Chapter 537: Chapter 536: Tampering with Memory

The male cubs were not usually at home, as they had their own training and studies. They had to work hard to live up to their talent, grow quickly, and protect their parents, siblings, and the young female cubs.

The female cubs at home also had their own superpowers. Aside from Youyou, they could even transform into their beast forms just like the male cubs. No matter the situation, their own strength was what gave them confidence. One’s destiny should be held in one’s own hands, not left entirely to others. The cubs all understood how difficult survival was on the Beast World Continent. Strength was everything, and they didn’t dare to take anything for granted.

Today was Ali’s day off, so she was keeping her Mother company with her Father, fiercely gnawing on a rabbit leg.

"Mother, did you really bite Father Gong You yesterday?" Ali asked curiously. "Actually, my Father would be happy to be bitten by you too. This morning, he even asked me which part of a land beast tastes the best, all while gesturing and pinching the flesh on his own body."

Si Shuo touched her forehead, amused, and tapped the little one’s nose. "Mother isn’t a savage. How could I eat our own kind? Beastmen are people too!"

Ali blinked. ’To think that Mother loves fish so much, yet she couldn’t take a real bite out of Father Gong You when she was holding him... That feeling of having meat right at your lips, but only being able to lick, sniff, and grind your teeth... it must be pure torture.’

"You’re still young. Just eat," Si Shuo said, getting her cub some more food.

She poked her head out and saw Xiao Cheng was busy, so she grabbed a rabbit leg herself and tiptoed outside.

Ali followed her silently.

Si Shuo pushed open the door. Inside the room, Yichu and Jiang Guo had not had a drop of water in two days. In fact, aside from Si Shuo’s visit yesterday, it was as if everyone had forgotten about them.

Seeing her arrive, the two were visibly agitated. Their eyes were locked on the rabbit leg in Si Shuo’s hand, and their stomachs were already rumbling like a roaring drum.

Si Shuo smiled, waved the rabbit leg in front of them, and then took a big, fragrant bite, eating it slowly. "My male is a really good cook. This rabbit leg is fragrant, tender, and chewy. It’s coated with honey on the outside and packed with seasoning on the inside..."

Yichu and Jiang Guo swallowed frantically, the hunger nearly burning away their sanity.

After finishing one rabbit leg, Si Shuo took out a small fish and began to chew on it idly. Only then did she look at Yichu. "Have you thought it through? Who exactly was involved with Bamboo Forest Mountain? If you don’t talk, I’ll just assume it was you.

Anyway, no one cares about you. Even if you starve to death and turn into dried husks, nothing will happen to us."

Yichu looked over pleadingly and shook her head, indicating that she really didn’t know. She had no one to rely on now; the more she knew, the more danger her life was in. Si Shuo alone could bully them to this extent. If *those* people found out, she couldn’t imagine what kind of suffering awaited her.

Si Shuo’s lips curled into a cold smile. "Are you so sure that because you’re Wei Ce’s mother, I can’t do anything to you? But do you really think I’d have such considerations, after you altered my memories to make me hate them?"

Her azure eyes were icy, without a trace of warmth. Most importantly, she was a Cat Beastman. Being stared at by such a gaze made Yichu tremble all over.

"However, this matter concerns the very survival of several hundred members of the Iron-eating Beast Clan. I don’t think you’d have the guts to do this alone. It’s no different from poking a hornet’s nest because you think you’ve lived too long.

Since you haven’t reflected enough and are still trying to muddle through, don’t blame us for upholding justice even if it means sacrificing family, and handing you over to the Iron-eating Beast Clan Members to vent their anger... I imagine, Yichu, a female as smart as you knows which choice is most beneficial for herself, right?

Of course, if you’re afraid of retaliation, we can also send you somewhere else to live.

We could move you to a place with simple Beastmen, where no one recognizes you. You could start all over..."

The moment Yichu thought of the tall, formidable bodies of the Iron-eating Beast Clan Members, she began to tremble uncontrollably. They were the type who would actually dare to punch a female. She certainly couldn’t bear the weight of such an accusation, much less take it on willingly.

She looked at Si Shuo, signaling for her to pull the beast skin gag out of her mouth.

Si Shuo twitched a finger, and Si Teng shot forward, yanking out the foul-smelling beast skin gag, which was soaked with saliva.

"Is what you said true? Once this is over, you’ll send us away, and you have to give us one hundred Twelfth-level Crystal Stones..." Yichu began to bargain.

Si Shuo watched her coldly, continuing to chew on her small fish with a blank expression.

Yichu felt a phantom pain in her flesh, as if Si Shuo were coldly gnawing on her. This was the natural suppression a Cat Beastman held over a Mouse Beastman.

"This concerns the entire Iron-eating Beast Clan. I... My asking price isn’t that high," she said, her voice trailing off, losing confidence by the end.

"Hah. The entire Iron-eating Beast Clan doesn’t even know how they’ll get through the rainy season and the coldest season, yet you have the gall to ask for Crystal Stones. Do you think Twelfth-level Crystal Stones are cabbages growing in a field, for you to just pick as you please?"

"Wei Ce is a Level 14 Beastman..."

"But he has to support me, the cubs, and three Bamboo Forest Mountains. Do you think he can save up any Crystal Stones? Right now, I’m the one supporting him!

At most, I’ll prepare enough supplies for the two of you to get through the rainy and coldest seasons. Nothing more. Take it or leave it." Si Shuo’s face was impassive, clearly annoyed with the topic.

Yichu gritted her teeth. She knew Si Shuo wasn’t like the father-son duo of Wei Jin and Wei Ce, who would let her demand whatever she wanted. She could only stop herself resentfully. "Actually, I just temporarily sealed my own memories. They should automatically unlock after about three months. That way, no matter what happens, the crisis would have already passed.

If you want to access the memories sooner, I just need to give myself another hypnotic suggestion to unseal them."

Si Shuo nodded, left the room without a word, and returned with another pretty, dazed-looking female cub.

Little Hong already knew the gist of the situation. Her eyes met Yichu’s, her lips curling into a slight smile. Her voice was like a distant, ethereal chant from the heavens, carrying a power that purified the soul, making one unable to stop a feeling of reverence from blooming in their heart and abandon all resistance.

"It’s time you remembered the secret of the blooming of Bamboo Forest Mountain. You’re evading responsibility for the lives of so many people. Aren’t you afraid a ghost will come for your life in the middle of the night?"

Yichu shivered violently. The reason was simple: Little Hong had specially created a memory fragment for Yichu of a ghostly encounter. It jolted her so much that she immediately remembered everything—not just the matter of Bamboo Forest Mountain, but also the numerous evil deeds she had committed using her superpower to gain power and Crystal Stones.

But before she could fully come to her senses, Little Hong had already used a reverse Mind Reading Technique on her.

Yichu was truly terrified. Overcome with a sudden bout of conscience, she began to spill everything, rattling on and on until she had revealed all her secrets!

Si Shuo, Little Hong, and Ali, along with an invisible Xiao Cheng who was eavesdropping from the window, all witnessed the drama unfold.

From gnawing her own sister to death in the same litter to compete for nourishment as a child, to stealing and consuming a treasure offered to the Winged Dragon Clan in order to become a Female Saint, and then to using Wei Jin to become the Queen of the Black Wolf Clan...

Each and every deed spoke of the ugliness, selfishness, and ruthlessness of this Black-striped Field Mouse.

"Hah. And Wei Ce isn’t my son, either. I just altered Wei Jin’s memory..."