Poor Little Thing, You've Suffered

The flowers were in full bloom beneath a brilliant blue sky.

A breeze swept past, blowing long, deep-blue hair from behind her neck across Feng Rumeng's fair cheek. She glanced back and saw a face beautiful enough to bewitch all living beings.

He lowered his eyes, his voice gentle. "Poor little thing, you've suffered."

Feng Rumeng's almond-shaped eyes trembled slightly. Deep-blue hair with pale-blue tips, a blue flame mark between his brows, and the Mate Mark on her belly, now faintly warm—who else could this be but that fox?

She raised her arm and swung a fist straight at Wuchen. "You stinking fox! How dare you show your face again?"

Her fist struck nothing!!!

Wuchen blinked his beautiful fox eyes. "Oh, that hurt!"

Thud. He put on an act and fell backward.

Everyone who had followed behind stared blankly, dumbfounded. Then they all cried out in surprise.

Wuchen sat up and pulled Feng Rumeng into his arms. "I'm here."

His slender fingers gently caressed her face. "Now that I'm here, you won't need to paint your face black anymore."

The people gathered around exchanged bewildered looks. Her face was painted black?

Feng Rumeng pushed his large, pale hand away. "I'll decide my own affairs."

Wuchen lowered his irresistibly alluring deep-blue eyes, his clear voice tinged with an innocent smile. "You're right, my lady."

The astonished crowd was shocked all over again. The female everyone in the tribe despised had bewitched Ling, then the esteemed lord from Beast King City, and now a Ninth Tier powerhouse...

Were there any normal people left in this beast world...?

This was someone who could destroy a tribe with a wave of his hand.

Feng Rumeng turned and went into the cave. It was the first time in her life she had seen such a handsome man. She was very confident in her own looks, yet this man was somehow even more beautiful than she was.

She was afraid that one more look would leave her unable to tell east from west. He was a true enchantress.

She had never thought she would see this fox beastman again, nor had she thought he would come looking for her. She had resented him for leaving her in the cave, forcing her to brave life and death before reaching the tribe.

Her life had finally settled down, and yet he had appeared so calmly. A rush of grievance welled up in her heart.

Jianyue and Batu had been chatting in the cave when she heard someone say a fox beastman had come to the tribe. Her first thought was that he had come for Feng Rumeng.

She had hurried over and, smiling, glanced at Wuchen, her eyes filled with amazement.

Then she walked into the cave. "Rumeng, is that beautiful male your fox beastman mate?"

Feng Rumeng looked up and murmured yes.

"Ninth Tier, Rumeng," Jianyue said, a little enviously. "From now on, you can walk sideways across the Giant Fang Continent."

Feng Rumeng raised her eyes. He was Ninth Tier? Even an Eighth Tier like Jin Ling was rare, so didn't that make Ninth Tier...?

"My Beautiful Meng'er isn't a sea crab beast." Wuchen walked gracefully into the cave. "But if you really want to walk sideways, that's no problem. At worst, I'll just widen the road for you."

Feng Rumeng looked at Wuchen as he walked slowly toward her, a smile lighting her bright eyes. But as she smiled, her eyes grew hot.

Wuchen gently embraced Feng Rumeng, his tender voice drifting down from above her head. "I'm sorry I came late and let you suffer."

Feng Rumeng's heart ached, and tears fell uncontrollably. Then she remembered how this man had abandoned her back then, only to come back today and play the big bad wolf.

She punched him in his handsome face again.

Wuchen didn't dodge and took the punch squarely. Feng Rumeng was a little surprised. "You could have dodged that easily. Why didn't you?"

Wuchen cradled her hand and blew on it. "Does your hand hurt?"

Feng Rumeng's mouth twitched. What kind of logic was that? Had he got things backward?

A sly gleam flashed through Jianyue's orange eyes. "Rumeng, I'll come see you another day."

Wuchen brought his face closer. "Little Meng'er, give this side a punch too, or it won't be symmetrical."

Feng Rumeng shook out her hand and stiffened her neck. "I'll remember that. I'll make up for it later."

Wuchen pulled her into his arms again, rested his chin in the hollow of her shoulder, and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry, Little Meng'er."

He suddenly let go of Feng Rumeng, pulled his shirt open and down to his waist, and dropped to his knees. "My lady, punish me."

The outrageous move left Feng Rumeng stunned. She took two steps back. "Get up! You make it look like I'm the one who wronged you!"

Wuchen looked at his mate as she backed away, his beautiful eyes dimming slightly. Was she unwilling to forgive him?

A rattan whip appeared in his hand, and he held it high above his head with both hands. "My lady, I'll accept whatever punishment you give me."

Feng Rumeng didn't take it. What on earth was this man up to? Did he have masochistic tendencies?

Wuchen's clever mind raced. He remembered that whenever his father upset his mother, this was what he did. His mother loved nothing more than seeing his father show weakness.

She raised her fox eyes, which had an innocent look all their own. "My lady, I'm sorry. It was all my fault. I know all my explanations are just excuses."

"But if we hadn't mated back then, you wouldn't have been able to absorb the Beast King Crystal. Almost every bone in your body was broken, and you were barely clinging to life.

I did have selfish reasons. I'd been struck by an aphrodisiac poison, and after enduring it for a whole day, I still hadn't found any fruit to suppress it."

"I didn't leave you behind on purpose afterward, either. I sensed killing intent and was afraid a beast might harm you while you were unconscious, so I blocked the cave entrance."

"The males of my clan wanted to curry favor with the sacred female, so they tried to seize the female Beast King Crystal I'd already fed you."

"They knocked me into the Demon Abyss, and I couldn't get back in time. If it weren't for my desperate desire to see you one more time, I'd have long since become a pile of bones that no one cared about."

After hearing him out, Feng Rumeng realized he had gone through all that too!

But she had been shut inside the cave, nearly ended up in the jaws of beasts several times, struggled through a man-eating forest with a broken leg, frozen stiff in the forest during the cold wave, and nearly been carried off by a vicious beast.

Could all of that be summed up with one lightly spoken offer to accept punishment?

"After I escaped the Demon Abyss, I searched for you desperately. Will you give me a chance to atone? Please don't abandon me..."

Feng Rumeng met Wuchen's captivating eyes. There was only pain in them, with no other thoughts mixed in.

Wuchen shuffled forward on his knees and wrapped his arms around Feng Rumeng's waist. "My lady, I'll accept whatever punishment you give me. It was my fault for letting you fall into danger."

"But please don't send me away, all right?"

"From the first moment I saw you, there was never going to be room for anyone else in my heart. No matter what happens from now on, I'll never leave you alone.

I'm Ninth Tier now. I can protect you well. Little Meng'er, please give me one more chance. Don't abandon me."

The more Wuchen spoke, the more aggrieved Feng Rumeng felt. The mother who loved her most had left her, and after she had finally been accepted into the Supernatural Academy, her own father had caused her to fall into the beast world.

The beast world was the beast world, so be it. She had never been treated fairly. The natives bullied her, and her fellow transmigrants schemed against her. If not for Ling, she wouldn't even know where she would be wandering now.

When Wuchen saw Feng Rumeng crying, his heart hurt as though a blunt knife were sawing back and forth across it. He held her, at a loss what to do.

"Little Meng'er, please don't cry. Whatever I did wrong, I admit it. Please don't cry."

"There, there, don't cry, Little Meng'er. My heart hurts so much it's about to break, and my mind's stopped working. Tell me what it'll take to make you stop crying."

Wuchen held her and kissed the tears from her face with his warm lips.

Feng Rumeng gradually calmed down. The warmth of his embrace left her a little drowsy and weak, and her eyelids grew heavy.

Wuchen gently laid her on the stone bed, kissed her forehead, and patted her back again and again.

Only when Feng Rumeng was completely asleep did Wuchen relax.

The Beast God must have watched over his little mate for her to have survived. The cave where they had hidden was deep in the territory of vicious beasts.

Wuchen didn't dare imagine how an unranked female had made it out of there alive.