Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Refused When Seeking Pleasure

Little Luo stared at the gifts in his hands. “What are these?”

He turned them over, completely baffled. “Food?”

Su Yan laughed. “Of course not.”

She reached into the beast-hide pouch hanging at the head of the bed and took out her own set.

Right in front of them, she opened the mirror, twisted up the lipstick, and swept color across her lips.

Instantly, her complexion brightened. Her face—already beautiful—turned dangerously alluring, like a bloom opening under moonlight.

“This is a makeup mirror. It shows your face clearly. This is lipstick. It makes a girl look prettier.” She glanced at Little Luo. “If she doesn’t know how to apply it, tell her to come see me.”

Oro took the mirror, caught his own reflection, and nearly jumped out of his skin. “Is this from that East District friend of yours too?”

“Yes,” Su Yan said smoothly. “They use these all the time in the East District.”

The West District beastmen couldn’t go there anyway. She could say whatever she wanted.

Even if someone exposed her later, so what? She was making it up.

“Bring some jerky too,” Su Yan added, turning back to Little Luo. “When people eat, they relax. It’s easier to get along.”

“Oh.” Little Luo looked like someone heading into battle with no weapon and no plan.

…

The Greenwood Plains Beast Forest.

A giant snake, red and black, more than ten meters long, slid through the undergrowth. Its crimson eyes burned in the shade like embers.

Then, in a blink, it became a man.

He wore dark robes and a skull mask. His long hair, streaked red and black, was bound by a silver chain of unknown material. Through the mask, his eyes glowed an idle, wicked red.

He paused, head tilting, as if listening to something only he could hear.

Faint sounds of fighting carried through the trees.

A strange, hungry light flashed in his gaze.

In the next instant, he vanished.

…

Su Yan jolted awake from a nap.

Dread pressed down on her chest, heavy and sour, and no matter how she breathed, it wouldn’t lift.

This feeling meant something had happened.

“Dad—Little Luo—”

Oro and Little Luo were both working—one tanning hides, one sewing beast-hide boots. The moment they heard her voice, they dropped everything and rushed in.

“What is it, Yan Er?” Oro asked.

“Sister, what happened?” Little Luo added.

Su Yan’s heart hammered. “Has Brother Zulu come back?”

Little Luo shook his head. “Not yet. Strange. He usually comes back fast with prey.”

Oro tried to laugh it off. “Maybe he got happy and hunted extra.”

Su Yan frowned hard. “I shouldn’t have said I wanted tenderloin.”

“Eat what you should eat,” Oro said firmly. “We didn’t have any at home anyway, or I wouldn’t have let him go. Don’t worry. He’ll be fine.”

As if on cue, the yard gate creaked open.

Little Luo ran outside, then shouted, “Brother Zulu, you’re back—”

“See?” Oro said, already smiling as he followed.

Zulu strode in carrying three live deer over his shoulder.

Oro’s eyes widened. He couldn’t help thinking, Impressive.

Aloud, he said brightly, “You’re back. Go see Yan Er—she’s been worried.”

“Yan… Yan Yan, how is she?” Zulu set the deer down carefully, then looked up as if afraid of the answer.

“She’s fine,” Oro said. “I’ll kill one now and prepare tenderloin. Her appetite’s improving again.”

“Whatever she wants to eat,” Zulu said, voice steady, “I’ll hunt it for her.”

Su Yan stepped out and finally breathed. “You don’t have to go yourself. You can buy from clan members. With that many red coins and crystal coins, if you never spend them, are they going to hatch into a baby?”

Zulu walked to her, eyes fixed on her face—then on her belly, swollen high and round.

He stared for a long moment, like he was seeing it all for the first time.

Then he smiled slowly. It was full of satisfaction. Full of anticipation.

“Alright,” he said softly. “I understand.”

Something about his gaze made Su Yan’s skin crawl, like the attention of a cold-blooded creature.

When she looked again, his expression was warm and bright, the same smile that usually melted people.

Maybe pregnancy had made her paranoid.

…

That night, Su Yan woke from a nightmare.

In her dream, thick fog wrapped around her, squeezing tighter and tighter until she couldn’t breathe. She woke up choking, heart racing.

Zulu was awake beside her. His face held no trace of sleep as he asked, “What is it?”

His voice was lower than usual, hoarse—almost too inviting.

The fear slid off her in an instant, replaced by heat that rose without warning.

She remembered their passion and licked her lips. “The child in my belly is fine.”

Zulu lowered his gaze to her belly. After a moment, he nodded. “Mm. How long until you give birth?”

“About seven days.”

Su Yan placed her hand on his long, strong thigh and began to slide it upward, slow and deliberate, toward forbidden territory. “Do you want it?”

Zulu lifted an eyebrow. “You can do it right now?”

“Of course. My body is special. The more we do it, the easier the delivery.”

Her hand drew closer.

Zulu’s breathing deepened. A red glint flickered through his eyes so fast it was almost imagined. “Are you sure?”

Su Yan blinked at the wrong moment and didn’t see it. She nodded firmly. “Very sure.”

Zulu smiled. His cool fingers traced her cheek, slow, savoring. “Wait until after you give birth. No rush.”

“Then like this…”

Su Yan leaned up and kissed him.

The moment their lips met, she froze.

His lips weren’t warm the way they used to be. There was a faint chill to them, a thin, cold edge.

“Are you feeling unwell?” she asked softly.

“No.” Zulu patted her back as if soothing her. “Sleep. Tomorrow morning I already agreed with the clan’s brothers to hunt devil beasts.”

“I heard,” Su Yan murmured. “The devil beasts that were deep in the Greenwood Plains have been coming out lately, causing trouble everywhere.”

“For the safety of the rabbit clan and the mouse clan, I might not come back often for a while,” Zulu said. “But when you give birth, I’ll be here.”

“Okay.”

Su Yan nodded and curled into his arms.

Before long, she drifted back to sleep.

Zulu lowered his head and looked at the beauty in his arms.

Slowly, silently, his pupils turned fully red.

…

Five days passed in a blink.

Su Yan stared at her enormous belly, unable to guess how many children were inside. All day long, the skin tightened and shifted as the babies kicked and pushed, lively to the point of pain.

This body’s birth mother, Crescent, had once delivered nine in a single litter. Su Yan didn’t know if she’d inherited that kind of fertility.

As for the earlier Little Black Panther… its beast father had been dying at the time. The fact there’d been any essence at all was thanks to the Pregnancy Pill.

Ashley had been raised by Grom as the next-generation tribal shaman heir. She’d already delivered once, so she understood the pregnancy process thoroughly and had begun taking on prenatal checks herself.

Su Yan lay on the bed, watching Ashley’s gentle smile. “In two days you won’t need to come every day.”

“Your body is special,” Ashley said. “If those mouse pups didn’t need me, I’d move in here and watch you myself.”

Su Yan laughed. “Where’s Lin Lang? He doesn’t watch the children?”

Ashley’s expression softened into something calm and distant. “The mouse clan and rabbit clan are hunting devil beasts together. He doesn’t come back until late at night. He can’t take care of the children.”