouth full of teeth and ate the beastman.

The tree didn’t attack after that. They knew they couldn’t beat it, so they had to leave. What they didn’t know was that this was the first of many such instances. The plants played with them when they weren’t shifted. As soon as they shifted, they would become the target of their ire.

This was the reason they saw him; he wasn’t shifted and was only running on two legs.

Hearing his experiences, they understood completely why he was so panicked. The only path they could walk was the one the plants gave. And that path was leading them to their death. So what would they do now? If the path leads to death, they need to make a new path.

But how would they do that?

Visha thought about their battles on the way here. She knew the flora from the maw responded positively when she used the rite. The problem is whether Uri and Xeno would allow her to use it. She knew it was unlikely. If they did not suggest it, then she would.

If this was how they could save their lives, she was willing.

The chance came sooner than expected. The trouble that was trying to harm Alin earlier finally arrived.

When Visha saw it, she thought of a Venus flytrap. A massive pair of hinged jaws. The leaves were tough and looked like armour. The edges were sharp and appeared needle-like. When the mouth opened, they could see the wetness. Inside looked red and angry.

Visha felt that if this plant wanted, it could swallow them whole.

The idea was not appealing in the slightest.

They knew what had to happen now. They needed to fight. But how to fight? It was hard enough for them to fight the smaller plants they had encountered on the way. Now they needed to face this monstrosity. One move and it could devour them.

The four people stood, ready for battle. Waiting for the plant to move.

What no one expected was that Visha would run out to meet the plant before anyone could stop her.

When Visha saw the plant, she had the idea of trying to use the rite. She did not think of fighting. It hadn’t helped them previously, and she needed to know if the rite could get them out of trouble.

She dared not think about it too openly, fearing they would notice her train of thought. So as soon as she saw it, she moved. She did not give them the chance to talk her out of it.

The large leaves moved as soon as she did. It did not try to capture her with its mouth, but instead with its leaves. If those leaves touched her, Visha knew she would become a sieve. So she stopped short. Just close enough for the rite to reach the plant, since she had a short range.

She did as she always did, bringing the power into her palm and forcing it outward. After fighting for so long, she no longer needed a running-up period. The power followed her mind instantaneously.

She heard Uri and Xeno call out to her when she ran out, but she did not look back.

As the power left her palm, it touched the leaf. The same leaf that was less than an inch from her body. It paused its attack.

Visha sighed and continued to channel. She used it to cover the entire plant before she fell to her knees. The plant froze. The mouth slowly closed, and the leaf dropped.

Visha exhaled sharply. Just as she was about to fall back, she felt herself fall into strong arms. She turned to see Xeno and Uri behind her. She turned her eyes away. She knew they were angry, but she did what she needed to do.

She needed to know she could get them out of this place if she needed to.