Chapter 120: Schemes

"A Li, wake up quickly!"

Yun Li spent a lot of energy coaxing the cubs during the day, slept heavily at night, and after Mu Qing slapped her face several times, she groggily opened her eyes.

But she was shocked by the scene before her as soon as she woke up.

Was the beast tide coming again?

No.

"Where did the wolf pack and rotting corpse birds come from?"

If it were only a wolf pack, they have two Blue Rank Beastmen and several Qing Rank Beastmen here, so killing the pursuing wolves would be no problem.

Yun Li's question was answered by Leng Xiu: "It's not just wolves and rotting corpse birds; there are black king bees behind! Someone must have used beast blood to lure the wolves first, then tossed black king bees into the pack, making them go berserk toward us."

"The wolf pack had corpses bitten dead by black king bees, and the rotting corpse birds, always drawn by scent, came over smelling the blood."

If it were only wolves, they wouldn't need to rush away; the problem is the black king bees are chasing the wolves, having seen blood, they wouldn't turn away upon seeing these Beastmen.

The wolves want them, the Beastmen want them, especially their four wolf cubs; if a cub gets stung by a black king bee, their own cubs could be lost before they even reach the tribe.

Upon hearing about the black king bees, Yun Li's complexion changed; though they look like honeybees, they live by sucking blood, and once they fix on prey, they never stop until they drain it completely.

If it were daytime, they'd be fine; they could see the black king bees' activity, and by being cautious they could eliminate them while moving, unlike now, where for the old, young, and weak in the group they have to flee in panic.

Worse, because the wolves came first, they assumed only wolves were present and lost the chance to flee immediately.

Some Beastmen in the group were poisoned by black king bee venom without noticing; the venom isn't instantly lethal, but the fact that Beastmen call it a "king" proves its poison is formidable, otherwise just bloodsucking wouldn't make so many Beastmen scramble for their lives.

"Damn it! Who's trying to harm us!"

Even Yun Li's usually good temperament turned red‑eyed at this moment.

After all, it couldn't be such a coincidence; black king bees are not rare in Heiyan Shanmai, but Yun Li knows one thing: their habits are similar to many bees, active by day and hidden at night.

Suddenly appearing from all around in the middle of the night—how could they be this unlucky?

So Leng Xiu's first judgment was also that they were set up, though he didn't know which Beastman orchestrated it, who they intended to kill in the group, or what scheme they had.

No one answered her, but Mu Qing rubbed her and said, "I need to cut off the rear of the group; otherwise, if we keep being chased, a female will die."

Mu Qing's words weren't wrong; the females in the group are currently protected and haven't yet fallen victim to black king bee venom.

Yet as night deepens, the eagle Beastman's vision blurs, letting the wolf pack, black king bees, and the rotting corpse birds that could swoop down at any moment chase them; the females in the group will inevitably face trouble.

Yun Li took a deep breath; it was a matter of life and death. Now only Mu Qing, a Snake Beastman, can deal with the pursuers behind. If she stopped him, she'd be watching A Yu, Aunt Gong, and Yu Po Po die with her eyes wide open.

Even if she could bear to do it, she absolutely must not.

So she only reminded Mu Qing before he left, "Antidote pill."

The antidote pill that Chang Yue gave her proved truly useful now; if she meets him again, she'll definitely thank him properly.

"Alright!"

Mu Qing replied, then led Yun Li away from the group while sprinting, temporarily separating from Leng Xiao.

His massive beast form transformed abruptly amid the fleeing group; not only would it cause the pursuing black king bees to instinctively flee to other Beastmen, but the Beastmen in the group would also be startled by this sudden change.

To ensure no further chaos, Mu Qing chose to revert to his beast form and slip around the rear, while Leng Xiao from now on was responsible for protecting Yun Li.

But shortly after Mu Qing left, another mishap occurred.

The wolf pack behind had indeed stopped chasing, and some black king bees were diverted to the fleeing wolves, so pressure eased for everyone; yet Miduo suddenly shouted, accompanied by A Chang's slightly panicked voice, "A Duo!"

He lifted the Beastmen's spirits again, "Ignore me, quickly take him away!"

When Miduo tried to rescue someone, a black king bee ambushed her, sending a sharp pain through her arm; she grabbed the weak male nearby and tossed him toward A Chang.

A Chang saw Miduo injured, his eyes reddened; if it weren't to cooperate with Miduo's act and lessen the contempt toward them, he would have simply abandoned the already poisoned, unconscious male and run toward his own A Duo.

But he could only clutch that male tightly and run backward, because Ji Xuan, who was watching over the whole group's escort, wouldn't just stand by and watch Miduo die.

As Miduo and A Chang expected, after Ji Xuan discovered Miduo's poisoning and his speed lagged a bit, he arrived at Miduo with the antidote pill Mu Qing had given him.

"You don't care about the female you like? Coming to find me? Aren't you afraid she'll get into trouble?"

Miduo, being strong, had already spotted his trail when Mu Qing walked toward the rear of the group.

This was also Ji Chen's deliberate scheme; the eagle Beastman he placed beside Ji Xuan had already sold out their group's situation completely.

After diverting Mu Qing, their next targets were Ji Xuan, then Yun Li.

But Miduo and A Chang didn't know how Ji Chen would act without appearing; they couldn't scheme against Yun Li openly like Miduo, brazenly giving Ji Xuan a strong aphrodisiac.

"None of your business."

Ji Xuan saw she could still speak with vigor, so he knew she must have taken the antidote pill he gave; since that's the case, there's no need to waste another antidote pill.

Watching Ji Xuan turn and leave, Miduo's anger flared again, "Stop! Didn't you see I'm injured? You can't just abandon me like that; don't forget I've been abandoned once before."

Actually she'd been abandoned more than once, but Ji Xuan was the second to leave her injured and turn to protect others.

"Why?"

"Is it because she's strong that she shouldn't receive proper protection when injured?"

"Why is Ji Xuan so ruthless, why must he treat me this way?"

He saved her at her most desperate, yet abandoned her when she trusted him most.

"She hates him! She hates him!"

"Ji Xuan, why don't you just die!"

"What did you do?"

Ji Xuan shook off his hand, only to realize he had fallen into the trap!

If it weren't the wrong time, he would have grabbed Miduo's throat with his claws and asked just how far she was willing to go mad.