118: Chapter 118 "I want you to hug me."

As Hu Che said this, he actually started to take off his lower garments.

Stinky Snake! If he wouldn't let him kiss Tang Ruan, he could at least show her himself, right!

Tang Ruan was scared to death and hurriedly pressed down on his hands.

Although she knew that in the Beast World, it was a common courtship method for a Male Beastman to show off his physique to a Female Beastman.

Some races of Male Beastmen would even strip naked on certain holidays and stand in a row for the Female Beastman to admire.

If a Female Beastman took a fancy to one, she would take him back to be her Beast Husband.

But... Tang Ruan still couldn't quite accept it.

Although she admitted that she liked Hu Che, a large part of the reason was that he perfectly matched her tastes.

But she wasn't a pervert!!!

"Wait... wait until we've formed a contract before you look..."

Tang Ruan was sweating profusely.

"Then..."

Hu Che had barely said a word when his chest felt as if it had been struck by a red-hot iron hammer.

He covered his forehead, enduring the pain, and fell silent.

Tang Ruan: ...

Hearing her say that, was he happy or unhappy?

Tang Ruan waited for a long time without getting a single word from Hu Che.

She sighed, then had to continue the previous topic on her own.

"I feel like Yan Qing is hiding something from me. He's been sleeping fully clothed lately, and I suspect he's injured."

Hu Che suddenly looked up, staring at Tang Ruan in shock: "You saw it?"

Tang Ruan shook her head.

"No, but I checked today, and he isn't injured. But if he isn't injured, why won't he let me take off his clothes?"

Hu Che silently breathed a sigh of relief.

"That Stinky Snake has always been strange," he said, propping his elbows on the table and shifting into a more comfortable position. "If you're unhappy spending time with him, just come find me!"

Hu Che gave Tang Ruan a smile.

Tang Ruan: She could feel it; this was true seduction!

"Also, I've been dreaming about a place called Beast God Mountain lately."

"Beast God Mountain?" Hu Che sat up straight. "Why would you suddenly dream of that place?"

Tang Ruan briefly recounted to Hu Che what she had seen regarding the Rat Tribe Beastman in the basement.

"Yan Qing said you know about this."

Hu Che nodded. "That's right. The caravan cooperating with the Rat Tribe is mine.

That group of the Rat Tribe lives on an isolated island in the sea.

They have passed down the route to Beast God Mountain for generations.

But because their level is low and they don't know how to build ships, they have never been there.

While our caravan possesses decent shipbuilding technology and has obtained permission from the Jiao Clan to sail the seas,

the area outside Beast God Mountain is surrounded by multiple layers of Barriers, and our fleet often gets lost.

Sometimes, one second you see the fruit forest at the foot of Beast God Mountain and are just about to disembark,

but the next second, you appear in a completely unfamiliar place.

That's why we decided to cooperate."

When mentioning matters concerning the caravan, Hu Che seemed to suddenly become a different person.

A faint smile hung on his lips, but his voice was cold and detached, and there was an intimidating aura between his brows.

Tang Ruan thought for a moment and said: "That Rat Tribe member seemed to have seen... Lang Lie at Beast God Mountain."

Hu Che glanced at her. "No."

She hadn't expected him to answer so bluntly.

Hu Che stared at Tang Ruan's hand; he really wanted to hold her hand right now to give her some courage.

He continued: "I was the one who brought the Rat Tribe member to Yan Qing for interrogation.

After the Rat Tribe member obtained crystals from near Beast God Mountain, he became greedy.

There were enough crystals to upgrade all the Mid-level Beastmen in their entire tribe to High-level Beastmen.

So, they drugged the Beastmen in the caravan."

"Ah!" Tang Ruan exclaimed softly. How wicked!

Hu Che continued: "I underestimated the enemy.

The three Beastmen I sent to cooperate with them were all High-level Beastmen, so I never expected them to be plotted against.

After they poisoned the people in the caravan, they threw them into the sea.

They had originally intended to return the way they came, but sea beasts suddenly attacked the ship."

"Because the area near Beast God Mountain is the Jiao Clan's territory," Tang Ruan recalled.

Hu Che paused. He looked at her for two seconds before nodding.

Tang Ruan assumed Hu Che was shocked by how she knew that Beast God Mountain was under the jurisdiction of the Jiao Clan, so she proactively explained: "Yan Qing told me."

"Yes. In order to escape, they swam to Beast God Mountain and happened to slip through a gap in the Barrier.

As for how many of the Rat Tribe made it inside, no one knows.

In any case, the only one brought back by a passing caravan was that one.

It's possible he survived only by eating his own companions."

Tang Ruan took a deep breath.

Even though she had lived in the Beast World for many years, hearing about Beastmen cannibalizing their own kind still made her hair stand on end.

Tang Ruan subconsciously rubbed her arms.

"Are you afraid?" Hu Che suddenly asked.

Tang Ruan shook her head and was just about to say something when Hu Che suddenly opened his arms to her.

"Come here."

His gaze was focused, and his tone was firm, carrying an air that brooked no refusal.

He couldn't initiate a hug with Tang Ruan, but if Tang Ruan took the initiative, it should be fine.

Hu Che stared at Tang Ruan.

As if bewitched, Tang Ruan walked over and obediently sat in his lap.

Hu Che closed his arms, tightly hugging her waist.

He took a deep breath against her back and let out a sigh.

He had wanted to hold her in his arms for so long.

Greedily, he rubbed his nose against her back.

Tang Ruan's heart was pounding, and the tips of her ears turned red.

There was a faint floral scent on him, but it wasn't overpowering; like his warm body temperature, it made one feel comfortable.

"But that Rat Tribe member said he saw an ice coffin." Tang Ruan continued the previous topic.

"The words of a Rat Tribe member cannot be trusted."

If he had once held a glimmer of hope, this painful price had ensured he would never trust a Rat Tribe member again.

Yet, Tang Ruan still felt something was off.

Why did it have to be a box made of ice?

In her original world, boxes made of ice were always used to hold the dead.

What exactly was on Beast God Mountain?

"Hu Che, do you think it's possible that the ice box the Rat Tribe member mentioned contained Lang Lie's corpse?"

"What does Yan Qing say?"

Tang Ruan was stunned and turned her head to look at him.

Hu Che took the opportunity to help her adjust her position so she was sitting sideways on his lap.

"His meaning is—no."

"I believe Yan Qing."

Tang Ruan's eyes widened slightly; she hadn't expected Hu Che to say that, as he didn't seem to like Yan Qing very much.

"I interrogated that Rat Tribe Beastman for a long time. Later, I wasn't at ease, so I handed him over to Yan Qing.

You've seen him; he's just a Mid-level Beastman. Even if you gave him a hundred guts, he wouldn't dare to lie to Yan Qing.

Moreover, Beast God Mountain is so far from Dongdong Valley, with a vast stretch of land in between.

Even if Lang Lie had been washed up in Wan Shou City like you were, someone would have had to travel thousands of miles to take him there.

Besides, in all these years, no one other than the Rat Tribe has ever climbed Beast God Mountain.

There's no way Lang Lie could possibly be there."

Hearing him say this, Tang Ruan suddenly felt that it was indeed impossible.

It was just that she had been waiting for too long and was going a little crazy.

"Tang Ruan, can you hold me?"

Hu Che suddenly looked up at her.

Tang Ruan was sitting on his lap, making her slightly taller than him.

Looking down, she saw his pitiful expression.

Ah! He had changed back into the other Hu Che.

It was so magical. His serious demeanor from just a moment ago made him seem like a completely different person.

"I want you to hold me." His voice was hoarse.

Tang Ruan raised her hands and rested them on his shoulders, slowly wrapping her arms around him.

A smile tugged at the corner of Hu Che's mouth as he took the opportunity to lean forward.