Clumsy Beast, Keep Your Paws Off-Chapter 461: She Has Returned

Wang Mulan did not stop. She ignored everyone behind her as if the world itself had faded into nothing. Even Yin Feng, who had always been within her awareness, was no exception this time.

Her steps did not slow, not even for a moment, as she ran straight toward the temple platform.

Her breathing had already grown uneven, each inhale sharp and rushed, each exhale trembling. Her heart pounded violently against her chest, so loud it almost drowned out everything else.

And yet, the closer she got, the stronger that strange, indescribable feeling became, like an invisible force pulling her forward, calling out to her, urging her to come closer... closer...

Then she finally reached it.

Her steps faltered abruptly, the momentum breaking as though she had crossed some unseen boundary.

And in the very next moment, she fell to her knees.

The soft grass beneath her bent under the sudden weight of her body, cushioning her fall as if trying to hold her up. It was as though all her strength had left her at once, drained in a single instant. But even then, she did not look down. She did not react to the fall nor to the faint sting in her knees.

Her gaze remained fixed ahead...on the platform.

Her eyes widened ever so slightly... and then, slowly, they began to shimmer with something that rarely appeared within them. It’s wonder...a pure, undeniable wonder.

Behind her, a voice broke through the heavy silence.

"Mu...lan!"

Yin Feng rushed forward, his expression shifting the moment he saw her collapse. Alarm flashed across his face, his heart skipping a beat as he closed the distance between them. Without hesitation, he reached her side, his hand moving quickly to support her, steadying her fragile form.

"You..."

But before he could even finish his words, she accepted his help only briefly...just enough to regain her balance, and then, gently but firmly, she pulled away.

Without saying a single word, she rose to her feet once more and began to walk forward again toward the platform.

Yin Feng froze for a brief moment, confusion flickering across his face as he watched her. Something about her felt... different...no off.

He couldn’t quite understand it, but it unsettled him deeply. Still, he did not stop her. Instead, he followed closely behind, his gaze locked onto her figure, unwilling to let her out of his sight.

"...Did something happen?" he asked quietly, his voice lowered now, cautious, as if afraid that speaking too loudly might disturb whatever was unfolding.

But there was no answer.

Wang Mulan did not respond. She simply lifted her hand and placed it upon the smooth, white stone.

The instant her fingers made contact...

She stood completely still. Not even the faintest movement remained in her body.

Her hand began to move slowly, almost reverently, tracing along the surface of the stone as though she were feeling for something hidden deep within it.

The stone itself was cold, its pale surface reflecting a faint, almost ethereal light. Yet under her touch... it almost seemed to come alive, as if responding in some silent, incomprehensible way.

And her expression changed.

The calm, distant composure she always carried, the quiet detachment that defined her, was gone.

In its place...

A soft, radiant brightness emerged.

Her eyes shone.

Behind her, the gathered beastmen began to slow, their earlier movements fading into stillness as they took in the scene before them.

Confusion spread among them like ripples across water.

"...What is happening?"

"Why did the priestess suddenly..."

"Did she feel something?"

Their voices were hushed and uncertain, barely above whispers. No one dared to raise their voice, as though instinct itself warned them against disturbing this moment.

No one dared to step forward.

Because this... This might concern the Beast God. And that single thought was enough to silence them completely.

Did the Beast God send a sign?

Did the priestess receive something?

They did not know and they did not dare to interrupt.

Yin Feng stood closest to her, his brows slightly furrowed as he watched in silence. His gaze shifted slowly from her face to her hand and then to the platform beneath it.

He did not understand what was happening.

Wang Mulan’s fingers continued to trace the white stone, slow and gentle, as though she were committing every inch of it to memory.

And her eyes grew brighter and clearer.

As if, at this very moment, she had finally found something she had been searching for all along...

Her lips parted slightly as realization struck her with undeniable clarity.

This platform had been used just moments ago.

After so many centuries of silence... after countless years of stillness...It had finally been used again.

Her heart trembled violently in her chest.

Her hand pressed more firmly against the stone, as if trying to confirm it again and again, as if afraid that if she let go, the truth she had just grasped would slip away.

She wasn’t wrong.

All those visions... all those fragmented glimpses she had seen in the past... The fleeting flashes that came to her whenever the platform once lit up in her sight...

They were real.

They had always been real.

Her breathing quickened, each inhale sharper than the last, her chest rising and falling unevenly.

That could only mean one thing. The one destined to arrive... had already come.

And if he had come...

Then her daughter...

Her daughter must be here too.

"...She’s back..."

The words slipped from her lips softly, barely more than a whisper.

Yet, to her... they echoed louder than anything else in the world.

Her body began to tremble. Joy surged through her chest so suddenly, so overwhelmingly, that she couldn’t contain it.

"Finally..."

Her voice broke, fragile and unsteady. Tears welled up in her eyes without warning.

They spilled over, slipping down her cheeks one after another, blurring her vision until the world before her turned into nothing but indistinct shapes.

She couldn’t stop them. After so many years...After waiting for so long...her daughter was finally back...

Back in her original world.

Her legs weakened beneath her. Her body bent forward slightly as a soft sob escaped her lips, trembling and raw.

"...My daughter..."