Chapter 218: Trick Or Treat

Sora took several steps backward, rubbing her aching forehead after accidentally bumping into Damien. Surprise flashed across her face as she stared at him.

She had absolutely not been prepared for this.

More importantly, she had never intended to form a contract totem with Damien at this moment.

If she did, Damien would undoubtedly be delighted.

But for Sora, the consequences were far more serious.

Once she formed a contract totem with him, there was a possibility that her conquest mission would be considered complete.

And if that happened...

She would be finished.

Between making Damien happy and protecting herself, Sora didn’t need even a second to decide.

Of course, she would choose herself.

The problem was figuring out how to escape this situation without making Damien suspicious.

This time, Damien had even brought out the letter from her Black Bear Foster Mother.

That made things much more troublesome.

Sora’s mind spun rapidly as she considered every possible excuse.

The person she was most afraid of was her Black Bear Foster Mother.

If her foster mother suddenly came looking for her and discovered that Sora had never actually learned everything she claimed to have learned from her, her entire cover would be exposed.

As long as her Black Bear Foster Mother didn’t appear, Sora was safe.

At least for another day.

But there was another matter that continued to bother her.

She still didn’t understand the relationship between Damien and her Black Bear Foster Mother.

According to the letter, Damien and the Original Owner had supposedly had a childhood engagement.

Yet Sora couldn’t find a single useful memory about Damien inside the Original Owner’s memories.

Nothing.

It was almost as though Damien had been erased from that part of her life.

And there was another problem.

The Original Owner hadn’t exactly been beautiful.

Damien, on the other hand, was extremely handsome.

So why would such a handsome Beastman willingly accept a childhood engagement with the Original Owner?

Of course, perhaps Damien simply had unusual tastes.

Maybe he had genuinely developed feelings for his childhood companion regardless of her appearance.

But then another question arose.

If the Original Owner had such a handsome childhood companion waiting for her, why had she willingly returned with Martin?

Why had she repeatedly climbed into the beds of several Beast Husbands?

It made no sense.

Would someone who had already seen a piece of priceless jade still obsess over an ordinary stone?

If Damien had truly been so important to the Original Owner, why hadn’t she thought about returning to her Black Bear Foster Mother and staying with him?

The more Sora thought about it, the stranger Damien became.

There were simply too many suspicious points surrounding him.

At times, Sora even wondered if Damien was some kind of special character secretly arranged by the system.

However, whenever she asked the system about Damien’s background, the system behaved completely normally.

It never gave her a useful answer.

"Kaelira?"

Damien’s voice pulled her back to reality.

"Did you hear me?"

Sora had naturally heard him.

She simply hadn’t known how to answer.

From Damien’s meaning, if she refused again, he might call her Black Bear Foster Mother over.

That would be disastrous.

If she had known Damien would appear later, she would never have used her Black Bear Foster Mother as an excuse in the first place.

Now she had practically trapped herself.

Damien looked at her expectantly.

There was a faint anticipation in his eyes, as though he genuinely believed they might form the contract totem today.

Sora’s eyes suddenly lit up.

She had an idea.

She secretly contacted the system.

"System, does forming a contract totem in the Beast World require a ceremony?"

Marriage shouldn’t be something that could simply be completed casually, right?

The system answered.

"Host, in the Beast World, some Beastmen establish their totems through grand ceremonies, while others establish them privately. Both methods are acceptable."

Sora’s eyes brightened.

As long as a ceremony was required, she had found an opportunity.

She immediately turned toward Damien.

Her expression became extremely sincere.

"Contracting the totem today is still too rushed."

She spoke with a serious expression.

"We should choose an auspicious day and hold a proper ceremony. What do you think about inviting Mother when that day comes?"

Sora’s expression was so sincere that it would have been difficult for anyone to suspect she was trying to delay him.

As for whether finding that auspicious day would be easy...

That was another matter entirely.

Damien was clearly surprised.

He hadn’t expected Sora to compromise so easily this time.

After thinking about it, he nodded.

"Alright."

Then his gaze became slightly sharper.

"But, Kaelira, you can’t lie to me this time."

His voice carried a faint warning.

"So which day are you planning to choose?"

Sora pretended to think deeply.

"This isn’t something we can decide casually."

She touched her chin.

"We need divination."

Then she quickly added, "Besides, the Tribe has been extremely busy dealing with the plague toxin recently. How about I ask Father to perform a divination once everything has settled down?"

Damien stared at her.

His expression was serious.

"Kaelira, can I trust you?"

Sora immediately nodded.

"Of course."

She smiled sweetly.

"I also want to give you a grand ceremony. Otherwise, wouldn’t it be too casual?"

Her words finally eased the suspicion in Damien’s eyes.

His lips curved upward.

"Then I... I’ll trust Kaelira one more time."

As he spoke, Damien lowered his head.

Before Sora could react, he gently kissed her forehead.

The brief contact made Damien pause.

Her forehead was unexpectedly soft and smooth.

For a moment, he became distracted by the strange sensation before quickly returning to his senses.

Sora, however, was completely stunned.

She immediately looked around nervously.

Then she hurriedly asked the system,

"System, the other five didn’t see that, right?"

"Rest assured, Host. The other five are not here."

Sora secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Good.

At least no one had seen it.

If the others had witnessed Damien kissing her forehead, she could already imagine the chaos that would follow.

She quickly brushed Damien off and smiled.

"Then I’ll head back first."

Damien clearly looked reluctant to let her leave.

However, he didn’t stop her.

There was a meaningful smile in his eyes as he watched her walk away.

Once she was far enough from him, Sora finally released a long breath.

"Phew..."

Regardless of everything else, she had successfully delayed Damien.

For now, that was enough.

But she couldn’t keep avoiding the matter forever.

She had to find a way to resolve this hidden danger while she still had time.

After the Tribe reopened the forest and allowed people to freely enter and leave, the number of Beastmen infected with the plague toxin gradually increased.

Fortunately, Sora had already developed a treatment.

Because of this, the Tribe members weren’t nearly as terrified as they had been before.

Whenever anyone felt unwell, they immediately went to Sora.

At first, Sora could treat the patients by herself.

But as the number of infected Beastmen increased, she quickly realized that she couldn’t continue doing everything alone.

Fortunately, there were capable people around her.

Clare and Zainabu were both quick learners.

Whether it was making pottery or learning how to cook, they were both extremely capable.

Sora taught them the method of using Pox Scabs to treat the plague toxin.

Then she instructed them to lead the Tribe members in treating the infected.

After arranging everything, Sora immediately trained another group of Tribe members.

Their task was simple.

Collect Pox Scabs.

Martin had already promised that their Tribe would help other Tribes treat the plague toxin.

The Pox Scabs Sora had previously collected were almost completely used up after treating the infected members of their own Tribe.

Therefore, she needed to gather more.

Fortunately, Martin sent several people to help.

With their assistance, the process became much faster.

Within only a few days, they collected several thousand Pox Scabs.

The poor Flower Rats were practically terrified.

Whenever they saw a group of Beastmen approaching with their strange tools, they immediately fled.

And as the treatment method spread, more and more Tribes learned how to use it.

Under Martin’s leadership, the Pox Scab treatment method gradually spread throughout the Beast World.

Meanwhile, far away in the Black Pig Tribe, Serena had spent more than ten consecutive days eating wild fruits.

Her lips were practically stained green.

Finally, she heard the news she had been waiting for.

The treatment method for the plague toxin had arrived.

A Black Pig Beastman had gone out searching for food.

While outside, he heard other Beastmen discussing the Pox Scab treatment method.

The moment he understood what it could do, he hurried back to the Tribe.

"Chief Henry!"

The Black Pig Beastman rushed over.

"I heard about a method that can treat the plague toxin!"

Henry immediately turned toward him.

"What method?"

The Beastman quickly explained,

"They’re using the scabs from Flower Rats to treat the plague toxin."

Henry’s expression changed.

"You’re saying Flower Rat scabs can cure the plague toxin?"

The Black Pig Beastman nodded repeatedly.

"It’s true! Other Tribes are already using it."

Henry frowned.

"I’ve never heard of such a treatment before. Which Witch Doctor discovered it?"

The Beastman shook his head.

"It wasn’t a Witch Doctor."

He lowered his voice with excitement.

"I heard it was a Female from the Wolf Tribe named Kaelira a."

"Kaelira?"

Henry’s eyes widened.

The Beastman continued,

"Everyone calls her the Heavenly Maiden. They say she received guidance from the Heavenly God and developed this treatment method."

Another Black Pig Beastman immediately became excited.

"If it’s the Heavenly Maiden’s arrangement, then let’s try it too!"

But someone else suddenly asked,

"Wait... Who did you say developed it?"

The Beastman repeated,

"Kaelira."

Serena, who had been standing nearby, suddenly froze.

Her expression changed completely.

"Kaelira?"

Her voice was filled with disbelief.

"Kaelira actually knows how to treat diseases?"

The Black Pig Beastman nodded.

"Yes. It was developed by the Heavenly Maiden named Kaelira."

Serena stared at him.

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

Sora could actually treat illnesses.

Not only that, she could even develop medicine.

The Beastman continued enthusiastically,

"Everyone says she’s beautiful and kind-hearted."

"After developing the Pox Scab treatment, she taught it to everyone without asking for anything in return."

"Because of her, countless Tribes have avoided extinction."

Beautiful?

Kind-hearted?

Serena’s expression became increasingly strange.

Then she suddenly laughed.

"Hahaha!"

Her laughter echoed through the Black Pig Tribe.

Someone like Sora could actually be described as beautiful and kind-hearted?

The world had truly become ridiculous.

Serena couldn’t accept it.

In her mind, Sora had never been that kind of person.

Yet now, the entire Beast World seemed to be praising her.

The Heavenly Maiden.

Beautiful.

Kind-hearted.

A savior who had developed a treatment that could save countless Beastmen.

Serena simply couldn’t comprehend it.

"This world is too hilarious..."

She muttered under her breath, her eyes filled with disbelief.

She absolutely could not accept that the woman she had once looked down upon had become the one everyone was praising.

And, most importantly...

Sora wasn’t merely surviving anymore.

She was becoming someone the entire Beast World depended on.