WARNING: HEATED ROMANTIC TENSION, AROUSAL, ROUGH PUBLIC CONFRONTATION, AND BEAST-WORLD POSSESSIVENESS.

Hu Baiyu nuzzled his face into her hair the moment she got close, sniffing her softly like she smelled like the most wonderful thing in the world, his lion ears twitching happily while a deep, rumbling purr started vibrating through his massive chest.

He held her close, arms wrapped around her small body like she was the most precious treasure, and for a long moment he just stayed there, savoring the kiss like a big white cat who had finally caught his heart’s desire.

Lin Huahua almost laughed against his lips because he was so cute, so adorably happy, but then she felt it again — something thick and hard pressing insistently against her belly through his hide skirt.

He was hard too. So hard. She pulled back with a tiny squeak, her face now a deep tomato red, her fluffy white rat tail thrashing wildly as she whispered in pure embarrassment, "You... Baiyu... you... you are..."

She could not even finish the sentence. Her white rat ears were burning, her legs felt like jelly, and she had to clutch at his broad bare chest again just to stay upright.

The crowd let out a collective soft gasp.

Tu Xiaotao was grinning so wide her rabbit ears looked ready to pop off. "She really did it! Look at her face! She is not pretending anymore!"

Su Yanrong’s face had gone from pale to furious red, her jealousy so obvious that even her own males looked uncomfortable, but she could not say a single word while the other three women still held her down.

Lin Huahua turned last to Feng Yiren, her heart pounding so hard she felt dizzy. The fox was smirking, his red fox ears perked high, his red tail swishing slow and dangerous, his lean muscular bare chest already rising faster with anticipation. He looked like he had been waiting for this moment his whole life.

She hesitated, her small hands twisting in front of her. "Must I... must I really do it with him here?" she asked her friends in a tiny, embarrassed voice, because she could already tell the shameless fox was about to do something wild.

Tu Xiaotao, Lang Yinzhi, and Mao Qingyue all nodded at the same time.

"Yes," Tu Xiaotao said cheerfully. "All three. Fair is fair."

Lin Huahua swallowed hard, her fluffy white rat tail curling tight in nervousness, but she turned back to Feng Yiren. Before she could even take one step closer, the fox moved first.

He reached out, grabbed her small waist with both hands, and pulled her against his lean bare chest in one smooth motion.

Then he kissed her himself, deep and hot and shameless, his tongue brushing hers in a way that made her whimper softly into his mouth. His red fox tail wrapped around her leg possessively, and he whispered against her lips, voice low and wicked, "You are coming with me, little rat."

In the next second he bent down, threw her over his shoulder like she weighed nothing, and started running.

Lin Huahua screamed his name in pure shock. "Feng Yiren! Put me down! Put me down right now!"

But the crazy fox only laughed, his red hair flying wildly as he sprinted away from the village square like a wild fox who had finally stolen the best prize. "The tribe can continue the punishment!" he shouted back over his shoulder, voice full of shameless delight. "I am going home with my female to mate!"

Mu Qingyi and Hu Baiyu followed right behind without hesitation, their tall muscular bodies moving fast, each of them carrying the baskets they had brought for the fish, their bare chests still warm from the earlier tension as they kept pace with the fox.

Su Yanrong’s face twisted with so much jealousy and anger that she looked ready to explode, but she could not say a single word while the other three women still held her down.

Tu Xiaotao leaned down close to the pinned vulture woman, her rabbit ears perked high with satisfaction, and said brightly, "Time for your punishment, bitch."

Su Yanrong struggled so hard that even the basket on the ground tipped sideways, but Tu Xiaotao only laughed, her rabbit ears standing high with excitement as she held Su Yanrong’s shoulder down and said, "Still screaming? Good. Scream louder. Maybe the whole tribe will finally hear how shameless you are."

The moment Su Yanrong opened her mouth to curse Lin Huahua again, Lang Yinzhi’s hand landed first.

Pah!

The slap was so loud that even the peacock beastman, who was still kneeling and spitting blood, flinched in shock.

Su Yanrong’s head snapped to the side and she shrieked, "You dare hit me?"

Mao Qingyue, who had been the quietest until now, reached over with a cold face and slapped her other cheek at once.

Pah!

"This is for every time you used the princess’s name to stir trouble," Mao Qingyue said, her civet tail swaying once behind her. "Did you think no one noticed?"

Su Yanrong’s eyes widened with rage and disbelief. She was so furious that her whole face had gone red, yet before she could throw another insult, Tu Xiaotao slapped her right over the mouth.

Pah!

"That one," Tu Xiaotao said brightly, "was for all the times this dirty mouth of yours tried to use Huahua against us."

Lang Yinzhi did not waste time either. She grabbed Su Yanrong’s chin, forced her face straight, and slapped her again with enough force to make tears spring into the vulture woman’s eyes.

"And this is because I simply do not like you," Lang Yinzhi added honestly.

That made the watching females almost choke from holding in their laughter.

Su Yanrong’s males looked as if their hearts were being cut into pieces. They were kneeling nearby with their fists clenched so tightly that their knuckles had gone white, their eyes full of pain as they watched their female get slapped again and again, yet none of them dared move, because going against the princess meant going against the king himselfm

One of Su Yanrong’s males finally bowed his head lower and begged hoarsely, "Please, enough, please, she has learned her lesson."

But Su Yanrong had clearly not learned anything, because the moment he said that, she screamed, "I did nothing wrong!"

Tu Xiaotao gasped in delight. "She still has the strength to lie."

Pah! Pah!

Two more slaps landed one after the other, and even Wei Ranshu stared with his bruised face and swollen pride, too shocked to believe that things had really turned this way.