79: Chapter 79 Wild Beasts!

Zhou Yun did not speak.

Nuan Nuan clenched her hem and tentatively took a small step forward: "If you have anything on your mind... you can tell Nuan Nuan."

She lowered her head, her voice growing softer: "Although Nuan Nuan doesn't understand much, my father always told me since I was little that if you have anything on your mind, you'll feel much better once you say it out loud."

Zhou Yun finally raised his head.

He looked at Nuan Nuan, looking at the girl who had once hidden in a dark room for an entire year.

At this moment, she stood under the lamplight, a worried expression on her face, fingers twisting her hem, looking at him cautiously.

He smiled gently, "Help me get some paper and a brush."

Nuan Nuan was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly turned to fetch them.

The brush, ink, and paper were placed on the table.

Zhou Yun picked up the brush and dipped it in ink.

Then, he wrote a character on the paper. "Person."

A stroke to the left, a stroke to the right, firm and solid.

After finishing, he looked at it, didn't speak, and pushed the paper to the side.

He laid out another sheet of paper. He still wrote "Person." A stroke to the left, a stroke to the right. He laid out another. Still "Person."

Nuan Nuan stood on the side, watching quietly.

She didn't understand why the City Lord wanted to repeatedly write the same character, but she didn't ask.

She just accompanied him like that.

One sheet of paper. One "Person" character. One sheet of paper. One "Person" character.

The paper on the table slowly piled up. Every sheet had only one character, the brushstrokes shifting from heavy at the beginning to gradually steady later on.

Nuan Nuan couldn't help much, but she could stay by his side and watch over him.

Just like another thing her father said — it's okay if some things can't be said; having someone by your side will also make things a little better.

...

Just then, hurried footsteps came from outside the courtyard.

"City Lord!" It was Tie Shan's voice.

Nuan Nuan hurriedly went to open the door.

Tie Shan stood outside the door, his clothes stained with mud and grass leaves, an anxious look on his face.

Seeing Zhou Yun in the study, he hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and walked in.

"City Lord, it's so late, I originally didn't want to disturb you." Tie Shan cupped his hands, his tone urgent, "But this matter is truly urgent, I must ask you to make a decision."

Zhou Yun put down the brush and looked up at him. "Speak."

Tie Shan took a deep breath: "It's a problem with the water."

"The water source at Ganlan Mountain has been occupied by Desolate Beasts." Tie Shan said, "Minister Wang Fugui and I took people to fetch water, and after arriving, we found the streamside was full of those things. We didn't dare to act rashly and have been in a standoff with them until now."

He looked at Zhou Yun: "I cannot make this call, I can only ask the City Lord to decide — fight, or not fight?"

Zhou Yun pondered for a moment and stood up. "Take me to see."

...

Ganlan Mountain. Under the moonlight, the mountain stream shimmered with a cold white light.

The stream water gushed out from between the rock crevices, converging into a two-zhang-wide current that wound its way down along the valley.

On both banks of the stream, dozens of white, beast-like creatures were crouching.

Their appearance resembled a tiger, but they were a size smaller than ordinary tigers.

Their snow-white fur shimmered with a silvery light under the moonlight, their limbs were thick and powerful, and their tails were wrapped in some kind of dark pattern.

Their bodies had both human characteristics and tiger characteristics.

Zhou Yun arrived at the foot of the mountain under Tie Shan's guidance.

Minister Wang Fugui was already waiting there, with two hundred Professionals standing ready behind him, everyone facing the direction of the stream, hands on their weapons.

"City Lord!" Minister Wang Fugui hurried up to greet him, a look of anxiety on his face, "Look at those things — as soon as we approach the water source, they bare their teeth, but they don't take the initiative to attack."

Zhou Yun did not answer immediately. His gaze passed over Minister Wang Fugui and landed on the group of Tiger-men by the stream.

Most of them were adult-sized, with robust muscles and alert gazes.

But a few were significantly smaller.

A small Tiger-man was crouching on the largest rock by the stream, its size only one-third of an adult Tiger-man, its two round ears standing up, furry and soft.

A red bell hung around its neck, emitting a faint tinkling sound with its movements.

If you didn't look at that face baring its teeth, and just looked at those furry ears and round body, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it cute.

Zhou Yun observed for a moment, and a judgment formed in his mind.

Desolate Beasts are different from Demonic Beasts.

Demonic Beasts are pure killing machines, driven by instinct, killing anyone they see, with no room for negotiation.

The Demonic Wolves encountered by Flower City before were a typical example — Black Iron Rank gregarious Demonic Beasts, with no other expression besides bloodlust and violence.

But Desolate Beasts are different. Desolate Beasts have intelligence. They have their own clans, have cubs, and have territory they guard.

The fact that this group of Tiger-men in front of them had been in a standoff with the people of Flower City for so long without fighting already explained the issue — they didn't want to kill people, they just wanted to guard the water source. They could be talked to.

With a plan in mind, Zhou Yun took a step forward, preparing to speak.

But just at this moment, Tie Shan suddenly called out a warning: "City Lord, watch out!"

As soon as the words fell, a white shadow shot out from the rock! It was that small Tiger-man with the red bell!

Its speed was incredibly fast, its figure stretching into a blurred afterimage under the moonlight, one claw slapping towards Zhou Yun's chest.

The sound of the bell rang crisply. The wind from the claw was sharp.

"City Lord —!" Tie Shan's warning and that claw arrived at the same time.

But the instant the claw landed on Zhou Yun — "Ding." A very faint, crisp sound.

The small Tiger-man's claw hit an invisible barrier. That barrier had no color, no light, and was almost invisible to the naked eye.

It only rippled faintly the moment it was touched, and then that force was silently neutralized.

Zhou Yun did not move an inch. The small Tiger-man used the force to return to its original spot, lowered its head to look at its own claw, then looked up at the unharmed human in front of it, its round eyes full of confusion.

Immediately after, it bared its teeth and let out a low growl at Zhou Yun, turned its head, and left with the other Tiger-men.

Behind him, Tie Shan and Minister Wang Fugui both rushed up. "City Lord! Are you alright?" Tie Shan's face was livid.

"To actually dare to attack the City Lord!" Minister Wang Fugui was even more furious, pulling out his sword, "This is outrageous! Brothers, follow me —"

"Stop." Zhou Yun's voice was not loud, but Minister Wang Fugui's footsteps immediately froze in place.

Minister Wang Fugui's face flushed red: "City Lord! They already attacked you!"

Tie Shan also chimed in from the side: "City Lord, no matter how intelligent a Desolate Beast is, it is still a beast. Attacking you is a capital offense! Two hundred men are more than enough to handle them —"

"I said do not pursue."

Zhou Yun's tone did not become heavier, but that unquestionable calmness made both men shut their mouths.

He turned around, watching the group of Tiger-men retreating on the other side of the stream.

The white figures gradually moved away under the moonlight, disappearing into the depths of the mountain forest. The last thing to disappear was the sound of that string of red bells, tinkling, getting further and further away.

There was no anger in Zhou Yun's eyes. Only contemplation.

...