Residence District No. 07.
The villa, usually bustling with activity, had fallen quiet and cold in the absence of its owner.
With Yunyang gone, the eight beast husbands barely spoke to one another anymore. They only occasionally shared whatever news they had managed to obtain.
They had also begun eating and sleeping separately. These days, they rarely even crossed paths, let alone welcomed Star Dawn Day together.
With Yunyang gone, no important holiday felt any different from an ordinary day.
Qin Mo, Leonardo, and Cang Zhuonian had participated in the encirclement operation, so their marriage leave had been extended. They would not need to return to the Frontier Planet for the next six months.
Xuan Yu, Rong Jin, and Fuyuan were the most at liberty. Xuan Yu’s occupation was a special one, while the other two did not need to work at all.
Chen Yueli was only halfway through his marriage leave, with plenty of time remaining before it ended.
Only Fu Shiyi’s marriage leave had ended after two days. He had applied for all the annual leave he had failed to use over the past few years, which was how he managed to secure another half a year off.
Until they found Yunyang, none of the eight beast husbands had any desire to return to work.
When Yan Lin and the others came to visit, all eight of them were in their own rooms—some gathering information, others absorbing insect cores.
It was Butler One who eventually notified them through their photobrain.
The group chat, which had been quiet for a long time, received its first message in days.
Qin Mo: These are the beast husbands of Excellency You Lu and Excellency Zhiwei. They said they’re here on the two Excellencies’ orders to pay us a visit.
Although the eight beast husbands rarely communicated, they would more or less reply whenever they saw one another’s messages.
Xuan Yu: No time.
Rong Jin: I’m absorbing an insect core. Qin Mo, go entertain them.
Qin Mo: I’m absorbing one too.
None of the three had any intention of going out to receive the guests.
Their ability levels were the lowest among the beast husbands, and they were also the ones who blamed themselves the most.
If their abilities had reached SSS rank before they went to the insect planet, then even if they could not have prevented their Mistress from being sent away by the wormhole, at least they could have gone with her.
Instead, they were now unable to even determine whether their Mistress was safe.
Cang Zhuonian could not stand it anymore.
Cang Zhuonian: These are the beast husbands of two Excellencies. Our Mistress is close to them, and they’re visiting today. They obviously know we’re home.
Cang Zhuonian: You’re all hiding in your rooms instead of going out to receive them. Do you want to make things difficult for our Mistress when she comes back?
He did not care what reaction his rivals had to his messages. After straightening his clothes, he opened his door and headed downstairs.
Perhaps they had been swayed by his words, because not long after Cang Zhuonian reached the staircase, the doors to the other beast husbands’ rooms began opening one after another.
In the end, all eight of them went down together to receive the beast husbands of the two Excellencies.
When the villa door opened, Yan Lin and the others, who had been waiting for quite some time, looked inside and immediately let out a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, Deputy Qin and the others had not become dispirited after Excellency Yunyang disappeared. They still looked to be in fairly good spirits.
“Deputy Qin, tomorrow is Star Dawn Day. My Mistress asked me to invite you all over for a meal.”
On the way there, Chu Zhiwei had sent them a message.
At present, she and You Lu were both at You Lu’s villa, leaving their own villa empty.
Since Yunyang was missing, the eight beast husbands would surely be reminded of her every time they stayed in their own villa. That was why Chu Zhiwei had specifically asked Yan Lin to invite them to her villa instead.
At the mention of Star Dawn Day, the eight beast husbands—who had long since stopped paying attention to the date—were all stunned.
It was already almost Star Dawn Day?
This should have been the first Star Dawn Day they welcomed together with their Mistress, yet she was still missing.
Qin Mo tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Brother Yan Lin, we appreciate the two Excellencies’ kindness, but we’d still rather stay home and welcome Star Dawn Day.”
“Please pass that on to the two Excellencies for us.”
It was a clear refusal.
Qin Mo did not even need to ask. He knew that none of his rivals would agree to go to Excellency Zhiwei’s villa.
Yan Lin had already expected that answer, so he said nothing more. He simply nodded and returned with the two beast husbands of You Lu.
The villa door closed again, but Qin Mo did not immediately return to his room.
He opened his photobrain and placed a large order for decorations online, even paying extra for the thirty-minute delivery service.
Leon had said that their Mistress was definitely still alive.
Tomorrow was Star Dawn Day. If their Mistress came home and found the place bare and gloomy, she certainly would not be happy.
He had to decorate the house.
The other beast husbands had the same idea. Half an hour later, when the delivery arrived, they began decorating without having discussed it beforehand, acting with perfect unspoken understanding.
Fu Shiyi opened his photobrain, entered the Federation’s official livestream, and suspended the light screen beside him to play.
The livestream became their background music.
Outside the house, in the living room, the kitchen, the bedrooms…
Everywhere that could be seen was hung with festive decorations. Even the few rosemary plants outside the door were not spared.
Qin Mo hung a long string of lights across the sofa area. After connecting them, he opened the power switch on his photobrain.
With a click, the entire string of lights lit up.
Crackle.
On Snow Star, wood popped in the bonfire.
The singing and dancing had come to an end. The males of the Snowy Owl Tribe were now roasting meat, and the aroma of grilled meat kept teasing Yunyang’s nose.
Unfortunately, there was no longer any large piece of raw meat suitable for roasting whole in her preservation space button.
All Yunyang could do was take out the dried meat snacks Rong Jin had prepared and quietly nibble on them.
She had clearly loved this dried meat before. It was savory with a hint of spice, and she could eat plenty without growing tired of it.
But today, perhaps because she had something to compare it with, she found the dried meat somewhat bland and tasteless.
That was when a piece of golden-brown meat entered her line of sight.
Nuo Xiao spoke nervously. “Excellency Yunyang, this is my first time roasting meat. If you don’t mind, could you try it for me?”
The Snowy Owl beastman beside him stopped chewing.
Nuo Xiao’s first time roasting meat?
Who was he trying to fool?
Nuo Xiao was the best at roasting meat in the entire tribe. Even the foolish wolves from the neighboring tribe craved his cooking.
To win Excellency Yunyang’s favor, he really would say anything.
The Snowy Owl beastmen complained silently, but none of them exposed Nuo Xiao.
Although Nuo Xiao was not worthy of Excellency Yunyang, if anyone in the entire tribe wanted to curry favor with her, Nuo Xiao was the only one qualified to try.
Watching Nuo Xiao fawn over Yunyang, Pei Wenye pressed his lips together.
But when he saw the longing in Yunyang’s eyes as she stared at the grilled meat, he did not stop Nuo Xiao.
It was not that he did not know how to roast meat. There simply was no suitable ingredient in his preservation space button, and as an outsider, he could not take things from the Snowy Owl Tribe.
Now that the female was clearly craving it, he could not stop Nuo Xiao just because he was unhappy.
Yunyang was indeed a little tempted. The aroma of the grilled meat had been teasing her constantly, so even though she could tell at a glance that Nuo Xiao was clearly an expert at roasting meat, she still accepted it.
Nuo Xiao brightened immediately. He shot a glance at the tribe member beside him and mouthed silently, “Quick, help cool down the meat.”
The tribe member: “…”
He rolled his eyes, but still secretly used his ability to lower the meat’s temperature a little.
