Chapter 114: I’ve Taken a Fancy to You, Are You Expensive?

Feng Si’s shoulders trembled, scorched by the gaze of his golden eyes.

Staring at the handsome, unfamiliar male beast before her, Feng Si felt a growing sense of guilt. Her thoughts were a tangled mess. Flustered, she stammered, “I… thank you for saving me.”

Chi Jie let out a soft hum, a faint smile on his lips.

His pupils shifted slightly as he stood there. The depths of his eyes resembled golden magma roiling deep within a volcano, inspiring a primal, terrifying fear.

Feng Si felt as if she had been dragged into a volcanic crater. His inescapable gaze threatened to incinerate the secrets buried deep in her heart.

Her eyes darted into the distance, unable to meet his gaze.

Chi Jie took in her entire demeanor.

Her pupils had constricted. Her face was panicked, and she couldn’t look at him. When the wind lifted her black hair, he saw her ears were flushed red. It wasn’t the same kind of fear she’d shown when facing the charging leopards.

Her reaction was exactly like someone who had just run into a person they never expected to see.

Without a change in expression, he coiled the Titan Python Whip back around his waist. The whip settled against his lean, powerful abdomen, accentuating the length of his legs in their black trousers. CLICK.

A faint click sounded as bone snapped into place. The serpent’s skull head hung down from Chi Jie’s waist, its two large, hollow eye sockets fixed unerringly on the black-haired female.

Only then did Chi Jie raise his gaze. A nearly imperceptible smile touched his lips, and his voice was low and magnetic, laced with a playful tone. “The way you’re looking at me… have we met before?”

Feng Si: “…”

‘What? What?!’

‘He didn’t recognize me, did he?’

Feng Si’s heart leaped into her throat. Her mind raced, completely disconnected from her body.

All she knew was that the moment she heard his question, her hands flew to cover her pocket.

The pocket was on her right, and with both hands clamped over one side, the posture made it obvious to anyone that she was hiding a small cub inside.

Yun Duo pressed its head against the pocket fabric. Hearing the voice outside, a wave of joy flooded its tiny heart.

‘Yun Duo loved this voice!’

Yun Chi pressed his head even closer, bumping against his mother’s palm. The side of his small head squished out, revealing a roll of baby fat as he nuzzled her with twice the glee.

Just as she feared, Feng Si felt the male beast’s gaze shift downward. It swept over her waist, silent and scorching as the sun, right where the cubs were hidden!

‘I’ve always heard that animals have a special sense for their own bloodline. He absolutely cannot see my Yun Duo!’

Feng Si bit her lip and, steeling herself, looked up to meet his gaze. “I just think you’re impressive. I was wondering what your price would be to hire you as a bodyguard… You must be expensive.”

Just then, Squad Leader Ying Kong, who was descending in pursuit of his Beast King, overheard her words. His expression went slack, and he stumbled, nearly falling out of the airborne warship’s doorway.

‘He’d never heard… such a bold proposition.’

The giant Black Hawk sucked in a sharp breath. His wings flapped in a panic as he circled in the air. There was no way he dared to go down there now.

Chi Jie seemed to pause, but it was so brief it was almost imperceptible. Then, he chuckled.

Ignoring the others above, he let his words trail off. “Oh? And what you mean is…”

Chi Jie’s half-lidded gaze fell upon the black-haired female’s face. He saw her wide eyes, filled with nervous anticipation.

For some reason, he found himself inexplicably pleased.

Seeing this from his position in the air, Ying Kong, the King’s right-hand man, felt a chill run down his spine. He looked down at the beautiful, black-haired female, a surge of pity rising in his heart.

‘She’s so done for.’

‘The King is smiling at her. Even for a female, a comment that offensive has clearly angered him.’

“Are you suggesting you want to court me?” Chi Jie stared intently at the cloaked female. His gaze swept over her silky black hair, and the faint smile on his lips vanished.

“I will forgive your insolence this time. Don’t let it happen again.”

With that, he waved to the sky, ordering Ying Kong to stay behind and see her home. Then he turned and leaped swiftly onto the warship.

The small, jet-black warship, which seemed one with the giant Black Hawk, shot into the sky. In the blink of an eye, it vanished over the green ridgeline on the horizon.

Feng Si and Ying Kong stood on opposite sides of the two leopard corpses, their minds blank.

‘It’s not just that I’ve seen him,’ she thought. ‘I saw this Black Hawk at the auction, too!’

‘Talk about a surprise!’

His arrival had dispelled her fear of the leopards, putting her in a state to even answer his questions. However, the color had yet to return to her pale face.

After calling his subordinates on his communicator to clean up the mess, Ying Kong walked over to Feng Si. She looked completely crestfallen after the King’s rejection.

He couldn’t help but try to console her. “His heart already belongs to another female. In my opinion, that red-haired female was incredibly irresponsible. How could she just run off after one night? But we’re looking for her, and we’ll find her sooner or later. I think it would be best for you to give up on this.”

Feng Si let out a dry laugh. “Heh, is that so.”

‘Thanks, but surprise! The red-haired female you’re looking for is me.’

‘But I hope you never find me. I can’t even bear to think about it. Deceiving him, running away, and hiding Yun Duo… what will happen to me if I’m found?!’

“Just a moment.” Ying Kong raised his wrist and summoned his vehicle. After all, carrying someone in his true form was a very intimate act; male beasts only carried their own mates that way.

After setting the destination on the holographic screen, he remembered he was talking to a female and added casually, “Do you want to go to the Sacrificial Hall for a check-up?”

“I’m tired. I want to go home and rest.” With a numb expression, Feng Si undid a clasp with one hand and slipped it into her pocket, desperate for the comfort of her babies.

Yun Duo immediately sensed its mother’s hand and wrapped around her palm joyfully. The dangerous presence outside was gone, and his mother was no longer telling him to hide.

His little head nudged against her. ‘Sss?’ he hissed softly. ‘Where did the voice Yun Duo likes go?’

Ying Kong’s sharp eyes and excellent hearing instantly caught the small movement from within the beautiful female’s cloak. “Hey! Are you carrying a little something with you?” he asked, surprised.

Feng Si’s hand froze.

‘Based on what I know, Beastmen here don’t have x-ray vision. His tone just now was more curious than anything. Besides, cubs are so revered here, he wouldn’t call one a ‘thing’.’

Still, she had no intention of revealing her cubs.

The black-haired female lowered her eyes, a sad look on her face. “I don’t really feel like talking right now. You know…”

She glanced at the tall male beast, Ying Kong, beside her. Her pale pink lips, which had regained a bit of color, pursed slightly, turning a deeper crimson that stood out against her flawless, fair skin.

Now that the other male beast was gone, Feng Si had completely regained her usual composure.

She chuckled, her tone suddenly bold and flippant. “I just confessed for the first time in my life, you know. And I got rejected.”

Ying Kong looked down at the dazzlingly beautiful black-haired female beside him. “…”

‘Uh…’

‘All that advice was for nothing. Why haven’t you given up yet?!’