Beastman Becomes Butcher

Clashing blades and thunderous cries of battle filled the air, making Yun Zhao’s head pound as if it might shatter.

“Who’s making such a racket?” Even the dead could not rest in peace. Rubbing her throbbing, muddled temples, Yun Zhao forced herself upright.

Suddenly, a rush of hot liquid spattered her, jolting her heavy eyelids open.

“Blood!” In that instant, she was fully awake.

Before her eyes unfolded a fierce melee.

Yun Zhao’s pupils shrank in shock.

She wasn’t dead? No—she had been reborn!

She had returned to the moment when, exiled to the wilds with her five beast-husbands, they were ambushed and hunted.

How fortunate! Since Heaven had granted her a second chance, this time she would grind those who wronged her to dust, and only then could she repay the blood-deep hatred for her mother’s murder, her kingdom’s theft, her ruin.

“Why won’t you just die?!” A cold, dangerous voice pierced the air.

Turning, Yun Zhao locked eyes with Wen Lang, the merman beastman, his face pale, his tail crisscrossed with wounds.

Wen Lang—one of the five great beast-husbands her mother sovereign had painstakingly found for her. His icy blue eyes brimmed with murderous intent, undimmed even now that she had caught him glaring.

Yun Zhao instantly understood why Wen Lang wanted her dead. In her previous pursuit of Xie Diao, she had done whatever it took, destroying the merman’s voice—his greatest weapon, the merfolk’s song. Because of her, he had lost his power to fight, and now, as they were hunted, Wen Lang and she had become burdens the other four beast-husbands had to protect.

For a male beastman, pride and dignity were gone; in his place, she too would have wanted blood.

As he wished, Yun Zhao had indeed died in her past life—and in the most horrific way, skinned and flayed alive, dying in agony.

But now, she was reborn.

“It won’t be long now. But to die beside a wretch like you—disgusting.” Wen Lang’s broken, harsh voice grated like rusted bronze.

Yun Zhao: “…”

Looking closer, she saw the other four beast-husbands locked in desperate battle with more than twenty wolf beastmen.

Xiao Yan, the leopard beastman, was riddled with wounds, blood pouring from holes all over his body.

Le Fei, the eagle beastman, bore a savage gash across his chest, blood gushing freely with every movement.

The others fared little better.

Among the five, only Qing Xuance and Ye Chonglou were fourth-rank, the rest third, while every wolf beastman was a uniform third rank.

The situation was grim; her life could be snuffed out at any moment.

Having fought so hard for this second chance, Yun Zhao had no desire to die again. She furrowed her brow, rapidly searching for a way out.

At that tense moment, Le Fei suddenly staggered to his knees, his left shoulder smashed to pulp by a spiked wolf-club.

He spat a mouthful of black blood, turning his golden eyes, burning with hatred and despair, toward Yun Zhao, ugly and grimy atop the shattered prison wagon. “Get lost!”

Even if he had to die, he would not let this wretch sully his grave.

Before his words faded, a wolf assassin lunged, poisoned bone blade aimed straight at Le Fei’s back.

In that split second, Yun Zhao’s chains flared with golden light.

She leapt forward, intercepting the blade with her own back. Hot blood trickled down her collarbone, seeping into her clothes.

“You…” Le Fei was so stunned he could not speak, catching Yun Zhao’s limp body by reflex. He had never imagined that the princess who once mocked his broken wings would shield him from death with her own flesh.

The other beast-husbands stared in shock at Yun Zhao and Le Fei.

Struggling upright, Yun Zhao met five pairs of eyes, each reflecting her blackened, bloodied face.

She hadn’t yet worked out how to take her revenge, but first she had to survive.

“Hold your breath.” She swiftly pulled out a pill, tossed it to the ground, and a cloud of white smoke enveloped the area.

When the smoke cleared, the ground was littered with fallen wolf beastmen. Only Yun Zhao and her beast-husbands remained standing.

Thankfully, they had heeded her warning and held their breath—well, except for Xiao Yan, who now lay sprawled on the ground.

“What was that?” Ye Chonglou stared, struggling to comprehend.

“A narcotic,” Yun Zhao replied.

Even when she was a princess, she’d only ever had one of these potent sleeping drugs.

She handed Ye Chonglou a vial. “Let Xiao Yan smell this and he’ll wake.”

The movement wrenched her wound, making Yun Zhao grimace and cry out in pain.

Wen Lang snorted with disdain. “Useless.”

Yun Zhao’s lips twitched—just how much did he despise her?

Le Fei finally came to his senses, murmuring, “Why?” Why save him? Didn’t she hate them all?

Pressing her wound, Yun Zhao’s voice softened with an unfamiliar gentleness. “This time, let me protect you.”

In the last life, the five beast-husbands had suffered for her sake and met terrible ends. Now that she’d been given another chance, she would do everything to make amends.

Besides, she had to win back their favor. In her stupidity, she’d antagonized them all for the sake of a worthless male; now, exiled and hunted, without their protection she was as good as dead.

“No one needs your protection.” The word itself stoked Le Fei’s rebelliousness, making him miss her mention of “this time.”

“Don’t think I’ll ever forgive you for this. If you don’t divorce me, I’ll rip out your heart.”

“Crocodile tears.” Xiao Yan, revived by Ye Chonglou, reverted to human form, his wounds still oozing black blood. “What new tricks are you playing, wretch? Haven’t you harmed us enough?”

“You skinned Qing Xuance alive for that scum’s sake, just to get some snake scales!”

Qing Xuance, having just finished off the last wolf beastmen, arrived in time to hear this. His face was ice-cold, his aura sharp and deadly.

Yun Zhao shrank back, cowed by Qing Xuance’s chilling murderous intent.

Ye Chonglou wiped the blood from his lips. “Xiao Yan is right… She broke Le Fei’s wings, cut off Xiao Yan’s tail, sliced off my fox ears, ruined Wen Lang’s voice…”

Yun Zhao’s lips twitched in agony. She knew she had hurt them deeply, but never realized the full extent of her crimes.

Of course, in the end, she had lost her own life through her own foolishness.

Wen Lang lowered his gaze. “I’ve lost count of how many times we’ve been assassinated now.”

“Before exile, this wretch, just to please that scum, betrayed our whereabouts to our enemies… Now, with half a life left, better to end it all than be tortured to death…” He looked up at Yun Zhao, murder rising in his gentle eyes. “Let’s die together and drag this wretch to hell.”

Yun Zhao forced herself upright, her wound tearing, blackness swimming before her eyes.

In her previous life, she’d thrown everything away, serving that scum with unwavering devotion, believing that her love would win him forever. Who could have known he would poison her, destroy her face, cripple her body, then collude with her cousin to steal her princess’s title, exile her, murder her mother, seize her kingdom—and finally, flay her alive.

For such a scum, she had turned her beast-husbands into butchers. Yun Zhao was filled with bitter regret.