14: The male beast got to eat!

"That's right, the next one."

Toke appeared beside the two of them at some point and said coldly, "You Foster Mothers can't survive without a Male Beast. That Li, I saw him crushed to death by stones with my own eyes."

"You saw it yourself?" Gaia froze and pressed, "What a pity, his martial prowess was the highest I've ever seen."

"What's the use of just being cool with a blade these days if you can't even transform into your beast form? Look, someone hits you with a cannon, and you're nothing. Ha!"

Toke's tone was somewhat gloating.

He licked his cracked lips, grabbed Tu Nan's hand, and sized her up with ill intent.

"Come on, let me have some fun. If you get pregnant, I might just keep you."

"Go ask Grey!"

Tu Nan's head was buzzing, but she still managed to smoothly say the words she had prepared.

"He promised that if Li wasn't around, he would take care of me."

No one would dare to go to Grey and court disaster with such a trivial matter at a time like this.

As long as she could fool these men for a day or two, she could immediately pack her things, disguise herself, and hide in Sand City.

Toke indeed hesitated.

While Gaia didn't care about where a Foster Mother ended up, he still felt some regret for Li's rare blade techniques.

Under these circumstances, he finally frowned and stopped Toke.

"Enough, Grey will eventually let her choose another Male Beast later. If you have designs on her, wait until then. Don't break the rules."

See, it's the same in any world. Giving doesn't bring rewards. Tu Nan sneered inwardly, feeling it wasn't worth it for Li.

For once, she failed to control her emotions, her voice laced with sarcasm.

"With Li having been there first, who else could I choose? You?"

"What did you say!" Toke was furious, gripping her wrist tightly.

"Let go."

A steady, firm voice came, and all three turned around abruptly.

"She doesn't think much of you."

Li walked slowly toward them along the riverbank with heavy steps.

His clothes were in tatters, and he was covered in blood, looking like he had just waded through a sea of blood.

The Scimitar in his hand dragged on the ground, and he carried a person on his shoulder whose life or death was uncertain.

"As long as I'm not dead, she is mine."

"Did you hear that?"

He casually tossed the Female Beast on his shoulder into Gaia's arms and coldly assigned a task.

"You, go ask Grey how much this sister of his is worth."

His gaze turned to Toke.

Toke shuddered and hurriedly released Tu Nan's hand.

Without the force restraining her, she didn't have to laboriously start over again.

She should have felt relieved, but Tu Nan's heart was thumping... thud, thud, thud.

"Li?"

She asked as if sleepwalking.

Li's brown eyes were somewhat unfocused and bloodshot, yet in his vision, that Foster Mother—the Female Beast who had just shouted those words in her excitement—appeared clearly.

He knew she was short and slender, but was her hair originally this night-like black?

Was her face always this small? Was it even as big as his palm?

And the green of her eyes, was it always this intense? It was said that only the lake water deep in the quiet forests of planets with excellent environments would be this color.

The lake water rippled, that tranquility was broken, and a crystal tear slowly flowed down.

Li took two steps forward and gently wiped away that precious tear with the pad of his finger.

His hand still bore traces of blood, and just like that, he had dirtied his Foster Mother too.

Yet he smiled at Tu Nan with satisfaction.

The 1.9-meter tall man loomed over Tu Nan, carefully bending down to rest his chin on top of her head.

He cherishedly twirled Tu Nan's black hair and let out a blurred mumble from his throat.

"It's good that you're still here."

A soft sentence crashed a crack into Tu Nan's heart.

She wasn't afraid of being hurt or let down; she had long understood that there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world, and she was fully prepared to fight and snatch.

But if someone truly offered their heart, how should she face it?

Tu Nan didn't know.

She closed her eyes and opened them again—her eyes filled with silent determination.

She decided not to think, not for now... but to do something she had already decided on.

***

"I'll help you clean up, okay?"

Ever since Li returned to this cave with her just now, Tu Nan's eyes hadn't left him for a moment.

Upon returning, Li immediately finished a piece of Sand Scorpion meat and a large piece of bread. He rested for a while as if he had recovered, then pulled out supplies to start medicating himself.

That was when Tu Nan spoke.

Li hesitated only slightly before handing the things to Tu Nan.

"Don't be afraid, only this one on my back is a bit deep; the others are just scratches."

Tu Nan lowered her eyes and remained silent.

Those so-called scratches in his mouth all looked incredibly hideous in her eyes, and the one on his back was categorized by her as terrifying.

The wounds were cleaned and medicated; the deepest one was tightly wrapped with bandages by Tu Nan, while the shallow ones were already... scabbing?

"It seems... the wounds are growing." Tu Nan asked uncertainly.

"Yeah." Li nodded indifferently. "My Physique is special, so these are minor injuries."

To apply the medicine, Li wore only a pitifully small amount of fabric.

He sat on Tu Nan's dedicated Vanity chair, his powerful legs stretched out, his solid thigh muscles so full they almost seemed to burst through his skin.

Tu Nan's gaze was fixed on him, scanning his gradually healing wounds, and she pulled out a complicated smile.

It's great, isn't it?

She poured some medicinal liquid into her palm, watching as the liquid spread slowly along with the uncontrollable emotions in her heart.

"I didn't notice just now, there's still a small wound here."

"Where?" Li looked down following her gaze but didn't see any untreated wounds—in fact, his left chest area was one of the rare parts that hadn't been injured this time; a slight wound there had basically healed.

Tu Nan leaned over slightly, a pair of cold little hands gently pressing against him. The cool medicinal liquid was slowly spread by Tu Nan, and a slightly pungent scent burst forth.

Li almost jumped up from the stool.

Tu Nan's hand gripped him with a bit of force, and Li froze directly in place.

Tu Nan turned her face, her black hair flowing over his heart like the night; the ends of her hair slid down, brushing against his leg.

"Don't move around~" Tu Nan chided him reproachfully, "Look~ the medicine is being rubbed everywhere."

Yes, the liquid had already flowed down from his chest... Li and Tu Nan watched together as the medicine gathered into a tiny stream, lingering around his abdominal muscles.

Li's chest and abdomen heaved heavily, and the remaining liquid continued downward in this turbulence until it was absorbed by the fabric.

Tu Nan stared regretfully as the last drop of medicine disappeared, her tone so tender she couldn't even imagine it herself.

"Lord Li~ what should we do... it's wasted..."

Without a word, Li picked Tu Nan up by the waist.

Tu Nan let out a cry of surprise and put her arms around his neck. Her fingers accidentally brushed past that white, furry ear, and Li's breathing immediately became heavier.

As heavy as his strides were, his movement in placing this damn Female Beast among the bedding was just as gentle.

Tu Nan lay completely submissively on the bed, her eyes not shying away at all, looking at him encouragingly.

Her hands moved to his waist, responding to him as if in a ritual of sacrifice.

"I am yours, Lord Li."

Li could no longer see anything else except the Female Beast before him.

"Mine," he repeated Tu Nan's words.

He leaned down deeply and captured Tu Nan's delicate lips.

He held her like that, confirming it over and over.

Tu Nan calculated everything clearly; her body was the bait, her heart was the trap, and everything had finally progressed to the most critical step of the plan.

She had succeeded—Li was completely captured.