Chapter 437: Showing Mercy

In the deathly silence, only the rustling of wind through treetops and the heavy, suppressed breathing of the Bear Clan could be heard.

Cheng Shuili gripped the warm, smooth bear fang, her gaze slowly sweeping over the Bear Clan members prostrate on the ground.

Their posture was one of submission, yet the tensed muscles and slightly trembling backs betrayed the tumultuous shock and unwillingness deep in their hearts.

Especially Xiong Da, despite his forehead touching the ground, his intact hand was clenched into a fist, veins bulging.

She knew that relying solely on a token and a single display of force was far from enough to make these proud, stubborn Bear Clan members sincerely submit.

The suppression in their blood could make them bow temporarily, but it could not quell their burgeoning ambition and doubts.

She found it troublesome; since she was handling this matter, she had to settle it once and for all.

Cheng Shuili shifted to a more comfortable stance, clenched her fist and rubbed her wrist, chin slightly raised as she smiled: "I know you're unwilling, but you only kneel before me because this bear fang is in my hand."

"Xiong Ji said our Bear Clan's tradition is to defeat all rivals to claim that seat." Cheng Shuili laughed, sunny and confident, assuming a pre‑battle ready posture: "Now I give you a fair and open chance to challenge me."

Her words were like a stone tossed into a calm lake, instantly sending ripples.

The Bear Clan members lying on the ground stiffened noticeably; then, beneath their lowered heads, a light rekindled in each pair of eyes.

Challenge the king?

Challenge openly and aboveboard?

Yes, of course.

This is even a custom among the Bear Clan!

But the one standing opposite is a human, a human who just effortlessly crushed Xiong Da's wrist.

Fear remained, yet the repressed belligerent instinct and sense of identification with the rules began to fiercely wrestle with fear, tearing wildly in their minds.

Xiong Da jerked his head up; from the intense pain and agitation his face twisted, but his eyes blazed with astonishing vigor.

Challenge.

This is an opportunity!

If he could defeat here, before everyone's eyes, the human who bears the bear fang…

This is his only chance to openly obtain the bear fang and openly take that seat!

Just as the feeling surged in his chest, he suddenly felt powerless; the sharp pain from his wrist reminded him of the vast disparity in strength between them.

He is no match.

Not only now, but he never will be.

He isn't even a match for Xiong Ji, yet Xiong Ji willingly gave the bear fang to this human before him!

Xiong Da's rusty brain began to turn for the first time, and he finally understood why Xiong Ji made that decision.

He is not confused, nor has he abandoned the Bear Clan's honor.

He genuinely believes in this human from the bottom of his heart.

At this moment, Xiong Da completely abandoned the idea of causing trouble.

The other Bear Clan members exchanged glances and began to whisper.

"Challenge… can we?"

"She said according to tradition…"

"But she isn't a Bear Clan member!"

"But she holds the bear fang!"

Cheng Shuili took in all their reactions, the curve of her lips deepening slightly, bearing an air of near‑provocative composure.

"How so? Is the Bear Clan's courage only for discussion and secret scheming? When faced with the opportunity right before you, you shrink back instead?"

She took another step forward, raised an eyebrow, and asked: "Or do you think I'm unworthy to use the Bear Clan's rules?"

"Whether I'm worthy or not will be known after we fight!" a gruff voice rang out from the Bear Clan crowd.

One, slightly shorter than Xiong Da but extraordinarily stocky, like an iron tower, stepped forward from the Bear Clan.

He is called Xiong Dun, and he is sturdier than the surrounding Bear Clan members.

Xiong Dun locked eyes with Cheng Shuili, his fists colliding to produce a dull thud.

"I, Xiong Dun, challenge you! If you win, I, Xiong Dun, will be the first to acknowledge you as king! If you lose…"

He didn't finish the sentence, but the meaning was obvious.

Cheng Shuili nodded, showing no fear: "Fine. Who else? Step forward together. Save time."

Two more Bear Clan members who relied on their bravery hesitated a moment, then stood beside Xiong Dun.

Their thinking was simple: if a relay attack or a group rush could drain this human's stamina, perhaps… there might be a chance.

Cheng Shuili looked at the three Bear Clan beastmen cracking their knuckles, eyes flashing with ferocity, and simply said: "Come at me together."

The three beastmen glanced at each other, let out a simultaneous roar, and surged forward.

"Roar!"

"Ah!"

The battle ended quickly; Cheng Shuili today truly gave these Bear Clan beastmen a lesson.

All the watching Bear Clan members, including Xiong Da clutching his wrist and already having given up in his heart, stared wide‑mouthed, their faces filled with shock.

This human's strength far exceeds what all the beastmen imagined, by a great margin.

Cheng Shuili Qing Qing patted the nonexistent dust on her hand, her gaze sweeping once more over the silent Bear Clan members.

"Anyone else want to try?"

Her voice was calm and waveless, yet it made the Bear Clan beastmen more terrified than any roar.

This time, no beastman dared to meet her gaze, let alone step forward.

The earlier stir of belligerence and luck, in the face of absolute strength disparity, was crushed to powder.

Xiong Dun lay on the ground for a while before he had the strength to slowly rise.

He is also a bear who keeps his word; after being knocked down, he accepts it. He staggered, struggled to steady himself, then with a thud he drove his single knee hard into the ground, lowering his massive head.

"I submit!" Xiong Dun's voice was hoarse, panting yet unusually clear: "From today on, you are my king! Xiong Dun's life is yours to command!"

This kneeling and pledge is more impactful than the earlier defeat.

The bear tribe venerates strength, and values promises even more.

The two other challenging bears exchanged a glance, also clutching their sore chests, and one after another knelt, murmuring their submission in low, muffled voices.

Cheng Shuili gave a slight nod, but her gaze swept past them to fall on the other bear beastfolk, smiling faintly as she asked, "And you?"

The bear beastfolk exchanged looks; Cheng Shuili thought they were finally going to submit, when a weak voice sounded from among them:

"But… she's human."

As soon as those words were spoken, whispers rose again.

"Yeah… no matter how strong, she's still human."

"How can our king be human?"

"Was the old king deceived by her…"

"How could the old king hand over the token to a human?"

……

Cheng Shuili's smile froze; she lifted her eyes and suddenly fixed them on the young bear who had spoken first, her gaze sharp, clearly displeased.

The young bear flinched under her stare, instinctively stepping back half a pace, but then thrust his neck forward, his face full of stubbornness.

The surrounding whispers ceased abruptly at her sudden cold glance, and the atmosphere tightened once more.

Cheng Shuili did not lash out immediately; she merely inhaled slowly, then exhaled slowly, as if suppressing something.

Then she spoke, her voice three degrees lower than before, carrying a calm like the stillness before a mountain storm:

"Human."

"So, in your eyes, does the power and responsibility represented by this bear fang still not measure up to the mere fact of having bear fur?"

She took a few steps forward; her boots landed on the fallen leaves, making a crisp sound.

"Xiong Ji says you revere martial strength," Cheng Shuili still intended to act, "since none of us can convince the other, let's fight."

……

Town Central Hospital.

"Who's come?" Xiong Ji frowned irritably, his eyes fixed on the orderly at the door bringing news.

"It's Elder Xiong Er, coming together with Xiong Zhuang. He says an emergency has arisen in the territory and insists on seeing you."

Since Xiong Ji is no longer king, the bear beastfolk working at the town central hospital have changed their address for this "former king" to "you" (polite).

Unlike those bear beastfolk in the territory, the bear beastfolk of Shou Ren Xiao Zhen who have faced the plague alongside Cheng Shuili accept this new king wholeheartedly.

Even just mentioning it brings a proud look of shared honor to their faces.

Hearing this, Xiong Ji's brows knotted even tighter.

The biggest troublemakers in the territory are Xiong Da and Xiong Er; these two beastfolk often stir up trouble and end up coming to him.

Before, when he was king, he couldn't avoid dealing with them.

Now that he's no longer king, does he still have to manage these petty affairs?

This is the first thought that sprang into Xiong Ji's mind.

But thinking that if he doesn't settle this, it will be left for Cheng Shuili to resolve, he recalled his promise to the humans—he is not the kind of bear who goes back on his word.

He sighed, lamenting his ill fate, and ordered the orderly to summon Xiong Er.

The orderly went out at once; soon Xiong Er and Xiong Zhuang entered, strides quick, bearing the dampness of the forest and a sense of urgency.

Xiong Ji looked at the two young bears, their faces still showing panic and a hint of indescribable complexity, and his uneasy premonition deepened.

"Out with it, what's the matter?" Xiong Ji got straight to the point, his tone tinged with impatience.

"Something's happened at home, Your Majesty!"

……

When Xiong Ji arrived with Xiong Er and Xiong Zhuang, what met his eyes was not the chaos or confrontation he had expected, but an almost eerie silence.

In the forest clearing, the bear beastfolk sat or stood, each with bruised noses and swollen faces, gritting their teeth as they rubbed their arms and legs, yet none raised their voices.

The air was filled with a faint dusty smell and… a strange, lingering sense of having narrowly escaped danger.

And in the center of the clearing, Cheng Shuili leaned against an old tree, relaxed.

She played with that warm, smooth bear fang in her hand; sunlight filtered through the leaves, dancing on her fingertips.

Aside from a bit of dust on her hem, she appeared calm and composed, her breathing as steady as ever.

Xiong Ji's steps halted.

His sharp gaze swept quickly over the scene, lingering a moment on the usually rowdy bears who now hung their heads, eyes darting, then fixed on Xiong Da's obviously deformed, swollen wrist.

Finally, his gaze returned to Cheng Shuili, carrying a mixture of disbelief and a hint of resigned understanding.

It seems the king has already settled matters in a kingly way.

Cheng Shuili also saw Xiong Ji; she straightened up, casually slipped the bear fang back into her bosom, and turned up the corners of her mouth in a faint arc.

"You've come?" she greeted in a light, ordinary tone, as if nothing had happened.

Xiong Ji walked up to her, dropped to one knee in a clean, decisive motion, his voice visibly respectful: "My king."

This kneeling and cry left the bears sitting on the ground nursing their wounds, and those whose eyes were still flickering, all stunned, instinctively tensing their bodies.

"Your Majesty… no, he is no longer king."

Xiong Ji actually went so far as to decisively pay homage to this human as king!

The bear beastfolk who had been beaten into submission stared blankly at the scene, their minds grinding to a halt, knowing only that the former king had paid respects to the new king.

You should know… even if the next king were a bear!

Only the new dynasty has to pay respects to the old king.

As far as the bear tribe is concerned, it's because the old king is old, his strength and ability are not what they used to be, which allowed the new king who seized the throne to find an opening. No matter how you look at it, the new king's victory is not honorable.

But at this very moment, watching this scene, they couldn't help but recall the scenes of them just getting beaten.

A thought unbidden sprang to mind among the bear tribe beastmen: Could Bear Ji also have been……

Having been thoroughly beaten by humans, only then did they sincerely hand over their bear fangs, right?!

This thought struck like a thunderbolt, leaving the present bear tribe members charred on the outside but tender within, even making them temporarily forget the pain on their bodies.

They widened their eyes, looking at Bear Ji's lowered head and respectful posture, then at Cheng Shuili's calm and carefree demeanor, feeling a chill rise from the soles of their feet straight to the crown of their heads.

So that's how it is…

Is it that this human's true strength is so great that even the old king has to bow his head?

The beating they just received probably doesn't even count as an appetizer?

The king has already shown mercy!

They shrank their necks, and the last trace of emotion in their gaze toward Cheng Shuili vanished, leaving only pure awe and a hint of lingering fear.

They even unconsciously lightened their breathing, afraid to draw the notice of that human leaning against the tree.

Cheng Shuili waved a hand at Bear Ji, signaling him to rise, but her gaze fell on Bear Er and Bear Zhuang behind him, half-smiling: 'So it was you two who went to fetch reinforcements?'

Bear Er and Bear Zhuang's legs went weak, and they almost knelt as well.

They only knew a human had come, and had no idea that this human was actually the new king!

Although they hadn't seen it, they could tell from the expressions of the beastmen present how badly they'd been beaten; plus what they'd heard in Shou Ren Xiao Zhen, Bear Er and Bear Zhuang were utterly convinced of this new king.

"King! We didn't know it was you!"

Bear Er reacted quickly, thudding to his knees with a muffled bang as his head hit the ground.

"If we had known you were coming to the territory, we wouldn't dare disturb the Dean even if we were beaten to death! We… we were afraid Bear Da's gang would cause trouble again and offend the honored guest…"

Bear Zhuang also knelt, stammering in agreement: 'Right… right! Honored guest!'

Cheng Shuili saw them so frightened they seemed about to bury their heads in the soil, and she didn't press further, only saying lightly: 'All right, get up. No blame for the unaware.'

Bear Ji gave them a cold look, making Bear Er and the two bears shrink their heads back in fear.

Seeing their sincere attitude, and moreover the king not intending to hold a grudge, Bear Ji didn't say more.

He looked toward Cheng Shuili, bowed slightly, and said: 'King, what brings you here this time?'

Cheng Shuili came, of course, to explain the matter of the safe zone.

But just as she stepped out of the cave entrance, she ran into these few beastmen, whose words were unpleasant, and Cheng Shuili's dictionary lacks the two words 'tolerance'.