Chapter 32: Chapter Thirty-Two: Natural Disaster Is Merciless

Leng Xiu, however, didn't want to pay attention to his younger brother at all; being able to exclusively occupy his own female, why would he want to be together with other males?

Moreover, the situation outside is getting worse and worse; Leng Xiu worries that this so-called natural disaster is even more serious than they imagined.

But before he could think more, his younger brother's voice full of resentment came from beside him.

"Brother, don't you want A Li to like us more?"

Leng Xiao wanted to get close to his own female more, but his female was shy; during the day they were clearly clinging tightly, but at night, after Mu Qing and his brother saw her, she shyly hid in Mu Qing's embrace, making him feel stifled inside.

If A Li could someday calmly see them all naked standing before her, and gaze at them without blinking, that would be great.

Leng Xiao felt that at this point he could vie for favor however he liked; after all, his brother and Mu Qing lacked his talent for courting favor, and Yun Li would surely be more pleased with his service to her.

Leng Xiu's train of thought was interrupted; helplessly, he lowered his head and said, "Go to sleep, in dreams anything is possible."

Since his younger brother only knows how to use his flower-like beauty to lure the females at home, he can only work harder and pay more attention to outside matters.

"Thud thud! Thud thud thud!"

"What's going on?"

"Ah, the house! The house is moving?!"

The sudden tremor made the females in the tribe scream repeatedly, and many males, as if greatly frightened, also ran out of their stone houses.

However, the tremor lasted only a moment before passing; the beastmen, who had never experienced such a thing, dared not re-enter their houses for a while, only going back inside one by one when night fell and no similar incident occurred.

Only Yun Li, guessing this might be the aftershocks of an earthquake, refused to go inside and instead demanded that her beast husband accompany her outside with their belongings to sleep outdoors.

"A Li, what are you afraid of?"

Leng Xiu realized what Yun Li was afraid of, immediately walked over, stroked her head, and comforted her, saying, "It's fine, we're all here."

Yun Li was indeed afraid; she embraced both Mu Qing and Leng Xiu, her voice trembling as she said, "This afternoon the house and the ground were moving; luckily the stone house was sturdy and didn't collapse, otherwise, before Leng Xiao could carry me out, I would likely have been buried inside."

Saying that, she secretly bit her tongue, and tears burst forth.

"It hurts!"

But there was no choice; she had to describe the situation as very serious, otherwise how could she make them believe an earthquake had occurred? As for the other beastmen in the tribe, once Mu Qing and the others believed her account, she would inform them when she had time; if she had no time, she couldn't possibly stay here foolishly waiting to die for their sake.

If there really is an earthquake here, they must flee now before it triggers a beast tide, or else they'll lose the chance.

Seeing Yun Li frightened all afternoon and still not recovered, Leng Xiao's face instantly showed guilt and self-reproach: "At that time I wasn't with A Li inside the house; I didn't expect a tremor to occur."

"Fortunately the tremor subsided quickly; otherwise, if it had lasted a bit longer, just as A Li said, the house would have collapsed, and you wouldn't see it as it is now."

Benefiting from Yun Li's afternoon spent shrinking in Leng Xiao's embrace while describing the horror of the tremor, Leng Xiao himself was also left feeling frightened afterward.

After all, when he and his brother were hunting outside, they also saw part of a mountainside landslide; those rocks falling would make even a Qing Rank beastman vomit blood from a single hit.

Mu Qing felt sorry for his frightened female; he tightly held Yun Li in his arms, saying, "Since A Li doesn't want to sleep in the house today, we won't; we've laid out beast pelts outside and will guard your sleep."

Leng Xiu pondered for a moment, then nodded, saying, "A Li's worries are indeed reasonable; if this situation happens again tonight, the three of us being strong wouldn't matter if we were struck, but if A Li gets hurt, that would be bad."

"Should we warn the other beastmen? After all, there are many females and young ones in the tribe."

Yun Li, after all, had never truly experienced the original owner's despair; at this point, knowing a quake might happen yet not telling anyone, she inevitably felt uneasy inside.

Leng Xiu frowned, saying, "No need; even if we told them now, they wouldn't listen."

Mu Qing still felt a bit grateful to the tribe, for if it weren't for this tribe he wouldn't have met A Li; "Mentioning it isn't a big deal; if you find it troublesome, I'll go tell the chieftain."

Leng Xiu went along with him; having grown up in the tribe since childhood, he still knew well the dispositions of the tribe's beastmen—they wouldn't listen.

Because this afternoon's tremor wasn't severe, and most females and young ones aren't as strong as adult males, having a perfectly good stone house yet refusing to stay inside for some unfounded guess, they would think only a brainless beastman would do such a thing.

"I don't know why, but I always have a bad premonition in my heart."

Lying between the two brothers, Yun Li stared at the dim, lightless sky overhead, opened her eyes, and began her persuasion: "First, the outside beasts have become abnormal; then this afternoon's tremor—is our tribe really still safe?"

"If a sudden tremor strikes at midnight, those frightened beasts will suddenly charge into the tribe—then......"

"A Li, such a thing won't happen. Even if it does, the three of us can protect you; don't be afraid."

Leng Xiao saw she still remembered the afternoon's events, couldn't sleep, and could only repeatedly reassure Yun Li without tiring.

Yun Li turned to face Leng Xiao and said, "Of course I know you'll protect me, but if something really happens, what will become of the tribe—will the chieftain summon you away?"

"No, no matter what happens, you are the most important."

Leng Xiu roughly sensed that Yun Li, besides worrying about the sudden natural disaster, was also concerned that tribal affairs would distract them from guarding her side.

But Yun Li can rest assured on this point; no matter what happens, as her beast husbands, their first duty is to protect her; the tribe has shown them kindness, but after reaching adulthood, he and Mu Qing have continually used their own strength to protect the tribe.

Therefore, the tribe has no right to demand, when danger arises, that they abandon their females to go protect the tribe instead.

The point of Yun Li's words was clearly that the tribe might be unsafe, so they should prepare an escape route in advance.

But no matter how much she said, Leng Xiu and Leng Xiao merely thought she had been frightened by the afternoon's events, leading her to believe the tribe was unsafe.

Helpless, Yun Li had to speak plainly: "If frequent tremors trigger a beast tide, what then? Can't we make preparations early?"

"A beast tide? That shouldn't happen, right?"

Leng Xiao felt it unlikely; they shouldn't be that unlucky—just consider how long the Heiyan Shanmai has gone without a beast tide.

Leng Xiu, however, took it in: "A Li thinks the tremor will cause a beast tide?"

Yun Li spoke firmly: "We would all panic from a tremor; wouldn't those wild beasts be the same? Haven't you noticed anything out there?"

Leng Xiu remained silent, brows furrowed; if what A Li said were true, then Mu Qing's reminder should also be supplemented with a sentence about strengthening tribal patrols.

But when they thought of this, Mu Qing hadn't returned yet; and just as they were growing drowsy from the evening breeze, a strong shudder suddenly came from underground.

Leng Xiu and Leng Xiao quickly woke, shielding Yun Li while warily gazing at the violently shaking stone walls.

"Boom—rumble—rumble!"

Accompanied by the nearby stone wall collapsing inward, the interior stone house also cracked with huge fissures, then came a "crack—" as rubble fell, and the whole stone house instantly turned into a pile of ruins.

From af came a faint, intermittent wail; Leng Xiu's body tensed, and Leng Xiao clung tightly to Yun Li beside him, fearing she might vanish.