Chapter 463: You Want to Be Her Beast-Mate
Xijing disagreed. "The Beast King has suffered greatly. She won’t let this go easily."
If the Beast King only wanted to sacrifice Qiao Xixi before, now she truly hated them enough to want them dead. If they returned to the palace now, they would face even greater danger. He didn’t want to put Qiao Xixi in harm’s way.
Qiao Xixi pursed her lips. Xijing had a point, but she couldn’t just abandon her father and Jin Ling. Besides, if this wasn’t resolved, who knew if the Beast King would go berserk and attack the Black Panther Tribe.
Seeing Qiao Xixi’s hesitation, Xijing continued, "The Priest is in the palace. The Beast King wouldn’t dare harm him."
The Priest was chosen and acknowledged by the Beast God. If the Beast King dared to harm the Priest, she would be punished by the Beast God.
Xijing wasn’t wrong. Just as Sunxiao and the others were about to seize Han Lie to coerce the Beast King, Yun Ji emerged with Yu Ling and Yu Ye.
An authoritative, yet clear and mellow voice resounded through the air. "Stop."
The fighting beastman soldiers looked up at Yun Ji and immediately stopped, respectfully placing their hands over their chests.
"Priest."
Han Lie looked up at the voice, his eyes widening in shock when he saw Yu Ye and Yu Ling nearby.
"Priest, you captured Yu Ye and Yu Ling!"
Yu Ye and Yu Ling exchanged a look before explaining, "Father, this has nothing to do with the Priest. He’s the one who saved us."
Yun Ji lowered his gaze, his feathered robes shimmering with a sacred light in the glow of the setting sun. His pale gray pupils narrowed into vertical slits as he stared down coldly at Han Lie.
"Han Lie, you hid dark energy within the palace, disregarding the safety of all. Your crime is unforgivable. Seize him."
The beastman soldiers all stared at Han Lie in shock, seemingly unable to believe he would do something so audacious.
Although Han Lie was a shaman and held an extremely high status in Beast King City, he was in a completely different league from the Priest.
At Yun Ji’s command, the beastman soldiers turned on Han Lie in unison.
Han Lie’s green, serpentine pupils narrowed coldly. He spun around and bolted toward the Beast King’s inner chambers.
The beastman soldiers quickly gave chase.
When Qiao Yi saw Han Lie flee, he chased after him as well. ’That fool Han Lie has targeted me at every turn for years. If I don’t kill him now that I have the chance, he’ll only cause more trouble later.’
Jin Ling and the others followed Qiao Yi in pursuit.
At that moment, the Beast King was lying on her bed, her face etched with exhaustion. Although Han Lie’s medicine had temporarily eased her physical pain, a deep sense of unease still plagued her.
The mere thought that Qiao Xixi was responsible for her current state made her seethe with uncontrollable anger.
The Beast King was just about to summon someone to ask about the situation outside when she heard a flurry of hurried footsteps beyond her door.
She opened her eyes and saw Han Lie burst in, his expression one of pure panic.
The Beast King was startled by his state. Han Lie was always so composed; he rarely looked like this. By the time he had entered the inner chamber, the Beast King had already pushed herself into a sitting position on the bed.
"Han Lie, what’s happened to you?"
Han Lie slid to his knees before the Beast King. "My Queen, Qiao Yi and the others are trying to kill me! They’ve framed me, falsely accusing me of hiding dark energy in the palace! They’re using it as a pretext to take my life!"
The Beast King’s expression hardened. "Qiao Yi... Who gave him such nerve!"
The words had barely left her lips when a powerful gust of wind blew the doors to her chamber open.
Qiao Yi and his companions strode in, their faces grim.
Han Lie instinctively shrank back, moving closer to the Beast King’s side.
The Beast King was stunned for a moment, but her expression quickly contorted with intense fury.
"Qiao Yi, do you truly believe I am powerless to stop you in my own Beast King City? What are you all standing around for? Seize them!"
"Patience, Your Majesty."
Just as the Beast King finished speaking, Yun Ji walked in.
Upon seeing Yun Ji, the Beast King’s expression grew even fouler.
"Don’t tell me you’re in league with them, Priest?"
Yun Ji’s eyes lifted slightly, his pale gaze sweeping coldly over the Beast King and Han Lie.
"If Your Majesty intends to shelter a male who has harbored dark energy within the palace, then for the sake of Beast King City’s safety, I will have no choice but to punish you along with him."
The Beast King froze for a moment at his words, then turned to Han Lie in utter disbelief.
"Han Lie, what is the meaning of this?"
Han Lie knew there was no way out of this. He could only grit his teeth and say, "Your Majesty, it’s all a misunderstanding! I discovered Yun Ming by chance, so I tricked him and trapped him. I was planning to find a way to eliminate him, but who could have known his power was so immense that he managed to escape? I hadn’t yet had a chance to report this to you before the Priest found out."
The Beast King frowned. She recalled that back in the underground area, a male Black Phoenix exuding dark energy had indeed appeared. That wasn’t part of her original plan with Han Lie—or at least, their plan hadn’t included this male Black Phoenix.
Before, after Han Lie had been beaten, he was too furious to let the matter rest. That very night, he found his way into the Beast King’s bed and persuaded her to use his plan to utterly eliminate Qiao Xixi and her group.
The Beast King had been thinking along the same lines, so she had agreed.
Their original plan was to lure Qiao Xixi and her companions to the Sacrificial Hall. From there, Qiao Xixi would be taken to the Underground Altar, where Han Lie would be waiting to sacrifice her.
As for Qiao Yi and the others, she had already ordered her beastman soldiers to surround and capture them all in one fell swoop.
But she had never imagined that Qiao Xixi would be so quick-witted. Just as she was being pushed off the circular platform, Qiao Xixi had grabbed onto her and dragged her down with her!
At the thought of everything Qiao Xixi had done to her, a vein throbbed in the Beast King’s temple from sheer rage.
"You heard him, Priest. Han Lie had no intention of harboring dark energy. This is all just a misunderstanding."
Yun Ji’s expression remained impassive. "Whether he had selfish motives is of no concern to me. I only know that for certain actions, a price must be paid. Sunxuan, seize Han Lie."
Han Lie’s face instantly turned ashen.
The Beast King hadn’t expected Yun Ji to be so uncompromising.
She stepped in front of Han Lie, her voice ringing with fury. "You’re all doing this on purpose!" Turning her glare on Qiao Yi, she snarled, "What did you say to the Priest? Don’t think I don’t know you’re behind all of this, Qiao Yi! You’re just jealous that I dote on Han Lie and have always despised you. You truly are a savage beast, willing to do anything to kill Han Lie simply because you couldn’t earn my favor!"
"Do you really think I’d spare you a second glance just because Han Lie is dead?"
Qiao Yi’s fists clenched. ’I always knew the Beast King wasn’t very bright,’ he thought. ’Even after taking the throne, her way of thinking is still laughably childish.’
"Yu Ling, don’t be so delusional! If I hadn’t been tricked by you all those years ago, I never would have mated with you!"
His words struck a nerve, and the Beast King shot to her feet in a rage.
"I knew it! The one you’ve always loved is Yaoxi! You want to be her mate!"
Qiao Xixi had just reached the door when she heard the Beast King’s uncontrolled, furious shriek.
She stared at Qiao Yi in astonishment. ’What is the Beast King saying? The person Father loves is... Aunt Yaoxi?’
It wasn’t just Qiao Xixi. Yaoxi, who had just arrived as well, also froze on the spot upon hearing those words.