Chapter 207: Jia Hao’s story

"That was when I had them slaughter animals and have it laced with fox scent with magic so it would not seem like a fox cub was killed and I set my sister up." Hye Yang said. Her voice was a breathy whisper right about now.

"What happened to the cub?!" Someone barked from the crowd. "Yes!! Tell us, where did all those beast people do?!!"

"And you better not forget to say what you did to the Lion King! I do not think you innocent one bit!"

Hye Yang began to shiver. Her throat went dry immediately and she tried to gulp down saliva but realised that her throat was dry as sand. She needed water. And desperately. There was something about being here that made her feel famished coupled with the fact that she had exhausted most of her energy.

"None of them are dead!" Hye Yang breathed aloud.

Mira’s eyes widened. She could not believe what she just heard. It had been years since the first fox cub victim was taken away and if he was not dead, then what happened to him? And how cruel could Hye Yang possibly be to take a young cub from his family for years and keep the family mourning and keep the cub yearning to return to his home.

Mira swallowed as dread filled her immediately. She could not even begin to imagine how devastated she would be if her cubs were separated from her for good. She would not be able to sleep at night at all and she would yearn for her cubs to come back or be found yet that fox family had to endure such a pain for years. Mira was a child when that happened and now she was an adult in her twenties so if she calculated correctly, that cub must be a teenager now. This sucked so badly.

She was glad to know Hye Yang’s victims were not dead but it did not please her to think about the kind of life they must have lived. Especially since the deal was done with a beast region where there was no form of friendship between.

Mira cleared her throat, finally muttering courage to speak. "You better say more than that if you want to remain at peace." Mira stated in a firm tone.

Hye Yang was panting hard, she felt like any moment from now would lead to her fainting. "None of them are dead. From the very first fox to the last animal I sold off. They’re all alive, working as slaves to the other side." Hye Yang said.

The crowd erupted with a noise that sounded like the rumbling of buildings during an earthquake. Every single beast person present was going insane and from the look of some of them shifting half way and the reveal of their fangs and claws, it was obvious that they began to hunger for Hye Yang’s blood.

Mira needed this rage from them to be but she did not want Hye Yang ripped to pieces yet, not when she still had to tell them about her husband.

Mira looked up at Ming Tao. "We need to make a bargain with the rulers of the other side to release our people." Mira said to him.

Ming Tao looked down at her, his eyes were hardened and burned with rage. "We will. They took a lot of our own through deception and that alone calls for a break in truce and war. We will get back our people no matter the cost." Ming Tao said to Mira, he tried to hide the rage he felt as he spoke to her in a soft and calm manner but he knew it was seeping through his voice little by little.

Mira gulped, seeing Ming Tao this angry was not something she thought she would witness anytime soon and she could not deny that it was scary. Although she was not scared of it, even though he looked terrifying in his rage, Mira felt safe with him standing next to her.

She let her hand drape up his body and checked her hand around his waist. "Thank you." Mira said warmly to Ming Tao. "I will be by your side as you carry this out. Maybe not in person but I want to contribute."

Ming Tao took a deep breath before looking down to face her, he had all the cohusbands on his side and he had all the warriors and advisors he needed but he would not turn his pregnant wife down. "That would be nice, thank you, darling." He said to Mira. Ming Tao let his hand sink into her hair and he stroked down the length till his hand met her neck then repeated the process. "But let us talk about this later." Ming Tao said to Mira. He wanted to ask about Jia Hao.

Mira nodded without a second work and returned her attention back to Hye Yang. Her lips parted to question her sister when Ming Tao went ahead of her to say the words she wanted to ask.

"Tell us about the Lion King Jia Hao and your involvement with his disappearance." Ming Tao ordered, his voice thunderous.

The moment he mentioned the word ’disappearance’ the lion beast people in the crowd shifted and the males began to roar. It seemed that none of them were aware of their own King being missing until now and now that they had heard that Hye Yang must have played a part in it, they began to hunger for flesh. Fox flesh. And the only thing keeping them at bay was the fact that an order had not yet come from the Mighty Cheetah to any of them to deal with the fox he has in hostage.

In order words, the only reason why justice was not being carried out on Hye Yang was because the beast people could not do a thing in the Mighty Cheetah’s territory without the Mighty Cheetah’s permission himself and the blood lust they shared was pungent in the air.

Hye Yang began to pant heavily. "I met with the sorcerer to give me a good spell that could conceal my scent and give me the scent of any beast I desired. The spell had its limitations of course, but it worked regardless." Hye Yang took a pause to catch her breath. "It was the spell I used to mask my scent the moment I infiltrated the cheetah clan. That was why I had not been caught or noticed." Hye Yang stated.

It all made sense now, Ming Tao had wondered why she could sneak into his clan without a trace and now that she said this, he understood. This was one of the reasons magic was banned from being practiced by the beast people outside the ones assigned to do the magical tasks. The beast people would use it to their advantage and satisfy their greed that they would not think rationally about it and Hye Yang was a living proof of it.

The fox behaved as though she was possessed by something and the only thing that possessed her was her hunger and greed.

"Keep talking." Ming Tao commanded, his tone harsher.

"When the night feast had come and the cheetahs were celebrating, we knew that it was the perfect time to do whatever we wanted to do without much distractions despite the watch hours being tighter. And the morning of the night is the feast, the lion King had showed up unannounced and he was a great threat and hindrance to my plan to kick my sister out of the cheetah clan." Hye Yang explained. "The rogues I paid. . . ."

"So you agree to paying rogues who you denied ever knowing?" Ming Tao asked, cutting Hye Yang short.

Hye Yang swallowed. "Yes I do." She confessed. This led to another uproar in the crowd. Hearing Hye Yang not lie made Ming Tao’s blood ease but only a little bit, by a percent.

"Continue speaking." Ming Tao uttered.

"I told them to keep watch on the lion king but only at selected times because the lion king was always on guard. It was during this moment that we realised that he was about to expose us so that was when I came up with a plan." Hye Yang took a deep gasp of air then let it out of her lungs.

Her lungs burned at the feel of oxygen filling it but it was all she could get at this moment.

"The plan was to use the spell on the rogues and change their scent and appearance to the lookers they were aimed to deceive to be that of the ruling oracle’s warriors."

A gasp left Mira’s lips. So that day. . . . The people who came to disturb she and Jia Hao at Ming Tao’s home were actually Hye Yang’s paid rogues. . . . Oh no. . . Mira already had an idea how this story would turn out and it sickened her to the bone.