I Know You're a Good Beastman

With a shout and a crash, the Azure Rock Tribe's stone wall collapsed. The marketplace descended into chaos as everyone ran farther inside.

Hu Feng scooped Jianyue up in his arms. Batu shouted, "Female Rumeng, run!"

Feng Rumeng took off at a sprint. In an instant, enormous scorpions, black wolves, lizards, snakes, giant bears... poured out of the dust behind her. Flying beasts filled the air as well.

The Azure Rock Tribe's horned ox beastmen transformed into their beast forms and fought. The beastmen who had come to the market scattered and fled; none of them wanted to lose their lives here.

Jianyue's mates surrounded her, shielding her on all sides. After meeting up with the rest of their tribespeople along the way, they prepared to slip out through the valley behind the tribe.

Savage beasts came out to steal food and females every year before the cold season, but no one had expected them to come in such numbers this year, Bai said as he ran with Hu Yue on his back.

"The tiger tribe's female mustn't come to harm. Run for the valley," Hu Feng said decisively.

The tiger beastmen transformed into their beast forms and began running, ready to protect their female.

Suddenly, a stone the size of a frying pan crashed into the middle of the group. Jianyue, who had yet to climb onto a tiger's back, was knocked unconscious by the impact.

Feng Rumeng ran over, but Hu Feng yanked her away. Her head struck a stone, and blood instantly poured from the wound.

Feng Rumeng's head felt as though it were splitting apart. Her vision flickered between black and dim, and her body went limp.

By the time Batu came to save her, the savage beasts had already charged over. Hu Feng roared, "Batu, fall back!" With that, he ran toward their destination with the rest of the tribe.

Batu didn't give up. He pounced over in his beast form, seized Feng Rumeng in his tiger jaws, and ran forward.

The savage beasts surrounded them with mocking laughter. Batu could only fight with his claws and tail, and before long, he was wounded.

Watching Batu get hurt, Feng Rumeng, who had been jolted awake, patted his tiger head.

"Put me down, Batu. If this goes on, you'll die. I'm a female; they won't kill me. Hurry and go."

Batu couldn't bear to put her down and kept fighting his way toward the edge of the encirclement. Only when a black wolf ambushed him and knocked him sideways did he let go.

Feng Rumeng quickly got up and stood in front of Batu, raising both hands. "I'll go with you. Don't hurt him."

The savage beasts surrounding them burst into wild laughter.

"Female Rumeng," Batu said, struggling to his feet, "you can't go with them. These savage beastmen won't treat females gently. The females they take back are mated with over and over until they die."

Feng Rumeng took a step back. "Batu, don't worry. I have a way to escape. Hurry and see how Jianyue is."

Batu looked at her blood-covered back. "No, I can't leave you behind."

"Batu, I know you're a good beastman. I'll remember the kindness you've shown me today. But if you die here, Jianyue likes you so much-how heartbroken would she be?"

"Little female, but..."

"Batu, go! Trust me, I'll be all right."

The lizard beast licked his fangs. "Neither of you is going anywhere. I'll eat the male's flesh, and I'll have some fun with the female."

Feng Rumeng gave Batu a shove. He gritted his tiger teeth and limped off in the direction Hu Feng and the others had disappeared.

The black wolf bared his teeth. "Lizard beast, go deal with the tiger beast."

The lizard beast glanced at Feng Rumeng. "Keep an eye on the little prey. Don't let her run."

"She won't get away," the black wolf said, staring at Feng Rumeng.

The lizard beast winked at Feng Rumeng, then swished his long tail and went after Batu.

The black wolf approached Feng Rumeng with a wild stride. She chuckled, ducked and slid out beneath his belly, then fired a nanowire into a stone ahead.

The black wolf reacted quickly, whirling around to bite at her. Feng Rumeng's leg narrowly escaped his fangs.

The black wolf flew into a rage. "You're courting death!"

Feng Rumeng pulled out her slingshot, picked up a pebble and fired it at the black wolf's eyes.

Seeing the pebble fly toward him, the black wolf skidded to a stop and tilted his head aside to dodge it.

Feng Rumeng seized the opening and darted into a fight nearby. Tiny as she was, she dodged left and right among the beastmen's enormous beast forms. Unless someone had already fixed their sights on her, they couldn't spot her at all.

The black wolf chasing her had barely taken a few steps before a horned ox engaged him.

Feng Rumeng moved swiftly through the area, picking up the beastskin pouches dropped by fallen beastmen along the way.

Once clear of the fighting, she hid behind a rock and ate a green crystal.

Not far from the rock, two males were fighting over the merfolk child. Each held one of his arms, pulling in opposite directions as if playing tug-of-war. The merfolk's tail slapped weakly against the ground in pain.

Feng Rumeng fired a shot from her slingshot at each beastman's arm. They let go with cries of pain, and the merfolk fell to the ground. Feng Rumeng leaped over, grabbed his arm and used her nanowire to carry him away.

The two beastmen felt only a gust of wind, and the sea beastman on the ground was gone. They turned to see a female and the merfolk standing on a distant stone wall.

The two transformed into giant beasts. One, a horned ox, shouted, "You thief! The merfolk is mine!"

The other, a brown bear, charged straight at her, making the ground shake.

Feng Rumeng hurriedly picked up the merfolk, but his fish tail was so slippery that he slid out of her arms and fell to the ground.

Blood spilled from the corner of the merfolk's mouth from the fall. Feng Rumeng jumped down, tucked him under her arm and ran. He weighed very little, as little as a child, but his fish tail dragged along the ground, the friction making its injuries worse.

The merfolk didn't cry out in pain, and Feng Rumeng didn't stop. It was good enough that she could carry him away. "Little fishy, big sister can only do so much. You'll have to put up with it."

The two beasts drew closer and closer. Feng Rumeng's legs grew heavier, and her breathing grew more labored.

She couldn't get up a tree, and trying to outrun beastmen was simply courting death. Feng Rumeng looked toward the forest ahead.

Several large bumps had swollen on the merfolk's head from being knocked against rocks as Feng Rumeng dodged. His blue eyes had already lost focus.

At last, she was within nanowire range. "Crack!" "Roar!"

Feng Rumeng lay sprawled on the ground, spewing a large mouthful of blood. The merfolk had been thrown to one side and curled up in pain.

A beastman ape's chilling laughter came from behind her. He was the one who had struck Feng Rumeng with a stone, and the other two beastmen chasing her had also been hunted down.

The beastman ape ran over with a sinister grin. The pain in Feng Rumeng's back had left it numb. She braced her trembling hands against the ground and sprang up. "Crack!" A rib pierced the skin of her back.

She fired her nanowire into a large tree ahead. As she retracted it, she grabbed the merfolk beside her and rose into the tree.

Feng Rumeng took out an orange crystal and ate it, then struggled from trunk to trunk with the merfolk in her arms. The beastman ape was agile, swinging easily through the trees and whistling, the sound echoing through the forest.

"Little female, why bother? Be good and give me the merfolk and that magical wire of yours, and you won't have to suffer like this. Big brother will treat you very well, too."

Feng Rumeng set the merfolk on a tree trunk. "Little brat, if big sister doesn't come back, run away on your own."

The merfolk caught hold of her sleeve and shook his head.

Feng Rumeng stroked his head. "Little fishy, big sister will do her best to stay alive."

The merfolk wouldn't let go. Feng Rumeng pulled free without hesitation, fired her nanowire and shot toward the beastman ape.

The merfolk clung to the trunk, opening and closing his mouth for a long time without making a sound. He hadn't spoken for so long that he no longer knew how.

"Thud!" Elsewhere, the beastman ape fell from a tree. Feng Rumeng knelt on one leg atop a trunk, panting hard, wounds covering her body.

This is too unfair! Feng Rumeng could put up with the ape beast being huge, but what was with the hair on his body being as hard as needles? She looked at her bleeding foot. There was simply no way to survive.