Xiong Da, Xiong Er

This punch was heavy and powerful, fueled by Xiong Da’s rage at having his authority challenged and a flicker of shame at having his true thoughts laid bare. It landed squarely on Xiong Er’s face.

Xiong Er felt a sharp, agonizing pain in his nose and his vision went black. He stumbled back several steps before being steadied by the beastmen behind him. Warm liquid surged from his nostrils instantly, and his mouth was filled with a metallic, rusty tang.

The surrounding bear-race beastmen were stunned. The chaotic chatter stopped abruptly, leaving only the sound of heavy breathing and Xiong Er’s suppressed groans of pain.

"Ptui!" Xiong Da spat, shaking out his fist. He glared down at the disheveled Xiong Er, his voice like rolling thunder: "We were discussing the new land. What right do you have to make decisions about anything else?"

He used the most primitive method, the one most in line with bear-race law, to re-establish his absolute dominance.

Violence was the eternal creed of the bear-race.

Wisdom? In his eyes, that was nothing more than a weak trick used by the spineless to deceive themselves.

Xiong Er clutched his face, not yet sure what expression to wear, when he heard a flurry of urgent knocking.

"Xiong Da, Xiong Er! It’s bad!"

A bear-race beastman standing near the door threw it open, revealing Xiong Zhuang’s anxious face.

His face was deathly pale and he was gasping for air; he had clearly sprinted all the way back.

Without even acknowledging the strange atmosphere in the room or the blood on Xiong Er’s face, Xiong Zhuang looked up and shouted directly at them: "The cave entrance... the cave entrance! A human came out from inside! They only said two words before taking down all the brothers I brought with me in a few quick moves!"

"She... she... she’s terrifying! I’ve never seen a human like this! She’s a head shorter than me, but her strength is unbelievable! They all went down, and as soon as I saw things going south, I rushed back to report! What do we do? What should we do now?"

Xiong Zhuang’s words were like a thunderclap, causing the hearts of every bear-race beastman in the room to shrink in fear.

The tension from their internal power struggle was instantly crushed by this more immediate, external threat.

The ferocity and smugness on Xiong Da’s face froze, replaced by a flicker of hard-to-conceal panic.

"A human? Coming out from inside the cave?"

He repeated it subconsciously, his head buzzing.

They hadn't even had a chance to go in yet, so how did the people... no, the things inside, manage to get out?

And they were that strong?

Wait... it was a human?!

Xiong Da finally latched onto this point. He furrowed his brows and asked with a tone of stereotypical disdain: "A single human scared you like this?"

"Are the ones you brought with you all trash?!" He roared, standing up and staring fixedly at Xiong Zhuang.

Those present slowly reacted as well, whispering among themselves:

"It’s a human?"

"Is that land human territory?"

"Since when do humans deserve to own land? Human or not, if we found it, it’s ours!"

"That’s right, it’s our land! Drive those humans out!"

The discussion grew louder, and everyone present looked excited, as if that piece of land were already in their grasp.

Only Xiong Zhuang, who had seen Cheng Shuili, kept trembling, muttering to himself: "She kicked Xiong Xiong away with one foot, and Xiong Ying was slapped senseless onto the ground... how can such a terrifying human exist?"

But the other bear-race beastmen were all immersed in their joyful fantasies; how could they hear what he was muttering?

Xiong Da laughed heartily, stood up, and shoved past Xiong Zhuang at the door. He said loudly: "Xiong Er, the ones you picked really aren’t very reliable. Just in case, I’d better go myself."

He turned to the other bear-race beastmen: "Everyone, who wants to come with me and take a good look at our new land?"

This was a total move to leave Xiong Er out of the loop!

The other beastmen exchanged glances; everyone knew that the fewer people there were, the more would fall into their own hands later.

As if by silent agreement, they stood up with Xiong Da and responded: "We have to see it. We have to see exactly how those humans are encroaching on our land! Drive them out!"

"Right! Drive them out! Drive them out!"

The beastmen marched in a grand procession toward the back mountain, leaving only Xiong Er and Xiong Zhuang behind.

After the silence returned, Xiong Zhuang finally noticed the fresh blood on Xiong Er’s face. His brow twitched, and he hurriedly stepped forward: "Brother Xiong Er! What happened to you? Where did that blood on your face come from?"

Xiong Er slowly lowered the hand covering his face; the nosebleed had already half-coagulated, leaving dark red stains on his skin.

He looked hollowly in the direction where Xiong Da and the others had disappeared, then slowly turned back to Xiong Zhuang’s terrified face.

The sharp pain from the punch was still there, but the chill in his heart was even worse than the pain on his face.

Xiong Da’s contempt, the desertion of the other beastmen, the sudden turn of events regarding the new land...

Everything felt like a cold tide drowning him.

"Xiong Zhuang," his voice was hoarse, carrying a kind of numb calm, "did you just say... that human took down all of you in a few moves?"

Xiong Zhuang nodded vigorously, still shaken: "It’s true! It was too fast, I didn’t even see it! And her strength is ridiculously high! Brother Xiong Er, have we... messed with something we shouldn’t have? That guy doesn’t look like a human at all! It’s more like... like the kind of monster that eats beastmen that Mother used to tell us about when we were little!"

Xiong Er did not answer. He walked to the door and looked toward the silhouette of the back mountain visible in the distance.

Xiong Da and his group were likely rushing over with aggressive momentum right now, their heads filled with the fanaticism of driving out humans to claim the land for themselves.

"Something we shouldn’t have..." Xiong Er muttered, his mouth twisting into a bitter arc. He turned around and looked at Xiong Zhuang: "Tell me, can Xiong Da... deal with that human?"

Xiong Zhuang opened his mouth, remembering that terrifying figure, but ultimately just shook his head in confusion: "I... I don’t know. But that thing is really strong."

He hesitated for a moment before asking with a trembling voice: "B-Brother, are we still going to the back mountain?"

Xiong Er closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, he had regained his composure.

"Xiong Zhuang," he said in a low voice, his tone resolute, "we are not going to the back mountain."

"Huh?" Xiong Zhuang was stunned.

"We are... going to town." Xiong Er wiped the blood from his face, his gaze becoming sharp and complex. "Not to question the King, but... to request an audience."

He paused, his voice dropping even lower, as if trying to convince himself: "Tell the King that his territory... his bear-race, is doing something that might bring about total destruction. And we... need his judgment, or... his protection."

This was submission, but also a gamble.

Gambling that Xiong Ji was still the King of the bear-race who could control everything, and gambling that there was some connection they couldn’t understand between that terrifying human appearing from the cave and the "old King" in town.

Regardless, staying here—whether facing the enraged Xiong Da or that unknown, powerful enemy—would only lead to a dead end.

At the cave entrance on the back mountain.

The entrance, which had been simply camouflaged by Xiong Zhuang earlier, had been thoroughly cleared, and light illuminated the deep, dark passage.

Lying helter-skelter near the entrance were several moaning bear-race warriors—the same group Xiong Zhuang had brought with him earlier.

They had no fatal wounds, but had clearly been struck by some immense force, losing their ability to fight for the time being.

In front of the cave entrance, a figure stood with her back to the light.

It was indeed a human female. Her frame looked petite in front of the bear-race, but she stood straight as an arrow.

She was dressed in neat, dark clothing, and while her boots were stained with a bit of dust, it did nothing to diminish the calm and sharp aura about her.

It made her look like a sword that had not yet been unsheathed.

She had been crouching beside one of the bear-race beastmen, seemingly asking something. When Xiong Da rushed over with dozens of bear-race beastmen in a massive, surging crowd, she finally stood up without any rush.

Seeing this scene with their own eyes, the bear-race beastmen who had rushed over so hastily hesitated.

A thought arose in their minds simultaneously: "Could... could what Xiong Zhuang said be true?"

This thought lingered for only an instant.

Looking at that petite human figure, then back at their own dozens of burly, furious kin, that flicker of hesitation was quickly crushed by a more primitive sense of confidence and greed.

It was just one human, what kind of waves could she make?

Xiong Zhuang and the others must have just been too careless!

"Human!" Xiong Da stepped out from the crowd, his voice like a bell, trying to use volume to suppress the flicker of unease rising in his heart at the sight before him. "This is the territory of the bear-race! You hurt my kin, are you looking for death?!"

Cheng Shuili’s gaze fell upon him. There was no sign of being scared; instead, she tilted her head slightly, as if thinking about something.

A moment later, she spoke, her voice clear and steady, cutting through the noise of the bear-race:

"Your territory? This place," she pointed to the ground beneath her feet, "along with everything over there, is my turf."

"Your turf?" Xiong Da was stunned, then flew into a rage. "Bullshit! We were the ones who found this cave! The land inside naturally belongs to the bear-race! You, a human, dare to speak so shamelessly?!"

"That’s right! Get out!"

"This is bear-race territory, human, get lost!"

The bear-race behind him clamored, waving their thick arms and letting out threatening growls.

Cheng Shuili sighed lightly. The sigh wasn’t loud, but it made the few bear-race beastmen who were clamoring the loudest in the front inexplicably fall silent.

She didn’t say anything else, just took a step forward and waved her hand at Xiong Da. The meaning was clear: since words weren’t working, let’s fight.

Her invitation sent alarm bells ringing in Xiong Da’s heart.

Looking at the bear-race beastmen scattered on the ground was one thing, but with Shen Huaixu beckoning like that, the possibility that she had single-handedly defeated them increased tenfold.

Xiong Da was having second thoughts, but in front of everyone, he absolutely could not back down.

He roared to psych himself up and charged like a war chariot, his bowl-sized fist whistling through the air toward Cheng Shuili’s head.

This punch was ten times fiercer than the one he had used on Xiong Er!

He had put his entire strength into it!

But Cheng Shuili didn’t change her expression; she just tilted her head slightly, and Xiong Da’s sure-fire punch grazed past her hair and missed.

Before Xiong Da could pull back his force or change his stance, Cheng Shuili’s hand had already landed seemingly lightly on his thick wrist.

The next instant—

"Crack!"

The sound of bone snapping was clearly audible!

"Awoooo!!!"

Xiong Da let out a shrill scream. His massive body was hit as if by an invisible hammer; he went spinning through the air and slammed heavily into a large tree, shaking the leaves down in a flurry.

He slid down the tree to the ground, taking quite a while of pain before he could open his eyes.

The other bear-race beastmen who had come with him were already scared out of their wits, huddling together like a flock of frightened quail, not even daring to breathe loudly.

The way they looked at Cheng Shuili was filled with fear—an instinctive trembling in the face of absolute power and an incomprehensible existence.

Xiong Da leaned against the tree trunk, cradling his unnaturally bent and deformed wrist. The intense pain made his vision go black, and cold sweat soaked through his clothes.

He struggled to stand, only to find his legs weak and unable to support his massive frame.

Fear—not the instinctive awe he felt when facing Xiong Ji, but a real, life-and-death fear—finally crushed him completely.

Cheng Shuili shook her wrist. Without even looking at the limp Xiong Da, her gaze swept across the group of trembling bear-race beastmen, and she finally spoke: "Now, can we talk properly?"

Talk?

Hearing this word, the bear-race beastmen all shuddered subconsciously.

Talk?

A "talk" that involved crushing wrists when things didn’t go their way?

But at this moment, they didn’t even have the courage to run away; they could only nod stiffly, emitting vague, muffled sounds of agreement.

Cheng Shuili was not surprised by their reaction.

Xiong Ji had said long ago that the bear-race worshipped strength. Only by beating all these troublemakers into submission could she truly become the master of the bear-race.

With Xiong Da as a living example before them, the other beastmen didn’t dare to act out.

Cheng Shuili took the bear-race token from the Abyss Ring and held it high, amidst a crowd whose initial dullness turned to astonishment, and finally into looks of utter disbelief.

"Bear Tooth?!"

Bear Tooth!

This was the heirloom of the bear-race, something that should have been in Xiong Ji’s hands—or rather, in the hands of the King of the bear-race!

But now, it was being held out by this strange human female with an air of absolute entitlement!

Cheng Shuili took in the reaction of all the bears. Holding the Bear Tooth, her gaze swept calmly over every single one of them, her voice clear and firm:

"It’s good that you recognize this. The King of the bear-race is now me. Is there anyone here who doesn’t understand that?"

Her words were like a second thunderclap, leaving the bear-race dizzy and stunned.

The King really was a human!

And this human was right in front of them now, openly displaying the token!

This meant... she really was the new King of the bear-race!

These bear-race beastmen were bold enough when they were discussing things among themselves, but when the King truly appeared before them holding the token, the suppression within their bloodline made them not even dare to breathe loudly.

The air, which had just been filled with roars and bellows, was now terrifyingly silent.

Every bear-race beastman lowered his head, his massive body uncontrollably prostrating on the ground, burying his head deep between his hands and emitting low, submissive whimpers.

This was the most instinctive posture of submission for the bear-race when facing an undisputed royal authority.

Xiong Da, lying on the ground, also struggled to support himself with his uninjured hand, touching his forehead to the ground and completing the same action.