bdsm-fiction Page 198
Page 198
“Sheena, and everyone else,” he said, his gaze sweeping over the tense crowd, “I assure you. Tyr and Witt are only going to the village for a short stay.”
He raised his hand and made a crisp, decisive twisting motion.
“If Til dares to lay a hand on anyone in the village, I will immediately snap her head off.”
This blatant, violent assurance echoed in the cold air.
Teal frowned slightly but did not refute it, which can be regarded as acquiescence to the constraint.
Witt let out a low growl that was hard to decipher, his vertical pupils fixed on Lu Mingfei.
The impact of this statement is far more direct and effective than any euphemistic way of putting it.
The fierceness and fear on the faces of the tiger-eared man and the others froze for a moment, stunned by the simple and brutal promise.
Twist off the head of a powerful Awakened One?
Only the unfathomable Lu Mingfei in front of him would dare to say such a thing.
Sheena stared blankly into Lu Mingfei's calm yet incredibly serious eyes.
Although his words sounded terrifying, there was no deception in his eyes.
Her little mind still couldn't understand why Lu Mingfei was so determined to go to her village, nor could she understand why he wanted to bring Tiel along.
But one thing she was certain of: she couldn't escape what Lu Mingfei wanted to do.
It was like walking on a wasteland; no matter how fast she ran, he could always easily "stroll" behind her.
Refusing? That would probably only lead to a worse outcome.
She glanced at her exhausted and terrified companions, then at the giant elephant carcass that represented their hope for survival throughout the winter.
Finally, she resignedly nodded her little head, and her brown bear ears drooped listlessly.
"Okay... alright." Her voice was barely audible, filled with helplessness and a hint of weariness after resignation.
There's no escaping it now; we can only take it one step at a time and hope that Lu Mingfei's promise... is true.
……
The wind and snow, carrying the remaining snow, howled across the vast frozen wasteland.
A peculiar group is trekking northeast.
Lu Mingfei walked at the very front, his steps steady.
Tiel followed closely behind, never leaving her side.
Sheena followed closely beside Lu Mingfei, her brown bear ears trembling slightly in the cold wind. Her little face showed a mixture of anticipation for going home and worry for the three "guests".
Behind her were the healed bunny-eared girl Liv and the dog-eared man. Liv's face was still a little pale, but her spirits were obviously much better.
Further on, there were the tiger-eared man, the bear-eared man, and... the lizardman Witt, who carried a huge steel sword and looked unwilling but had no choice but to obey orders.
Behind them was a deep drag mark.
The carcass of a massive snow elephant was bound with thick ropes and dragged by Witt, the tiger-eared man, and the bear-eared man.
Witt's muscular arms bulged, and every step he took sent snow flying.
He made low gurgling sounds from his throat from time to time, clearly extremely dissatisfied with this kind of "laborious" work.
He glanced sideways at the two infected people beside him who were also being dragged with equal force, his eyes filled with disdain.
However, when the blonde girl Tyr, who was walking in front, turned her head slightly and her indifferent golden eyes swept over him, Witt's huge body tensed up instantly, and then deflated like a punctured balloon. He could only pull the giant elephant with even more effort and swallow his dissatisfaction.
Lu Mingfei took in all of this.
On the way, he learned more information from Sheena and the three Batian brothers.
The three male infected individuals before us, whose animalistic features were clearly visible, had names as fierce as their appearances—Tiger Overlord, Bear Overlord, and Dog Overlord.
They grew up together in Willow Village, their past names long since abandoned in the harsh reality of survival.
They call themselves the "Three Tyrants," a name that originates from a seemingly naive yet tragic dream found on the frozen ground: to dominate the world.
However, among this group of infected individuals whose average lifespan is only thirty years, dreams often vanish as easily as ice and snow.
Interestingly, Dog Batian and Liv are already married, as can be seen from their occasional eye contact and Dog Batian's concern for Liv's injuries.
Hu Batian has also started a family.
The only remaining "lone wolf" was Xiong Batian, who was the most burly.
Lu Mingfei only needed to pay a little attention to understand what this burly man with bear ears was thinking.
Xiong Batian's honest yet slightly silly gaze would always unconsciously drift toward Xina's petite back, only to quickly look away before she noticed, her ears turning slightly red.
"Willow Village is just ahead!" Sheena's voice carried a hint of excitement and barely perceptible tension as she pointed to the faint outline emerging at the end of the snowstorm.
Lu Mingfei looked up. At the edge of the wasteland, a relatively sheltered depression finally appeared.
Dozens of houses built from thick rocks, tough animal hides, and sturdy tree trunks are scattered around, forming a village that is not very large.
What's most eye-catching is the single patch of vibrant green at the village entrance.
A willow tree, growing tenaciously, its branches swaying gently in the cold wind.
It stands like an indomitable sentinel, guarding the home of the infected people who are struggling to survive on the frozen ground.
The village got its name from this—Willow Village.
Lu Mingfei also learned about the cruel survival rules of the infected from Hina.
With an average lifespan of thirty years, they must fulfill the crucial task of procreation during the prime of their lives.
Therefore, infected individuals are considered adults at the age of fourteen, and marriages are often decided during their teenage years.
It is meaningless to measure these infected people who are struggling to survive under the shadow of death using the age standards of ordinary human society.
Just as the group approached the willow tree at the village entrance, a small, thin figure sprang up from the smooth rock under the willow tree like a wary hawk.
He was a boy who looked to be only about ten years old, but he had an unusually sharp pair of eagle eyes.
He had initially felt immense joy when he saw the returning hunting party, especially when he saw the enormous prey.
However, this joy froze instantly upon seeing Lu Mingfei, Teal, and Witt, replaced by intense vigilance and suspicion.
Without the slightest hesitation, the boy leaped lightly off the boulder and dashed into the depths of the village like an arrow, his clear and urgent shouts piercing the wind:
"They're back! Tiger and the others are back! They've brought a huge elephant with them!"
"But...but there are outsiders! Three people! There are...there are people who look like humans!"
"Three people" and "like humans"—these two words struck Liushu Village like a boulder thrown into still water.
The once quiet village was instantly disturbed.
The wooden door creaked open, and the heavy animal skin curtain was suddenly flung open.
Footsteps, whispers, and the muffled sobs of children being covered quickly converged.
In less than a quarter of an hour, the willow tree at the village entrance, a symbol of vitality, was already crowded with people.
Nearly a hundred infected people, young and old, men and women, came out in droves.
Their gazes were complex yet unified.
The first object of their attention was the giant snow elephant that Hu Batian and his men were dragging. The enormous prey ignited a flame of hope for survival in the eyes of some of them, who let out low, suppressed gasps of amazement.
But many more eyes, like invisible searchlights, were fixed on Lu Mingfei, Teal, and Witt, with undisguised scrutiny, doubt, and deep apprehension and fear.
Lu Mingfei and Teal were dressed in clean, tidy clothes, clearly different from the rough leather clothing of the infected, with the scales and lizard tails of the Wittna non-humans.
And Teyr's face, so exquisitely beautiful against the frozen ground, so devoid of any trace of bestiality, was like a silent declaration...
The "humans" who can walk safely deep in the vast snowfields are no ordinary humans.
They are... Awakened Ones!
Chapter 197 Keep Your Dog in Check
As the wind and snow swept past the simple entrance to Liushu Village, the tenacious old willow tree rustled in the cold wind.
When Lu Mingfei and his group arrived, dragging the enormous snow elephant, they were greeted not with cheers, but with a deathly silence of vigilance.
Almost all the infected people in the village had already gathered at the village entrance, including men, women, and children.
The leader was an elderly man whose appearance made one's heart clench.
He was hunched over, leaning on a smooth wooden cane; if you didn't look at his standing posture, he would almost look like a real old tortoise.
A dark green, wrinkled, and angular tortoise shell covered most of his back.
The skin on the neck and arms exposed outside the coarse cloth also had a dark green to black scaly texture, covered with cracks eroded by time.
His face was almost entirely covered with keratinized skin and fine scales.
Only a pair of cloudy yet remarkably calm eyes remained, gleaming with the light of human wisdom.
This is the village chief of Willow Tree Village.
The elderly men surrounding him were far more beastly than the younger women like Sheena and Liv.
Their faces were no longer human like Sheena's, but instead adorned with animal ears.
Instead, they are covered with thick animal fur—grayish-white wolf fur, mottled white rabbit fur, or covered with cold snake scales.
The outlines of the mouth and nose become blurred, the teeth become sharp or misaligned, and some even have bent and deformed fingers and claws.
They are living beings, walking on the boundary between humans and animals, a tragic portrayal of the final fate of those infected.
When the transformation into beasts is complete, human reason will be extinguished like a candle in the wind, and humanity will ultimately succumb to the instincts of wild beasts.
This is the end for those infected on this frozen land.
The atmosphere in the entire Willow Village was as heavy as a frozen layer of ice.
Nearly a hundred gazes, filled with fear, doubt, hatred, and a hint of barely perceptible despair, were fixed on Lu Mingfei, Teal, and Witt.
The joy of survival brought by the giant elephant seemed insignificant in the face of the three "outsiders".
The air seemed to freeze, with only the sound of wind and snow howling.
Lu Mingfei remained calm, took a step forward, and met the countless cold gazes.