Chapter 203: Chapter 203: Even a Dog Wouldn’t Want This Devotion
"Female Mother? Female Mother, what’s wrong with you?"
Yuan Yuan’s calls brought Wen Qing back to her senses. Only then did she realize that everything she was holding had fallen to the ground.
Chestnuts were scattered all over the ground, and the milk tea and roasted sweet potato had smashed into a pulp. Wen Qing was at a loss for a moment. "Ma’am, I..."
"It’s alright, don’t worry," Yu An said, retrieving a broom from behind the stall cart. "Miss, please take your Zaizai and stand over here. I’ll clean this up."
Feng Xuan took the broom and started cleaning while Yu An led Wen Qing behind the cart and had her sit down to rest.
Seeing how shaken Wen Qing was, Yu An poured her a cup of hot water. "Here, drink some water. Where do you live? I can have my Beast Husband find your family to come and get you."
"My... my home is in Invincible City... I mean, in the alley up ahead."
Wen Qing had spoken incorrectly in her daze and she hastily corrected herself. "It’s in the alley up ahead. Sorry to trouble you, Ma’am."
’Invincible City...’
Yu An glanced in the direction Wen Qing had been looking but said nothing more. She sent Han Li to notify Wen Qing’s family.
"Zaizai, Auntie will make you a new portion of food. Can you take good care of your Female Mother for me, okay?"
Seeing Yuan Yuan agree obediently, Yu An went back to work at the front of her stall.
Around noon, Wen Qing’s Beast Husband returned home. He came over, thanked Yu An, and then took Wen Qing and Yuan Yuan home with him.
Ao Wu sidled up to her. "An’an, I saw where that female was looking just now. It seemed to be toward the entrance of the Dragon Clan’s residence. A moment ago, only the Poisonous Insect Granny came out. Should I look into it?"
Yu An mulled it over for a moment. "Yes, look into it. I saw her the last time I set up my stall. I heard her Beast Husband and youngling both went missing, and then she moved here from Invincible City."
’Wen Qing was so terrified when she saw the Poisonous Insect Granny. Could she know something?’
Ao Wu’s—or rather, Ao Yi’s—efficiency was impressive. By the time Yu An packed up her stall and returned home, he had already uncovered most of the story.
Wen Qing’s family had indeed moved from Invincible City. For a while after they first arrived, Wen Qing almost never left the house. Her Beast Husband would only occasionally go out to purchase food.
Later, after becoming pregnant with her current youngling, Yuan Yuan, Wen Qing gradually began to interact with her neighbors.
But she was taciturn and rarely spoke, and there was always a dark cloud of sorrow hanging over her that never seemed to lift.
She had been doing much better recently and even started smiling more. However, her neighbors said they sometimes heard crying from her house at night.
’The Beast Husband’s disappearance could be explained if he was captured by the Invincible Alliance and forced into service, but the youngling...’
Yu An’s heart skipped a beat. She thought of the wooden cabin in the Mist Forest.
"Big Brother, I want to see Wen Qing."
Ao Yi had heard about the wooden cabin from Ao Si, so he understood immediately what Yu An was implying.
"Alright," he agreed. "Little Sister, it’s a bit late today. I’ll ask her to come for a visit tomorrow."
Yu An nodded. "Big Brother, what about the Poisonous Insect Granny and her people? Should we have them watched? We might be able to gather some information."
’Like the Invincible Alliance’s real reason for being here.’
Ao Yi smiled. "Don’t worry, Little Sister. Beast Father already thought of that. The inn they’re staying in is one of our Dragon Clan’s private businesses. From the owner to the Xiao Er, they’re all our people."
"They’ll report in as soon as there’s any news, and I’ll tell you immediately."
Since someone else was worrying about these things, Yu An could happily let them handle it and not worry herself.
Whatever the Poisonous Insect Granny’s objective was, Yu An knew she would be a target. For now, all that mattered was keeping herself safe.
And her children, of course. But her children were safe in her personal dimension; no matter how powerful the Poisonous Insect Granny was, she could never get in there.
「Invincible City.」
Ao Yin had ordered the Poisonous Insect Granny to bring Yu An and her children back as soon as possible. Of course, it wasn’t just because he wanted her Phoenix Blood.
It was also because "the Lord" was growing impatient. Since Yu An had destroyed the pool in Coral City, the Lord’s body was decaying even more rapidly.
He was desperate to obtain the body he had long had his eye on and be reborn sooner.
"Haven’t they returned yet?"
A hoarse voice drifted from the inner room. Ao Yin lowered his head. "Not yet. I’ve already sent people to urge them along. Perhaps in a few days..."
"A few days?"
The voice became shrill and even more grating. "In a few more days, not even the Essence Qi of younglings will be able to sustain my body! Are you going to wait until I’m dead before you bring her back?!"
"My Lord, please calm your anger," Ao Yin said, swallowing hard. "If one youngling isn’t enough, we’ll just use a few more. You know as well as I do that the Dragon Clan is very difficult to deal with."
After a long silence, the voice spoke again. "Bring me a few more younglings."
Ao Yin hesitated for a moment. "My Lord, could we perhaps use adult Beastman...?"
It wasn’t that he was kind-hearted, but younglings were treasured by every family. Stealing a few might go unnoticed, but if they stole too many, people would inevitably start noticing something was amiss.
Adult Beastman were a different story. Especially single males—if a few of them went missing, no one would pay any mind.
"BANG—"
A loud crash came from the inner room. "If adult Beastman were of any use, why would I have bothered to help you with that matter? You should know, Alliance Hierarch Ao, that wiping a Phoenix Beastman’s memory and implanting new ones is no easy feat."
Ao Yin knew this, of course. Even the Poisonous Insect Granny’s three memory-altering Gu Worms had been cultivated with the Lord’s help.
One had been used on Yu Huang. Another, which had some flaws, was said to have been used on one of Yu Huang’s former confidants, but unfortunately, it hadn’t had much effect.
And the last one...
The Poisonous Insect Granny kept it clutched tightly in her hand, refusing to give it to Ao Yin no matter how many times he asked.
Fortunately, it wasn’t as if Ao Yin desperately needed it. Although the Gu Worm could alter memories, its effect on Yu Huang had been minimal. Back then, instead of successfully replacing her memories, it had merely caused her to lose them.
Now, what he needed was the Lord’s help to rewrite Yu Huang’s memories completely.
When he broke away from the Dragon Clan, he founded the Invincible Alliance with the Lord’s assistance, wanting only to compete with Ao Jin.
Because the Lord needed talented younglings to sustain his body, the Invincible Alliance would periodically travel to the Beastman Continent to select and bring back children.
Merfolk younglings were generally very talented, which saved them the trouble of searching elsewhere. Thus, the members of the Invincible Alliance who went to the Beastman Continent would find ways to make it appear that Merfolk younglings had "died prematurely," then bring them back to the Beast God Continent.
As for the Imperial Family heirs they brought back... all of those before Yu Huang had been killed for being useless.
Only Yu Huang survived. At the Lord’s instruction, Ao Yin arranged for Yu Huang to become the Vice Alliance Hierarch. But she was always trying to escape. She fled many times, only to be caught and brought back. It was during this constant back-and-forth that Ao Yin fell in love with her.
The night before he planned to confess his feelings to her, Yu Huang escaped again. This time, she was gone for a full year.
By the time he saw Yu Huang again, she had already married Ao Jin and given birth to a child.
Ao Yin was furious and filled with hatred, but he couldn’t bear to harm Yu Huang. Just as he was about to kill the child, the Lord ordered him to bring the child back safely.
He was resentful but had no choice but to obey. However, before he could make his move, Yu Huang had already sent the child away.
As the memories flooded back, Ao Yin thought about how far things had come and gritted his teeth. "Yes. I’ll go now."
Long after he had gone, a mocking laugh echoed from the inner room.
’He calls himself devoted... but his devotion isn’t even fit for a dog!’
