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Chapter 681: Chapter 685: Stealing the Cub
Su Tang and Qiu Mo lagged behind them a bit.
However, on the way, they managed to pick up a couple of wooden sticks. Once they arrived, they started hitting the beast soldiers trying to snatch the cub.
Without the beast soldiers obstructing them, the old woman rushed out of the house and embraced the young one tightly in her arms.
"Si Zai, you’ve scared grandma to death! Why haven’t you been listening to me? Didn’t I tell you I would come back soon and asked you to hide? Why did you come out?"
As the old woman spoke, she also gave the young one a few stern smacks on its bottom.
Huddled tightly around the granny’s neck, the young cub appeared even younger than Gaiyin. The little one couldn’t stop crying.
"Granny, boo hoo...I was scared, and I was hungry. I came out for a drink and they captured me... boo hoo"
All of a sudden, the old woman seemed to lose all her energy and began to sob uncontrollably, holding Si Zai tight.
Those beast soldiers, bound by Xi’en with ropes were clamoring arrogantly, "Who are you people? How dare you capture us! What nerve, are you not afraid of the Lord’s punishment?"
Su Tang didn’t say another word; she took her stick and started hitting them. Unfortunately, their armor protected them, and her blows did not cause much damage. In fact, the shockwave from the blows caused her hands to hurt instead.
Annoyed, Su Tang threw the stick aside and kicked their unprotected shins several times.
"You have the nerve, do you? Snatching cubs in broad daylight! Look how brave you are, why not try and reach the heavens?"
Su Tang’s strength was not much for the beast soldiers, but they felt humiliated.
One of them, sullen and defiant, protested in vain, "You stinking wench, I think you’re getting too tired of living, meddling in other’s business. Release me now or you’ll regret it!"
Su Tang’s face hardened, "Can’t you speak properly? If you don’t want to talk, you can tell me and I’ll help you, so you never have to speak again."
Gaiyin gladly complied and landed a heavy punch on the beast soldier’s abdomen.
There was no way a beast soldier could withstand Gaiyin’s punch, and the punch left an unmistakable dent in the soldier’s armor.
The beast soldier instantly bent over in pain, as if he were a shrimp. He turned pale and broke out in a cold sweat, unable to speak.
The two other beast soldiers, upon seeing this, changed color and hastily begged for mercy, "Spare us, Sir! We were just following orders, we are innocent."
"Yes, it was the Lord who ordered us to capture all young ones in town. We dare not disobey his orders, please spare us."
Hearing this, everyone frowned slightly.
Qiu Mo didn’t believe them one bit, "Nonsense! How could the Lord order cub snatching? You must be acting on your own, using the Lord as an excuse."
The beast soldiers’ faces fell and they were about to fall to their knees.
"Oh dear Sir, why would we dare fool you? Everyone in the inner city knows about it, you can ask anyone you please."
"Yes, yes, the Lord even posted a notice on the bulletin board at the city gate. You can find any literate beastman to read it for you."
Qiu Mo looked at Su Tang, not knowing whether to believe the two beast soldiers.
Su Tang patted her head in reassurance, "Don’t worry, they are probably not lying. If their lies could be easily exposed just by asking around, there’s no need for them to do so."
Qiu Mo became even more confused.
"Why would the Lord want to snatch these cubs? Aren’t they his subjects too?"
Su Tang shook her head in uncertainty, "I’m not sure, but it’s probably not for a good reason. Otherwise, the scene here wouldn’t be so dreary."
Su Tang looked at Gaiyin, "Let them go. They were just following orders."
Gaiyin used a bit of force on his wrist, and one of the beast soldiers staggered forward several steps, almost falling.
The other two were also released, and they quickly went to help their comrade. The three of them left hurriedly, supporting each other.
Gaiyin’s brow furrowed, "This place isn’t safe. If they are acting on orders, they won’t give up these cubs. More might arrive soon."
Looking at the sobbing grandmother and cub, Su Tang asked, "Should we take granny and the cub back to our place, or should we stay here? We were the ones who fought off those soldiers. We can’t just leave them here alone. Otherwise, those beast soldiers will vent their anger on them when they come back."
Yadang sat down on a rock nonchalantly, "Let’s just wait here. The inner city of Ten Thousands Beast Country isn’t big. Wherever we take them, they’ll be found sooner or later. Moreover, we still have things to take care of, we can’t leave."
Xi’en gave Su Tang a faint smile, "Don’t worry. There are so many of us, and we will definitely be able to protect granny and the cub."
Su Tang looked at Xi’en in surprise.
Although they had been traveling together for so many days, Xi’en always played a quiet role and hardly spoke.
Hearing him say such a gentle line made it feel as if they were long acquainted. But actually, they hardly knew each other and had only spoken a few times.
Besides, with Xi’en smiling gently at her like this, wasn’t he afraid...?
The thought just flashed across her mind when the next second, Gaiyin pushed Xi’en away discontentedly.
With a gloomy face, Gaiyin pulled Su Tang into his arms, possessively eyeing Xi’en, "She is mine."
Xi’en’s smile warmed further, he responded lightly, "Yes, I know."
Gaiyin: "You should stay away from her!"
Xi’en obediently retreated several steps, smiling at Gaiyin, "How about now, is this far enough?"
Gaiyin: "...."
Gaiyin felt that he hadn’t understood him, so he stressed again, very seriously, "She will only have one beastman as her partner, me. You stand no chance."
Gaiyin thought his words were blatant enough; Xi’en should back off by now.
Seeing as he risked himself to protect TangTang before, Gaiyin didn’t want to fall out with him just yet.
Xi’en listened very carefully and smiled faintly, "Alright, I hear you."
Gaiyin: "...." 𝘯𝘰𝑣𝘱𝑢𝘣.𝑐𝑜𝑚
Listened, listened to what exactly? Is Xi’en crazy?
Su Tang looked puzzled as she glanced at Xi’en, and then at Gaiyin. She felt there was something unusual.
Before she could contemplate further, her thoughts were interrupted.
The old woman wiped away her tears, holding Si Zai, they approached them.
"Thank goodness for you all. Otherwise, Si Zai would have been taken away. If I lost Si Zai, I wouldn’t know what’s the point in living..."
As she spoke, the old woman put down Si Zai in her arms, urging him to kneel on the ground. "Si Zai, my dear, kneel and bow to our benefactors."
