Chapter 535: Chapter 534: What Exactly Is She Craving?

Little Hong, thinking she had lowered her Mother’s guard, followed along without a word to see just how infatuated her Mother truly was with Jiang Guo.

Once inside the room, Jiang Guo’s eyes lit up when he saw Si Shuo. He made muffled sounds, signaling for Si Shuo to pull the Beast Skins out of his mouth.

But Si Shuo acted as if she hadn’t seen him at all, instead staring at his arm with a chilling obsession?!

Then, Si Shuo produced a sharp knife that glinted coldly.

"Mother, you—you can’t let Jiang Guo go. Otherwise, the Fathers will get really angry. They might actually rip off his arms and legs," Little Hong couldn’t help but whisper.

Jiang Guo blinked furiously, trying to signal that he wouldn’t run away and would absolutely not do anything to anger the men.

But Si Shuo just nodded. "I’m not letting him go."

Little Hong was speechless. ’If Mother wasn’t brandishing a knife at Jiang Guo, I might have actually believed her!’

But what Si Shuo said next stunned everyone, both inside and outside the room. "Hong, what do you think? If I carve off a piece of meat from Jiang Guo’s arm, can you roast it for me? I’ll trade you some small fish!"

Roast... roast his meat?

Seeing Little Hong’s utter shock, Si Shuo cleared her throat. "I won’t take much, just a tiny little piece. In my old world, there were stories of loyal subjects carving off their own flesh to feed their emperor.

I won’t take his life, I just want a taste. If I don’t, this craving will drive me insane. It’s clawing at me from the inside—I want to just sink my teeth into him!" 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Little Hong blinked, taking a long moment to find her voice. "Mother, your ’affection’ for Jiang Guo... is the affection one has for food?"

Si Shuo nodded. "What else could it be? It’s not like I’ve lost my mind. Why would I ignore all the other males around who surpass him in every way, just to dote on him alone?

I just can’t resist him, that’s all. But there are many kinds of affection, you know. There’s a saying: ’The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.’

I guess he successfully captured my stomach’s attention, to the point where I’m practically drooling!"

Little Hong couldn’t hold back anymore and burst out laughing. She stomped her feet, howling with glee before falling right onto the floor, where she continued to laugh uncontrollably.

Jiang Guo, however, went from being smug and completely unconcerned for his safety to utterly terrified. ’Is she even a woman?’

He then saw Si Shuo’s gaze shift to his chest, her eyes filled with the joy and hunger one has upon spotting prey.

He suddenly remembered that when his Mother had altered Si Shuo’s memory, she had mentioned the Beast Mark. If Si Shuo didn’t like him and it was impossible for them to become mates, then how was he supposed to offer up his Beast Mark?

In despair, Jiang Guo shook his head frantically, even starting to bang it—THUD! THUD! THUD!—against Yichu, who was just as stunned that her memory-altering plan had gone so horribly wrong.

Outside, Yin Jiang suppressed a smile. His gaze on Si Shuo was gentle yet unwavering as he heaved a long, internal sigh of relief. ’As long as her feelings for Jiang Guo aren’t the romantic affection of a female for a male, everything is fine.’

Meanwhile, Si Shuo continued to gesture with the knife as she whispered to Little Hong, "Hong, where on his body do you think the meat is tastiest? His arms? His thighs? Or maybe his chest or belly?

To be honest, I prefer gnawing on ribs, but I guess I can only have a little bit of his meat to satisfy my craving for now.

What do you think? If I feed him plenty of good food every day and make sure he gets the right amount of exercise, couldn’t he put on a little more meat each day?

And with my Wood Element Ability, I can make his body recover quickly. Wouldn’t that mean an endless supply of meat...?"

The mere thought of having his flesh harvested daily sent Jiang Guo into a panic. He resumed banging his head—THUD! THUD!—against Yichu. ’This is my dear mother, alright! My very own mother!’

Yichu was filled with regret. ’Why doesn’t this Si Shuo play by the rules? Liking is liking, how can you split it into liking someone as a person and liking them with your stomach?’

’If I’d known Si Shuo would view my son as food, I would never have altered her memory like this, no matter what!’

In the end, Si Shuo didn’t actually bring the knife down. Jiang Guo was a Beastman and could shift into his Beast Form, but he was still a person.

She wasn’t so depraved as to actually eat a person. It was just that her craving for his flesh was incredibly intense, so for now, she could only look to satisfy her hunger.

Over time, this feeling would fade as her spiritual power recovered and more time passed.

But that wouldn’t stop her from having a little fun with this mother-son pair in the meantime!

Si Shuo’s knife then moved to hover in front of Yichu. "Speaking of which, if Jiang Guo’s flesh is this delectable... Mother-in-law, you’re a Black-striped Field Mouse. Your meat must be quite delicious too, wouldn’t you say?

After all, we Cat Beastmen do love to eat mice..."

Yichu was so frightened she burst into a mess of tears and snot. "You can’t eat me! I’m Wei Ce’s Mother!"

"You’re his Mother, yet you still took part in that wicked scheme to make the bamboo on Bamboo Forest Mountain blossom and cut off his food supply? Actually, for the very reason that you are his Mother, not only will I not eat you, I’ll even offer you a way out. How does that sound?"

Yichu nodded frantically. She no longer had any right to be proud. Without her superpower, she was just fish on a chopping block, left to the mercy of others.

"Even though I don’t remember, your line of thinking is still predictable. If this plan had succeeded, who would you have turned to? I refuse to believe you wouldn’t have left yourself an escape route.

Think about it carefully. Do you want to become my personal, farm-raised food supply, or do you want to regain your freedom?"

Si Shuo pulled Little Hong away. After closing the door securely, she took out some small fish and bit into them viciously. Her teeth had been itching like crazy just now.

She glanced down at the small fish in her hand, a flicker of a smile in her eyes, and whispered in Little Hong’s ear, "Hong, whatever you do, don’t tell your Father Gong You that I’m ’craving’ Jiang Guo’s body. I’m afraid he’ll bury me in small fish, and if there are too many for me to eat, I’ll have to share them with you."

Little Hong stared speechlessly at her Mother. She was suddenly beginning to understand why Sweet Ring was considered a jinx; to maximize some superpowers, you had to say the opposite of what you meant!

Still, Little Hong couldn’t resist the temptation of the small fish. The deep-sea little silver fish, dried by the handsome and skillful Father Gong You, were just so exceptionally crispy and delicious.

So, when Gong You returned, Little Hong furtively poked him and gave him a meaningful look. The two of them, one big and one small, quietly slipped away from the group, went behind a house, and put up a Protective Shield.

"Father Gong You, you’re my favorite. I didn’t even tell my other Father," Little Hong began, but before she could continue, Gong You, knowing exactly what to do, handed her a bag of small fish.

’Wow, so being a messenger gets you snacks!’ Little Hong thought, then hurriedly said, "My Mother doesn’t actually like Jiang Guo, she’s just ’craving his body’!"

But the "craving" she mentioned was a far cry from the "craving" Si Shuo had described.

But Gong You completely misunderstood. A cold smile touched his lips as he nodded, stuffed another bag of treats into Little Hong’s hands, and walked away.

"Hey, Father Gong You, I’m not finished! My Mother said you should bury her in small fish..."

But Gong You had already stormed off, his mind unable to register another word.

Little Hong was left reaching out a desperate hand into the empty air. On the verge of tears, she looked down at the two bags of snacks in her arms, feeling as though she’d picked up a sesame seed only to lose a watermelon.

That night, it happened to be Gong You’s turn to accompany Si Shuo. They had already agreed not to push her too hard until she was comfortable with their physical contact again.

Si Shuo had just returned to her room after dinner and was nibbling on a Dust Cleaning Talisman when she saw the state of Gong You emerging from his bath. Oh, my. Those muscles, those lines, his damp body... every inch of him was an assault on her senses. The visual impact and her own primal reaction completely overwhelmed the changes Yichu had made to her memory...