Chapter 452: Chapter 451: Never Kill the Prey with a Single Bite

Yu Jiao tilted her head to look at the female who had followed her out, a woman who bore a striking resemblance to her. She asked in a low voice, “Mother, the Beast God is inactive now, so every female gets only one chance to communicate with him and receive a Blessing.

Last time, we weren’t vigilant enough. We let her escape, and she even managed to communicate with the Beast God. My fertility was restored, and you, Mother, suffered a backlash.

This time is different…” Her gaze greedily swept over the handsome and powerful males following behind Si Shuo. “Mother, just swap my mind and heart with Si Shuo’s. Let me enjoy her body as a Female Saint and gain the devotion of all those males!

And Si Shuo’s soul can be used to nourish you, Mother, and prolong your life.”

The female’s eyes turned cold as she looked at Si Shuo, a smirk playing on her lips. “She crawled out of my belly, so it’s only right that she sacrifice her body and soul. As long as you don’t mind her disabled body.”

Yu Jiao smiled and took her arm. “I knew you were the best to me, Mother!” ’Mind it? How could I mind? Si Shuo isn’t really deaf.’

With that, the two of them walked up to Ji Liang and looked up.

“Si Shuo, you see your Mother, yet you don’t come down to greet her?” Yu Jiao shouted arrogantly. “What, you’ve only been gone a short while and you don’t even recognize your own Mother anymore?”

In the past, Si Shuo would have been terrified and deferential in her Mother’s presence—respectful, afraid, yet filled with a longing for her mother’s affection that even a fool could see.

Si Shuo looked down. The female beside Yu Jiao wore the same arrogant expression. Even while looking up, she projected an air of utter contempt and disgust, as if her eyes were on the top of her head.

She let out a soft chuckle, turned, and slid down from Ji Liang, his tail guiding her into Wei Ce’s arms.

Once steady, Si Shuo walked up to the pair with her hands clasped behind her back. “Female Saint Miao Juan? It’s been a while.”

“I am your Mother,” Miao Juan said lightly, her brow furrowed.

“Mother?” Si Shuo’s lips curled into a smirk. “But I remember you telling me not to call you Mother. You said my deafness was the stain of your life, that I was unworthy of being your daughter.

“Besides,” she paused, then continued, “you knew perfectly well that stripping me of my fertility was a death sentence for me, yet you didn’t hesitate for a second.

In that moment, the bond between us as mother and daughter was completely severed. If Zhi Le hadn’t taken pity on me and protected me, I’m afraid I would have been annihilated. If the Beast God hadn’t found me pathetic, restored my fertility, and returned my health, how could I possibly have this happy family today?”

Miao Juan’s expression grew cold and sullen. She was a Female Saint, one who even possessed a highly sought-after Secret Technique. No one had ever defied her like this or treated her with such disregard.

“But you’re perfectly fine now, aren’t you?” she said dismissively. She knew this weak and timid daughter of hers better than anyone. For over a decade, she had been Si Shuo’s entire world. A single condescending smile or a few kind words from her was enough to make the young female willing to die for her.

Si Shuo raised an eyebrow at her. Silently activating the Mind Reading Technique from Little Hong that was stored in her Spirit Storage Talisman, she leaned in and whispered, “How strange. Logically, since the Beast God reclaimed my fertility superpower for me, the Spellcaster should have suffered a backlash. Yet, Female Saint Miao Juan is completely unharmed. You’re even younger and more beautiful than when I left home—you could almost be Yu Jiao’s sister. I wonder which unlucky soul was sacrificed for that?”

Miao Juan’s breath hitched. Very few people knew about this superpower of hers. Even when talking to Yu Jiao, she only ever claimed to know a mysterious High Priest, never admitting she possessed the ability herself.

She had even secretly amassed a large number of Crystal Stones through this, making a fortune without anyone knowing!

She wasn’t young anymore. The backlash from Si Shuo reclaiming her fertility had forced her to secretly steal the health of four young females just to recover—one’s talent, another’s five senses, a third’s smooth skin, and the last one’s fresh blood and meridians.

By the same token, she had also sacrificed the health of one of her Beast Husbands. It was an equivalent exchange, after all. If a Beast Husband was gone, she could just find another. Like Si Shuo’s Father…

“What nonsense are you spouting!” Miao Juan’s expression remained perfectly composed as she shot Si Shuo a displeased look. “You’ve been gone for a year, has your brain gotten even more addled than before? What sort of wild fantasies are you imagining?”

Si Shuo silently memorized the names of those females. ’When she learned that the original host’s Father hadn’t died from severe hunting injuries, but had been sacrificed by this venomous woman for her Female Saint superpower, a wave of rage almost shattered her composure.’

She let out a cold laugh. “It doesn’t matter if you won’t admit it. I didn’t come back to serve you this time. I just feel that there are some scores that I need to settle myself.

We’re Cat Beastmen. No matter how obedient I used to be, I still have the playful nature of a Cat Beast.

When a cat catches a mouse, it doesn’t kill its prey in one bite. It slowly, cruelly plays with it until it’s dead…

Female Saint Miao Juan, what do you think would happen if I were to find every single Beastman harmed by your superpower and pray to the Beast God to return what was stolen to its rightful owner? I wonder what would happen to you then?”

Miao Juan’s eyes widened in fury, and she hissed through gritted teeth, “Si Shuo, you wouldn’t dare!”

Si Shuo took a step back and said, enunciating every word, “Female Saint Miao Juan, perhaps you’ve never experienced the despair of death, the bitter struggle for life. That feeling is seared into your very soul. For someone who has already died once, what is there to be afraid of?

I’m not a merciful person. I always repay every debt. Besides, I’m just collecting a little interest for now. So, what do you think? Do I dare?”

Miao Juan’s expression suddenly relaxed; she thought Si Shuo was just bluffing. Last time, it was because Si Shuo was receiving a Blessing that the Beast God noticed her original, excellent fertility had been stolen. That’s why he intervened in the affairs of Beastmen—as a warning.

But when the devastating Beast Tide came to ravage the Southern Continent, the Beast God didn’t even show his face. Would he really bother with such a trivial matter for Si Shuo, one unrelated to procreation or life and death?

“Fine, then. We’ll just wait and see,” Miao Juan had lived for decades, after all. She had seen and experienced much, and she understood the Beast God’s principles perfectly well.

’This time, when I swap Si Shuo and Yu Jiao, it will just be an exchange of organs. Deceitful substitutions like this… I’m an old hand at it.’

Si Shuo walked back, her face cold and grim. Wei Ce squeezed her hand worriedly and asked in a low voice, “Shuo, what’s wrong?”

She pressed her lips together, turned, and hugged him. A double dose of bitterness and pain welled up inside her, as if the original host’s instinctive resentment, confusion, and despair were about to overwhelm her.

The original host was dead, but her memories and emotions remained.

“It’s nothing. I was just thinking about my Father. Such a handsome, gentle male… why didn’t he live longer? If he were here now, he would definitely challenge each of you to a fight. Even if he couldn’t win, he would make sure you all knew that for the sake of his precious daughter, he would risk his life to keep anyone from bullying me…”

Wei Ce hugged her tightly, his heart aching for her. ’He himself had never known a mother’s love, but he had received his father’s complete devotion and care.’ “Shuo, be honest,” he teased gently. “At home… who’s the one bullying who?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep