34: The crisis came far too quickly.

Heaven does not always grant one's wishes; the crisis still spread from that side to Tu Nan.

Gray paced back and forth impatiently inside Fiona's tent.

"Do you have any sense of the big picture at all! What is the current situation? You should at least consider things for me a little."

"Besides, what is wrong with Kun Bu? As soon as you get married, the team leader will be your brother, and the deputy leader will be your husband. Once you are in this team, won't you be able to do whatever you want?"

Fiona grabbed something from the corner and threw it at him.

"The last time you made me marry Li, at least he had ability and knew how to cherish people. What about Kun Bu? Don't you know how he plays? Since he swings both ways, why don't you consider the big picture?"

"If you ask me, the team would only truly be stable if the two of you slept together."

Involving her own interests, Fiona went straight to the core of the issue this time.

"Nonsense! An elder brother is like a father! You must marry him, whether you want to or not!"

Gray was panting with rage and didn't want to waste any more words. This stupid sister of his insisted on saying things that left both of them with no way out.

"You had better marry him as soon as possible. If you're smart, you'll hurry up and get pregnant. Kun Bu is crazy about wanting Children. As long as you have Children, he will naturally treat you well."

A small matter. Fiona sneered.

The so-called good thing in Gray's mouth was the risk of being played to death by Kun Bu while giving him Children? It wasn't like he hadn't had a pregnant Female Beast before, and hadn't she died directly because he played too roughly during her pregnancy?

And he still wanted her to go to her death like this? She refused!

But Gray and Kun Bu seemed to have already reached an agreement, leaving no room for her to resist.

Her eyes rolled, and she suddenly thought of someone...

"If you insist on me marrying him, it's not impossible... I only have one condition."

Fiona sneered, thinking of that Female Beast who had embarrassed her in public last time. Now, the person protecting her was gone, so wasn't she hers to manipulate?

"Give that person named Tu Nan to me and add her as part of my dowry," she sneered. "Send her to Kun Bu first and say that I was afraid I wouldn't be able to conceive, so I brought a Foster Mother."

She whispered like a venomous snake, "I am willing to treat the Children born as my own and will definitely raise them well for Kun Bu."

Gray hadn't expected Fiona to suggest such a thing, and only then did he remember that Tu Nan did seem to be near the camp.

"Tu Nan, huh..." He was lost in thought.

"What is it?" Fiona looked at him vigilantly. "You wouldn't really be reluctant, would you? What, you can't even bear to give me a Foster Mother, and yet you still want me to risk my life for you?"

"...Fine, I'll arrange it."

Gray agreed.

***

"Hey, Gray wants you to go to him."

A man walked over to the small hill where Tu Nan was and kicked her awake.

The sky had already darkened, and Gaia had left the camp to go hunting after nightfall.

He was anxious to hunt a Sand Scorpion King or other sufficiently valuable prey.

The little bit of food she had eaten during the day could not provide enough energy for Tu Nan, and without the body heat provided by Gaia the previous night, her thin clothes forced Tu Nan to curl up into a ball by the fire.

Her wounds were also very painful, and the pain-relieving effect of the medicine bag had already begun to wear off. But even so, she just endured it and didn't intend to approach the caravan over there to look for Gray.

But just as she had expected, trouble came knocking.

It was useless; when trouble was coming, there was nowhere to hide.

She was actually still a bit surprised.

After all, based on what she had heard before, she thought there would be a slight hesitation between the two choices of whether Gray and Kun Bu would fight or cooperate. But when a crisis erupts, it should always radiate from the center to the periphery.

Why would someone think of her now...

Tu Nan stood up sluggishly, scanning her surroundings with the corner of her eye.

There was no sign of Gaia returning, and this man was staring at her intently, not at all with a negotiating attitude. It looked like if she refused, she would be directly escorted over.

She was forced to follow, but she felt uneasy inside.

"What does Lord Gray want with me..."

The man ignored her question completely and ordered simply, "Shut up, put on your cloak, and follow me."

Tu Nan's heart sank.

Something was very wrong.

What kind of secretive matter, which one wouldn't want people to know about, would be connected to a Foster Mother like her?

To put it bluntly, even if Gray wanted to sleep with her, there would be no need to avoid others.

Except for Gaia, no one here would stand up for her.

Tu Nan went to put on her cloak, and under the cover of her clothes, she placed that small dagger into the inner pocket of the cloak.

The man seemed not to want too many people to notice their movements, so he pulled up Tu Nan's hood.

In the middle, Tu Nan pretended to stumble, pretending she hadn't walked steadily and was about to fall, but he practically dragged her straight, pinning her.

"Behave yourself," the man threatened her in a very low voice. "If you are seen by others, you will only end up more miserable."

Tu Nan didn't make a sound; she was analyzing this sentence.

That meant she was going to be "miserable" in a while? How miserable? She pulled her hood tighter; sleeping with a masterless Foster Mother wouldn't make the beastmen here think she was "miserable."

She was finally brought to Gray's tent.

"Get out."

Gray dismissed the man who had led the way.

He was lying on a piece of animal skin, smoking a pipe, and the tent was filled with smoke.

Taking two deep puffs of smoke, he half-propped up his body to stuff tobacco leaves into the pipe, glanced at Tu Nan sideways, and snorted coldly.

"What's the matter? Didn't you want to please me yesterday?"

"What are you standing there stupidly for? Come over and let me enjoy myself."

He tapped his thigh with his pipe, looking at Tu Nan with a suggestive gaze.

Could it be that Gray really just wanted to sleep with her? If it was just like this... should she endure it for now? Pacify him and then find an opportunity to have Gaia take her to Sand City.

It was just that she would have to ask Gaia later if there was any way to prevent pregnancy after the fact here.

It was terrible. But she could only treat it as being bitten by a dog; anyway, in order to survive, she... always had to keep enduring.

A dispute suddenly came from outside the tent.

Fiona rushed in, cursing, and the man from earlier followed helplessly behind her.

"Is there any place I can't enter here? You blind thing."

She lifted the curtain and almost collided with Tu Nan, who was standing at the entrance.

Her gaze swept over Tu Nan and Gray, and she sneered as she questioned her brother.

"What is the meaning of this? Didn't you promise to let me take this Foster Mother to send to Kun Bu? Are you going back on your word?"

What did this mean? What was going on with Kun Bu?

Tu Nan looked up vigilantly. Fiona's words actually caused that hanging crisis to land; she had always felt that something didn't add up.

Sure enough... it turned out to be waiting for her here.

What role was she playing between Gray, Fiona, and Kun Bu?

Gray finally put down his pipe and blew out a smoke ring.

This kind of smoke made his mood relatively stable; he narrowed his eyes slightly and sighed.

This was his tent, and outside were his trusted aides, so he could speak more clearly and directly.

"What are you making a fuss about? I promised to give her to you, so I won't go back on that. But you also know... your brother doesn't have Children either." He pointed at Tu Nan with his pipe. "Let her carry my cub first, then send her to Kun Bu. You can just help me keep an eye on things by the way."

"You mean..." Fiona's eyes widened, as if she were shocked by her brother's shameless maneuver.

"When Kun Bu finds out, will I still have my life?" Fiona roared at her brother.

Gray, however, twisted his mouth, looked at Tu Nan with a greasy gaze, and said triumphantly to Fiona, "Being able to stabilize Kun Bu for three months is enough."

"By then, you will be the deputy leader's widow, and still my good sister."

Fiona suddenly realized.

But Tu Nan sneered in her heart.

Whether you have your life or not, I don't know, but these two are completely planning to cut off her path to survival... She didn't want to know what would happen to Fiona then. If Kun Bu found out about this, Tu Nan herself would definitely not have a life left.

Fine.

She shouldn't have thought that being bitten by a dog was a small matter.

Sure enough, if a person thinks they can endure being bitten by a dog, they will eventually be eaten by the dog...

Dream on.