The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe-Chapter 270: Out of the Whispering Valley

Fenric let out a gruff, triumphant sound.

"Well, I don’t see the problem whether it’s the one you wrote or similar." He said, still grinning.

"If it’s a similar world then it means your mind must be linked to the actual ’creator’ of this world. Who knows? Maybe you know the Beast God." Noah said and I raised my head.

"The Beast God?"

"Well, whatever." He brushed the back of his neck. "Whether you made this world or something similar to it, it means you’ve got excellent taste. Don’t think of it as a ’cheat,’ Little tiger. Just think of us as the answer to your wishes."

My eyes grew teary again and the tears that stopped falling began to roll down again.

Damar reached out, his cool fingers brushing my temple. "If this world is your dream, Ari... then we are the luckiest figments of imagination to ever exist. But remember—I chose to mark you. I chose to stay."

Noah walked over, looking down at me with a smirk that was both arrogant and incredibly tender.

"Anyway, about the novel you wrote, did the King have such a beautiful, complicated wife?" He asked and this time, I managed to smile. "Did they have one of those happily ever after?"

"The story... never had an ending," I admitted, my voice finally steadying as the river breeze began to pull the pollen away.

But then I paused.

My story never had an ending? Really? I thought it did. I was sure I finished it.

But now that I think about it, I can’t remember how the novel ended. I can’t remember any of that, but somehow the whispering valley made me admit a truth I don’t remember.

Isn’t that odd?

Noah reached down and hauled me to my feet, his grip firm and real. "Well, why don’t we figure out our ending together?"

Once again, I felt a massive weight lift off my soul. I had told them everything—from my name to my secret origin to the very fabric of my dreams and fantasies—and they were still here.

They weren’t figments of a world I imagined. They were real, they were warm, and they were mine.

"Arinya, I was the one who jerked off on your face and got my seeds on your hair." Fenric finally confessed and my mouth fell wide.

What?!

I watched him cover his mouth and turn away, wondering how that slipped from his mouth.

So it was indeed him who got his semen on my hair that day. And he said it was Damar.

How could he frame Damar like that?

"Ari, I was the one who ate the piece of meat you kept for that black pup," Damar confessed and as soon as he did, he threw his face aside.

He probably planned to take that to his grave since I was so pissed after noticing the meat I kept for Noah was missing.

"Damar, how could you?"

One by one, they began confessing to little things, not out of their own wills though, and it drowned my own big confession.

Well, the lighter confessions that came out of my mouth felt even more embarrassing.

"I always imagined having a gangbang," I said and covered my face, which was already heating up like a tomato.

This was the worst.

Yes, I had a fantasy like that once. Of course, it was a willing gangbang, but now that I’ve had to put up with three men, I don’t think I’d be able to handle something dangerous like a gangbang.

"What’s a gangbang?" Fenric asked and Noah looked like he didn’t know as well. I was glad they didn’t know but then the answer slipped out of my mouth as well.

"It’s when a lot of males mate with one female at the same time." I palmed my face.

This valley was so dangerous.

"Oh wow, to think you had such a fantasy," Noah said, grinning, and I shook my head.

’This is embarrassing. I will never recover from this.’

The cubs had no issues since they couldn’t talk. I bet they had a lot of confessing to do, those little troublemakers.

Maybe I should take a bit of the pollen so I can use it as a truth serum whenever I need to sap the truth out of them.

I laughed at my own thought. That would be hilarious. They would never lie to me ever, for fear of the truth serum.

My laugh gradually died down as I saw the end of the valley up ahead.

This balky was dangerous, I thought, my smile looking cold and ghostly.

"I want to burn this valley." The thought that crossed my mind spilled out of my lips, and they all looked at me.

I wondered why they were looking at me and realized I had said that out loud.

"Ah, I definitely meant what I said," I said and flinched. I wasn’t supposed to say that. Just as I thought, this place was dangerous. "Let’s just head out already."

We finally stepped out of the shimmering golden mist of the valley and onto the muddy banks of the Silt-River.

"The effects will last for a little while longer, so you still can’t tell a lie," Noah said and I twisted my lips. I don’t think we need to tell a lie anyway.

The air out here was clear, and the river smelled of salt and silt.

So that’s why it’s called the Silt River.

"And Little Tiger," Noah called, and I looked back. "I’d like to hear more about your world sometime."

I nodded. That was his honest feelings.

Then, I looked and saw the Crocodile ferryman leaning against the railing of his massive wooden boat, his yellow eyes tracking our arrival.

He had dark green scales crawling over his skin like armour, and a fat, green tail swaying lazily behind him. That was a crocodile alright.

He looked at our tear-stained faces and the way the three men were huddled protectively around the cubs and me.

"If you’re going alone, it’s fine. But if you’re going as a group, it usually ends in disaster," the ferryman said like he was speaking a riddle, and I definitely knew what that riddle was. "The Whispering Valley usually breaks people apart," he added, his voice rumbling like stones grinding together. "But you lot look like you’ve just been forged in a fire."

He spat a glob of what I was certain smelled like tobacco juice into the river and looked at me.

"The river demands a toll. If you want to cross to the West-Way, you have to pay up."

"Pay?" I asked and realized I haven’t exactly used any currencies in this world.

I looked at Noah, wondering if he had any of the currency needed for the toll.

"Noah, what do we use to pay?" I asked and the crocodile man flinched.

"N-Noah? You mean King Noah?" He immediately spotted Noah at the back and prostrated on the floor, his face touching the mud. "I didn’t know the king was gracing me with his presence. Forgive my impudence."

I twisted my lips. So being king was that big of a deal, huh?