After I Dumped 7 Beast Husbands and Ran

Yu Chen’s mouth twitched. ”Friends? Lanxing, we were never friends. But we are half-brothers, born of the same mother.”

Lanxing fell silent.

”The Mermaid Clan gives birth to over a hundred at a time. Maybe because there are just too many cubs, the familial bonds within the Mermaid Clan are very weak, even though we can sense our kin. We usually don’t acknowledge each other.

”Only those who have awakened their bloodlines might acknowledge their relatives. The ones who don’t amount to anything are treated like strangers.”

Yu Chen looked up at the sky.

”Because I didn’t awaken as a Beast Warrior, the clan considered me a useless mermaid. I was exiled and bullied. I became the lowest of the low in the Mermaid Clan.”

”To avoid being bullied, I learned to blend in and protect myself.”

”Life was actually not so bad like that. Until one day, I was swimming near the shore, sunbathing. A beautiful land-dwelling female emerged from the jungle...”

”We became mates.”

Yu Chen’s expression was a mixture of a smile and a faint sorrow.

”She laid a single fish egg and left. I stayed by the sea, incubating the egg and waiting for her. Two months later, the egg hatched. It was a male Little Mermaid. He was so beautiful, so adorable.

”If I could have just stayed with my little cub forever, life would have been manageable.

”But that day, the Sea God was angry. A massive tsunami swept across the ocean’s surface. I held my little cub and swam for my life, but a huge wave tore us apart.”

Lanxing said, ”I remember that. The tsunami harmed many of our clan members in the sea. I was doing everything I could to save people back then.”

Yu Chen said resentfully, ”Right. You saved mermaids, many, many mermaids. But Lanxing, when you had to choose between saving my cub and other mermaids, you didn’t save my cub. You gave up on him!”

Hearing this, Lanxing thought for a good while before saying, ”Was it that disabled Little Mermaid?”

Yu Chen instantly went berserk. ”He wasn’t disabled, he was my cub!”

Lanxing said, ”His gills couldn’t open and close properly. He had trouble breathing in the sea. In that situation, I chose to save the clan members who were more likely to survive...”

”You gave up on him!!!” Yu Chen roared. ”He could have lived! You gave up on him!!!! Lanxing, you gave up on him!!!”

At that time, Lanxing and Yu Chen didn’t know each other. He had no idea Yu Chen had a cub, let alone that the disabled one was his.

Pain crossed Yu Chen’s face. ”In my overwhelming grief, I actually awakened my bloodline. The moment I awakened, I was a Beast General. Only then did I realize that I, too, possessed an Ancient Bloodline. I was one of the Mermaid Clan People who could awaken.”

”But I didn’t want to reveal it. I just wanted to avenge my cub!”

”Lanxing, I want you to feel the pain of losing a cub, too!”

Facing the hate-filled Yu Chen, Nan Zishi spoke up. ”Lanxing was already doing his best to save people. In a situation like that, it’s not wrong no matter who he chose to save. Yu Chen, you’re blaming the wrong person.”

”The wrong person?” Yu Chen looked up, his eyes bloodshot. ”Then who should I blame? The sea? My cub? Myself? Or... should I blame my female master?”

Chi Xiao said, ”It was an accident. You really shouldn’t blame anyone.”

”It wasn’t your cub who died. Of course you don’t care!”

”None of this is an excuse for your evil deeds!”

Yu Chen let out a cold laugh. ”Then kill me. Just kill me. My female master doesn’t want me anymore, and my cub is dead! I’m just living in this world in a daze, with no meaning at all.

”But I don’t get it! Nan Zishi, you’re just like her. Black hair, black eyes. You also ran off after having your cub.

”But why did you come back? Why did you come back for Lanxing?! Why won’t she come back? Why?!”

Nan Zishi froze. She grabbed him and asked urgently, ”You said your female master has black hair and black eyes?”

Yu Chen glared at her, not speaking.

Nan Zishi suddenly noticed something at his waist. She gestured to Hu Bai, who crouched down and took the item from his waist. It wasn’t a Beast Skin; it looked more like a handkerchief from Earth.

Yu Chen finally began to struggle frantically. ”What are you doing? Give it back!!! Give it back to me!!!”

”This belonged to your female master, didn’t it?”

”Don’t touch my things!” Yu Chen said, tears rolling down his cheeks. ”It’s the only thing she left me!!”

Nan Zishi unfolded the handkerchief.

A line of words was written on the handkerchief—Chinese characters. This was the second time she had seen Chinese characters in this world.

’She’s from Earth, a Huaguo person!’

”Hello, newcomer. If you can understand this line of text, it proves you come from the same place as me. If you’ve also run into trouble, come find me at the Eastern Desert Mine Area. I’ll be waiting for you there. —Li Yun.”

Nan Zishi’s pupils constricted, and her heart skipped a beat.

She took a few steps back and sat down on a stone stool.

Li Yun. She was very familiar with that name.

’According to Uncle Xiang, she was his female master. She left after giving birth to a disabled cub. She told Uncle Xiang not to miss her and that she would never fall in love with him.’

’Uncle Xiang said that Li Yun had died.’

’Now, it seemed she was also Yu Chen’s female master, leaving after laying a single fish egg.’

’This handkerchief she left for Yu Chen wasn’t actually for him. It was meant to pass a message to later transmigrators like herself.’

’Just what kind of girl was Li Yun?’

’And, is she really dead or not?’

Nan Zishi stood up and probed, ”Is your female master dead?”

Yu Chen looked up angrily. ”What nonsense are you spouting?”

”She’s not dead?”

Mates had a connection. If Li Yun were dead, Yu Chen should have been able to sense it.

Yu Chen’s lower eyelid twitched slightly. He didn’t want to speak.

”So she’s really not dead? She’s not dead, but she didn’t come back for you and the cub? She doesn’t love you.”

Pushed to the brink by Nan Zishi, Yu Chen shouted, ”What do you know? What are you talking about! Nan Zishi! Don’t think you can just spout nonsense because you’re a female!”

’It seemed his female master really didn’t want him anymore.’

’He was an unforgivable yet somewhat pitiful Beastman.’

Nan Zishi put away the handkerchief and said to Lanxing, ”Lanxing, Yu Chen is in your hands now. Deal with him according to the rules of your Mermaid Clan.”

”Okay. Thank you, Sister.”

After watching Lanxing bind Yu Chen with seaweed and escort him back to the sea, Nan Zishi leaned against a rock, unfolded the handkerchief, and read its contents over and over.

”The Eastern Desert Mine Area?” Nan Zishi murmured.

Hu Bai heard her soft words and asked, ”Female Master, why did you suddenly mention the Eastern Desert Mine Area?”

Chi Xiao said, ”Isn’t that the mining area the High Priest is actively exploiting? Little Female Master, why do you bring up the mine?”

Nan Zishi asked curiously, ”Do you guys know how to get in there?”

Xuan Jin crossed his arms and said, ”The Eastern Desert Mine Area is a penal zone for mining. It’s controlled by the High Priest of Ten Thousand Beasts City. I’ve heard it’s guarded by several Eight Pattern Priests. Ordinary Beastmen can’t get in.”

Hu Bai asked, ”Why would the Female Master mention that place?”

Nan Zishi said, ”I just suddenly felt like seeing the beautiful scenery of the desert mine. Heh heh...”

The three males looked at each other, speechless.

Xuan Jin bent down and asked in a low, doting voice, ”Little female, aren’t the sea, the desert, the high mountains, and the jungles beautiful enough? Now you want to go to a desert mine?”

”Can’t I?” Nan Zishi asked.

Chi Xiao said, ”We can take you anywhere you want to go. But it’s not a question of ’can or can’t.’ The Eastern Desert Mine Area is strictly controlled by Ten Thousand Beasts City. It’s become a place to imprison Beast Prisoners, so it’s very hard to get into.”

”Imprison Beast Prisoners? So it’s a prison mine?”

...

After Yu Chen was captured, Nan Zishi began to think about the prison mine.

’She really wanted to meet Li Yun, to meet this girl from her hometown, the one bound by System 006.’

’I have to go to the mine!’