020 Ruthless and Fierce

Si Qi, having exhausted his mental energy, swayed and collapsed to the ground. He reverted to his human form, his face pale and drained of all color, and could only lean against a tree trunk, gasping for breath.

The Iron-Feathered Eagle, however, had been thrown off balance by his attack. Its wings hung limp, rendering it unable to take flight again.

Jin Ye, in his lion form, seized the opportunity to pounce. His sharp fangs clamped down firmly on the eagle’s right wing, refusing to let go despite its frantic struggles.

You Lie transformed into a massive, snow-white serpent. His body coiled tightly around the eagle’s torso, his scales glinting coldly as he squeezed harder and harder, nearly crushing its bones.

Lan Xi leaped from the stream, ripples of pale purple mental energy radiating from him. He launched wave after wave of attacks at the eagle’s head, disrupting its consciousness.

Although the Iron-Feathered Eagle was a Green-tier creature with formidable combat power, once it lost the advantage of flight and was trapped on the ground, it had no way to unleash its full potential.

It flapped its wings madly, its talons carving deep marks into the earth, yet it could not break free from You Lie’s coils or Jin Ye’s bite. Dazed by Lan Xi’s mental assaults, its movements gradually slowed.

Watching this, Li Yue felt her heart settle slightly. As long as they maintained their advantage and kept the eagle from taking to the sky again, they would surely win.

However, the pain in her shoulder grew more acute. Blood trickled down her arm, staining the ground with tiny crimson blossoms. She instinctively clenched her hand, her fingers brushing against the necklace at her throat. She suddenly remembered that she still had a few drops of spirit spring water left in her spatial dimension, but with Chi Yu nearby, she had no opportunity to retrieve it for healing. She could only grit her teeth and wait.

Chi Yu watched from the side, anxious. Li Yue glanced at him and asked, "Do you need to join them?"

He shook his head. "They can handle it. I need to keep watch over you."

Li Yue understood his reasoning. The Beast World was full of predators, not just this one. If Chi Yu joined the fight, she would be left vulnerable. Females in the Beast World were considered a delicacy to predators; not only that, but consuming the meat of a female beast-person supposedly allowed predators to level up. This was why females were frequent targets when out in the wild, and why they all sought to find high-ranking males as their beast-mates.

Clearly, Li Yue’s father had anticipated the various threats, as the five beast-mates he had chosen for her were carefully selected to cover land, water, and air.

The Iron-Feathered Eagle’s struggles grew weaker until, under the crushing coils of You Lie, the biting of Jin Ye, and the mental suppression of Lan Xi, it finally breathed its last. Its massive body fell heavily to the ground.

Several of the beast-mates were injured. Jin Ye’s front paw had been slashed by the eagle’s talons, leaving a deep, bone-visible wound that soaked his fur in blood. Lan Xi’s fish tail was tinged with a faint red, clearly grazed by the eagle’s wings when he leaped from the water. Even You Lie’s snake scales had been torn away in places, exposing the raw flesh beneath.

The most severe case was Si Qi. Having drained his mental energy, he had passed out, his face white as paper and his breathing shallow.

You Lie was the first to return to human form. He walked over to the eagle’s carcass and pried open its skull, revealing a beast crystal glowing with a green light. Its texture was even more translucent than that of the Giant Crocodile Python’s crystal.

His eyes brightened; they were incredibly lucky to have encountered two predators, both of which possessed beast crystals.

You Lie walked over holding the glowing green crystal, but instead of tending to his own wounds, he fished a handful of dried hemostatic herbs from his animal-skin pouch and ground them up on the spot.

He grabbed a clean strip of animal hide, but just as he knelt to dress the wound on Li Yue’s shoulder, she held up a hand to stop him.

"Wait." Li Yue endured the stinging pain in her shoulder, lifted her chin slightly, and fixed her gaze on the beast-mark on You Lie’s chest.

"Including this time, you have helped me dress my wounds three times. We agreed that after three times, I would give you a drop of my blood. Since I’m already bleeding, let’s do it now. It will save me from having to prick my finger again once the wound scabs over; that hurts."

As she spoke, she instinctively curled her fingertips. She had already pricked her fingers twice before for this purpose, and the sharp pain of the blade piercing her skin made her shudder.

Besides, since her shoulder was already bleeding, using that blood was convenient. It saved her from further injury and fulfilled her promise—a win-win.

You Lie’s movements froze in mid-air, and he nearly spilled the herbal paste in his hands.

He stared at the blood still seeping from Li Yue’s shoulder, a complex emotion flickering in his dark red eyes. She was still bleeding, yet instead of thinking about stopping it, she was focused on giving him her blood?

Was she that desperate to break their contract?

A burst of inexplicable anger flared in his heart, making his voice rise, sounding harsh and fierce: "Is this really the time to be thinking about that?"

His tone was loud enough that Li Yue felt as if he were scolding her.

A wave of grievance surged up. It wasn’t as if she had wanted to come to this Beast World to suffer, and their resentment wasn’t her doing either. Now, she was injured and in agonizing pain, yet she was being scolded.

Tears spilled from her eyes uncontrollably. She bit her lower lip hard to keep from sobbing aloud, then dipped her fingertips into the blood on her shoulder and reached silently toward the beast-mark on You Lie’s chest.

As the drop of blood fell, the pale purple mark shimmered, its color visibly fading by a layer.

Looking at the faded mark, You Lie felt a tightness in his chest, as if it were blocked by something. He felt suffocated.

He had longed to break the contract countless times, wishing to be free from the shackles of the mate-mark, yet now that he was one step closer, he felt no joy. Instead, he felt empty inside, and even his breathing hurt.

After the blood was offered, Li Yue didn't want to deal with him anymore. She turned to leave, but You Lie caught her wrist.

He didn't use much force, yet it was enough to keep her from breaking free.

He sighed softly and softened his tone. "Si Qi’s mental energy is exhausted; he can’t heal you for now. Let me dress your wound with these herbs..."

Though Li Yue was angry at him for shouting, she didn't want to suffer unnecessarily. After all, she had already given him the blood, so it was only right for him to dress her wound. Besides, stopping the bleeding and bandaging it quickly would alleviate the pain.

Therefore, she didn't pull away again and lowered her gaze without a word.

Seeing that she wasn't being stubborn, You Lie breathed a sigh of relief. He picked up the herbal paste and knelt down to dress her wound. His touch was exceptionally gentle, carefully avoiding the skin around the wound for fear of hurting her.

Li Yue remained silent, turning her head away. Her shoulders trembled slightly, and though tears clung to her cheeks, she stubbornly refused to let another one fall.

Without Si Qi’s healing power, the herbs stung when applied to the wound, and Li Yue couldn't help but hiss in pain.

You Lie’s movements became even lighter. Once he finished bandaging her, he hesitated for a moment before reaching out to gently wipe the tears from her cheeks with his thumb.

The skin he touched was burning hot, and that warmth felt like a searing needle, piercing his heart with pain. He wanted to say something, opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say, so he silently withdrew his hand.

Li Yue didn't look at him, her gaze fixed on the unconscious Si Qi nearby.

Chi Yu walked over to check on him, and when he returned, he looked relieved. "Don't worry, his mental energy is just depleted. There are no other obvious injuries; he should be fine after a good sleep."

Li Yue frowned slightly. This meant they would not be able to continue their journey today.