Heiting returned at dawn, carrying the carcass of a savage beast, intending to show off to the little female. The thud of the body hitting the ground woke the two unconscious females.
They groggily climbed up from the ground, and Heiting, covered in blood, walked in. "An'an..."
His smile froze. The cave contained only two ugly females, and the one he longed for was not there.
"Where is An'an?" His sharp gaze shot towards Chou Hua and Hei Niu like swords.
The two females were in a panic. Looking at the cave with only the two of them, they became flustered. "We don't know, we don't know where our master went!"
Hei Niu suddenly remembered, "That's right, boss. It was a beastman. He knocked us out, and he must have taken our master away!"
They were knocked out too quickly to get a good look at the other person's appearance. If they could have recognized him, they might have called out his name, but alas!
Heiting's aura immediately turned grim. "What kind of beastman? When did he come and take her?"
Chou Hua recalled carefully, "Not long after you left, a very fierce beastman came. He knocked us out as soon as he arrived..."
"Oh! Isn't this our master's beast skin skirt? Boss, do you think that beastman might have... taken our master..." Hei Niu's words were veiled, but those who understood knew.
Heiting suppressed the savage instincts within him, forcing himself to calm down. "No, there's no scent in the cave."
"He took her away. Tell me, what did that beastman look like?"
Chou Hua and Hei Niu exchanged glances, both swallowing nervously. "We... we didn't see clearly..."
"Useless!" The two fainted again, but this time it was from a kick. Their heads hit the cave wall, and they were knocked unconscious. Hei Niu was more severely injured, with bleeding from her head.
Unfortunately, no one cared for them. Heiting had already left, searching the tribe at the fastest speed. Apart from the scent of Shu An in the cave, there was no trace of her anywhere else!
Having lost a female once again, the enraged Heiting summoned everyone to ask questions, but to no avail...
"Find her! All of you, go find her!!!"
Heiting, in his beast form, couldn't control his urge to destroy everything. The fallen beasts fled in terror, scattering far from their out-of-control boss...
Last time, at least there were witnesses. This time, there was no clue at all, as if she had vanished into thin air, leaving not a trace!
How could they have imagined that Xiao Si had prepared a large amount of scent-eliminating powder for his escape, and had also scouted the route in advance? Moreover, he kept to himself in the tribe, being a mere transparent figure, so no one would notice one person missing.
This was Heiting's own management failure, or rather, he hadn't intended to manage at all. He never paid attention to such trivial matters because no one dared to disobey him.
Yet, he had stumbled twice in this regard. Heiting trashed the tribe, feeling like a failure at this moment!
He had let someone slip through the cracks again and lost his beloved female.
Heiting searched relentlessly, mentally killing the beastman who took Shu An a thousand times over!
!!!
Warrior City.
The Wen Te family gathered in Priest Wei's room. Priest Wei had finished her divination and slowly revealed a smile. "No need to search anymore. Shu An will be back soon."
Shu Yue looked surprised. "Really?"
Priest Wei nodded. "She'll be back in two days at most. Go back and wait."
"That's wonderful, thank you, Grandma Wei!" The Wen Te family quickly thanked Priest Wei.
Leaving the priest's building, Shu Yue still felt it was unreal. "Wen Te, can An'an really come back in two days?"
Wen Te believed it with nine-tenths certainty. "Priest Wei's divination is the most accurate. Yue Yue, let's wait another two days."
"Okay."
...
Two days later, a thinner Xiao Si returned to Warrior City with a shivering Shu An. The East Sea had already entered winter.
"Dad, Mom! I missed you so much!" Shu An hugged her mother and cried uncontrollably.
Shu Yue also hugged Shu An and cried, "You scared me to death. It's good you're back, it's good you're back..."
Wen Te looked his daughter up and down. Seeing that she hadn't lost weight or shown any signs of sun exposure, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. His gaze shifted to the gaunt Xiao Si beside her.
"You brought An'an back?"
Xiao Si nodded and recounted what happened in the West Sea. Only then did everyone realize that Shu An had gone to the West Sea and was even captured by the leader of the fallen beasts...
When Wen Te and his wife heard Heiting's name, memories from over a decade ago were brought back.
Shu Yue sighed lightly. Could it be that An'an had a connection with Heiting?
However, now that she was back, that connection would end here.
Shu An went to her room, put on her padded clothes, and came out. Her eyes were still red, but at this moment, her heart finally felt completely at ease!
Wen Te patted Xiao Si's shoulder and said solemnly, "An'an's matter, I owe you a favor. Stay for a drink tonight, and invite your family."
Xiao Si was somewhat flattered. "Uncle Wen Te, this is what I should do. An'an is like my sister, it's only right for me to protect her!"
Wen Te's mouth twitched. He thought to himself, why does he treat An'an like a sister? Isn't it because he wants his little Bei?
However, putting that aside, he was truly grateful to Xiao Si!
The dinner gathering was settled. Wen Te said, "You've been gone for months. Go home and see your parents first. Then, your family can come over early tonight, and I'll host you properly."
Xiao Si nodded. "Okay, then Uncle Wen Te, I'll head back now."
"Mhm, go."
As Xiao Si was leaving, he looked back at Shu Bei. Coincidentally, she was also looking over, and their eyes met briefly before darting away. Xiao Si felt regret in his heart.
It wasn't time yet. When he became comparable to Long Rui, he would have the right to pursue Xiao Bei.
After Xiao Si left, the family finally let their emotions flow freely.
Shu Ke leaned in to sniff his sister, his expression not very good. "An'an, is that smell on you from that Heiting?"
Shu An's face instantly turned red. "Heiting didn't do anything to me, brother, don't sniff me anymore!" Her privacy was gone!
Wen Te pushed his son aside and asked seriously, "An'an, tell the truth, Heiting really didn't do anything to you, right?"
Being asked such a question by her family, Shu An's face turned redder than ever. "Really not. We just slept together at night."
As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them. Sleeping together was too ambiguous!
She quickly explained, "I didn't mean it like that. We just slept together, purely. He saw that I was still young and didn't do anything to me, really not!"
A mother could tell if her child was lying. She interrupted her husband and son. "An'an, Mom believes you. Although Heiting is a fallen beast, I don't think he would go too far with females."
Seeing her mother believe her, Shu An also breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes, after he snatched me to his tribe, he didn't treat me badly. He made sure I ate well every meal, and I didn't suffer any grievances." If he wasn't the leader of the fallen beasts, she would have been very willing to develop a relationship with him.