Chapter 286: Despair

Mo Lie has not shown any negative emotion in these past few years.

The anger in battle, the despair after regaining consciousness again, and the worry after bonding with a strange female—all these intense emotions are perfectly hidden deep in his heart.

Aside from family, everything else responsible for his predicament is to be blamed on this Rock Exotic Beast group.

He has always appeared calm; beneath his calm exterior, the bloodthirsty and slaughterous urge for revenge, the boiling killing intent when facing Exotic Beasts, grows deeper and deeper, like a predator lurking in the dark depths of the sea, waiting silently; when he strikes, it is a single blow that surely kills the prey, leaving them no chance to retaliate, utterly annihilated.

Now, upon hearing the news of the Exotic Beast tide attacking his territory, the first feeling in Mo Lie's heart is a killing impulse filled with joy.

It is as if the frenzied, bloodthirsty mad beast locked inside his body has finally found an opportunity to release and vent its killing intent, wanting to tear apart the deep-seated ferocity hidden in his heart and erase what he considers his sole blemish.

How good…

He intends to slaughter this entire group of Exotic Beasts.

Mo Lie effortlessly holds Lin Manzhi as he walks toward the place where the troops outside the city are gathering, a dark light flickering in his eyes.

A giant elephant carries a carriage frame, stopping before the high-spirited legion to await their lord.

Mo Lie's steps do not pause; he directly steps into the carriage interior, going up to the second floor.

He gently places Lin Manzhi on the soft cushion on the bedroom carpet, kisses her forehead, and whispers, "Zhizhi, rest a while; I'll go attend to some matters first."

A million-strong army cannot be mustered in just a short morning; Hua Zheng is still mobilizing other legions from the Sandswept Territory, but the affairs of Ansen City cannot wait, so Mo Lie plans to take one hundred thousand elite warriors and set out immediately.

Lin Manzhi understands that Mo Lie has many matters to attend to; she loosens her tense grip on his clothing, lifts her head, and returns a kiss to the handsome male beast's chin.

This time, Mo Lie's lips curl into a smile as he turns and leaves.

…

The entire city of Ansen City trembles slightly.

Countless despair-inducing giant exotic birds come from all directions, surrounding Ansen City.

In the forest several hundred meters outside the city walls, the roars of beastfolk battling and slaughtering can be heard from afar, as if they have fallen into the territory of the Dead Beast God.

Nearly everyone inside Ansen City hides in their homes, doors and windows shut tight, constantly praying to the Beast God amidst the fear of death.

Outside the city, in the forest, trees are trampled into fragments; in the mountains loom exotic birds as massive as mountains, like monsters clad in rocky armor, mercilessly trampling the land.

Terror, panic, and fear spread through the forest.

The Ansen City beastfolk troops rushing to the battlefield, when facing enemies ten or more times their own size, collectively fall into panic, as if returning to several years ago, when this flock of mountain-sized giant exotic birds had mouths full of companions' blood and severed limbs; the beastfolk could not oppose them, and in the end they broke through the city walls and slaughtered wildly within.

The warriors of Ansen City's legions tense their bodies; their will to fight trembles in the face of the terrifying Rock Exotic Beast's massive form, suppressing the urge to turn and flee as they lunge onto the Rock Exotic Beast to tear and bite.

Heavenly Beast God! Is Ansen City doomed today!

Why are they arriving faster than estimated to reach Ansen City, while our lord has not yet come; at this moment, no one can stop so many Rock Giant Birds!

Bao Yue is flung from the back of a giant exotic bird onto the ground, rolling and falling.

As the first beastfolk to detect the movement of the giant exotic bird, he personally endured over twenty days of fleeing, witnessing countless beastfolk perish across the An Sen Da Lu continent.

In battle, when the beastfolk cooperate to attack a Rock, it looks like a swarm of mice surrounding a cat; their claws and teeth leave only blood marks on the Rock's body, but if the Rock bites them, a chunk of the beastfolk's flesh is torn away.

This is an extremely brutal, one-sided massacre.

However, with the beastfolk warriors' group tactics, occasionally a few Rock Exotic Beasts will fall.

The beastfolk know that if they cannot hold out until their lord arrives, this group of Rocks will rush into Ansen City and tear apart and kill their loved ones.

Thinking of this, to protect their kin and fueled by the hope of awaiting their lord's return, they fearlessly join their companions, unafraid of death, to assault the Rock Exotic Beasts that are stronger than themselves.

Blood foam sprays down like rain, and the beastfolk's silhouettes vanish swiftly into the maws of the Rock Exotic Beasts.

"Kill—" Bao Yue glares with both eyes, then charges forward again.

His eyes redden as he watches the beastfolk warriors under his command fight to the death.

In extreme fury, the snow leopard's body exerts tremendous strength, leaping once again onto the back of the Rock Exotic Beast, opening its maw to bite at the beast's neck.

With a crack, the sharp canine teeth puncture four blood holes in the Rock Exotic Beast's neck; the pained beast jerks its head, flinging the hated snow leopard off its back.

Bao Yue crashes hard to the ground, lamenting that he didn't have time to take a second bite.

The next second, a stench rushes over him; the Rock Exotic Beast lowers its head and opens its mouth.

Bao Yue lifts his head and meets the blood-flecked teeth of the giant Rock Exotic Beast; he sees that on the beast's three rows of cold, sharp teeth hang bloody strips of beastfolk fur.

Faced with this blood‑filled maw capable of swallowing him whole, Bao Yue trembles, frozen in place, despairingly closing his eyes as he awaits death.

Boom!

The reek of blood is so thick it threatens to drown him; the Rock Exotic Beast's teeth scrape his fur, sending blood pouring down like a heavy rain, drenching Bao Yue.

Shortly after, his vision goes black; Bao Yue knows his entire self has been swallowed into the Rock Exotic Beast's mouth.

Amid the beastfolk warriors' screams, Bao Yue finds himself oddly calm in the face of death.

Perhaps in the next second he will be crushed by those rows of teeth, after which he need fear nothing more.

But after waiting a while, the pain he expected did not arrive.

He waited a while longer.

Bao Yue lifts his forepaw, wipes the blood smeared on his eyelids, and snaps his eyes open; before him, the Rock Exotic Beast still has its mouth wide open.

He is lodged between the Rock Exotic Beast's teeth, yet the beast seems stuck, making no biting motion.

Not dead?

I'm still not dead!

The thought of surviving inside the giant exotic bird's mouth fills Bao Yue with wild joy; the seasoned male beast warrior, having endured countless battles, seizes this anomaly and immediately uses his forepaws to scratch at the enemy's most fragile and weak point—the lower jaw.

Strangely, the Rock Exotic Beast subjected to such attack shows no reaction at all, as if dead, keeping its mouth open and unmoving.

A stir in Bao Yue's heart, the desire to burrow through the Rock Exotic Beast and see the outside world with his own eyes, grows ever stronger.

After a few minutes, Bao Yue finally bursts out of the Rock Exotic Beast's mouth; he joyfully lifts his gaze upward to see the beast that had trapped him, its head severed by something unknown, its body collapsed nearby, dead as can be.

Bao Yue is practically overcome with emotion, wanting to tear up, as he slowly looks ahead.