Chapter 46: Two Knuckle-Knocks and a Broken Brain

Han Shān and Zhāo Yàn stood completely paralyzed, their intents to kill evaporating into the cool air like steam. They stared at the ragged, panting boy standing at the edge of the territory, completely unable to process the sight before them.

“Hóng Yè?” Han Shān finally rumbled, his eyes wide with disbelief.

Before the furious teenage Red Panda could spit out another threat, a tiny, white blur shot out from behind Han Shān’s massive legs.

“Big brother!!!”

Ruì Xuě didn’t care about the tense atmosphere. He didn’t care about the menacing Tiger beastman standing in the shadows. The snow leopard cub’s fluffy tail wagged so hard his entire back half wiggled as he launched himself across the grass.

Instantly, the raging aura surrounding Hóng Yè vanished completely.

The thirteen-year-old’s furious snarl melted into a look of love. He dropped to his knees in the dirt, throwing his arms open just in time to catch the little snow leopard.

“Snowflake!” Hóng Yè gasped, burying his face into Ruì Xuě’s soft white hair. All the edgy, rebellious teenager energy disappeared, replaced immediately by the energy of a doting older brother. He hugged the cub so tightly Ruì Xuě let out a tiny squeak. “You’re okay! Look at you, you’ve gotten bigger! Are you eating? Are you warm enough?”

“I caught a leaf today!” Ruì Xuě announced proudly, squishing his little cheeks against Hóng Yè’s chest.

“That’s my amazing little brother,” Hóng Yè sniffled.

Zhao Yan stared, his arms over his chest as he arched an eyebrow. “Well. It is good to see you, little menace. But I must ask, what exactly do you want with Bai Yue?”

Hóng Yè’s head snapped up. The tears vanished, instantly replaced by a murderous glare. He bared his small fangs, instinctively pulling Ruì Xuě behind his back to shield him.

“What else?!” Hóng Yè yelled, his bushy, ringed tail puffing up to twice its normal size. “I came to beat her up!”

Han Shān let out a heavy, tired breath. He took a step forward, his towering, muscular frame casting a long shadow over the boy.

“You came to fight a fully grown female?” Han Shān asked flatly. “Where is your father, Hóng Yè? Where is Yan Shu?”

At the mention of his father’s name, Hóng Yè flinched. The bravado completely drained from his face. He averted his eyes, looking down at his scuffed, dirty boots, and aggressively kicked a pebble.

“He is….. not here,” Hóng Yè mumbled, suddenly finding the dirt incredibly fascinating. He puffed his cheeks out in a classic, stubborn pout. “I snuck away.”

“You what?” Zhāo Yàn hissed, his fox ears flattening against his head.

“I snuck away!” Hóng Yè yelled back defensively, jumping to his feet. He pointed a trembling finger toward the older boy standing silently beside him. “This is Shěn! He’s my friend from the Wandering River Tribe, where me and Dad have been living. Shěn helped me cross the valley so I could come back here!”

Han Shān and Zhāo Yàn both shifted their gazes to the Tiger beastman.

Shěn was tall, broad-shouldered, and deeply intimidating for his age. He had striking black hair with thick orange streaks, and his arms were crossed tightly over his chest. But what was most unsettling about him was his face.

He had absolutely no expression whatsoever.

Shěn’s eyes were dead and blank, radiating the emotional availability of a wet rock. He didn’t blink. He didn’t greet them. He just stood there, staring a hole straight through Han Shān’s forehead.

Zhāo Yàn narrowed his eyes, trying to catch a whiff of the Tiger’s emotions, but got absolutely nothing. Creepy kit, the Fox Lord thought to himself.

Han Shān pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a massive headache forming behind his eyes. He knew exactly why Hóng Yè was acting out.

Yan Shu, the Red Panda beastman, was Bai Yue’s third husband. He was not a fierce warrior like Han Shān, nor was he a cunning, wealthy lord like Zhāo Yàn. Yan Shu was a scholar. He was a gatherer, a healer, and a fiercely gentle soul with a heart far too soft for his own good.

He was also the husband who had loved Bai Yue the most.

Because of his gentle nature, the old Bai Yue had pushed him around effortlessly. She had used him, berated him, and drained him of his spirit.

Yet, Yan Shu had stayed, constantly trying to patch their broken family together, until her cruelty toward the cubs had finally broken him. He had taken Hóng Yè and left the Thousand Fang Tribe to travel, seeking a quiet place to heal his shattered heart.

“Why would you do something so foolish, Hóng Yè?” Han Shān scolded. Your father is the most anxious beastman on this continent. He will be sick with worry!”

“I don’t care!” Hóng Yè shouted, his voice cracking violently. He balled his hands into tight fists, his slender shoulders shaking. “I hate it! I hate seeing him like that! He’s always so sad, always looking at the moon and sighing! He still misses her, even after everything she did to us!”

The boy wiped his nose roughly with the back of his sleeve. “She starved Ruì Xuě! She left Yòu Lín in the dirt! She broke my papa’s heart! She doesn’t get to just stay here and be happy! I came back to make her pay! It’s only what she deserves!”

THWACK.

THWACK.

Two distinct, hollow sounds echoed through the clearing.

“OW!”

Hóng Yè yelped, clutching the top of his head with both hands. Han Shān and Zhāo Yàn had moved in perfect, synchronized harmony, each delivering a sharp, disciplinary knuckle-knock to the top of the teenager’s skull.

Even Shěn, the emotionless Tiger, blinked once in mild surprise.

“Foolish cub,” Han Shān grunted, crossing his massive arms. “You do not solve your father’s heartbreak by running blindly into danger. The forest is full of rogues. You could have been killed.”

“And you have severely underestimated your opponent,” Zhāo Yàn added dryly, rubbing his knuckles. “That ’cursed female’ you want to beat up went toe-to-toe with a Swamp Hydra this afternoon and won. She would likely snap you like a dry twig and use your tail as a cloth.”

“A hydra?!” Hóng Yè choked, his jaw dropping. He looked at Shěn for backup, but the Tiger merely offered a slow, apathetic shrug.

Before Hóng Yè could process the absolute absurdity of that statement, Ruì Xuě tugged gently on the hem of his older brother’s ragged tunic.

The snow leopard cub tilted his head, his large purple eyes blinking in innocent confusion.

“Big brother?” Ruì Xuě asked softly.

“Yes, Snowflake?” Hóng Yè rubbed his sore head, looking down.

“Why are you mad at Mama?”

The clearing went completely, utterly silent.

If there had been crickets in the beast world, they would have been deafening.

Hóng Yè froze. He slowly lowered his hands from his head. His brain hit a complete wall, buffering violently as his ears twitched. He stared at Ruì Xuě. Then he stared at Han Shān. Then he stared at Zhāo Yàn.

His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, his pupils shrinking to tiny pinpricks. His jaw went completely slack, forming a perfect, cartoonish ’O’ of shock.

“M-M-M-M-Mama?!” Hóng Yè stammered, his voice jumping a full octave. “Did you……did you just call her Mama?!”

He looked at Han Shān, the father who had sworn to never let Bai Yue near his son again. Han Shān simply cleared his throat, looking away toward the treeline with a deeply uncomfortable expression.

Hóng Yè spun toward Zhāo Yàn. The Fox Lord let out a long, nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Ah……well,” Zhāo Yàn chuckled. “A lot of things have changed since you left, little menace. You see…… something happened to her….I think she hit her head. Things are different now.”

“Ehhhhh????!” Hóng Yè shrieked, clutching his face in a classic expression of absolute horror. “Are you both under a spell?! Did she drug the village water supply?! Shěn, draw your claws! They have been fooled!”

Shěn did not draw his claws. He simply stood there, staring blankly at a very interesting blade of grass.

“No one is fooled, Hóng Yè,” Han Shān sighed. He reached out, placing a heavy, grounding hand on the teenager’s trembling shoulder. “You are tired. You are hungry. You reek of filth.”

“I am a warrior of vengeance!” Hóng Yè protested weakly.

“You are a teenager who needs a bath,” Zhāo Yàn corrected smoothly, ushering the boy toward the hut. “Come. Both of you. We will get you some roasted meat before you collapse. You can interrogate us after you eat.”

“But—but the cursed female!” Hóng Yè dug his heels into the dirt.

Zhāo Yàn smirked, a dangerous, amused glint in his crimson eyes. “Oh, do not worry. You will see her soon enough. The tribe meal is tonight. And trust me, little Red Panda……your brain is not prepared for the female who is going to walk out of those hot springs.”

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