Chapter 78: Found Her?

Chapter 78: Chapter 78: Found Her?

Ever since receiving the Beast King’s order to lead his troops to Cang City, and learning from Ying Kong that the Beast King was looking for a female, Xi Zhu had been especially diligent in his search for the red-haired female.

But even after having the Sacrificial Hall round up every male beast and sub-female in the city for re-testing—going door to door—they still hadn’t found the hidden female.

If it weren’t for Beast King Chi Jie’s direct order, and if he hadn’t personally witnessed the Beast King’s combat prowess after returning to the battlefield, he would have thought that female was nothing more than a hallucination.

Xi Zhu then reported truthfully, "I have now dispatched troops to find all Beastmen who left Cang City within the last four months."

Chi Jie sat on his throne with his eyes slightly lowered. The shadow of his long eyelashes darkened the area beneath his eyes, making his golden irises unreadable in the dim light.

His fair, slender hands rested on the armrests as he continued to issue commands in a calm, steady voice. "Using Cang City as the center, initiate blood tests for all Beastmen in the surrounding wild villages, towns, and cities."

A look of uncertainty appeared on Xi Zhu’s face.

’It wasn’t just that Ying Kong had already been searching for over four months without any news. I personally led troops and found nothing. Even among all the Beastmen from Cang City that Ying Kong’s forces previously tested, we couldn’t find that female...’

Both he and Ying Kong were searching earnestly. They had practically mobilized half the military forces of the South Desolate Continent.

His voice was heavy. "King, what if... there’s still no news?"

"Continue expanding the search to other cities." Chi Jie didn’t even raise his eyelids. A smile touched his lips, but his voice was laced with a chilling coldness. "The entire South Desolate Continent is mine. I refuse to believe she can truly hide anywhere."

"Yes, sir," Xi Zhu replied through the light screen.

After he deactivated the communicator, silence once again fell over the hall.

Chi Jie lifted his eyes and gazed at the vast, dark forest outside the hall. His expression was deep, as if he were recalling a distant memory from that night.

For him, everything in his life, from childhood to adulthood, had always been under his control. Only that female from that night had been beyond his expectations, giving him his first taste of losing control.

’Are you hiding from me? My female.’

At this thought, Chi Jie raised an eyebrow. He rose from his throne, dismissed the retinue of guards, and walked out of the hall alone.

「...」

Meanwhile, Feng Si stood quietly in front of the camera sphere. On this snowy night, the room was cozy and bright, with a plush rug on the floor, a sofa reupholstered with soft fur, and lush green plants adding a touch of vibrancy.

Since Feng Si brought her cub to work, her work uniform had a three-dimensional pocket sewn onto the stomach. The bottom of the pocket was reinforced with stiff leather and lined with a soft rabbit fur blanket inside. The two buttons at the pocket’s opening were fastened securely.

Inside the pocket, Yun Chi was sound asleep, hugging a small blue ball and using his own tail as a pillow.

She adjusted the loose white apron tied around her waist, making sure the bow of the sash perfectly concealed the buttons of the childcare pouch. Then, she flashed her signature smile and began her opening lines.

[DING! The channel you follow, ’Si Shi Xiao Si,’ has started a livestream. You have been automatically redirected.]

A sweet, electronic female voice suddenly chimed in the dark forest. Amidst the rustling of leaves, a white light screen materialized on a large tree.

Beastmen could see in the dark and had an innate reverence for primeval forests. Thus, the Imperial Palace was actually a continuous mountain range, with the Beast King’s palace built on the summit of the highest peak in the center.

The one before the light screen was none other than Mang Changbai, the chief of the Southern Wilderness Imperial Palace’s Forbidden Army. He was on duty tonight, but the allure of that pickled cabbage was too much to resist. Abusing his authority as an Imperial Guard, he couldn’t help but watch Xiao Si’s livestream.

After all, the Imperial Palace grounds were vast. He had deliberately assigned himself a patrol point on the very edge of the palace grounds for the day, in a forest far from the main palace. There was no way he would be discovered and reported.

"Oho! Chief, you watch Xiao Si’s cooking show too!" one of Mang Changbai’s four subordinates exclaimed in pleasant surprise.

They wore uniform-issue, tight-fitting, army-green combat suits. Pinned to their chests were the medals of the South Desolate Empire, emblazoned with the emblem of the Imperial Palace’s Forbidden Army: two lifelike, black, scaled claws curving inward.

The four of them, either squatting or sitting on tree branches, all whipped their heads around to look at their chief. The light from the screen reflected in their eerie eyes, making them glow green and giving off a terrifying aura in the night forest.

Mang Changbai didn’t push away the four heads crowding around him. He said, a little smugly, "Have you guys ever tried a dish made with pickled cabbage? I got to eat some today!"

At his words, the four Forbidden Army Soldiers let out cries of envy, their expressions shocked. "Chief, you’re so lucky! I’ve been trying for eight days—eight whole days!—and I haven’t been able to get my hands on a single piece of pickled cabbage!"

"I’m so sour with envy I could turn into pickled cabbage myself!" one of the Forbidden Army Soldiers said, his face scrunched up. He hunched his broad shoulders, looking like a black bear caught in the rain, its fur all matted down.

He sighed. "No joke, if a low-level female and a piece of pickled cabbage were standing in front of me right now, I’d definitely choose the pickled cabbage!"

The others had no time for their comrade’s nonsense, because on the light screen, the sub-female Xiao Si had already started demonstrating the recipe of the day!

In the dead-silent forest, five men huddled in front of a single light screen, listening to the sub-female’s fresh, clear voice as she spoke and cooked. Their mouths were already starting to water.

"Pickled Cabbage Braised Thick-Armor Meat. For this dish, you need to select a cut of Thick-Armor Meat that has both muscle and tendon. Because we need to stew it until it’s tender enough to melt in your mouth, it requires a long cooking time. So, for this batch, I stewed the Thick-Armor Meat for five hours in advance..."

"What are you doing?" A cold, deep voice suddenly echoed from the fathomless forest.

On a tree opposite them, a tall, slender figure had appeared soundlessly at some point. The man stood in the night, dressed in a black robe embroidered with gold thread. A whip made of bone-white Titan vertebrae was fastened at his waist.

He looked like a deity in command of the nocturnal forest. His features were handsome and cold, but right now, his deep golden eyes held a hidden impatience.

He was indeed the deity who held their lives in his hands—their Beast King!

’We’re so screwed! So, so screwed!’

Mang Changbai and the four others immediately knelt, pressing their palms to their foreheads and bowing in salute. They kept their heads lowered, not daring to make any excuses.

As the chief, Mang Changbai’s face turned pale, and a cold sweat broke out on his brow. He gritted his teeth and trembled as he said, "It was I alone who erred. I ask the Beast King for punishment."

Chi Jie stood on the tree branch, the night wind making his robes sway gently. He looked down, gazing coldly at the Forbidden Army Soldiers. "Your attitude in admitting guilt is commendable. You alone will bear the blame..."

The sentence was death.

"SIZZLE—"

This casual phrase, which decided matters of life and death, was drowned out by the piercing sound of hot oil from the light screen. It was immediately followed by a gentle, clear voice that said:

"Don’t be scared. I didn’t squeeze all the water out of the pickled cabbage this time, so it’s normal for it to make a frightening sound when it hits the hot oil. We..."

The moment Chi Jie heard that voice, the bone-chilling aura around him vanished. A flicker of shock crossed his golden eyes.

In the hazy night, the clear timber of her voice carried a tone that was both strange and familiar.