Chapter 63 - Go and Play

Chapter 63: 63 - Go and Play

(Yaya’s POV)

Moyu found another button to press, and he pressed it hard. "Your plan to drive everyone away will fail. You are already having a hard time with me, so how about twenty more males hounding you?"

"..." Who taught him to be like this? Oh, right, Dickhead. I glared at the culprit, who was busy making soap and humming a tune. He knew what we were talking about, but chose to stay out of it, letting his apprentice handle me.

"Go ahead. More meat for me to grind." I cracked my neck, then my knuckles, but the tension in my shoulders didn’t ease. "Let’s see how long they will last."

Satisfied with the effect of his words, Moyu mounted Noodle, facing me and giving me access to his chest. "You’ve yet to see a desperate beastman. Beast Kingdom’s rules don’t apply to all warm-blooded. I can guarantee you, they will fight dirty. Some might even use heat-inducing spices to make you want them."

"..." I pulled his cloak away, revealing the red, swollen marks of the bee stings. His skin was hot to the touch, and the swelling was starting to spread. I collected the stingers, pulling them out with my nails, and put them aside.

His muscles tensed under my touch, sensitive to even the lightest brush of my fingers. And when I say sensitive, I mean it in a way that made me realize I might have to find some mud to throw at him so he would stop showing signs of arousal.

I could smell him from a distance. He was a walking pheromone bomb that could detonate anytime if I continued.

He breathed heavily as I finished pulling out the stingers, and his eyes were half-closed. "Please, don’t say anything to make it worse."

I suppressed a chuckle as I took his arm and examined it. He was already healing, the swelling receding. It made sense why he wore a scarf and a cloak; his body was too honest compared to his mouth. He was like a fire that was eager to burn, but his mind kept telling him not to.

"Did you know that touching a male’s bare skin this way means the female is interested in him?" he asked, trying to shift the blame onto me and maybe distract me from the fact that he was getting turned on by my touch. "You are giving me mixed signals."

"And you wonder why females aren’t more caring and nice." I pinched his bicep, drawing a scowl from him. "Here, now you have another reason to hate me."

"..." He pulled his cloak back over his chest, hiding the fading marks and his obvious reaction. "Are you saying that it’s our fault that females are the way they are? That we deserve the treatment we get?"

"Who said anything about ’deserve’?" I looked up at the leaves above, watching them sway in the wind. "Nature has its own way of balancing things. And sometimes, that balance is not in our favor."

He sat silently, processing my words. It was rare to see him so contemplative. I was used to seeing him daydreaming and wondered what he was thinking about this time.

The day went on as our Noodle raft continued to glide through the water. The flood was receding; the land was drying. The stink of wet earth and rotting plants was everywhere.

I collected a few more cores from the primals we passed, and some interesting-looking fruits and mushrooms for my research.

We took a few breaks inside tree hollows, so Noodle could eat and rest, and Nugget could scout the area ahead of us (chase away beastmen, so I couldn’t cause a scene).

There was no clean water source in sight, and the only options were my water cores, tree saps, or juicy fruits.

Noodle’s favorite stick came in handy for reaching the fruits at the top of the trees, and we got a good haul of them. Moyu even brought a nest full of eggs with colorful spots on them.

I made a separate gift basket for Nivi, filling it with the most exotic fruits, some flowers, and the eggs. It would be my way of wishing her a happy mated life, and also a bribe to make her owe me a favor.

We should reach Dreamroot forest in three more days and make a last big stop by the waterfall. It was crowded, much to the trio’s dismay, with one female and around thirty males bathing. They were all naked, so we could see their ranks, which ranged between one and two, with one three-ranked leopard standing guard by the side.

The female had fox traits, with long light blue hair. She had small, dainty features and a curvy body that made all the males around her look like giants.

They must have been traveling from the flood zone and stopped here to restock and clean up.

I would have preferred to avoid them and find a secluded spot to camp, but Noodle was drawn to the water, and he didn’t care about the crowd. He just wanted to swim and soak, so that’s what he did.

"Wait," I stopped him. "Come here."

"Yes, mate?" Noodle slithered back.

I pulled out a knife and cut a chunk of my black hair, which I then braided into Noodle’s hair. I tied it with a leather string, so it would stay in place.

"It’s so they won’t think you are trying to kidnap the other female," I explained as he touched the braid. "You have a mate."

He beamed at me, flicking his tongue out. "I have a mate."

His reaction was so genuine and pure that I couldn’t help but smile. I patted his arm and waved him off. "Go and play."

I turned away from Noodle, his joy still lingering in the air around me. The smile that had curved my lips dissolved as my gaze fell upon Vick, whose eyes were locked on the memento I had just given to Noodle.