At the term “Black Loach,” all the Black Jiao beastmen wore furious expressions.
But… they were furious and dared not say a word.
Nuo Xiao was an SSS-rank ability user, and his ability was terrifyingly powerful. Even if they all joined forces, they still wouldn’t be a match for him.
Zan Moli tried his best not to take offense, but he still snapped, “White-Feathered Chicken, rest assured. Even if something happens to you, none of us will let anything happen to Lady Yunyang.”
So the noble female’s name was Yunyang?
What a beautiful name.
“Black Loach, who are you calling White-Feathered Chicken?” Nuo Xiao’s feathers practically stood on end. Today, he was determined to teach this Black Loach a lesson.
Cursing as he charged forward, Nuo Xiao still refused to transform into his beast form.
Zan Moli wasn’t a coward either. A male who didn’t dare fight had no right to win a female’s favor.
His ability rank was one level lower than Nuo Xiao’s, but this was Water Star, where the Black Jiao had an absolute advantage.
Zan Moli turned to the other members of his tribe and said, “Escort our injured clansman and Lady Yunyang back to the tribe. I’ll fight this White-Feathered Chicken.”
The other Black Jiao beastmen nodded one after another. They swam ashore, transformed into human form, and bowed to Yunyang.
“Lady Yunyang, would you like me to carry you?”
The Black Jiao tribe lived beneath the sea. If a female didn’t possess an ability, it was difficult for her to swim there on her own.
“No need!” Pei Wenye hurriedly refused. “My mate has me to carry her. That’s enough.”
He absolutely wasn’t going to give these males any chance to get close to his mate!
Once Pei Wenye had spoken, the other beast husbands relaxed and silently swallowed the words they had been about to say.
Thank goodness this rival was dependable.
Yunyang nodded as well. “Please lead the way.”
The Black Jiao beastmen looked a little disappointed, but they still nodded and returned to the sea.
Pei Wenye carried Yunyang and followed them.
The eight beast husbands watched longingly as Yunyang left.
On the shore, Nuo Xiao only relaxed after seeing Yunyang enter the sea. He then focused all his attention on fighting Zan Moli.
Zan Moli hid in the water, relying on Nuo Xiao’s inability to enter it to barely make up for the difference in their ability ranks.
However, it didn’t take long for Zan Moli to discover something.
“White-Feathered Chicken, are you looking down on me?” Zan Moli, whose upper body was human and whose lower body was that of a jiao, looked furious. “If you don’t want to fight me, then go back to Snow Star! Stop irritating me by using your human form.”
A beastman’s beast form was far more powerful in combat than his human form. Yet Nuo Xiao refused to transform, clearly believing that his human form was more than enough to deal with him.
Zan Moli felt humiliated.
Nuo Xiao fell silent.
Transform into his beast form?
He could guarantee that if he changed back, that Black Loach would definitely mock him.
He wouldn’t let that happen.
Nuo Xiao snorted. “I am looking down on you. What are you going to do about it? Beat me first, then talk.”
Zan Moli couldn’t tolerate that.
One owl and one jiao continued to grapple with each other.
Nuo Xiao’s ability was unusual, and his human form couldn’t bring out its full power. Meanwhile, Zan Moli refused to leave the sea no matter what. The two fought for a long time without a victor.
In the end, both of them exhausted their abilities and finally settled down.
Zan Moli swam ashore, transformed back into human form, and collapsed onto the ground. “I’m done. I admit defeat.”
His ability rank was lower than Nuo Xiao’s, so losing to him wasn’t shameful.
Besides, Nuo Xiao had fought him without using his beast form. Zan Moli didn’t know why, but that meant he had enjoyed an advantage throughout the fight.
It was pointless.
“You should’ve admitted defeat sooner.”
Nuo Xiao sat down as well, though unlike Zan Moli, he paid meticulous attention to his appearance even while sitting.
After the two of them rested for a while, Nuo Xiao poked Zan Moli with one wing. “Black Loach, what’s your old chief called?”
He had been looking forward to Pei Wenye being recognized by the Black Jiao the entire time, but no one had reacted.
Still, he hadn’t given up hope. Perhaps those Black Jiao were deliberately pretending not to recognize Pei Wenye.
“What old chief?” Zan Moli didn’t understand at first. “You already know our chief’s name, don’t you?”
Nuo Xiao was a frequent visitor to Water Star. He knew quite a few of its residents, so there was no way he didn’t know the chief’s name.
“I’m talking about the old chief,” Nuo Xiao clarified. “The one who disappeared—the former beast husband of your Sacred Female.”
Zan Moli understood.
“You mean the previous chief? His name was Fusen. Why are you asking about him?”
Nuo Xiao briefly explained his theory.
Among all the tribes, only the Sacred Female and the chief possessed pollution detectors and spatial buttons. That was why he had always believed Pei Wenye was the missing former chief of the Black Jiao tribe.
Zan Moli fell silent after hearing this.
The corner of his mouth twitched. “That Pei Wenye you mentioned is only in his twenties. He definitely isn’t our old chief.”
They were both Black Jiao, so he could tell at a glance that the clansman who had been living outside the tribe was not even thirty years old.
Besides, although the other tribes all believed that their old chief had disappeared, only their own people knew the truth: the old chief hadn’t disappeared at all. He had died after failing to transform into a dragon.
As for why they claimed he had gone missing… it was entirely because the old chief had been too proud.
He had boasted to the chiefs of the other tribes that he would definitely succeed in transforming into a dragon.
In the end, he failed at the very first step.
The old chief had felt too humiliated. He didn’t want the other chiefs to laugh at him even after his death, so he had ordered his people to tell everyone that he had disappeared.
Zan Moli naturally wasn’t going to tell Nuo Xiao any of that. He merely confirmed Pei Wenye’s identity for him.
Nuo Xiao was bitterly disappointed.
So Pei Wenye wasn’t an unfaithful male after all.
It seemed he had no hope of becoming Lady Yunyang’s beast husband.
Nuo Xiao fell into a gloomy silence.
If only he hadn’t gotten injured before. Most of Lady Yunyang’s beast husbands were fluffy, and perhaps he could have used his beast form to win her favor.
But now…
Sigh.
Seeing how dejected Nuo Xiao looked, Zan Moli sat up and bumped him with his shoulder.
“What’s wrong with you? Did you ask Lady Yunyang for a mating mark and get rejected?”
Nuo Xiao became even more depressed. He hadn’t even had the chance to offer himself to her yet.
Lady Yunyang already had too many beast husbands, and every one of them was an outstanding male. One of them, the qilin, even possessed an SSS-rank ability just like him.
His ability gave him no advantage, and his beast form had become completely unattractive after being burned before.
If he were Lady Yunyang, and had so many exceptional beast husbands, he wouldn’t choose a male like himself either.
When Nuo Xiao didn’t reply, Zan Moli assumed he had guessed correctly.
He patted Nuo Xiao on the shoulder. “You don’t need to be too upset. You weren’t worthy of Lady Yunyang in the first place.”
That lady’s spiritual power rank was even higher than that of their Sacred Female. She wasn’t someone just any male could hope to be worthy of.
Nuo Xiao fell silent.
Zan Moli didn’t think he had said anything wrong and continued twisting the knife. “Still, you can try transforming into your beast form. Our Sacred Female said that females prefer fluffy beastmen.”
Unlike other birds, the snowy owl had thick feathers covering its legs and nearly hiding its talons. Put beside fluffy beasts like tigers and wolves, it wouldn’t lose out at all.
Nuo Xiao remained speechless.
