I Got Cheated On and Ended Up in A Beast World

Chapter 165: Chapter 165: I can feel them

An hour later, the main hall had cleared, leaving only the young warriors stationed at the heavy iron doors to guard the perimeter.

The broken bodies of Elder Shen and the gray-robed cultivator had been dragged away into the deep mountain pits, and the dark blood on the platform had been washed clean with fresh spring water.

Wang sat on the low stone steps of the stage, his long legs stretched out ahead of him. He had removed his heavy steel pauldrons, leaving him in a simple tunic of black leather lined with white fur.

He looked incredibly tired, his shoulders dropping slightly as the fierce alpha aura finally faded completely, leaving behind the heavy weight of a male who carried the fate of an entire nation on his back.

*Step.*

*Step.*

Elder Chen walked slowly across the quiet hall, carrying a large, carved box of dark ironwood in his single hand. He stopped beside Wang, lowering his old body onto the step next to him with a soft sigh.

He opened the box, revealing a thick, dusty ledger bound in heavy leather and a large, square seal carved from pure white spirit jade—the ancient symbol of the tribal sovereign.

"It is done, Patriarch Wang," Chen said softly, setting the box down between them. "The lesser chiefs have already returned to their sectors to execute your orders. Borask’s warriors are already dismantling the first human array near the western peak. The tribe is yours. Your father can finally rest easy."

Wang did not look at the jade seal. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, old copper covered in simple patterns, the token Lin Wan had given him when they met back then, during their time in the leopard tribe , back when he was nothing but a three striped warrior, it had meant nothing to her then, but to him it was something given to him by her, and anything she gave him, is more important than anything else. It had been tucked in his clothe that day when the flood happened and he lost her.

He turned the copper over in his large fingers, his thumb tracing the rough edges with an incredible, aching tenderness.

"My father is at ease, Chen," Wang murmured, his golden eyes staring blankly at the flickering fires of the nearest brazier. "But my soul is still burning. I have claimed this mountain, I have killed the traitors, and I have a hundred thousand warriors ready to die for my name... but she isn’t here."

Chen looked at the small copper token, his old face softening with deep sympathy. "The cultivator... he spoke of the Sovereign Manticore. He spoke of Prince Cassian. If she is truly in the upper world, Wang... you must understand the danger. Other tribes and cities are not like our mountains. It is controlled by ancient royal houses whose strength is tied directly to the core of this world. Cassian is a monster who just slaughtered his own bloodline to take the throne. A war with him could destroy everything we just reclaimed tonight."

Wang stood up slowly, his tall, towering frame straight once more under the dim light. He slid the small copper token back into his pocket, his hand resting securely over his heart where her memory lived.

"Then let it destroy everything," Wang said, his voice entirely devoid of fear, filled only with an absolute, unyielding vow. "I did not clean this sect to become a peaceful king, Chen. I cleaned it so I would have an army to back me when I march into the dragon’s den. I don’t care if he is the Sovereign of the upper peaks. I don’t care if he has a million shadow hounds. He took the only light I had in this dark world, and I will tear his palaces to the ground until she is back in my arms."

He turned away from the high chair, his long silver hair catching the fading orange light of the fires as he walked toward the heavy iron doors.

The true hunt was about to begin, and the northern mountains would soon hear the roar of the white tiger echoing across the gates of the upper world.

—————

The northern mountains gave way to a dense, twisting forest of black-barked pines known as the Whispering Woods. Here, the air was perpetually cold, thick with a damp, low-hanging mist that smelled of old moss and wet slate.

Wei Xiang stepped over a rotten log, his large boots sinking deep into the dark mud. He adjusted his hold on Lin Wan, lifting her slightly higher against his broad chest.

His breathing was steady, but his muscles were rigid beneath his travel tunic. For three hours, he had walked through the narrowest paths, avoiding the main trails completely.

Lin Wan lay quiet in his arms. Her fingers were still tightly hooked into the fabric of his green collar, her small head resting in the hollow of his neck.

The cool energy from the hidden-soul talisman had settled her mind, but her body remained incredibly fragile. Her skin was far too pale, and a faint, thin blue line had appeared along her inner wrists—a classic sign that her spiritual core was under immense, internal pressure from the royal crest on her neck.

"Wei Xiang," she whispered, her eyelashes fluttering open just a fraction. "Are we still in his territory?"

"We are at the edge of the middle rings," Wei Xiang replied softly, his voice a low, soothing vibration that helped quiet the steady thumping of her own heart. "Another hour through these woods, and we will hit the neutral valleys. His personal arrays cannot reach that far without triggering an alarm from the elder council. We just need to cross the river ahead."

Lin Wan turned her face toward the dark trees, her dark eyes filled with a heavy, lingering sorrow. "Captain Jarek... he said Cassian would know. He said his shadow hounds would sniff out every path. If they catch us out here, Wei Xiang, you cannot fight them alone. You have to leave me. Promise me you will run."

Wei Xiang stopped walking for a single second. He looked down at her, his amber eyes burning with a sudden, fierce intensity that made her breath hitch.

"Do not speak of such things, little moon," he said, his voice dropping into a deep, firm register. "I did not spend days searching the lower worlds just to abandon you at the first sign of a dog’s bark. My life belongs to your safety. If he wants to take you back, he will have to step over my broken bones first."

Before Lin Wan could answer, a sudden, unnatural wind swept through the pine needles above their heads.

*Rustle.*

The low-hanging white mist around their knees began to swirl violently, turning from a gentle fog into a thick, dark gray shroud that smelled faintly of rotten iron and hot ozone. The birds in the high branches stopped singing all at once, a dead, suffocating silence dropping over the woods like a heavy iron plate.

Lin Wan’s body went completely rigid. Below her collarbone, the hidden black manticore crest gave a violent, painful thud, burning against her skin like a piece of hot coal.

"They are here," she gasped, her fingers digging deep into Wei Xiang’s shoulders as a wave of intense nausea hit her lower belly. "Wei Xiang... I can feel them."

*Aroo—*

A long, chilling howl cut through the silence of the trees. It wasn’t the sound of a natural wolf; it was a high-pitched, vibrating shriek that carried the dark, corrupted frequency of the palace shadow domain.

The sound echoed from the left, then from the right, before a third howl joined in from the path directly ahead of them.

They were completely surrounded.

Wei Xiang did not panic. He moved with a swift, practiced grace, sliding his arms beneath her knees to lower her gently into the hollow of a large, ancient oak tree.

The thick roots of the tree rose up around her small frame, providing a small, temporary shield from the wind.

"Stay low," Wei Xiang commanded quietly, reaching into his leather belt to pull out three pale blue paper talismans. He slapped them against the rough bark of the oak tree, creating a faint, shimmering barrier of silver light that completely hid her physical form from view. "Do not move, Lin Wan. No matter what you hear outside, do not come out."

He stepped away from the tree, his long leather boots finding a solid grip on the damp earth. He reached behind his back and drew his long silver sword, the polished metal gleaming with a sharp, cold light under the dim gray canopy of the forest.

The gray mist in front of him parted.

Three large shapes emerged from the shadows of the pine trees. They were Shadow Hounds—giant, corrupted beasts the size of small horses, their bodies made of shifting black smoke and jagged, iron-like scales.

Their eyes were not normal; they were two slits of burning crimson fire that left thin trails of red light in the air as they moved.

Their long, dark jaws were lined with rows of yellow teeth, thick strings of acidic green saliva dripping onto the mud, sizzling as it touched the grass.