I Became the Villainess, But My Beast Husbands Can Hear My Mind?!-Chapter 141: Meeting Mr. Reindeer (1)

So even now, even after being saved, she couldn’t help but wonder—what would she have to give in return?

"Miss Fox, do you know that this mountain is a sacred place?" the leader of the deer tribe said. "I know you may have only heard about it from legends, but the truth is, this mountain is considered sacred because it is alive."

Roxanna tilted her head and blinked slowly because she couldn’t clearly understand his explanation. "Alive? What do you mean by that?"

She looked around at the mountain. There were no green plants on the surface, no flowers, no trees, nothing that looked alive.

"Maybe it’s hard to believe," he continued, "but the Golden Tribe has always believed that every mountain is guarded by a god, and the Golden Mountain is protected by a very special one.

"This god is said to be older than our tribes, older than our records, and even older than most legends. It doesn’t show itself to people easily. Most of the time, it sleeps deep inside the mountain.

"But when the mountain is in danger... when outsiders try to harm it... the god will wake up." His voice lowered as he spoke, as if he didn’t want to disturb something invisible.

"That is why we never take more than we need from this place," he added softly. "And that is why we always show respect when we step onto this mountain."

Roxanna listened in silence. After being trapped inside the bunker for three years, she no longer believed in God as much as she used to. At first, it felt strange to her, because she had grown up as a religious child in the orphanage.

However, after thinking about it carefully, she realized that the reason she had once been religious was only because her former orphanage caretakers always said that she would burn in hell for eternity if she turned away from God.

Because of that doctrine as well, she wasn’t able to completely hate people or stop sacrificing herself.

She was always afraid of being punished, being wrong, or becoming a bad person.

The doctrine of hellfire had been drilled so deeply into her mind that no matter how hard Roxanna tried to remove those thoughts from her identity, she always reached a dead end.

That was why she found it hard to believe what the leader of the Golden Tribe had said. However, after thinking about it again, what was truly impossible in this world?

If demon beasts existed, then the existence of Gods was not impossible either.

"Does the God who lives in this mountain specifically protect the deer beastkins?" Roxanna asked while observing the people in skull masks around her.

All of them, without exception, had antlers on their heads, a sign that they were all deer beastkins, or perhaps reindeers would be more accurate, since the females also had antlers, and they were able to survive in extreme cold weather like that on the peak of Golden Mountain.

The leader of the Golden Tribe nodded. "I can’t say that this mountain only protects us, but since our ancestors have lived on this mountain for so long, we have become permanent residents here for hundreds of years."

"Besides," he continued, "this is the only place where we can stay safe from other beastmen. That is why this mountain creates such dangerous paths for anyone who tries to climb it. The cold, the storms, the cliffs... they all work together."

"In that way, no outsiders can reach us," he said firmly.

Roxanna stared at the skull masks for a moment. Then she asked in a soft voice, "But... you still let us come in. You even let us into your home. Why?"

Not only did they allow her and her husbands to reach the peak, but the Golden Tribe even welcomed them into their underground home.

When she looked around, the underground place had everything needed for survival. There were many huts used as living quarters, places to light fires, and sources of water.

It didn’t feel like a hiding place, but it felt like a real village.

Just by looking at all of this, Roxanna could tell how much effort the Golden Tribe had put into building this place. It was not something made in one or two years. It was the result of many generations working hard, protecting it, and passing it down.

They had created a home that outsiders could never easily find.

She lowered her eyes slightly and thought to herself, [Even if my husbands and I had managed to reach the peak on our own... I don’t think we would have ever found this place if they hadn’t chosen to let us in.]

Instead of replying to her right away, the leader calmly changed the subject. "You know, Miss Fox," he said, "even though many strong people have tried to climb to the peak of the Golden Mountain, you and your husbands are the first ones we have ever brought into our underground home."

This time, Roxanna didn’t ask any more questions. She simply listened to him and let the leader of the Golden Tribe continue.

"It’s because you’re not only able to heal yourselves and others," he added gently, "but you and your husbands are also very selfless. We’ve been watching you since the moment you fell into the underground through the Skull Path. We saw how you never left each other behind."

"There were many times when you could have moved on and saved yourselves," he continued. "You could have chosen the easier way, but you didn’t. All of you always turned back for each other."

When they fell into the underground, Cyrus still returned to Roxanna’s and Luan’s side, even though he could have escaped by himself. He didn’t even need to struggle to climb the cliff if he had chosen to leave them behind by flying away.

Luan also could have climbed much faster if he hadn’t carried Roxanna on his back. But he never once complained.

As for Roxanna, it would have been easier for her to abandon her husbands when they were separated, instead of deciding to find them.

She even gave her own blood to Cyrus without a second thought, even though she was hurt herself.