Chapter 132 - 130: Back Then, Xuan Jin Was Protecting a Female

The Wandering Beastman immediately dropped his tools and ran off, alerting the other Wandering Beastmen mining there.

"Everyone, listen up! Lord Xuan Jin has entered the mining area!"

"What? Lord Xuan Jin was locked up?"

"How could Xishi let Lord Xuan Jin get locked up? What are they even good for?"

"What should we do? Should we try to find a way to get Lord Xuan Jin out? What are Lord Xuan Jin’s intentions?"

"He can’t possibly be here to sightsee."

"Heavens, I can’t bear to see Lord Xuan Jin suffer!"

The Wandering Beastmen worshiped Xuan Jin with the fervor of celebrity fans.

They had their own unique faith. They couldn’t stand the thought of their beloved lord entering the mines to dig.

As for what crimes the Wandering Beastmen committed to be locked in the Beast Prison...

Do you even call that a crime when a Wandering Beastman does it?

That’s called getting accidentally caught!

How did Lord Xuan Jin get accidentally caught?

The snake in question was completely unaware of this, coldly surveying the small cave assigned to them with a critical eye.

The cave had clearly been inhabited before.

’So small, and filthy too.’

How could they give such a dirty, dilapidated cave to his little female master?

Nan Zishi bent down, preparing to clean.

Xuan Jin stopped her. "Wait. I’ll do it."

From behind, three or five Beastmen appeared out of nowhere and swarmed inside.

"Lord Xuan Jin!"

"Don’t move, we’ll do it!"

A few Male Beastmen rushed in, fought over who got to clean the place, and then bowed in unison to Xuan Jin.

"Lord Xuan Jin, we’re right here in the mining area. Just give the word if you need anything."

Nan Zishi, completely baffled by the scene, asked, "...What just happened?"

Xuan Jin raised an eyebrow slightly.

Nan Zishi asked, "Your people?"

"This is a mining area. Wandering Beastmen are often captured and brought here for labor. It must be them. I wasn’t paying attention," Xuan Jin said nonchalantly.

’Looks like they really are his people.’

Outside the cave, several large male heads peeked in, staring at them with the excited expressions of crazed fans.

’It’s strange. How could a Beastman as intense and cold as Xuan Jin have so many fanatical followers among the Wandering Beastmen?’

Xuan Jin surveyed the cave again. Though it was much cleaner, he still found it too small.

’Small is fine. We can just make it bigger.’

He gently wrapped an arm around Nan Zishi’s shoulders and led her out of the cave. "Little female master, step back a bit."

She took a few steps back and watched as Xuan Jin arrogantly crossed his arms, his serpent tail—covered in blade-like scales—boring into the cave wall.

Nan Zishi noticed that the huge commotion had startled a young Deer Beastman cub out of the small cave next to theirs.

The dusty little deer cub had a pair of exceptionally bright green eyes. He stared at Nan Zishi for a few seconds before retreating back into his cave.

’Looks like we disturbed our little neighbor...’

Xuan Jin was incredibly brazen. The massive commotion immediately attracted the attention of many Beastmen in the mining area. The Sin Beasts of the mines watched cautiously.

"Looks like a powerful one has arrived."

"It’s the male that beautiful female master brought in."

"His power is not to be underestimated."

"I told you, the more beautiful the female master, the more you shouldn’t provoke them. Her Beast Husband is too strong!"

"I think I’ve seen this person before. He looks like the Snake King, Xuan Jin. Have you forgotten? That lawless Snake King."

"He’s back again?"

"Who are you talking about?"

"The Snake King who strolled into the mines a few years ago, turned the place upside down, and had to be personally ’escorted’ out by the Beast King of the mines."

"Why is he back again?!"

The immense commotion stunned the Beastmen serving their sentences nearby.

At the same time, it drew the attention of the Prison Guard Beastmen managing this area. Several tall, imposing Beastmen began to drive away the others who were gathered outside the cave.

"What are you all doing? Get back to mining!"

As he spoke, he whipped the Beastmen outside with a vine!

The onlooking Sin Beasts and Xuan Jin’s adoring fans scattered in a hurry.

"Someone’s digging out a cave? Which Sin Beast has the nerve?"

The words had barely left his mouth when several sharp Snake Scales shot out. Two of the guards clutched their legs, howling in pain.

"AHHHHHHH!!! It hurts, it hurts! My leg feels like it’s broken!"

Several Beastmen charged in together, only to freeze in fear the moment they saw the terrifying Xuan Jin.

"Snake King Xuan Jin?!" They dragged their companion backward, retreating in fear.

’This guy has a terrible temper. He’s bad news.’

The prison guards were terrified. "Sorry, so sorry!" Without another word, they hoisted their companion onto their shoulders and beat a hasty retreat.

Seeing the prison guards flee, the Wandering Beastmen grew even more excited. They ran out, bowed respectfully before Xuan Jin, and said admiringly, "Lord Xuan Jin, you’re incredible! Don’t tire yourself out. We’ll handle the small stuff."

His underlings happily hummed a little tune as they helped him move the rocks he had just shattered.

’He’s supposed to be a Sin Beast, yet no one dares question him when he causes trouble, and he even has underlings to share the chores.’

’Every Beastman is watching his expression, waiting to act.’

Nan Zishi felt that Xuan Jin seemed to be having a pretty comfortable time in a place like this.

Once all the rubble was cleared out, the cave was truly transformed.

Nan Zishi took out a few Beast Skins to furnish the cave they would be temporarily living in.

As she was arranging them, a few more Beastmen arrived outside. It was Bao Fei, the Leopard Beastman prison guard who had led them to the cave.

He walked into the cave carrying several Beast Skin bags, and also handed them a few tools carved from the large Beast Teeth of some unknown creature.

Most Beastmen didn’t know how to use tools, but this was the territory of the High Priest of Ten Thousand Beasts City. The High Priest knew how to use tools and had Beastmen make them and send them over, teaching the Sin Beasts to use them.

Nan Zishi curiously eyed the tools in Bao Fei’s hands.

Bao Fei puffed out his chest and said sternly, "You came here as convicts, so you must mine."

"The female master’s quota is smaller. You only need to fill one small bag with common yellow ore per day."

"As for the male... since you chose to accompany your female master, you must bear the majority of her punishment."

"Xuan Jin, you are responsible for three large bags of ore every day. You cannot fulfill the female master’s quota of one small bag for her; you must dig all the rest."

"If you find any Beast Crystal Ore, your entire quota for the day will be waived."

’What’s Beast Crystal Ore?’

Nan Zishi was wondering about this when she saw Bao Fei hand over the Beast Skin bags and tools. Xuan Jin took them, and Nan Zishi immediately grabbed the tools from his hands to study them.

’I wonder what kind of Beast Teeth these are. They can’t be ivory, can they? Ivory is so precious; it would be a waste to use it for tools.’

’But these mining tools look a lot like chisels.’

Nan Zishi gave one a try. With a single strike, a small crack appeared in the ore!

’Whoa!’

’These work great!’

’I’ll have to find a chance to sneak one into my storage space.’

Bao Fei roared at the underlings outside the cave, "What are you all doing here? Have you finished your mining quotas? Do you want to be sent to the Punishment Cave?"

"The Punishment Cave?"

Xuan Jin explained, "It’s a place in the mines for punishing Sin Beasts who fail to meet their quotas."

The Beastmen in the mines each had different mining quotas. If they couldn’t turn in their ore for the day, they would be sent to the Punishment Cave.

The Punishment Cave was guarded by specialized Eight Pattern Priests.

No one ever came out of the Punishment Cave without losing a layer of skin. No one wanted to go in.

His underlings took one last, reluctant look at their strong and mighty Lord Xuan Jin before turning to go back to mining.

Bao Fei said to Xuan Jin, "Snake King, your female master is the actual convict. According to the rules of this mining area, you are not allowed to help her."

Facing the powerful Xuan Jin, Bao Fei was actually quite intimidated.

If this Seven-striped Snake King decided to turn on him, he wouldn’t even have time to run.

The Xuan Snake Beastman’s cold eyes swept over him. Perhaps because he was concerned about his female master, he suppressed his temper and didn’t cause any trouble.

He took Nan Zishi’s hand and walked toward the mining face. With a flick and a tremor of his massive snake tail, he completely shattered the rock-hard ore before them, having no need for any Beast Tooth tools.

Bao Fei: "..."

Xuan Jin looked down at Nan Zishi and said, "Little female master, you can start picking up the rocks."

Nan Zishi picked up her burlap sack and began collecting the rocks.

Bao Fei watched, utterly speechless, as Nan Zishi and the snake slowly and methodically started picking up rocks.

After unhurriedly gathering the rocks, Nan Zishi unhurriedly turned them in...

Bao Fei: "..."

...

Nan Zishi returned to the cave to tidy up, and two Wandering Beastmen snuck over to help.

Nan Zishi sat on a stone stool while the two young Wandering Beastmen helped clean the cave and chatted with her.

"Hello, you’re Lord Xuan Jin’s female master, right? We’ve all heard that Lord Xuan Jin has found a mate."

"I am." Nan Zishi observed them curiously. ’These two aren’t toxic solo stans, are they?’

"That’s wonderful!" one of the males said excitedly. "So female masters do want Wandering Beastmen!"

"What should we call you?" the Beastman asked.

Nan Zishi said, "My name is Nan Zishi."

"Lady Nan."

In this world, the respectful way to address a female master was to add a title to her name. For example, for a Beastman named Wolf Zi, the surrounding Beastmen would respectfully call her Purple Female Master. Since Nan Zishi’s name began with "Nan," they addressed her as Lady Nan.

"Lady Nan, our Lord Xuan Jin might seem cold on the outside, but he’s actually very gentle on the inside."

"That’s right! Five years ago, back in the swamp, the Wandering Beastmen were constantly being oppressed by the Jackal Wolf Beastmen. They were always launching sneak attacks on us. Then Lord Xuan Jin led us to fight back. That whole period was incredibly dangerous."

"The entire swamp was dangerous. All the weaker Wandering Beasts went into hiding."

"Oh, I remember now. Lord Xuan Jin was protecting a female master back then. Was that you?"

A five-year-old memory was suddenly awakened. Nan Zishi said in astonishment, "Huh? What?"