Chapter 349: Chapter 278: Heart-to-Heart Talk (Part 2)

Luna saw that several of the beast husbands were looking at her and lightly smiled, “We need several more days for the mining. It’s inevitable that spies from other tribes will come to investigate. We’re too far from the tribe, and if a conflict arises, it would be unfavorable for us. It’s better to completely dispel their doubts.”

She wasn’t wrong. The Eagle Tribe didn’t know how to refine or forge ore. Even if they managed to dig it out, it would just be a pile of rubbish.

Corbin Crowley’s silver eyes looked at her, a doting smile on his lips, “Luna is right, your considerations are very thorough.”

Kian Sterling nodded in agreement, “Indeed, our primary focus right now is mining. We shouldn’t stir up problems.”

The other beast husbands, hearing this, refrained from speaking and clearly accepted this decision.

The group had breakfast and then resumed mining.

With the experience from yesterday, the pace of mining today was significantly faster.

Also, the unexpected discovery of the blue copper ore had everyone working with more enthusiasm.

Luna didn’t remain idle; she collected the red iron ore they dug up into the wicker baskets.

If the pieces were too big to move, she picked up the smaller ones, sweating profusely from the heat.

If the baskets and backpacks weren’t enough, she would fetch some vines, sitting under a large tree to weave, always keeping busy.

This made the seven men feel heartbroken.

Corbin Crowley directly sat her in the shade, “Sit still and don’t move.”

Rhys Blackwood silently placed a bunch of wild grapes in her hands, “If you’re really bored, eat these grapes. They’re washed clean.”

Soren Phoenix’s Fiery Red Feather Robe swept out in a dazzling arc, snatching away the wicker basket she was halfway through weaving, “Luna’s hands are meant to caress me, not do this kind of hard labor.”

“Get lost!”

Six beast husbands responded in unison.

Kian Sterling suddenly wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, separating her from the others with his ten fox tails, “Luna, let me show you something.”

His voice was gentle yet carried an undeniable tone.

Before Luna could react, she was swept away by Kian Sterling’s fox tails into the depths of the dense forest.

“Kian?”

She looked up in confusion, only to see that the always elegant and composed old fox now had an unusually somber gaze, his fingertips brushing over the red marks on her wrist left by the vines, “Luna… do you prefer someone like Soren?”

His voice was somewhat hoarse, filled with unexplained emotions.

Luna was taken aback, not expecting Kian to suddenly ask this.

She looked up at this strikingly beautiful face that defied gender and noticed the unnatural redness at the corners of his eyes, his ten long fingers unconsciously twisting the ties of her clothing.

“You…”

She wanted to explain but didn’t know how to.

Lately, she had indeed been a bit distant with Kian, mostly because she couldn’t understand whether Kian truly loved her or not.

If he did love her, why wasn’t his affection increasing?

She recalled the last time Kian’s affection increased was when they were being chased by Nolan Sterling’s men.

That time, Kian was ambushed from behind by The Eight-Tailed Red Fox, and in a moment of panic, she dashed forward with her pregnant belly, shielding him from a fatal blow.

It was then that Kian’s affection for her skyrocketed from 75 to 90.

Since then, his affection had remained at 90 and hadn’t moved.

Luna couldn’t clearly distinguish whether he was moved by her or genuinely loved her.

Sometimes these feelings are easily confused.

Perhaps even in Kian’s heart, he couldn’t differentiate.

Seeing her silence, Kian thought she acquiesced and felt even more bitter inside.

He suddenly leaned down and bit her earlobe, his voice carrying a rare grievance, “You smiled at him three times today and let him touch you.”

Luna blushed. This old fox always appeared so indifferent, yet he kept such a precise count behind the scenes?

She teased him deliberately, “Soren does have a handsome face…”

“Am I not as handsome as him? Or has Luna moved on to someone new and forgotten about me, the old flame, already tired of me?”

Kian interrupted her, his voice carrying rare grievance, his eternally smiling fox eyes now masked with a watery veil.

Luna suddenly felt a pang in her heart.

She had never seen Kian like this before.

This fox, always handling things with finesse, now had his fox tails drooping listlessly behind him, his ten snowy white tails covered in mining dust.

“Kian, you are very handsome.”

She spoke softly, her fingertips caressing his exquisite face, “In my heart, you’re the most handsome.”

A glimmer of surprise flashed in Kian’s beautiful fox eyes, but he quickly suppressed it, anxiously asking, “If I’m so handsome, then why has Luna been so distant with me lately? Is it because of Soren?”

“It’s not…”

Luna instinctively shook her head.

“Then what is it?”

Kian suddenly pinned her against a tree trunk, his beautiful fox eyes full of mist and grievance, “I saw you laughing so happily with Soren, and it made my heart ache terribly.”

He took her hand and pressed it against his chest, “It hurts here like being bitten by a venomous snake. I admit I’m jealous of him because I want to be the one who makes you happy. Yet I still have to force myself to be magnanimous because I don’t want to make Luna upset.”

The heartbeat under her palm was fast and heavy.

Luna’s hand recoiled as if it had been burned.

“Kian.”

She suddenly cupped his face, “Look at me.”

The morning light trickled through the gaps in the leaves, casting a dappled glow on that androgynous face.

She looked into those perpetually smiling fox eyes, now clearly holding a shattered light.

“Do you love me?”

She finally asked the question that had been pressing at her heart.

Kian froze instantly, all ten fox tails ceasing movement, “What?”

Evidently, he didn’t understand why Luna would suddenly ask this.

“Not gratitude, not sympathy.”

Her fingertips traced over his heaving chest, “It’s the kind of love here… that would ache madly for me.”

“I…”

His Adam’s apple bobbed, the usually eloquent Ten-Tailed Celestial Fox suddenly lost for words.

He didn’t know how to answer.

The fox tails, which had ceased moving, suddenly swept the ground in agitation, scattering leaves and raising fine dust.

Luna watched his face turn pale, and his unspoken demeanor made her heart gradually sink to the bottom.

As expected… not even he can differentiate.

She already expected this would happen.

She didn’t even know why she cared so much whether or not Kian loved her, she just cared a lot about the answer.

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