Protected by a crowd of guards, Yu Zhizhi took the elevator back to the castle's first floor.
The four unhatched wolf cubs were carefully placed inside a protective case.
Sally, who was on duty, was stunned to see her.
She had just heard that one of the servants had given birth to a Beast cub with the purest K family bloodline!
She never expected it to be Zhi Zhi!
Yu Zhizhi was led to the castle's third floor and into a magnificent, brightly lit suite.
Guards stood watch at the door.
Housekeeper Qiao explained, "This will serve as Ms. Zhi Zhi's private quarters. A personal maid will be assigned to attend to your needs."
"Whatever you may require, Ms. Zhi Zhi, please do not hesitate to ask."
"I'd like to know, where are the Beast Eggs being taken?" Yu Zhizhi asked, a little worried when she noticed the four eggs had been carried away.
Housekeeper Qiao replied with a smile, "Rest assured, Ms. Zhi Zhi. We've taken the Young Masters to a location more suitable for hatching."
"It might take three days, or perhaps half a month, but the Young Masters will soon break free from their shells."
"When that time comes, according to Beast Clan tradition, we will ask you, Ms. Zhi Zhi, to attend the birth ceremony and bestow your blessings upon them!"
The great families mobilized the entire clan to carefully nurture their Beast Eggs.
The day a Beast Egg hatched was a day of celebration for the whole clan.
Most importantly, a Beast cub's abilities could be tested on the very day it was born—a fact of extreme importance to the great families!
'So that's how it is.'
Knowing the Beast cubs were safe, Yu Zhizhi relaxed.
"There's one more thing…"
Yu Zhizhi said softly, "Housekeeper Qiao, I'd like to see Lisa."
"Lisa?"
"The one I lived with."
Housekeeper Qiao glanced behind him. A senior female servant approached and whispered in his ear, "She's a servant from the first sublevel."
"I see. Go and bring Lisa here at once."
"Yes."
Soon, Lisa, a female from the Deer Clan, was brought over.
Housekeeper Qiao smiled, bid them farewell, and closed the door behind him as he left.
This was Lisa's first time on the castle's third floor, the residential area of the masters.
"It's so big… and so beautiful…"
Lisa, the little deer, gasped in amazement.
"Ms. Zhi Zhi, on my way here, everyone was talking about you! They said you gave birth to four of the K family's most powerful cubs! That's incredible!"
"Something like this is unprecedented in the entire history of the K family!"
"Housekeeper Qiao said I can leave the first sublevel and that from now on, I'll be dedicated to serving only you. Is that really true, Ms. Zhi Zhi?"
Yu Zhizhi smiled. "It's true."
It was her first time in the upper floors of the castle as well, and everyone here was a stranger to her.
Back on the first sublevel, she had gotten along very well with Lisa.
Lisa was a lively, talkative doe.
They both preferred a vegetarian diet.
And they were both passionate about all kinds of vegetable salads.
Lisa had taken good care of Yu Zhizhi these past few days, always bringing her little cookies after returning from her work shifts.
"It would be my honor!"
Lisa was so happy she looked like she was about to start bouncing.
She felt like she must be the luckiest little deer in the entire Empire to have met such a kind master!
"Lisa, what can you tell me about the testing day?"
Yu Zhizhi pushed open the vintage-style glass doors in the room, which led directly out onto a terrace.
It was filled with lush greenery and climbing roses.
From the semicircular terrace, she had an unobstructed view of the castle grounds.
Lisa replied, "That's the most important day of the year for the Empire. All females are required to participate."
"Even females who already have a confirmed Level can participate?"
"Yes. The Spirit Stone used for testing can sometimes make mistakes. If there's ever a discrepancy between someone's abilities and their official Level, they can be retested."
"Are there a lot of people?"
"Not that many people are actually tested, but since it's the most important event in the Empire, the great families make it a public spectacle. A huge crowd of Beastmen always turns up to watch."
Yu Zhizhi had awakened the Childbirth System. She knew she was already S-Class!
'And tomorrow, everyone will know.'
Lisa added, "Ms. Zhi Zhi, I heard the young lady of the Leopard Clan arrived a couple of days ago, too. She's been trying to become the matriarch of the K family for a while now—"
"—and when she heard about you, she got so angry she smashed every single vase in her room!"
"…Er," Yu Zhizhi said, taken aback.
...
「B13 Floor.」
From the day Yu Zhizhi disappeared, Tang Luo Ke had been relentlessly hunting the imprisoned mutated species.
He slaughtered his way through them.
The entire B13 Floor was now stained crimson.
'That little female… was she eaten by some brainless creature?'
Gripped by this confusion and panic…
…he slaughtered them one by one.
Each time, he would slice open their bellies, inspecting the contents for what they had devoured.
…He did not find Yu Zhizhi.
Tang Luo Ke didn't know if he should be happy.
At least it meant one thing—
'The little female hadn't been eaten by a mutated species yet.'
'But where did she go?'
Seven days had passed without a single word!
Tang Luo Ke hadn't slept for seven straight days. His spiritual power was so depleted that a pair of black wolf ears had popped out on top of his head.
Males with powerful spiritual power could maintain a completely human appearance, erasing all traces of their Beast Clan features.
But if they exhausted too much of that power, they could lose control and reveal their Beast Form.
Tang Luo Ke stood at the end of the corridor, his gaze dark as he stared back down the path he had come.
The bloody footprints he left behind stood out starkly.
A sound came from the direction of the elevator.
Tang Luo Ke slowly turned his head.
The elevator doors slid open.
Housekeeper Qiao, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, stepped out.
"Lord Locke." He dropped to one knee.
Housekeeper Qiao rarely came to the B13 Floor unless something major had occurred.
He saw that the place was in utter chaos.
The stench of blood hung heavy in the air.
Lord Locke's red eyes were deep and blazing. He was staring daggers at him, seemingly furious about something.
Housekeeper Qiao began, "Lord Locke, I bring good news."
"Speak."
"You… you have four cubs!"
"…" Tang Luo Ke didn't register it at first.
'What?'
'He had what?'
Housekeeper Qiao said gleefully, "Ms. Zhi Zhi has given birth! Four of them in total!"
"She—" Hearing her name, Tang Luo Ke's heart skipped a beat. "She gave birth…? Where is she?!"
"She's staying in the castle. Everything has been arranged, so you have no need to worry, Lord Locke."
"She went to the castle…"
Tang Luo Ke murmured.
'She's not dead… She's not dead…'
Then he suddenly realized—Yu Zhizhi had taken the elevator and escaped on her own!
She had left him behind and fled!
"Y-yes, Lord Locke! Who could have possibly imagined she would conceive?"
The more Tang Luo Ke thought about it, the angrier he became.
He was now so furious he could feel his teeth grinding. "She told me to wait a week, and then she just ran off. That cunning little rabbit!"
Housekeeper Qiao paused, stunned. 'It sounds like there's more to this story,' he thought.
Tang Luo Ke thought about how he had spent the last seven days. For her, he hadn't eaten or slept. He had fought until his arms went numb and his limbs grew stiff. He had depleted his spiritual power so much he couldn't even hide his own beast ears—
'Damn it!'
'That little liar!'
'And to think he had been so worried about her!'
Tang Luo Ke was so enraged that blood rushed to his head, his red eyes filling with a manic fury.
"Housekeeper Qiao! Tell Donald I'm getting out at the end of the month!"
"Truly?!" Housekeeper Qiao, still kneeling, was so moved that his eyes welled with tears. "Lord Locke, you're finally willing to come out!"
The rumors outside were all wrong. The K family had never locked Lord Locke away.
He was the one who had refused to leave!
"But before that—"
Tang Luo Ke's wolf fangs made a GRINDING sound. "Keep a close watch on that little liar. Don't let her get away!"
He couldn't stop himself from imagining their reunion!