Chapter 86: Chapter 86: The Young Beastman in the Snow

Old Obsidian.

Rylan huddled in the corner, watching his two fathers arguing loudly, his eyelids lowered, hiding his expression. Didn’t Papa say that their Wolf clan was the most loyal? Then why did his Daddy have an attendant? And even let that attendant carry his child?

Looking at the heavily pregnant Sub-Beast sitting on the side, occasionally fanning the flames, waves of bitter resentment surged in his heart. On what grounds did he and Papa suffer and endure all the gossip in Obsidian, only for his Daddy to hand over all the glory they had earned to this Sub-Beast?

"Moharm, you have done enough. I already said I am a warrior beastman, I am allowed to have an attendant! Haven’t you caused enough of a scene for so long?"

"I am not dead yet, Richard! You betrayed our vow, what is wrong with me demanding to break our bond? Why do you absolutely refuse to agree? Do you want to embrace one on the left and hug another on the right like the Lion clan beastmen? Keep dreaming!"

"Don’t even think about it! Moharm, for the past two days you have constantly demanded to break the bond with me, do you have another beastman on the outside?" Richard irritably grabbed Moharm’s hair, forcing Moharm to tilt his head back to look at him, and gritted his teeth, saying: "You are my mate, even if you die, don’t even think about leaving my side for half a step."

Bitter tears welled up in Moharm’s eyes, but he resolutely refused to let even a single drop fall. What was the point of him laying low in Obsidian for so long, pretending to be a widow raising a young child alone? Wasn’t it to consolidate this beastman’s position in Cipher? In the end, how did this beastman repay him?

While he was struggling to scheme everything for Richard, the beastman was acting affectionately with another Sub-Beast, even breaking the rules to allow that Sub-Beast to get pregnant. This was a lightning bolt striking directly at Moharm, scorching him, leaving him in both agony and humiliation.

Rylan watched his Papa grimace in pain without crying; his Papa, who remained resilient through any storm, was still trying to salvage his last bit of dignity at this moment. Since he had memories, he didn’t have any impression of his Daddy, only hearing through Papa’s stories about what a strong beastman Daddy was and how much he loved them. Rylan had once held great hope for the day they reunited with his Daddy, but his Daddy’s image had completely collapsed when an attendant appeared by his side.

"Ah! Richard, he will die!"

Rylan was jolted awake upon hearing that attendant shout loudly. When he regained his senses and looked over, he saw that Richard was strangling Moharm’s neck. Moharm was suffocating, his face flushed red and gradually turning purple. Rylan didn’t have time to think much; he immediately ran over and bit hard into that beastman’s hand. Richard felt the pain and instinctively swung a slap.

Smack!

Rylan received a heaven-shaking slap, his head buzzing as he fell onto the cold ground. Moharm escaped death, clutching his neck and coughing a few times, then scrambled over to Rylan:

"Rylan! Rylan! How are you?!"

Moharm hugged his son, lifting his face to check. His beautiful little Sub-Beast had been beaten until his face was swollen, a trace of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. His Rylan, who had never suffered even a scratched finger since childhood, was now knocked down by his own beastman father. Moharm shot a look full of hatred toward Richard.

Richard nervously reached out his hand and then pulled it back, not daring to touch his mate and son.

"Rylan, Daddy... Daddy didn’t mean to..."

"Get out..." Moharm agonizingly hugged Rylan, his tears finally falling, dropping onto Rylan’s hair, so hot they seemed to scald the scalp: "You and your Sub-Beast, get out of my house. Get out right now!"

Richard watched Moharm crying like falling rain, his heart filled with endless sorrow. He didn’t know why their relationship had deteriorated to this point. Moharm was the mate he had pursued for a very long time, defeating many beastmen to win, and in his heart, no one could replace Moharm.

He had sworn to Moharm that after that attendant gave birth, he would give the attendant to someone else, and for the rest of his life, he would only have Moharm, but why did Moharm still keep demanding to break their bond.

Richard could not accept this matter.

Seeing the heartache in Richard’s eyes, that Sub-Beast’s gaze suddenly flickered; he clutched his stomach and cried out: "Ah, Richard, my stomach hurts so much!"

Richard’s gaze shifted back to the Sub-Beast; seeing that the Sub-Beast’s face was pale, he hurriedly stepped forward to pick him up and said to Moharm:

"You and our son rest first, I will come back later." After saying that, he carried that Sub-Beast and quickly walked out of the cave, heading to the healer’s place.

Once Richard’s figure was far away, Rylan raised his head, tears streaming down as he said: "Papa, it hurts so much..."

Moharm heartbreakingly caressed his son’s face and kissed his forehead: "Rest assured, Papa will make him pay the price."

Rylan burrowed into his Papa’s embrace, bursting into tears: "Papa, I regret it. We were doing so well originally, why did everything turn out like this? Papa, is the Beast God punishing us?"

Moharm did not answer. He also regretted it; the things he had done up until now had turned him into a sinister and vicious person, filthier than a mud beast. But thinking about it again, this was fine too. The love-struck Moharm of the past was dead. The one remaining now was only a father willing to do everything for his son.

Daring to hurt his Rylan, even if it was the boy’s Daddy, he would not let it go!

---

At the same time, in the magic beast forest.

The two Sub-Beasts in the scouting team wore fur coats and wrapped themselves in extremely thick blankets, yet they still couldn’t help but shiver uncontrollably. They had traversed the half of the forest without snow and were beginning to enter the snowfall area. Although they had prepared beforehand, both still couldn’t adapt.

"Achoo! Achoo!"

Walter sneezed several times in a row, sniffled, and said with a slightly nasal voice: "Anthony, southwest direction, behind that sharp rock outcropping there are three animals suspected to be magic wolves, everyone be a little alert."

Walter’s eyes could see animals in the dark, so he always took on the night watch duty along with the beastmen; his immune system had consequently weakened significantly. Not long after crossing to this side of the forest, he had already fallen ill.

Fortunately, Draven brought enough medicine, so his condition did not worsen. Anthony stuffed a hot water bag into Walter’s hands, then transformed into his beast form, carefully moving towards the spot Walter pointed out along with two other beastmen.

They quietly moved around to the backs of the three magic wolves, biting and severing their throats before they intended to voice a signal to their pack. Burying the three magic wolves’ corpses in the snow to conceal the scent of blood, they immediately returned to the campsite.

The deeper they went into the magic beast forest, the more ferocious magic beasts they encountered. Even though they had chosen the safest path, they still occasionally met magic beasts that operated in packs like the magic wolves.

"Those three were scout wolves; they were eliminated before they could send a signal. However, if they do not return for a long time, the Alpha Wolf will become suspicious. Perhaps we need to leave this place."

Everyone nodded in agreement, hurriedly packing their luggage to set off. The group did not let the fire go out for even a moment. After leaving the high-risk area, everyone stopped again to set up camp, lighting a large bonfire to warn off the magic beasts watching them in the dark.

After the tents were completely set up, Draven tugged at the corner of Walter’s shirt and whispered into his ear: "I need to go do that..."

It just so happened that Walter also felt the urge, so the two Sub-Beasts led each other behind a large ancient tree trunk to relieve themselves. Just as he pulled up his pants, Walter’s line of sight swept over a snow mound, discovering a half-red, half-gray object inside the snowpile, signaling that there was a living animal underneath. But that gray intermingled with red was an omen that the living creature’s life was nearing its end.

He hurriedly pulled Draven back to the team, reporting this matter to everyone. Anthony and Wofu followed Walter to that spot together, carefully digging up the snow layer underneath, both assuming in their hearts that underneath was a dying magic beast, digging it up to get some meat to supplement their late-night meal.

"It’s a young beastman brat. Still small, probably only thirteen or fourteen years old." Anthony poked the stick in his hand at the snow leopard that had been frozen stiff. Wofu used a hand to touch it and said:

"Still a bit warm, should we bring him back first?"

"Yeah."

The next morning, as the first ray of daylight just dawned, the young beastman wrapped in animal skins twitched his whiskers, his four limbs convulsing slightly, showing signs of waking up.

A sweet, fragrant aroma lingered at the tip of his nose, stimulating the saliva in his mouth. Landon could smell many unfamiliar scents mixed within the aroma of food; his pupils darted back and forth beneath his eyelids, not daring to open his eyes.

"If you are awake, then get up, stop pretending." Anthony found it amusing and kicked the snow leopard’s butt twice. The little snow leopard knew he couldn’t hide it and slowly opened his eyes.

"Hehe, this kid’s vitality is truly tenacious. Yesterday he was still as stiff as an ice block, today he can already drool over food."

A striped Tiger clan beastman said with a laugh while slurping his porridge loudly. Draven neatly placed his blanket into the sled and walked over to the snow leopard’s side. Landon subconsciously shrank backward, burying himself into the animal skins. Draven smiled and said:

"I am a healer, let me examine you."

Landon looked at the gentle Rabbit clan Sub-Beast in front of him, thoughtfully licked the tip of his nose, and then poked one leg out. Wofu found it an eyesore to watch, decisively grabbing the back of the kid’s neck and hoisting him up like carrying a chicken, placing him in front of Draven. He bared his teeth threateningly: "If you dare to bite and injure my mate, I will chew your head off."

Of course, Landon didn’t dare. Not to mention the fact that the boy had never hurt a Sub-Beast, just having a group of adult beastmen staring fixedly like this, he already didn’t dare to bare his teeth.

Draven examined the boy’s body for a while and said in surprise: "His recovery speed is truly astonishing. Aside from being slightly malnourished, his body is incredibly healthy."

Walter clicked his tongue and said: "Even so, if this kid hadn’t been lucky enough to be discovered by us, he would have actually died. Little brat, where are the adults in your tribe, why did they let you come to such a dangerous place like this?"

Landon lowered his eyes and said: "My tribe collapsed in the blizzard. The remaining people also lost each other, I am all alone now. There is no prey outside, so I had to go deeper inside."

How could he dare to tell the truth. Although this group of people had saved him, they were strangers after all, and his group was entirely made up of deformed people; what if these people also detested deformed beastmen? He couldn’t implicate everyone in his group.

Their group only had six people, among which were a family of three, a young beastman which was him, a two-tailed black panther beastman, and a Sub-Beast with the ability to sense the weather. The group had to have at least one beastman stay behind to protect the Sub-Beast, so he and Santiago, the beastman from the family of three, took on the task of hunting for prey. The problem was that the prey on the outer fringes was no longer there. The two of them hunted for an entire morning without getting anything, having to return empty-handed.

Landon relied on his fast speed, so while everyone was resting in the stone cave, he recklessly went into the magic beast forest, intending to just wander the outskirts to find a little something like wild vegetables or wild fruits.

But Landon overestimated his own sense of direction; not long after entering the magic beast forest, he lost his way, wandering around for an entire afternoon without finding a way out. Being just a young teenager still lacking survival experience, Landon soon collapsed from exhaustion on the snow surface, and when night fell, he was gradually buried by the snow.

"Thank you everyone for saving me. I have to go now."

Landon felt his body was very healthy now, and not wanting to stay long and make this group suspicious, he quickly stood up. He had been tormented by the fragrant aroma of the food for too long, yet he couldn’t shamelessly sponge off their food, so he had to stand up and leave.

He had only taken a few steps when the back of his neck was grabbed by someone; he was once again hoisted up by the scruff of his neck by a tall beastman and placed back to his original spot. Anthony frowned and said:

"Where are you planning to go all by yourself? Are you sure you can even make it out of this place?"

Walter nodded: "That’s right, we are planning to leave the magic beast forest anyway. You should just come with us. Oh, we still don’t know your name. I am Walter, he is Draven. What is your name?"

"My name is Landon. Which tribe are you people from? Why are two Sub-Beasts like you following beastmen to hunt?" Landon tilted his head, acting very puzzled. Sub-Beasts were very precious; tribes never let Sub-Beasts go out alone, let alone let them enter the magic beast forest like this.

Walter chuckled, taking out a slingshot tucked at his waist, picked up a pebble, and jerked his chin at Landon: "Little brat, watch my performance."

Whoosh! The stone flew out from Walter’s hand, piercing straight into a nearby low bush. A mournful ’squawk’ was heard, and a vibrantly feathered wild chicken fell, face-planting into the snow. Its two legs twitched a few times before spreading out into a V-shape, dropping dead on the spot.

Landon’s jaw dropped, his two eyes practically bulging out of their sockets. Walter, on the other hand, frowned and clicked his tongue unhappily:

"My skills have regressed, it still managed to let out a cry."

Draven giggled: "It’s just because your hands are freezing cold that you missed the mark; it will be better once you get used to it."

Wofu trotted over to pick up the spoils, only to discover nearly a dozen eggs inside the wild chicken’s nest, and immediately scooped up the entire nest to bring back. Landon looked at Walter with a face full of worship, transforming into his human form with a poof, and stomped his feet:

"Wow, you are so amazing. Can you teach me? Teach me please~ Teach me please~"

Walter embarrassedly rubbed his nose, feeling as if he had returned to the tribe, facing the reverent gazes of the kids there. He sniffled, preventing his snot from running out, and then said:

"Sure, but let’s eat breakfast first. Your stomach has been rumbling for a while now."

As soon as Walter finished speaking, Landon’s stomach cooperatively let out several rumbling sounds; the young snow leopard shyly covered his stomach, the tips of his ears burning red.