Chapter 16: Chapter Sixteen: Bare‑faced Seduction

"You are my little brother, I'm just helping you."

Leng Xiu said calmly, "I told you the names of those females, but that doesn't mean I approve of you disciplining them in this way."

Throwing poisonous snakes where the females pass—does he not fear causing deaths?

Yun Li still lives in the Tribe; if other Beastmen discover that those females died because they once bullied Yun Li, how could she continue staying in the Tribe?

Does Leng Xiao have to act without thinking first?

"Then what do you suggest? Don't tell me you went around the gathering team asking around; just because I'm your little brother, do you think I'd believe you?"

Wouldn't he just investigate himself?

He imagined holding meat, asking the females protecting the gathering team about Yun Li's past, only to receive a meaning‑laden look from them.

Leng Xiao felt a surge of irritation.

His brother can do these things, but can't admit it?

"You're my brother; even if you also have an eye on Yun Li, isn't that perfect? We could team up to court Yun Li, and I don't think Mu Qing could still win Yun Li's affection with just himself as the only male."

"Not yet."

Leng Xiu lowered his eyes slightly and said, "She isn't that easy to persuade; Mu Qing appeared when she was being bullied and needed help most. At least for now, she only sees Mu Qing as the sole male in her eyes."

He went to the gathering team to learn about Yun Li's past life; her days could only be described as "hard."

Chronic malnutrition made her a lagging member of the gathering team, so she rarely spoke, never dared to speak up, and mostly tried to lower her presence, following wherever the team went.

If she moved slowly and failed to gather enough food for a day, she wouldn't dare make the other females wait; when injured she wouldn't complain, just tended to herself and kept up with the team.

Occasionally a female would argue; the loser would take out her anger on Yun Li, and she wouldn't dare retort, lacking the vigor she had beside Mu Qing.

And that's only the part A Mei knows; elsewhere, Yun Li may have suffered more grievances they haven't seen.

Otherwise, how could Yun Li, more than a year into adulthood, still not have formed a Mate Bond with a male of the Tribe? She couldn't have never liked males before.

"What should we do?"

Leng Xiao, knowing his brother too well, understood as soon as he said that his brother must already have a plan.

"You tell me quickly, what should we do?"

Ignoring his brother's urging, Leng Xiu lowered his head to make clothes, "Why the hurry? Let's wait until Mu Qing goes out hunting a few more times."

Mu Qing, a Qing Rank Beastman, can go out hunting repeatedly in the middle of the night, but other Beastmen cannot.

They only need to wait for the moment when Mu Qing, the Beastman caring for Yun Li, finds himself in a tight spot.

That moment would be their perfect chance to barge in.

……

"Ah!"

In the forest, a sudden sharp cry instantly shattered the calm of the mid‑journey rest.

Lu, the team leader, was extremely irritated, but genuinely feared that the Green Grass group might have encountered something, so she could only walk over to ask what had happened.

She saw the Green Grass group cowering together in terror; when they saw her, they pointed at a spot, and one after another their voices grew even sharper.

"Snake! Snake!"

"Where's the snake?!"

Along the way, she lost count of how many times they'd shouted "Wolf!"; now Lu's face was all impatience, watching them shiver and try to hide behind her, and she flung the sharply‑carved stone weapon at her waist out with force.

Something actually darted out of the grass at great speed; the Green Grass group let out a scream, but perhaps due to their strong constitutions, none of them fainted or collapsed, instead they all quickly ducked behind Lu.

No one noticed Lu's complexion had already darkened.

Thus, when the Green Grass group poked their heads behind her, saying "The snake ran away" and "Great, the snake didn't bite us," Lu turned and slapped each of them.

"That's a long‑tailed rabbit, an ordinary beast that even a two‑year‑old cub can easily catch. I'm a snake, you idiots!"

The crisp slaps rang bright and loud through the forest.

A male hidden in the shadows relaxed his brows with each slap, looked up at the sky—midday was approaching—and headed back to cook for his female.

What the male never imagined was that, upon returning home, he would find other males showing up to cook for his female.

"A Qing, you're back!"

Yun Li, seeing Mu Qing return promptly, lunged at him fiercely.

She knew Mu Qing's solo hunt today was a lie, the venting was real, yet Leng Xiu and Leng Xiao didn't know how they learned this and forced their way in with it.

Then the three made a few awkward remarks, and Leng Xiao, under the absurd pretext of not letting the Tribe's females starve, lit a fire in the courtyard and set up a roast.

Such forced feeding was a first for Yun Li.

Fortunately Mu Qing came back early; otherwise she wouldn't know whether, after eating the brothers' meat, she'd have to see them every day.

Actually, seeing them wouldn't be a problem, but one looks at her with a scorching gaze that could burn her alive, while the other's gaze, though seemingly ordinary, is unusually sensitive to her behavior; when she tries to find an excuse to go inside or step out to avoid them, the cold‑austere male sees through it instantly.

If she tried to scold them, one would grin carefree and not care at all, while the other's calm gaze could instantly silence her.

Yun Li's aura!

What kind of male is this, does he know that courting a female requires others' permission?

There's no way to just barge in like that.

"They came suddenly; it startled me."

Yun Li complained to Mu Qing, "I never told them to do this; they lit a fire on their own and set up the roast."

Leng Xiao, standing by the bonfire, heard this and directly admitted, "Right, we set up the roast because it was getting close to mealtime and you hadn't returned yet; we were afraid A Li would starve, so we put it up."

Now that you're back, my brother and I will leave.

After saying that, Leng Xiao waved at Yun Li and said, "If you need anything next time, you can ask my brother and me for help. We're leaving now; don't waste the roast."

Even knowing Mu Qing won't let Yun Li eat the meat they made, if she can skip it this time, what about next time, the time after that…

Can Mu Qing keep blocking them from barging in to cook for Yun Li forever?

The two of them aren't like those other males; after Mu Qing beats them a few times, they won't dare approach Yun Li behind his back again.

The time they have is spent with Mu Qing!

"I and Leng Xiao live in the first stone house near the small forest, just turn left when you go out and keep walking.

We will wait for you there."

Leng Xiu's low voice reached the two, Mu Qing's fist instantly squeezed with a creaking snap, and Yun Li, surprised, lifted her head and looked up.

After all, in the orcs' view, whether male or female gives their home address to the opposite sex is tantamount to "when you're lonely you can go find them there."

This really is… an outright seduction toward her and a provocation against Mu Qing!