Inside the large tent, a stunningly handsome young beast was sitting languidly atop a layer of white monster fur, his long, dark green hair cascading to his shoulders. His hooded eyes held a quiet satisfaction, and beside him, three beautiful sub-beasts slept soundly.
"Patriarch," an elderly sub-beast called out, unceremoniously entering and slowly approaching with the aid of a long staff embedded with colorful gemstones.
The man smiled as he watched the old high priest strut inside without permission. His gaze followed the elderly sub-beast's every step, emerald irises emitting a dangerous light. "What is the purpose of your visit today, Elder Rung?"
Elder Rung cast a condescending glance at the three naked sub-beasts sleeping soundly. "Have you chosen who you will marry this coming Eulogia, Patriarch?" he asked, eyes lifting to the young man he had practically raised.
Zmei laughed, but there was no trace of joy in his expression. "You already know the answer, Elder Rung. Why do you need to ask every time you come?"
"You are doing well as a tribe leader, Zmei," Elder Rung snapped, his patience clearly worn thin. "All I ask is that you stop playing with sub-beasts, especially those without partners, if you have no intention of marrying them."
"Don't put it that way, Elder Rung," Zmei said with a teasing lilt. "I'm not playing with them. They come to me on their own. What do you want me to do? Sub-beasts are precious. Of course they should be treated well."
Zmei looked displeased at Elder Rung. "You said that I'm doing an excellent job leading our tribe. Shouldn't you, High Priest, be doing your part as well?" His smile faded as he continued. "Do you have any leads on the person described in the oracle?"
Elder Rung gritted his teeth. His blood was boiling from anger, but he forced himself to answer calmly. "There are still no leads as to where he might be. It's been a month, and we believe that a tribe is already providing sanctuary to the person sent by the Beast God."
Zmei's eyes narrowed slightly. "If your claims are correct, then why haven't we heard any news about this individual?"
"We considered that as well," Elder Rung explained. "We've come to only one conclusion. The tribe that found him may be deliberately hiding his identity. For what reason, we don't know."
"Interesting," Zmei said lightly. "Then thoroughly investigate every tribe that might be sheltering him, especially the tribe near the hollow ground." His tone left no room for discussion, a clear dismissal.
Elder Rung nodded and left the tent without another word. Reasoning with the patriarch about marriage had always been difficult, and it seemed it would remain so. Zmei was still young, and whether he marries or not is a problem.
What he truly could not accept was Zmei's choice of partner. He had been involved with nearly every single sub-beast in the tribe, accepting anyone who tried to seduce him without thinking of the consequences.
Zmei paid him no further attention. He lay back comfortably, pulling one of the sleeping sub-beasts into his arms.
Why marrywhen he could have any sub-beast he wanted? He thought.
~
It took another three days before Huo could finally move around, but he still can't exert too much force. During this time, Ziqian visited him every day, bringing different kinds of food he had never tasted before.
The foods were so delicious that Huo couldn't stop eating, resulting in him gaining a little weight.
Huo learned that after he had left, Ziqian began going into the forest to search for edible plants and cooking them into all sorts of delicious dishes.
And every time Ziqian discovered plants that can be eaten, he would inform everyone in the tribe where to find them and teach them how to prepare them into a delicious dish. This gave the tribe a much greater variety of food, unlike before, when they could only choose between roasted and dried meat.
Now he understood why Xue had said that Ziqian needed proper rest. His worry deepened when Ren accidentally let it slip during one visit that Ziqian had fainted from exhaustion after they returned to the tribe.
That was why, when Ziqian came to see him that day, Huo tried to stop him from cooking. But the sub-beast was stubborn and insisted on continuing to take care of him while saying, "It makes me happy seeing you eat the food I cooked," and "I like taking care of you."
Those simple words left Huo blushing furiously for the rest of the day.
Meeting the sub-beast awakened emotions he hadn't even known he had. Because of that, every minute he spent with Ziqian felt rare and precious.
Huo worried about Ziqian's health but at the same time was inexplicably happy because he could clearly see that Ziqian really cared about him.
Still, he didn't want to be a burden any longer. Hou was determined to fully recover—that was why he was secretly stretching his limbs and exerting himself, little by little, trying to regain his strength as soon as possible.
And once he was completely well, he would work even harder to become worthy of Ziqian. Then, at the next Eulogia, he would ask for Ziqian's hand in marriage.
The pressure was far greater than before, especially now that Ziqian was known as the God's Messenger. But it didn't matter. He would give everything he had just to be with him. He has a clear goal.
To be someone who could stand at the sub-beast's side as his husband.
To be part of every mission Ziqian will undertake here in Gaia.
To be the one who will accompany and protect Ziqian in every danger.
Huo wanted to be that person.
Only now did it make sense why his mother had always insisted that Xue should marry Ziqian. As the Beast God's Messenger, Ziqian ought to stand beside the best beast in the tribe.
In his mother's eyes and in everyone else's, that man had always been Xue. Xue was the smartest, the strongest, and the most responsible beast in the Winged Tiger Clan, often compared to the first patriarch himself. Even their father, the current patriarch, had not matched up to Xue when he was the same age.
What worried him now was Xue's behavior.
Hou had heard that after they left, Xue had been at Ziqian's side every day, helping him and escorting him wherever he went. Even though his mother said nothing, Huo was not a fool. He understood why he had been chosen to lead the hunting group this time without having to fight for it—an honor he had chased for years.
Still, he accepted it not because he was confident that Ziqian would never fall for Xue, but because he believed he knew his twin well.
Cold. Expressionless. A man bound by responsibility and duty.
That was the twin brother he thought he knew.
Xue devoted himself entirely to the tribe. Even when surrounded by temptation, he never gave in to it. He had once been enveloped in the pheromones of a sub-beast in heat and remained sane.
Of course, Ziqian was an exception. No sub-beast could compare to him. If Ziqian wanted to, he could make any man fall for him.
Still, Huo held on to the belief that even if they grew close, it had not yet reached the point where they developed feelings for each other.
Yet no matter how many times he tried to ignore it, he couldn't deny that Xue's behavior toward Ziqian had changed.
Xue moved like a shadow, always following Ziqian and never leaving the sub-beast's side. He never gave Huo a moment alone with Ziqian. Even worse, Huo could feel Xue's watchful presence at all times, as if he were guarding someone he had already claimed.
This realization only made Huo more anxious. If Xue decided to fight to become Ziqian's husband, Huo knew he wouldn't stand a chance.
He tried to probe Ziqian and Xue's relationship from Cai and Ren whenever they visited, but the two were tight-lipped, insisting that he focus on recovering first instead of worrying about other matters before smoothly changing the conversation.
That alone was proof enough.
Something was happening—something he didn't know about—something that everyone was trying to hide from him now that he was still recovering.
Another thing that was bothering Huo was Xue's whereabouts at night.
Ever since Ziqian came to the tribe, the sub-beast had been staying in Xue's tent, while Xue was temporarily staying with him. Yet for the past three nights, Huo hadn't seen Xue return to sleep at all.
Hou had checked the tent and found that some of Xue's personal belongings were still there, leading him to believe that Xue hadn't fully moved out yet.
Then where was Xue sleeping?
Had he built a new tent for himself?
Or...
A thought suddenly crept into his mind, one that made his expression darken.
Even if Lia wanted Ziqian to marry Xue, he wouldn't allow the two of them to sleep in the same tent before their relationship was properly decided.
…Right?
Huo didn't want to think about it any further, but the uneasiness in his chest refused to fade, lingering like a warning he could not ignore or name.
He wanted an answer.
Huo didn't know how he would face it if his suspicions were true. He was willing to endure anything, even humiliate himself if he had to, but giving up Ziqian was never an option.