"How dare you drug us? You've got a death wish!"
In the dim room, a man's suppressed, pained voice sounded beside her ear, his low tone carrying a hint of gritted-teeth rage.
A scorching hand gripped her waist, and for a moment, Yu An felt as if she'd been submerged in molten lava.
So, the moment a cool serpent tail wrapped around her, she craved the chill and clung to it, refusing to let go.
Groggy, she opened her eyes to see a blue-haired man with crystalline pearls seeping from the corners of his eyes, falling one by one onto her face.
...
"Yu An, wake up. Don't sleep."
A man's displeased voice boomed in her ear, and Yu An jolted awake from her dream, only to be met with an assault of stunning beauty.
The man before her was handsome, with a tall, imposing figure. His amber-gold, vertical pupils glinted with a cold light, and his gaze was utterly indifferent as it fell upon Yu An.
His clothes were somewhat tattered, and the exposed skin was covered in wounds. The faint scent of blood that clung to him only added to his ferocious air.
But that didn't stop Yu An from finding him easy on the eyes. 'After ten years in the apocalypse, the sight of all those ugly zombies nearly made me go blind.'
As the "Chef God" of the apocalypse, Yu An adored all kinds of delicacies. The Beast World had no such cuisine, but handsome men who were a feast for the eyes more than made up for it.
Stone-faced, Mo Yan tossed her a stick. "Here's the walking stick you wanted. Get moving. We need to reach Han Ling City before dark."
Han Ling City was the only city in the exiled land, offering Beastmen protection from attacks by wild beasts.
Yu An used the stick to stand up and rubbed her increasingly round belly. Mo Yan led the way, and she followed behind him.
Just now, she had dreamed again of the moment she first arrived in the Beast World.
She had simply gone to sleep and woken up on the Beastman Continent, in the body of a vicious and ugly female.
The body's original owner had been a Princess of Beast Emperor City, but her face was hideous, covered entirely by a terrifying red birthmark.
Not only that, but she also had zero Fertility, and no male was willing to mate with her.
Her twin sister, however, was stunningly beautiful and possessed Heavenly Level Fertility. Males vied to become her Beast Husband.
The original owner, driven mad with jealousy, tried to poison her sister. But she failed and was instead abhorred by the Beast Emperor, who sentenced her to exile.
The night before her exile, in a desperate bid to survive in the exiled land, the original owner drugged three top-tier Beastmen. But before she could do anything, she died suddenly from a medical condition.
That was when Yu An transmigrated. After a night of passion, her luck with pregnancy proved explosive, and she ended up with a cub.
Two of the men used their family's influence to remain in Beast Emperor City. Only Mo Yan, a Serpent Beastman with no power or status, was forced to accompany her into exile.
Seeing Mo Yan walk faster and faster, Yu An tried to keep pace, but a sudden pain shot through her belly.
"Mo Yan, how much farther to Han Ling City? I think I'm about to go into labor. I can't walk so fast."
Mo Yan stopped and glanced back at her. He muttered about what a hassle this was, but upon seeing her pale face, he resignedly found a cave.
"We'll go to Han Ling City after you give birth, then. If it weren't for the fact that you're carrying a cub, I wouldn't give a damn about you."
"You'd better pray that you're carrying my cub. If not, the most I'll do is escort you to Han Ling City."
Yu An didn't take his words to heart. With a sweet smile, she asked him to go pick some fruit for her.
"So spoiled. You still think you're a Princess? You won't survive in the exiled land if you don't eat meat."
He shot back a few sarcastic remarks before turning to leave.
'His attitude now is so much better than it was at the beginning.'
During the first few days of their exile, Mo Yan had resented her for dragging him down. He not only gave her the cold shoulder but also seemed unwilling to save her even when she was in danger.
Fortunately, when Beastmen mated, a contract was automatically formed. Any injury the Female Master sustained would be shared with her Beast Husband, so Mo Yan had no choice but to save her, however unwillingly.
'Mo Yan came from a remote region and could have established himself in Beast Emperor City with his Heavenly Level Spiritual Power. Even though it wasn't my fault, I'm in this body now, so I have to take some responsibility for his ruined future.'
'Besides, my Wood Element Ability and Chef God Space from the apocalypse didn't come with me. I'm pregnant, and in this dangerous exiled land, I have to rely on Mo Yan's protection to survive.'
'A few complaints were nothing. I can just let them go in one ear and out the other.'
Females in this world could give birth in just three months. Yu An rubbed her belly, wondering whose cub she was carrying.
'That night was too chaotic. Luckily, the three Beastmen were from different races, so I'll know whose it is once it's born.'
'I hope it's Mo Yan's. With a Zaizai, perhaps our relationship will improve.'
'In a place like the exiled land, it's incredibly difficult for a female to survive without the protection of a Beast Husband.'
'If nothing unexpected happens, I'll have to live here for many years. Mo Yan might be cold, but at least he's someone I've spent the last three months with.'
Beastmen only ate raw meat. Cooked food was complex to prepare and a luxury only nobles in the cities could afford. Yu An couldn't stomach the bloody meat, so while on the road, she had been subsisting on wild vegetables and fruits, with the occasional bit of fish.
Now that they finally had a temporary place to rest, she gathered some dry firewood outside the cave. Using the primitive method of drilling wood to make a flame, she prepared to roast some meat for when Mo Yan returned.
Giving birth required a lot of energy, and she was afraid that if she was too weak, there would be complications.
After a long wait, she heard footsteps outside the cave. Yu An thought Mo Yan had returned, but when she turned, she was met with many pairs of crimson eyes.
Wild beasts!
The sky had grown dim, and the beasts' eyes held a vicious glint. The two jackals at the front were drooling, their saliva dripping from the corners of their mouths as they stared at Yu An like she was a plump, juicy piece of prey.
Females and their young were the favored prey of wild beasts. The entrance to the cave was blocked. The color drained from Yu An's face, and she quickly backed away to put some distance between herself and the animals.
She threw the burning pieces of wood at the beasts, trying to stall for time until Mo Yan returned. But even after she'd thrown the last of the firewood, Mo Yan still hadn't appeared.
The two jackals grew impatient and lunged right at Yu An!
The beasts were large and ferocious. As a frail, pregnant female, Yu An was utterly defenseless. The cave was so small she couldn't even run!
Foul-smelling fangs shot toward her throat, and Yu An squeezed her eyes shut--
But the pain she expected never came. Instead, a jackal shrieked in agony. Yu An opened her eyes to see the tall, handsome man shielding her.
Red and yellow fruits scattered across the ground. Mo Yan had no time for them. "There are a lot of beasts outside. Stay close and follow me out of here."
With that, he clenched his fists and charged out. Yu An hurried to follow.
Her heart still pounded with fear. She had only taken two steps when a sharp pain seized her abdomen, followed by a wet gush from between her legs.
"Mo Yan, the baby's coming!"
Hearing her words, Mo Yan's concentration wavered for an instant. The pouncing beasts immediately pinned him down while several others, their target clear, lunged straight for Yu An.
A female was at her most vulnerable at a time like this. Sweat beaded on Yu An's forehead as pain paralyzed her, leaving her unable to even think about the charging beasts.
Mo Yan's heart burned with anxiety. In a moment of desperation, he transformed into his beast form, flinging the beasts away with a sweep of his tail and rushing toward Yu An.
A male Beastman with Heavenly Level Spiritual Power should have been able to completely overawe this pack of wild beasts. But for some reason, the animals were acting as if provoked, charging recklessly as if they had a death wish.
In a moment of carelessness, a beast's claws slashed Mo Yan's arm. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he caught a faint, sweet scent.
It seemed to be coming from Yu An. The scent was especially pleasant, and he felt an uncontrollable, bloodthirsty urge surface.
'He wanted to... devour the little female whole!'
Thankfully, he managed to suppress the urge in time. He shook off the beast and charged toward Yu An, but there was still some distance between them. The beast's claws were inches from her, and he wasn't going to be in time to stop it!