Chapter 593 - 590: An Old Acquaintance

Chapter 593: Chapter 590: An Old Acquaintance

"Wanwan, I’m going to go check on my cub first. I’ll come find you later." Yin Mei seemed to be trying to escape a situation that left her feeling at a loss.

"Alright." Bai Wanwan gave her an understanding smile.

Yin Mei hurried away. The remaining males stayed where they were. A few of them seemed to want to follow, but when they saw that Yin Yuan hadn’t moved, they could only restrain themselves. Instead, their gazes all landed on Bai Wanwan, perhaps because her beauty was so striking.

All the males, except for Yin Yuan, blushed.

Seeing this, Hua Han stepped forward and took Bai Wanwan’s hand, staking his claim.

His gaze swept menacingly over the males in front of him.

Bai Wanwan turned to smile at Hua Han, letting him hold her hand tightly.

Instead of leaving right away, she turned and calmly sized up Yin Yuan.

The five or six males present were all handsome, but Yin Yuan was particularly outstanding. With his cold aura and chiseled features, he was only a slight step down from her own Beast Husbands.

"You like Yin Mei?" Bai Wanwan asked, getting straight to the point.

Yin Yuan raised his eyes and met her gaze frankly. "Yes," he admitted.

"It’s useless if you like her," Bai Wanwan said, her tone calm but weighty. "If Yin Mei doesn’t like you, I will send you away."

"She..." A flash of deep pain crossed Yin Yuan’s eyes, and his voice was low. "She... she used to like me too."

’Used to?’ A bit of curiosity sparked within Bai Wanwan, but when she remembered the suffering Yin Mei had endured, the phrase ’used to like me’ felt more like a sick joke.

"What good is ’used to’? You weren’t around when she was suffering. Yin Mei doesn’t like you now, so as far as she’s concerned, you’re useless."

"That’s not true," Yin Yuan retorted stubbornly, a glimmer of hope refusing to be extinguished. "She still likes me."

In truth, Bai Wanwan had only stayed to talk to him because she had also noticed that Yin Mei seemed to treat him differently.

"Then that means you must have done something to wrong her in the past," Bai Wanwan said, her eyes sharpening. "If that’s the case, we have even less reason to let you stay."

"I never did anything to wrong her!" Yin Yuan quickly argued, his voice laced with the pain of being misunderstood. "It’s... she doesn’t know the full story. She has the wrong idea about me."

"Then what’s that mouth on your face for? Don’t you know how to use it?" Bai Wanwan’s tone was tinged with impatience. ’Misunderstandings in love often stem from a lack of honesty.’

She couldn’t be bothered to drag this out any longer, so she gave him an ultimatum. "I’ll give you two days. If you can’t get Yin Mei to change her mind and agree to accept you within that time, then all of you must leave the Tiger Clan."

Yin Yuan pressed his thin lips together, his gaze turning once more to the direction Yin Mei had gone. The path was long empty.

He fell silent for a moment before finally seeming to make a decision. "Alright," he said in a deep voice.

Just as Bai Wanwan finalized the two-day agreement with Yin Yuan, she looked up to see Yin Mei returning. She was just stepping out of her stone house.

When she saw Yin Yuan and the others still standing in the same spot, her delicate brows knitted together, and a clear look of annoyance crossed her face.

"Wanwan, come over here," Yin Mei called, beckoning to her. Her tone was urgent, eager to get away. "Let’s go for a walk over there."

She pointed to the bank of a quiet stream flowing nearby.

Perhaps sensing Yin Mei’s clear desire to be left alone, Yin Yuan’s lips moved, but he ultimately didn’t follow her. He just stood there in silence, his calm gaze following her retreating figure.

Bai Wanwan walked lightly to Yin Mei’s side and linked arms with her.

The annoyance on Yin Mei’s face finally faded, replaced by a gentle smile as she looked Bai Wanwan over. "You’re finally back. For the last half-year, you’ve been running all over the place. Sometimes, in the evening, I’d see Chief Chou Rong standing all alone on those high city walls, just staring out into the distance for the longest time. He was definitely thinking of you."

An image of Chou Rong—his calm demeanor hiding a deep possessiveness—immediately surfaced in Bai Wanwan’s mind. She especially recalled the very *physical* ways he had of showing how much he "missed" her, and the tips of her ears grew warm. "Mm... Things have settled down for now," she murmured vaguely. "I’m back, and I won’t be heading out again anytime soon."

She deftly changed the subject. "But what about you, Sister Yin Mei? Those males... especially Yin Yuan. Do you really not like him at all?"

Yin Mei fell silent for a moment at the question. The two of them walked slowly along the stream, the sound of the babbling water making their surroundings feel all the more peaceful.

She sighed softly, her voice laden with complex emotions. "You could tell? Yin Yuan... he grew up with us. Back then, life in the tribe was difficult. When Yin Ze was still little, he would often sneak us game. Sometimes it was something he’d hunted himself, and other times it was what he’d saved from his own share. If it weren’t for him, Yin Ze and I... we might not have made it through those snowy seasons."

Bai Wanwan was taken aback. She hadn’t expected a history like that.

’If that’s true, then Yin Ze owes him a great debt.’

"Then later..." she asked softly. ’Something drastic must have happened. Otherwise, knowing how loyal and sentimental Yin Mei is, she would never be so cold and distant toward him.’

"Later..." Yin Mei’s voice dropped, carrying the echo of an old, unhealed wound. "The clan’s healer determined... that I have low fertility."

Bai Wanwan’s brow furrowed instantly, and her expression turned cold. "So he just cast you aside after that?"

"No, that’s not it." Yin Mei shook her head, her gaze fixed on the clear stream as if reflecting on times past. "He... he still brought me game, even more frequently than before. I was the one who didn’t want to be a burden to him."

Her fingers twisted together unconsciously. "He was one of the most exceptional males in the tribe, and many females admired him. Then... another female came into the picture. I left the tribe right before they were supposed to be mated."

Bai Wanwan recalled what Yin Yuan had said earlier—’She doesn’t know my current situation’—and doubt began to sprout in her mind. "But could there be some kind of misunderstanding? If he really did mate with that other female, why would your Clan Leader send him here? A male who already has a partner would never be sent on a mission like this."

Yin Mei shook her head in confusion. "Maybe it’s dangerous outside, so he was assigned to bring the young males here to become my Beast Husbands. I don’t know the details." Her words had a self-protective finality to them, yet they also concealed a deeply buried, almost imperceptible thread of melancholy.

Bai Wanwan gently squeezed Yin Mei’s cool hand, her gaze softening as she looked at her. "Sister Yin Mei, you two grew up together and share so many memories. He even helped you during your most difficult times. Maybe you should just ask him and get a clear answer. If he really is mated, then you can both move on with your own lives..."