Chapter 202: Meeting Again

Yun Li actually believed this, but... he would feel very wronged, wouldn't he.

His opinions hadn't been taken seriously, and he still had to mentally prepare himself to maintain a surface harmony with a beastman he hated, for her sake.

"Do you really hate that Snake Beastman that much?"

After his female had fallen asleep, Leng Xiu went to have a heart-to-heart with his younger brother—after all, no one understood his younger brother better than he did.

"A Li already said it herself—she doesn't much like Ke Si to begin with."

"Do you believe that?"

Leng Xiao asked in a mocking tone, "And deep down, you're exactly the same as me—you don't want other males entering the household either."

Leng Xiu's eyes darkened slightly, and he didn't deny it. "She said she wants the route to the outside world that the Youbuluo knows about."

Leng Xiao crossed his arms. "I'm not deaf. It's just that the Tribe isn't exactly in no position to negotiate with them—why must she form a Mate Bond with Ke Si?"

"In the end, you still hate Ke Si. Is it because when he's around, he steals A Li's attention away from you?"

Leng Xiu said this, a glint of amusement flashing through his eyes as he looked at his younger brother. "You're a male who's a father, after all..."

"Shut up! Stop talking to me in that lecturing tone. Every time Ke Si found an excuse to take A Li away, didn't you also go a whole day without even wanting to speak?

Even though A Li says she doesn't like him, the way she looks at him—you can't have forgotten that, can you."

It was something that had never been present in them—a kind of admiration and reverence for a powerful male.

Even if A Li didn't have romantic feelings for Ke Si, once they'd spent enough time together and Ke Si figured out the household dynamics and found his proper place in this family, how much room would he and his brother still have in A Li's heart?

Ke Si was no Mu Qing, nor was he Ji Xuan. His possessiveness toward A Li was extremely strong—given the chance, it wasn't impossible for him to keep Yun Li's heart in the hands of one beastman alone.

Leng Xiao didn't want his female's gaze constantly fixed on another male, but Ke Si was clearly no easy opponent. They had already done their best to prevent A Li's contact with him, yet he still found an opportunity—and in the end, there was even a cub.

It was precisely because Ke Si was too aggressive that Leng Xiao so firmly opposed him entering the household before he'd even come through the door.

At least for now, his standing in A Li's heart was higher than Ke Si's. Even if he couldn't truly stop him from entering, he could still make Yun Li lower her impression of Ke Si.

Served him right for still not being mentally prepared to share a female with other males, and for revealing his excessive possessiveness toward A Li before even entering the household—quite unappealing in A Li's eyes, that.

The faint smile on Leng Xiu's face finally vanished completely. Of course he remembered those looks A Li gave Ke Si.

Which was... all the more reason not to let Ke Si enter so easily.

"Those two—will they really be all right?"

Inside the room, Mu Qing suddenly came out from the inner chamber. He had come out to feed the four snake cubs, though when Ji Xuan was tending to the eagle cub, he'd gone ahead and fed the snake cubs too.

"He just wants to secure his place in A Li's heart before the newcomer enters the household.

Leng Xiu knows what's what. As for Leng Xiao—he cares deeply about A Li, so even if he's jealous, he wouldn't truly do something A Li dislikes just because of Ke Si."

After Ji Xuan finished analyzing the Leng Family brothers, he suddenly asked him, "A Li wants to form a Mate Bond with Ke Si—aren't you jealous?"

Mu Qing's expression was gentle. "Even if he enters the household, he can only be the third Beast Husband. What would I be jealous of?

I'm just worried that with Ke Si's temperament, once he really enters, he'll throw the household into chaos."

"This morning A Li seemed to have said some harsh things to Ke Si. If he can truly endure it this time, then what you were just worried about probably won't happen."

And there was something else Ji Xuan hadn't said: the Priest of the Youbuluo had also come to the Tribe.

"About the new route..." Mu Qing's topic abruptly shifted elsewhere.

"This is indeed the first time I've heard of this."

Hearing Mu Qing bring up the matter, Ji Xuan immediately began thinking it over as well. "I'll go ask the Priest later."

Mu Qing gave a slight nod, then said to Ji Xuan, "Go to sleep early. There will be plenty to keep us busy tomorrow."

Hearing this, Ji Xuan rubbed the bridge of his nose. Indeed, life in the Tribe had been getting better and better these past few years, but as more and more unfamiliar beastmen came to the Silver Eagle Tribe, the matters he had to handle had also grown increasingly numerous.

Fortunately, there were two capable beastmen above him shouldering the burden—otherwise Ji Xuan estimated he'd have even less time to live at home, let alone personally raise the cubs.

And thinking of the cubs, Ji Xuan looked at Old Six, who was sleeping soundly alongside the several snake cubs, a glint of helplessness flashing through his eyes.

"It seems I'd better start training Xiao Ao and the others to work by my side first."

Once his cub had grown up and could transform, he would gradually teach him how to be a good male.

Hurry and grow taller and bigger, your father's Xuan Li!

……

The next day, after Yun Li's family finished breakfast, they each went about their own business.

Since Leng Xiu's side hadn't produced a result yet, Yun Li set the workshop matter aside for now and instead headed to Small Flat Mountain—only she hadn't expected to run into that beastman she'd met briefly yesterday.

"Yun Li Adult!"

It was unclear what A Lian and the others had been asked by the bearded male, but every one of them wore a conflicted, troubled expression—until they saw Yun Li approaching, whereupon they looked as if they'd seen a savior and began introducing both sides to Yun Li and the bearded male.

"This male beastman is called Moluo. They say they came from outside the Heiyan Shanmai, and along the way they heard there were good things here, so they followed a nomadic Tribe to our place.

Just now this Lord Moluo asked us a lot of questions, and we were a bit overwhelmed, so..."

A Lian said this, her face involuntarily showing an uncomfortable, guilty expression.

It was all because they hadn't been on guard—this male had tricked a lot of information out of them, and to top it off, he'd dragged Yun Li Adult into it.

After hearing this, Yun Li's brow furrowed slightly. "I remember I told you all—if unfamiliar beastmen come over here, try not to chat with them for too long. Did that not sink in?"

A Lian and her several Beast Husbands all hung their heads at the scolding.

Seeing this, the bearded male seemed to want to step forward and rescue A Lian and the others, but to his surprise, after Yun Li said those words, she simply waved her hand and told the female and her Beast Husbands to move away.

"So you're from the outside—no wonder you look a bit different from the beastmen I've seen before."

Yun Li's gaze, probing and appraising, fell upon the bearded male, but she quickly withdrew it.

She asked point-blank, "You came here for more than just making clothes, I take it?"

The bearded male—that is, Moluo—let his gaze linger on Yun Li's face for quite a while before saying, "Besides making clothes, we naturally also wanted to see just who the beastman was who could develop a Tribe into this in only three years. We just didn't expect that the Yun Li Adult they spoke of would be you."

Yun Li smiled faintly at the male. "Developing the Tribe into what it is now wasn't my achievement alone."