Chapter 136

Hehehehe...

"Is this sincerity?" Chen Ce finally spoke—but the result might not be Sejuani wanted to hear:

"I promised Udyr I would take good care of you, and my promise to him is my sincerity."

As soon as she finished speaking, Ashe couldn't help but chuckle.

Sejuani froze on the spot, her hand reaching for Chen Ce's chest also freezing in mid-air.

Almost instantly, her cheeks turned completely red.

It was only now that she realized this "care" was not the same as that "care" —Ashe didn't have that kind of perverted cuckoldry, and the beautiful young man in front of her hadn't offered himself to her...

It was all just her own imagination...

There's no such thing as a free lunch...

She awkwardly withdrew her hand, not daring to look at either of them—looking at Chen Ce was embarrassing, and looking at Ashe would definitely invite ridicule.

After a long while, she managed to open her lips with difficulty, her voice so soft it was completely out of character for her unrestrained nature. "U... who is Udyr...?"

"Udyr is..." Before answering the question, Chen Ce glanced outside the tent again to make sure that only the three of them could hear the following conversation—to ensure that Sejuani's privacy would not become the subject of gossip and jokes for outsiders.

"He was the man that Kalkia once followed."

"Hmm...?" Sejuani looked puzzled at first.

Then he couldn't stop getting angry.

Kalkia, the current Warmother of the Winter's Claw Tribe, is also... her biological mother.

But she hated her—her birth mother was unworthy of being a mother!

As for the man that Kalkia once followed... she wished she could tear him apart!

"Were you sent by that man?"

Sejuani stood up, her bright, beautiful eyes filled with anger—and resentment. She roughly pushed aside everything in front of her and approached Chen Ce as if she wanted to kill him.

The "intimate" scene from half a minute ago seemed like a fleeting illusion.

"You know him... He's the one who sent you here... By what right? Does he feel guilty towards me? Does he feel that taking Kalkia away hurt a 'little kid' like me? Is he pitying me?!"

Chen Ce had almost expected Sejuani to erupt in fury.

He shook his head slightly and said, "No, Udyr isn't—"

"Don't defend him!"

*Slap! Sejuani grabbed Chen Ce by the collar, rudely interrupting him.

"What happens between him and Kalkia is their business! I don't want to care, and I don't want to hear about it! They owe me nothing, and I don't need their pity!!"

Sejuani was practically screaming.

Seeing this, Ashe quickly reached out to help Chen Ce shake off Sejuani's "entanglement".

But Chen Ce simply waved his hand calmly, "It's alright, Miss Ashe."

"Can..."

"Our dinner was spilled. Could you please prepare another one?"

"Chen Ce..."

I'm a little hungry.

"Well... well, fine." Ashe ultimately couldn't insist any longer, giving Sejuani a threatening look before leaving the tent.

Seeing this, Sejuani didn't calm down; instead, she became even angrier. "Are you afraid Ashe will laugh at me? I'm not afraid of her laughter! I'm not afraid of the gossip of any weakling!"

"I just want you to calm down." Chen Ce ignored the other party's roar and rudeness, and continued calmly, "No one is pitying you. Udyr just wants to atone for his sins—he was tormented by the power of the beast spirits, and he made a terrible mistake."

"Then go back and tell him I don't need it!"

"I'm sorry, I've already agreed to it."

That's your problem! Get out!

Sejuani angrily shoved him hard, trying to knock him over, but Chen Ce was far too strong.

Chen Ce remained completely still.

Seeing this, she became even angrier.

She'd really had enough!

When she was very young, Kalkia abandoned her and the entire tribe to elope with a wild man. She was forced to spend a childhood with her grandmother, which was extremely lacking in love and companionship. Even her grandmother would sometimes vent her dissatisfaction and resentment towards Kalkia on her.

Her childhood was very tragic, but she received love from Ashe's mother, Grena.

Unfortunately... this happy period didn't last long. Grena once openly questioned her grandmother: Why was young Sejuani being treated so poorly? She questioned whether her grandmother was capable of raising Sejuani.

Then, the two tribes completely broke apart.

Her grandmother was enraged by Grena's public questioning and from then on forbade all her people from having any contact with the Avarosan Tribe.

From then on, she returned to living alone... Her fellow tribespeople, no longer sympathizing with her, mocked her as a "wild child abandoned by her mother." She had no companions.

Her entire childhood was lonely and bleak.

She finally made it through... She's grown up, she's capable now, and she even got to see her beloved best friend, Ashe, again.

But her best friend has changed.

She was betrayed once again—by her former best friend.

She was in immense pain... She wanted to prove herself, she wanted to take everything on her own, but fate always seemed to be playing tricks on her.

Even now... she's finally seen a glimmer of hope... but why... why does Ashe always seem to be favored by fate?

Ashe received the legacy of Avarosa and the help of a powerful man... They joined forces to suppress her, mercilessly trampling her efforts underfoot with the blessings bestowed upon her by the heavens...

This man... this Chen Ce... he helped Ashe, preventing her from harming the Avarosan Tribe, and now he's using Kalkia and that man named Udyr to humiliate her...

It reopened her inner wounds once again...

She'd had enough...

Seriously... I've had enough!

"Fall down! Fall down!!"

Sejuani pressed almost her entire body against him, trying to push him down with all her might—even going so far as to press her ample breasts against his face.

Unfortunately... it still didn't work.

Her strength was negligible in front of Chen Ce, and even with her own weight, it was useless... She weighed just over 100 pounds, making her seem like a toy to Chen Ce.

On the contrary, she will have to pay the price for her recklessness.

"Stop fooling around." Chen Ce sighed softly, and with a flick of his wrist, he grabbed the other person's wrist, completely subduing him.

Sejuani struggled desperately, but this only caused her body to lunge towards Chen Ce —like a lustful woman seeking love.

She started yelling and swearing, but received no response.

Gradually, she grew tired... both physically and mentally.

She stopped struggling and speaking, but her eyes were slightly red—in this humiliating moment, all the sad memories flooded her mind, and she didn't understand why the whole world was targeting her.

Why is it that someone as weak as Ashe receives the love and care of her mother and the entire tribe...? She is clearly so worthless... and even after receiving the love and care of the entire tribe, she accomplishes nothing...

She was clearly inferior to me, so why was she able to receive Avarosa's legacy...?

She had finally managed to close the gap in this powerful lineage through hard work, but why... why did Chen Ce come along to help her...?

Why... why...

Sejuani felt increasingly aggrieved as she thought about it, and her eyes became increasingly red.

She bit her lower lip hard, then proudly raised her head, as if she would never give in.

"If you've got the guts... if you've got the guts, then kill me...! Don't pretend...!!"

Seeing this, Chen Ce sighed again.

In fact, he could understand her feelings very well... He knew everything that had happened to this girl, and he knew how hard she had tried to defy fate—she had been fighting against it all along, fighting against destiny and against herself.

She deserves respect.

"I meant no harm, Miss Sejuani." Chen Ce gradually loosened his grip, but she showed no intention of getting up—she seemed to have given up completely, her haggard eyes, which hadn't slept for several days, filled with despair.

"I just... want to help you. Please believe me."

"Hehe..." Sejuani turned her head to the side, still not getting up—even though her full breasts were pressing against the other person's arm.

Her eyes were still red and brimming with tears.

That look of both anger and grievance.

Until a warm hand gently touched her cold cheek.

"Get up first, we can talk this over again." A gentle voice came, and another warm hand took hers.

This warm touch... is something the Freljord don't have.

She was picked up by the young, handsome man like a child, and then gently put down—back in her original spot.

"I can assist you in becoming the Warmother of the Winter's Claw, Miss Sejuani."

"I don't need it!" Sejuani still didn't turn her head back, and crossed her arms over her chest as if sulking—her clothes had slipped down a bit from the movement, revealing a glimpse of pink against her white skin. "I will take Winter's Claw with my own strength, and no one can stop me!"

"However, it has always been forbidden in Freljord for mothers and daughters to fight each other for the position of Warmother through duels—it is a major taboo that violates ethics and morality," Chen Ce patiently explained.

"Rules are meant to restrain the incompetent!"

"So you're still planning to challenge your mother?"

"Kalkia is unworthy to be the Warmother! If she is unwilling to abdicate voluntarily, then I will force her to abdicate!"

"Would you even go so far as to kill her?"

"What?" Hearing those two bloody words, even Sejuani, who was in a state of rage, calmed down slightly. "I only want to duel her; I won't take her life."

All she wanted was the position of Warmother; she never intended to kill Kalkia —who, after all, was her birth mother.

This is exactly the same as the "history" that Chen Ce knows.

Sejuani didn't intend to kill Kalkia, but Kalkia died in the duel— Sejuani hadn't even touched him.

It was those Frost Priests who did it.

Their control of the Winter's Claw depended on Kalkia becoming the Warmother, and once Kalkia was ousted by Sejuani, their plans would fall apart.

They knew that Kalkia was no match for Sejuani, who was already powerful enough.

So they plotted to kill Kalkia, attempting to ruin Sejuani's reputation—killing her own mother just to seize the position of Warmother. Such a brutal act was despised by everyone in Freljord.

In this way, no outsider will join the Winter's Claw.

Even normal trade in goods would be shut out.

At that point, the Winter's Claw, forced into a corner, will have no choice but to live by raiding—just like the former Icefield Children Tribe.

Once the Winter's Claw completely abandon morality and principles, the Frost Priests can once again "lend a helping hand."

By providing supplies and offering small favors, they turned the Winter's Claw into their dogs.

Thus, the Winter's Claw became the second Icefield Children Tribe.

That's their goal.

"Without my assistance, Kalkia would have died in your duel—even if you never intended to kill him."

Chen Ce remained calm, even nonchalantly picking up the spilled cans and food scraps.

"What do you mean?" Hearing this, even Sejuani, no matter how angry she was, should calm down and think it over. "Are you saying there's a conspiracy involved?"

"Frost Priests," Chen Ce replied with only four words.

But that was enough for Sejuani to react.

Although she usually appears carefree and easygoing, she possesses the sensitivity of a woman—based on this clue and her own observations over the years, she quickly figured everything out.

"How did you know?" She frowned again, looking at Chen Ce.

"Because... I just dealt with nearly a hundred Frost Priests." Chen Ce's answer was vague.