Chapter 88: A Talk
Perhaps it was because he’d heard too much world-shattering news, but Zelda actually managed to accept that Hu Yan was, at the very least, the first Beast Husband. But the next second, he snapped back to reality, shaking his head violently and grabbing Hu Yan’s arm. "No! How could you marry a...!!"
He caught himself mid-sentence, realizing Hu Yan didn’t seem to want to reveal too much about himself, so he immediately clamped his mouth shut.
Zelda took a few deep breaths and forced a smile. "Sorry, I got a little emotional."
Although he reined it in quickly, his earlier shocked expression hadn’t seemed fake. He appeared genuinely stunned that Hu Yan would marry Bai Zhi, let alone share a single wife with so many other Beastmen.
On top of that, he was from the Main Star, and he and Hu Yan were good friends.
’All this information,’ Bai Zhi thought, ’points to one conclusion: Hu Yan is from the Main Star, and his status there is quite high.’
Sang Mo sneered, "What? Is Hu Yan suffering by being with us?"
"Exactly! You’re Hu Yan’s friend, so normally we wouldn’t act like this, but you were really out of line just now. All these years, Hu Yan has been like a brother to us! Although..." Yan Yichen trailed off, the memory of Bai Zhi’s past abuse suddenly surfacing. He subconsciously glanced at Bai Zhi. ’But that was all the former wife’s doing. She’s changed for the better now.’
Bai Zhi also recalled the things her predecessor had done to Hu Yan. The others might not feel guilty, but Bai Zhi certainly couldn’t help the prickle on her conscience...
’His friend shows up, unhappy with the marriage, especially since my predecessor abused Hu Yan so terribly. Even though it wasn’t my doing, I’m the one occupying this body now.’
Zelda had always been good at reading people. He guessed there was more to the story, but he showed no sign of it. He just shook his head and said apologetically, "Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. I just wasn’t thinking straight for a moment. Since Hu Yan chose you as his companions, he must have given it careful thought. I was the one who overreacted. To show my sincerity, I’ll cover all your expenses this time."
Seeing how easily he controlled his emotions, Bai Zhi was secretly amazed. ’As expected of someone from a great family.’
The news was that many great families had arrived from the Main Star, so it wasn’t hard to guess that Zelda belonged to one of them.
Bai Zhi shook her head. "It’s alright. We understand."
Hu Yan wasn’t surprised by Zelda’s quick shift. Zelda was the type who looked like an unreliable, rich playboy, but in reality, he could handle any task given to him perfectly.
Hu Yan often entrusted him with tasks that were too sensitive for his own subordinates.
’The reason I didn’t step in when Sang Mo and the others confronted Zelda,’ he thought, ’was because I knew this wasn’t a difficult situation for him to resolve. Besides, he misspoke first. We’ll likely be interacting more in the future, and if this tension wasn’t defused, it would harm our harmony later on.’
Thankfully, Zelda hadn’t disappointed him and had resolved it perfectly.
Zelda’s cheerful expression was gone now. He said thoughtfully, "Hu Yan mentioned you have a Starship. Does anyone else know about this?"
Bai Zhi answered with certainty, "No, only the few of us know."
Zelda said, "In that case, send me the Starship’s information in a bit. I’ll handle it. That’ll save you the trouble of going through the application process yourselves."
After a moment, he asked again, "By the way, are you all packed? I’ll take you to another location first."
Lang Qiu replied, "We’re already packed."
Zelda looked them over, then took several sets of clothes from a bracelet-like spatial storage device. "I brought some clothes. You should change into these as a disguise. They’re in my and Hu Yan’s sizes, so they might not fit perfectly. Just make do for now, and we’ll find you something else later."
His gaze fell on Bai Zhi, and he frowned. He didn’t have a female, nor had he known beforehand that Hu Yan had one, so he hadn’t prepared any female’s clothing.
Lang Qiu glanced at the clothes and said, "I can alter a set for her."
He then took a set and went into a room. A few minutes later, Lang Qiu emerged holding a set of clothes that was significantly smaller.
Bai Zhi looked at the drastically smaller outfit and exclaimed in amazement, "I had no idea you were so skilled!"
Yue Junxiao blurted out instinctively, "Lang Qiu used to mend all our clothes when they got torn."
After saying it, he realized he probably shouldn’t have said that in front of Zelda. He glanced cautiously at Bai Zhi, and then at Hu Yan.
Seeing how they were all carefully trying to protect her reputation, Bai Zhi pressed her lips together, took a deep breath, and said, "It’s fine. You don’t have to cover for me. There’s nothing that can’t be said in front of Zelda. It’s true I wasn’t a very good person in the past, but I promise I’ll treat you all well from now on. Zelda can be my witness."
Hu Yan said ambiguously, "Yes, our wife isn’t the same wife as before. The past is in the past, so let’s not bring it up again."
His words had a double meaning. One was that Bai Zhi was no longer the Bai Zhi of the past, but a Bai Zhi with a new "core."
The other meaning was that Bai Zhi had already changed for the better, so there was no need to keep dwelling on the past.
Then, Hu Yan said to the others, "Go get changed first." He then turned to Zelda. "Zelda, come with me for a moment."
Zelda knew his expression wasn’t good. ’I have no idea how much Hu Yan must have suffered all these years to be able to stay in a place like this for so long.’
’And to marry a wife who apparently treated him poorly, and to share her with so many other Beastmen... Just thinking about it makes my heart ache for him.’
Hu Yan led the way to his room, and Zelda followed close behind.
As soon as Zelda entered and shut the door, he couldn’t hold back his anger any longer. "What on earth are you thinking? Marrying a wife like that? And she even treats you badly?! If you hadn’t called me up here, I would’ve lost my temper! You’re even sharing her with those people! Back then, so many high-society females were begging to marry you, and you turned them all down! Even if her father saved you, you didn’t have to throw your whole life away!! You could have just left and given them a sum of money large enough to set them up for life!"
"I admit, this house is barely passable, but compared to where you used to live, it’s so much worse! Sure, they can afford a Starship, so they must be a wealthy family, but how does that even compare to your old life?! I don’t know what you’re thinking. All these years, even if you didn’t contact them, what about me? You didn’t even contact me! Do you even consider me a friend?!"
By the end, Zelda was practically shouting, which was proof enough of his fury.
Hu Yan watched him with his light blue eyes and suddenly asked, "Zelda, do you know where her father saved me back then?"
Zelda paused, stunned. ’What does that have to do with what I was just saying?’
Hu Yan said, "It was near the Endless Sea Area."
He then continued to explain, "His appearance in the Endless Sea Area at that time was no coincidence. And he was holding a Blue Soul Stone. You know how important the Endless Sea Area is to our people. Moreover, after I was severely injured, my spiritual power dropped to A-level, and a traitor appeared among our ranks. If I had contacted you, they would have quickly discovered something was wrong. Only by contacting no one could I make them believe I was truly dead."