After I Dumped 7 Beast Husbands and Ran

Nan Zishi’s words brought everyone’s attention back to the Little Mermaid.

Everyone looked at the Little Mermaid again. She opened her arms to Nan Zishi once more and said in a soft, adorable voice, "Mommy, cuddles~"

"Wow, she’s so cute~" Little Fox Qi was completely charmed.

"HISS, HISS~" Little Snake Yang was so smitten he practically squirmed.

"..." Nan Zishi looked up at the sky, speechless. "I’m not your mother."

"Hey, Hu Bai’s female master! It’s not right to have a cub and then abandon her. Look at you. Not only do you not want Hu Bai and Fox Qi, but now you don’t want this adorable Little Mermaid, either?"

"Exactly! A female can be spoiled and willful, but she can’t be irresponsible!"

"I think you should take responsibility for this mermaid cub!"

"Right, right! You’re her mother, so you should be the one taking responsibility for this!"

Nan Zishi cried, "No, she’s not my cub! She really isn’t my cub!"

’Are you kidding me?’ she thought. ’I do have a mermaid cub, but that cub should be about the same size as Fox Qi—at least five years old!’

’There’s no way it’s this little one, who doesn’t even look two years old.’

"Hu Bai’s female master, how could you have a cub and then disown her?!"

The Little Mermaid held her arms out to Nan Zishi, her voice tiny and sweet. "Mommy, Mommy... Cuddles~"

"..." Nan Zishi gently poked the little one’s head. "Hey, little fella, don’t add fuel to the fire."

Hu Bai’s shoulders shook even harder.

Nan Zishi was exasperated. ’Is it really so funny to see me being publicly shamed like this?’

But when she thought about all the unfair treatment this father and son had endured, Nan Zishi figured,

’Let him laugh. Go on and laugh.’

After having her head poked, the Little Mermaid’s eyes instantly turned red, and tears welled up.

The mermaid cub, who looked to be less than two years old, was the picture of adorable, pitiful misery with her tear-filled eyes.

Nan Zishi immediately panicked. "Whoa, no, no, no! I wasn’t bullying you, please don’t cry!"

Although Nan Zishi had given birth to a bunch of cubs, she’d never actually raised any of them. She had no experience comforting little ones and immediately lost her cool.

Seeing her flustered state, Hu Bai said considerately, "Let me."

Hu Bai lifted the Little Mermaid out of the water bucket. Once the chubby little thing was in his arms, she immediately stopped crying.

She curiously sized up the beautiful man holding her.

"Pwitty!" The Little Mermaid smacked her lips. "Pretty!"

Nan Zishi ventured a guess. "Hu Bai, I think she’s complimenting your looks."

Fox Qi thought the little girl was fun and started to tease her. "Little sister, do you like good-looking Beastmen?"

Fox Qi looked up at Nan Zishi. "Mother, I heard that mermaids only like good-looking Beastmen. They don’t like ones who aren’t pretty."

Little Snake Yang also studied the little girl, his eyes crinkling into a smile. "HISS." ’Little sister is so cute!’

The Little Mermaid tilted her head, looking from Little Fox Qi to Little Snake Yang. Her eyes crinkled in a smile, and she waved her arms and legs excitedly. "Pwitty, pwitty big bwothers!"

"She’s complimenting you two," Nan Zishi said.

Fox Qi and She Yang’s eyes crinkled into smiles as well.

The little mermaid cub was just too adorable.

Fox Qi said to Nan Zishi, "Mother, where are we going after we leave the village? If we don’t have a specific destination, let’s go to the seaside."

Nan Zishi’s expression softened as she gently ruffled Little Fox Qi’s head. "Aqi, you want to take her home?"

Fox Qi replied in a small voice, "Mhm."

"Alright, then," Nan Zishi said with a smile. "Let’s make it our mission to take the Little Mermaid home."

Hu Bai lifted Fox Qi out of Nan Zishi’s arms, then handed the Little Mermaid over to her. Nan Zishi wasn’t very skilled at holding her; the Little Mermaid flailed in her embrace, wanting to play, and Nan Zishi was a mess of clumsy hands and feet.

Hu Bai took Fox Qi to say their goodbyes to the Fox Clan Beastmen.

"Hu Bai, Fox Qi, you’re leaving? Will you come back someday?"

When the father and son had lived in Stone Village, they hadn’t seemed particularly popular.

But they were all neighbors who looked out for one another, after all. Now that the pair were leaving, a surprising number of Fox Beastmen were reluctant to see them go.

Hu Bai gave Nan Zishi a gentle glance, then said to the Fox Clan Beastmen, "I have a female master now. My home is wherever she is. Elders and villagers, it’s time for me to to go."

Uncle Xiang stepped forward and took Hu Bai’s hand. "Alright, since you’re all set on leaving... It’s for the best. It’s for the best."

"Hu Bai, as a male, you must take good care of your female. Be patient with her, and don’t get into squabbles."

"If she takes other Beast Husbands, you have to be accommodating and not get jealous. It’s normal for a female to have several Beast Husbands."

Hu Bai nodded. "I know. Thank you, Uncle Xiang."

Uncle Xiang had spoken at length with Nan Zishi yesterday. Knowing they were leaving today, he still couldn’t help but feel a pang of loneliness.

His female master was gone, his cubs were gone, and he was all alone. Hu Bai’s family used to visit him occasionally, but now even they were leaving.

Uncle Xiang whispered to Hu Bai, "You’re not in good health, so you probably won’t win against other males in a fight. If you want to compete for the position of the primary male, you’ll have to rely on your tolerance. If a male can keep the peace in the household, the female will be very fond of him. Do you understand?"

"Don’t let her break your mate bond. The life of a Wandering Beastman is hard... Being all alone is very, very hard..."

"Thank you, Uncle Xiang. I know," Hu Bai said gratefully.

Hu Bai gave Nan Zishi a gentle smile, then turned and shifted into his beast form.

The other Fox Clan Beastmen helped tie the Little Mermaid’s wooden bucket onto Hu Bai’s back.

Hu Bai looked expectantly at Nan Zishi and the cubs.

Nan Zishi placed the Little Mermaid into the wooden bucket, then, with Fox Qi and She Yang in tow and a little wolf cub in her arms, she settled onto Hu Bai’s back.

"Goodbye!" Nan Zishi and the others waved to the assembled Beastmen of Stone Village.

"Goodbye! If you get the chance, remember to come back and visit!" the villagers of Stone Village shouted, waving farewell.

...

Nan Zishi said to Hu Bai, "I promised the Wolf King I’d remove his wife’s stitches, so let’s head to the forest first."

"Alright," Hu Bai replied.

On their way to the forest, Nan Zishi and Hu Bai saw two Silver Wolf Pups, who looked to be about five years old, pop out from the trees.

Wolf Mu nudged Lang Xian. "Brother Xian, look over there! What a beautiful female. She’s holding so many cubs."

An expression of deep envy appeared on Wolf Mu’s little face.

’He wished a mother would hold him like that, too.’

Lang Xian looked up as well. A flash of envy crossed his face before he quickly hid it.

"What are you looking at? We don’t need a mother! Our mother is a super, super bad female!"

Wolf Mu nodded and said emphatically, "I know! Our mother is the bad female who sent our fathers to the Beast Prison!"

"That’s right," Lang Xian said. "Little Mu, we’re almost at the village near the mountain where the wolf pack howls. Let’s go ask around there. Maybe we can find that bad female!"

The two Silver Wolf Pups ran into Stone Village, where everyone was still talking about the departure of Hu Bai and his son, and the disappearance of Fox Zi and Fox Xin.

Lang Xian took his younger brother Wolf Mu’s chubby little hand, grabbed the first Beastman he saw, and asked, "Have you seen a bad female who’s dirty and stinky and ugly and mean?!"

A male from the Fox Clan couldn’t help but chuckle. "Little wolf pups, you came to our village looking for an ugly female? We’re all Fox Beastmen in Stone Village. There are no ugly fox females here."

"That’s right, that’s right! Our village only has beautiful females, no ugly ones!"

The people of Stone Village found this amusing. They teased the two little out-of-town cubs who were searching for a "bad female" for a bit, then went back to their own chores.

Wolf Mu shook his brother’s hand. "Brother Xian, there’s no bad female here, either... Your hunch was wrong again."

Lang Xian gritted his teeth. "It can’t be. Don’t worry, Little Mu. We’ll definitely find that bad female."

Just then, Hu Li passed by with her Beast Husbands.

Ever since Hu Bai had forced her to eat a Breakup Fruit and then slashed the Mate Totems exposed by her Beast Skin Skirt, Hu Li had lost more than half of her Beast Husbands.

Two had died, three were severely injured, and the remaining four survived only because their totems were hidden beneath her Beast Skin Skirt, where Hu Bai hadn’t bothered to slash.

Hu Li had been thoroughly frightened by Hu Bai, and she had reined in her temper quite a bit these past few days.

But today, after hearing that Hu Bai and his female master had left together, she grew bold enough to start bad-mouthing them again.

"That male, Hu Bai, he’s so disloyal, always flirting around. Who knows if that Nan Zishi is even his real female master."

"Besides, that Nan Zishi is probably some stinky, ugly female herself. Otherwise, why would she be interested in a vicious male like Hu Bai?"

From a distance, Lang Xian overheard the words "stinky, ugly female." He immediately pulled Wolf Mu over to Hu Li’s side. The little cub raised his head and said politely, "Hello, Auntie."

Hu Li looked down to see two little cubs, one chubby and one thin. "Are you looking for me?"

Lang Xian asked, "Excuse me, have you seen a bad female who’s dirty and stinky and ugly and mean?"

Hu Li stared at the two little runts, whose fur hadn’t even fully grown in. They looked easy to trick. A smirk played on her lips. "You’re looking for a female who’s dirty, stinky, mean, and ugly? ...As it happens, I know just the one."