Chapter – 76
I’m Strong Too!
The beastman’s corpse fell to the ground, revealing the polluted beastman behind him.
The other had taken on a half-beast form—pointed ears, a thin tail, his face pitch-black. His crimson eyes fixed on everyone as he let out a feral, grating laugh.
“Jie jie jie…”
He raised his hand, crushed a heart in his grip, and lunged straight toward the icy river.
Hong immediately shouted, “Protect the Priestess!”
But before he even finished speaking, Lu Liufeng had already spread his wings, scooped up the Priestess, and soared into the sky.
Mu Ling and Yi Yuexi sensed something was wrong and broke off from their fight, rushing over.
Lu Liufeng let out a sharp eagle’s cry midair, warning the tribe and calling for reinforcements.
A streak of golden light from Huo Lun flashed past, intercepting the polluted beastman.
The other beastmen were pale with fear. Some rushed forward in a disorderly attempt to surround him.
“How could this be? How could this happen?”
“Kangya was fine just moments ago! How could his pollution manifest so suddenly?!”
And once it manifested, he was already almost completely corrupted—far faster than normal!
If a beastman cursed by pollution was simply killed, that itself wasn’t difficult.
The real difficulty was ensuring he didn’t die outside the wall, returning to the cursed lands beyond. If that happened, he would truly become an undying, endlessly resurrecting cursed beast.
Only by burning the body inside the wall with blue-scale powder could the pollution be completely eradicated.
But now that Jiang Xi could treat pollution, as long as it hadn’t reached the terminal stage, there was still hope.
Just then, a sky-domain beastman suddenly flapped his wings and flew up into the air, heading straight toward Lu Liufeng and Jiang Xi.
“Lu Liufeng, I’ll help you!”
But the moment he drew close, Jiang Xi immediately sensed something wrong.
“Lu Liufeng! He’s polluted!”
And it was pollution that hadn’t yet manifested.
Though the scent was weaker than that pitch-black half-beastman from earlier, after several comparisons, Jiang Xi had become keenly aware of the difference between merely contacting pollution and being infected by it.
Lu Liufeng’s expression hardened. As he retreated backward, he slashed out with wind blades.
Blood appeared on the sky-domain beastman’s body. In an instant, his face twisted into a savage expression as he screamed and went berserk, his blue wings rapidly turning black.
He rushed forward.
Holding the Priestess, Lu Liufeng calmly retreated while continuously releasing wind blades, precisely severing the other’s wings. Before the polluted beastman could get close, he lost his balance and crashed down toward the ground.
By then, the battle on the ground had already ended.
The pitch-black half-beastman lay writhing on the ground, his consciousness flickering between clarity and madness, his crimson eyes bulging grotesquely.
“Kill me!”
“Kill me—aaah!”
Lu Liufeng descended with the Priestess in his arms.
As soon as Jiang Xi touched down, she spoke urgently.
“Mu Ling, Huo Lun—hold him down!”
Mu Ling and Huo Lun stepped forward, pinning the half-beastman’s limbs so he couldn’t move.
Jiang Xi walked over, hovering her palm above his brow as a soft green glow spread out.
This time, her consciousness was not dragged into the land of darkness.
The sky-domain beastman, Kater, who had fallen into the icy river, was also pulled out. His pollution wasn’t as severe as Kangya’s, so the instant his wings were broken and he fell into the river, he regained consciousness.
Now, having been hauled up and pinned to the ground by other beastmen, he too was unable to move.
And the beastmen who had once harbored doubts about Jiang Xi now watched as the black coloration on Kangya’s face gradually faded. Shock spread across every face.
When Chief Rupert arrived with the rest of the tribe, the battle was already over.
For safety’s sake, Hong ordered the beastmen who had gone scouting together to be restrained as well, to prevent another sudden manifestation like Kangya’s or Kater’s.
Jiang Xi’s healing ability had only partially recovered.
She managed only to fade the blackness from Kangya’s face before completely exhausting herself, collapsing backward into Lu Liufeng’s arms.
Fortunately, that brief treatment was enough to pull Kangya’s sanity back.
Tears streamed down his face as he stared at the sky in anguish.
“It’s all my fault. I couldn’t resist eating the black fish. I shouldn’t have hidden it… Kill me. Don’t let me bring disaster to the tribe again.”
Chief Rupert kicked him angrily.
“Kangya! Hurry and thank the Priestess! If not for her treatment, you’d already have been sprinkled with blue-scale powder and burned to ashes! Would you still have the chance to regret anything?!”
Only then did Kangya realize—his mind was clear again.
His bloodshot eyes stiffly shifted toward the Priestess’s direction.
But he was too badly injured to stand, so he could only crane his neck, struggling to look over.
“The Priestess has saved my life. Kangya will never forget this. If I survive, from this day forward I will obey the Priestess in all things!”
Leaning in Lu Liufeng’s arms, Jiang Xi gently shook her head.
She truly had no strength left.
Since the Chief Priestess hadn’t come over, Jiang Xi looked to the chief and said,
“Lock them up for now. Once I recover a bit, I can treat them some more tonight. That way the pollution won’t spread. If it reaches the terminal stage, even I won’t be able to do anything.”
The beastmen who had rushed over from the tribe had all witnessed Jiang Xi treating the pollution.
Every single one of them was shaken to the core, their faces filled with reverence, as if they wished to prostrate themselves and pray for her blessing on the spot.
Before leaving, Jiang Xi examined every beastman who had gone scouting with Hong.
Thankfully, aside from Kangya and Kater, none of the others were polluted.
Rupert bowed respectfully.
“Rest assured, Priestess. I will have people keep a close watch on them!”
As they were leaving, Mu Ling sidled over and whispered,
“Priestess… how about we fight a few more rounds? Help you recover a bit?”
Seeing his face covered in blood and ice shards, Jiang Xi really wanted to crack open his head and see what on earth he was thinking.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?!”
“Everyone go back and rest! No more fighting!”
The dark circles around Yi Yuexi’s eyes—gone for only a few days—had returned.
With his both comical and beautiful face, he couldn’t help asking,
“Priestess, why did you only call Mu Ling and Huo Lun to help just now? Why didn’t you call me?”
Judging by closeness alone, he clearly ranked ahead of Huo Lun.
A little unhappy, Yi Yuexi asked, “Priestess, do you think I’m very weak?”
Jiang Xi glanced at Mu Ling and Huo Lun’s tall, sturdy builds, then at Yi Yuexi’s slender, graceful, almost ethereal figure.
Wasn’t that just the truth?
The moment Yi Yuexi caught her confirming gaze, his fur practically bristled.
“I’m strong, okay?!”
“This kind of small skirmish isn’t even my battlefield! My snowflakes are lethal weapons!”
Jiang Xi replied with a tactful and reasonable excuse.
“They’re close-combat fighters. You’re long-range. For pinning Kangya down at close quarters, the two of them are obviously more suitable.”
Lu Liufeng glanced at Yi Yuexi, frowned slightly, and spoke in disapproval.
“The Priestess is very tired. Don’t make trouble for her.”
Yi Yuexi opened his mouth, then pressed his lips together. His fox-like eyes flicked twice before he said awkwardly,
“Sorry. I—I didn’t mean to bother you. It’s just… it’s just that I really am strong.”
Mu Ling, seeing that the Priestess had acknowledged his prowess, was smug beyond measure.
He laughed loudly and patted Yi Yuexi on the shoulder.
“Yeah, yeah, we know—you’re strong~!”
He deliberately dragged out the word “strong,” the mockery unmistakable.
Yi Yuexi clenched his teeth, wanting to drag Mu Ling out for another fight, but when he saw how exhausted the Priestess looked, he swallowed the words back down.
Forget it. He wouldn’t stoop to Mu Ling’s level!
Time would prove everything!!
…Prove what, exactly?
—
Thanks to “Falling Winter Snow” for the reward: Code-writing Artifact ×1
Thanks to “Túmí” for the reward: Code-writing Artifact ×1
