After Pampering Her 5 Beast Husbands, the Villainess Struck It Rich

Chapter 71: Chapter 71: I... I Won’t Touch You, Don’t Cry

Lang Qiu thought he was the one who had made her cry. The man, who stood nearly two meters tall, was completely at a loss. He’d never comforted anyone before and had no idea what to do. He just haphazardly pulled out a pile of food, drinks, and other supplies, shoved them all at her, and stammered, "I... I won’t touch you anymore. Please don’t cry."

But Bai Zhi only cried harder.

Yue Junxiao scrambled to grab a blanket and drape it over her shoulders. He awkwardly tried to soothe her, saying, "P-please, don’t cry. You’re safe now. We’re heading back right away."

In their eyes, Bai Zhi was just a delicate female. It was only natural for her to be terrified after what she had just been through.

Her old, malicious image was so deeply ingrained in their minds, yet here she was, breaking down completely. ’Just how terrified must she have been before we got here?!’

Considering how much she had changed recently, the thought of her being kidnapped while they were away, only to then face the ordeal on the starship, made nearly everyone present feel a pang of heartache for Bai Zhi.

But their words didn’t help. Instead of showing any sign of stopping, she only cried harder.

Her cries echoed through the entire starship.

Just moments ago, when she was all alone, she hadn’t felt this overwhelmed. Though terrified, she hadn’t shed a single tear.

But now, with them trying to comfort her—these big, imposing men, all fumbling to find the right words—an overwhelming sense of grievance washed over her. It was as if all the fear and injustice she’d bottled up was finally bursting out.

The towering Beastmen watched Bai Zhi sob, standing around helplessly. They started shooting glances at Hu Yan, urging him to step in and try to comfort her.

Hu Yan was at a loss, too. ’I’ve never comforted anyone before!’

Especially not a female like Bai Zhi; he had no idea where to even begin to soothe her.

Just then, Bai Zhi suddenly turned and threw herself into Hu Yan’s arms, wrapping her hands around his waist. Hu Yan, who had never been embraced like that before and was unaccustomed to such close contact, tensed for a brief moment. He quickly relaxed, however, and awkwardly patted her on the head.

He might be brilliant, an expert when it came to strategy and scheming, but in a situation like this, even a man as eloquent as him was at a complete loss for words.

In the end, he gave up on trying to console her with words.

Besides, he had a hunch that she didn’t need words of comfort at that moment.

After all, Yan Yichen and Lang Qiu had just tried saying a few things, and not only had it failed to comfort her, it had actually made her cry even harder.

It was clear she didn’t need him to say anything to try and console her.

’Besides,’ he thought, ’it’s probably good for her to have a good cry right now. Letting out all that fear is better than bottling it up. She might feel better afterward.’

Bai Zhi clung to Hu Yan, crying for a full ten minutes before her sobs finally subsided into quiet sniffles.

When she finally stopped, she realized she had soaked the front of Hu Yan’s shirt.

Embarrassed, Bai Zhi peeked out from his embrace. Seeing the large, damp patch of tears and snot, her cheeks flushed.

She stared at his shirt and mumbled, "I’m sorry..."

Hu Yan’s pale blue eyes glanced at his tear-soaked shirt before rising to meet her gaze. "It’s nothing," he said calmly. "Are you done crying?"

He didn’t offer a single word of concern, nor was there any worry in his eyes. His tone was so placid it was as if everything she had just experienced had been nothing but a dream.

A dream from which she had now woken, and everything was fine.

Yet, Bai Zhi felt a sense of peace.

Even though they had only been together for less than a week, it would be a lie to say she wasn’t moved by the fact that they had come all this way for her.

At that moment, Bai Zhi felt a sense of groundedness she hadn’t felt before.

Here, in the vast, dark expanse of space, their presence felt incredibly dear to her.

Not long ago, every one of them had wanted her dead. Yet now, they had been willing to cut their group hunt short and go to great lengths just to save her.

’Of course,’ she thought, ’part of it was probably because they worried that if I died, they would die too.’

But the fact remained that they had saved her.

Just then, Yue Junxiao suddenly blurted out, "If Hu Yan’s shirt isn’t enough, I’ve got another one."

For some reason, his awkward words made Bai Zhi laugh. She turned and shot him an exasperated look. "What do you take me for? A living fountain? I don’t have that many tears!"

Yue Junxiao was taken aback by her retort and scratched his head sheepishly.

But seeing her finally smile, the heart that had been lodged in his throat finally settled back into his chest. He was happy, even if she had just told him off.

Sang Mo watched as the others crowded around Bai Zhi. He pressed his lips together, the tension in his body easing slightly. Masking the emotion in his eyes, he quietly moved off to the side.

Just then, a sudden "BOOM—" echoed from outside.

The shockwave from the explosion rocked their starship, causing it to lurch.

Luckily, Hu Yan was quick to grab her, keeping her from losing her balance and falling over.

Hearing the blast, Bai Zhi’s heart seized for a moment.

’If... If Hu Yan and the others hadn’t come, if I hadn’t been rescued... I would have been blown to pieces along with that other starship.’

’The thought alone was terrifying.’

She looked at them. Whatever their reasons were, the fact remained that they had saved her.

’Before, I was only focused on completing my mission of spending money on them; I didn’t feel any sense of belonging here. But from this moment on, I want to try treating them like family.’

’It’s not just because they saved me, but also because they’re the people I’ve become closest to since arriving in this world.’

Having come to this realization, a relaxed expression settled on Bai Zhi’s face, accompanied by a faint smile.

Bai Zhi then remembered something. Her family didn’t own a starship, so where had this one come from?

So she asked curiously, "Whose starship is this? And how did you know my exact location? What if I hadn’t been on that other starship? Or what if I’d already left on a smaller vessel?"

Yue Junxiao eagerly explained, "This is a starship from the Female Alliance! They tracked the location of the other ship, and we chased it all the way here. We managed to get you out just before it blew up."

Yan Yichen added, "A moment ago, we and the Female Alliance both assumed you had escaped on one of the smaller vessels. But Hu Yan said you were probably still on the main starship. We never thought you’d actually still be on board. It’s a good thing he insisted on checking, otherwise you might have... with the explosion..."

He didn’t finish his sentence, but Bai Zhi understood the rest.

The System’s voice suddenly sounded in her mind. "Host, I need to hibernate for 24 hours to recover my energy."

Bai Zhi froze. ’The System needs to hibernate?’

She suddenly recalled how the System had told her to go to the control room. ’So, is the hibernation because it used some forbidden energy to keep me from dying? Is that why it has to shut down?’