Chapter 111: To Save or Not to Save

She wandered outside for a while; the sun was gradually climbing toward the zenith, Lin Manzhi had nothing left to buy, so she hurried and followed the two back.

Mo Lie and his group's territory is in the western part of Kuangsha City; the farther one walks from the bustling Central District, the more dilapidated the roadside houses become. Xicheng Qu also has prosperous areas, now owned by the two brothers Xiang Sa.

As she neared Mo Lie's territory, Lin Manzhi saw a crowd of Beastfolk gathered in front of a street intersection, and a gut‑wrenching cry rose from the crowd.

Keeping a short distance, Lin Manzhi didn't intend to join the commotion, and walked leftward on the street with Mo Lie, when a woman's voice, broken and intermittent, came from behind:

"Beast God! I have only Lie An, a male Beast child... give him back to me! Damn Jia Jian... why is it not you who dies..."

Lie An? Jia Jian? Lin Manzhi's steps halted.

Mo Lie also stopped, turned his head toward Lin Manzhi, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Something seems to have happened on that main street..." Lin Manzhi thought, "Shall we go take a look?"

As her words faded, Mo Lie and Hua Zheng looked up toward the main street; the shouting hadn't ceased, and the crowd kept swelling.

He knew Jia Jian was the most powerful Beastfolk in the Central District, and the female cursing at that moment was directing at him.

Mo Lie raised an eyebrow, "Hmm."

Lin Manzhi felt a bit uneasy, and hearing Mo Lie's assent, she turned back and walked toward the crowd, with two male beasts following closely behind.

There were too many people gathered; she didn't force her way in, but stood outside with the two male beasts behind her, looking up forward—unable to see inside but able to hear what the person in the middle was saying.

"An'an only followed you for a few days, and now he's gone! You led so many underlings to raid and plunder, committing countless evils; sooner or later the Beast God will punish you, and you'll die even worse than my An'an!"

The curse, laced with sobbing, carried far outward.

The speaker's tirade against the Central District leader made the Beastfolk spectators uneasy, causing them to instinctively step back, indicating they had no connection to the female in the middle.

This gave Lin Manzhi, standing outside, a chance to see clearly what was happening in the middle of the street.

She saw a middle‑aged female with hair half gray‑white, a gauze band from her head lying on the ground; she was sitting on the ground, clutching the swollen, bluish‑pale head of a male Beast corpse, sobbing uncontrollably.

The scene made Lin Manzhi's brows knit tightly.

"What's going on?"

She recalled that Lie An was the son of a female named Huang Cai; she was a female with a Pheromone Value of 10, and a Pheromone level in Kuangsha City wasn't uncommon.

What was rare was that she had wanted to take the Shamaness trials since youth, and had been studying medicinal plant knowledge ever since.

Unfortunately, Huang Cai's own Pheromone level was too low; even after passing, she was assigned by the Mountain Classic Beast Temple to serve as an attendant Shamaness.

Huang Cai was proud; clearly the other Shamanesses knew less than she did, yet they received opportunities because their Pheromone levels were higher than hers.

In a fit of anger, she refused to become an attendant, was despised by the Mountain Classic Beast Temple, her family was suppressed, and finally they were forced to flee together.

Unable to obtain any lord's permission, Huang Cai's family could only settle in Kuangsha City; thanks to her skill in making potions, they lived better than before.

Later she took only two Beast Husbands, giving birth to Lie An, a male Beast son; her son later joined a certain faction in Kuangsha City.

But her son didn't die, right?

It seems the female lead Fang Yue Dan happened upon him and saved him, which led her to meet Huang Cai; grateful, Huang Cai taught her medicinal plants and potion‑making, which allowed her to enter the Mountain Classic Beast Temple.

Lin Manzhi blinked; how did this scene come about?

Same name and surname, perhaps.

Just as she was puzzled, a weak voice rose from the crowd, urging the female across the street:

"Every day Beastfolk die in Kuangsha City, Huang Cai, you'd better take your son and go back," the voice said. "If those people hear you cursing that person, both Beast Husbands in your family and you… won't escape."

Huang Cai's sobbing grew louder; she hoarse‑ly cried, "Wuwu!! How dare you bully a female! I am a female with Pheromone, I have the Wushen Temple; I'll see who dares to touch me!! If Kuangsha City has a lord, I'll die and still report Jia Jian, making them pay for my An'an's death."

"She's truly insane; this is Kuangsha City, you're a Pheromone‑bearing female—so you could just vanish at any moment!"

Incidents like this aren't rare; they are the 'lords' here, and the Wushen Temple won't offend the Central District lords just for a single female.

The onlookers nearby no longer dared to watch; seeing Huang Cai's figure on the street, they turned and hurried home.

At this moment, Lin Manzhi saw clearly: Huang Cai's ash‑gray long hair, a few wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, and tear‑filled pupils that were rabbit‑red.

Lin Manzhi: "……"

It can't be wrong; her appearance matches the description in the book—she's exactly half of the original heroine's master…

When the crowd dispersed, the three standing there, including Lin Manzhi, became conspicuous; Huang Cai raised her hand to touch her son's face, her expression mournful: "An'an… they took my life too! They took my—"

She stopped mid‑sentence, recalling how she had been turned away from the Wushen Temple, how the two Beast Husbands had risked revenge but couldn't even approach Jia Jian, and how that now brought disaster upon her family; unable to hold on, she collapsed onto her son and wept hysterically.

Huang Cai regretted, wishing she hadn't hidden her potion‑making from the outside; if she had sold her potions for Beast Coins, her son wouldn't have joined the city's black factions to earn Beast Coins.

She didn't know why the original story had changed, and Lin Manzhi fell silent.

She also didn't know where the current plot had gone—whether the female lead Fang Yue Dan had taken a Beast Husband out of the tribe.

Seeing that the crucial 'save the son, become disciple' plot point vanished—Lie An was dead, Huang Cai cursed on the street, and with the Central District's tyrannical style, they certainly wouldn't spare her family… She didn't know why she got entangled in this.

She didn't know why she got entangled in this.

She glanced twice, then, unable to bear it, Lin Manzhi stepped forward.

Mo Lie lowered his gaze, still watching Lin Manzhi, and saw the expression on her face: "Zhi Zhi?"

Hearing Mo Lie's voice, Lin Manzhi lifted her head, lightly blinking, and whispered, "I heard Huang Cai is considered a Shamaness..."

Mo Lie didn't look at the two figures by the street, his blue eyes fixed on Lin Manzhi, and chuckled lightly, "Helping them isn't difficult."

Lin Manzhi pondered.

She wanted to save people; Huang Cai could make potions, keeping her nearby would surely be useful, but only if her own people weren't harmed.

Mo Lie said casually, "The Iron Claw Gang is a sizable force in Xicheng Qu; if the Central District wanted to come here, Xiang Sa and his group wouldn't agree, but hiding a few Beastfolk is still easy."