Favorite of the Beast-world: I Got Rich Through Farming-Chapter 300 - 193: Masculine Pride and the Traitor
At long last, Xi’s confession was a success. A heavy weight was lifted from his heart. He could tell Ah Jin liked him; becoming mates was only a matter of time.
"Did something happen outside?"
Xi shook his head and took her hand. "I’ll take you to see."
When the two arrived outside the city, they saw that all the Mermaids had swarmed out, densely surrounding a foreign Beastman.
"He’s a Land Beastman! He must be the one who stole our Holy Artifact! Everyone, grab him!"
"Look at the black scales on his tail! He must be the thief! Catch him and hand him over to the Priest and the King!" 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
Gu Yin had followed the sensation from his mate mark to get here. But as soon as he arrived outside the city, he was surrounded by countless Mermaids, blocking his path to find his mate.
Killing intent instantly rose within him. He wanted to kill every last one of these damned Mermaids. His snake tail, which had been drifting gently in the water like seaweed, slowly tensed. He was just about to pick a direction and strike—
"Gu Yin!"
He froze for a moment, looking up.
An opening suddenly appeared in the dense crowd. Xi drove the other Mermaids back while An Jin swam smoothly through to him and threw her arms around him.
"Are you hurt? I’ve been waiting for you this whole time. You’re finally here!" she said happily.
Gu Yin looked down, tightly hugging the warm, fragrant beauty in his arms. He was about to go in for a passionate reunion kiss when his gaze suddenly fell on her crimson, slightly swollen lips.
His fingers froze.
’Looks like... she was bitten by some kind of sharp mouthpart?’
Gu Yin’s gaze darkened as it fell on Xi, who stood a short distance away. His hands clenched into fists, his snake tail tensed further, and a dark thought about mincing a certain fish surfaced in his mind.
Xi had been busy driving back the dense crowd of Mermaids when a sudden chill ran down his spine, and he had a terrible feeling.
Before he could react, he was whipped more than ten meters away by a thick, black-and-red snake tail.
If not for the resistance of the water slowing his momentum, he probably would have been slammed into the stone wall, coughing up blood and suffering grievous internal and external injuries.
"You—" An Jin only saw a black-and-red snake tail flash before her eyes. Before she could even stop it, she heard Xi cry out in pain.
Gu Yin let out a cold snort.
Xi wiped the corner of his mouth as a wisp of blood drifted away in the water. "Ah Jin, stay out of this!" he said, trying to sound tough.
This was a fight between males, a matter of pride.
If his skills were inferior, he had to endure being oppressed by other males. That was the law of nature.
Before his confession, he might have whimpered pitifully and sought her comfort as he had before. But now, Xi only wanted to show her his tough and masculine side.
An Jin looked helplessly from one to the other. It was like having to choose between two parts of her own body; favoring one would inevitably hurt the other.
"Why are you stopping us? Your Highness, you can’t just harbor a Land Beastman! He’s the thief!"
The Mermaids protested, "He’s from the land and he’s so powerful. Plus, he has a good water attribute! He could have definitely snuck into the Secret Realm and stolen the Holy Artifact!"
"And he attacked you! He must have a guilty conscience and was trying to silence a witness!"
An Jin held Gu Yin’s hand and took out the Black Scale with her other. She stepped forward to address the agitated Mermaids, "All of you, take a closer look. This Black Scale is not the same as the scales on his body. They differ in luster, shape, and size."
"The thief’s Black Scale is thicker and harder, and it’s pure jet-black. Gu Yin’s scales, however, are black-red. They’re thin as blades, much sharper, and also slightly larger."
"Lord Yi Yue actually gave you the scale?" the Mermaids exclaimed in shock.
’Isn’t it just because I have an ’in’ with Xi?’ An Jin thought to herself.
The furious Mermaids gradually calmed down. They came forward in waves to look, and after confirming she was telling the truth, they finally lowered their guard.
"But he’s a land-based Snake Beast. Why would he come to the deep sea? He’s still highly suspicious!"
"He is my mate. He came here with me. We were delayed because we ran into some Sea Beasts a few days ago."
An Jin turned and reached out, gently brushing aside the long, ink-black hair that fell over Gu Yin’s chest to reveal half of a mate mark. "Is this not enough to confirm his identity?"
"Very well. Since you are our honored guest, your mate is our honored guest as well."
Only then did the Mermaids relax their guard.
After the three were escorted back to the city, Yi Yue heard about Gu Yin’s arrival and rushed over, curious to take a look.
When he saw the King Beast mark on the Snake Beast’s forehead, his own fishtail stiffened. ’Those Mermaids are so ignorant,’ he thought. ’How dare they try to attack a King Beast?! It’s a good thing this Snake Beast wasn’t in a killing mood, or we’d have to rebuild our entire tribe from scratch.’
’No wonder this little female said she was here to prevent a catastrophe at sea. With a King Beast as her mate, it was certainly no empty boast.’
However...
Yi Yue glanced at his own disappointing son, then at the cold-faced Gu Yin, and suddenly felt that his son’s path to winning a mate would be long and difficult.
...
When the High Priest of the seabed ended his seclusion, Xi accompanied Yi Yue and the other Elders to the audience, only returning in the afternoon.
In the largest palace at the center of the underwater city, the most prestigious Mermaids had gathered. As honored guests from the land, An Jin and Gu Yin were also given seats to observe.
"Based on the clues we’ve found, the thief has a Black Scale like this one and came from the Southwest Sea Area. I have already dispatched Mermaids to investigate, and I trust they will return soon."
Yi Yue continued, "According to the High Priest’s Divination, there is a traitor among us Mermaids!"
"No wonder! Our ancestors intentionally placed the Secret Realm in such a hidden location. How could someone from another race have found it so easily?"
"The Priest said that the traitor is—"
Yi Yue’s cold gaze swept across the crowd. One of them, a purple-tailed Mermaid, lowered his eyes and began to silently back away.
A black-and-red snake tail suddenly shot out, coiling around the fleeing Mermaid and crushing him before viciously slamming him to the ground.
The Mermaid instantly coughed up a mouthful of blood and lay motionless on the ground, as if dead.
"It’s him," Gu Yin said, his thin lips slightly parted and his expression utterly cold.
"Ker! How could it be him?"
"He’s always so honest and hardworking. He doesn’t seem like the type to betray us. Is this a mistake?"
The Mermaids were in disbelief.
Yi Yue was also taken aback. In truth, the Priest’s Divination hadn’t identified a specific suspect; he had said it deliberately to gauge the Mermaids’ reactions.
"Ker, do you have anything to say for yourself? Who put you up to this?"
Lying on the ground on the brink of death, Ker suddenly lifted his head. His once-purple eyes had turned completely black—both sclera and iris were now an eerie, swirling abyss.
"AAAAAH—" He let out a piercing shriek, the high-frequency sound waves threatening to shatter everyone’s eardrums. His once slender and well-proportioned body suddenly twisted, bulking up as if undergoing a monstrous transformation.
Just as he was about to burst through the doors, Gu Yin’s expression hardened, and in an instant, he had the creature pinned to the ground.
"He’s lost all reason. He’s been demonized," he said flatly.
