CHAPTER 23: CHAPTER 23: SHE IS NOT HER

Nan raised his head dazedly, his flickering gaze as timid as a child’s.

In the dim light, Wen Shu relied on the superior vision of the Beastman to see his face clearly, and she couldn’t help but gasp.

Aside from the blurry memories of the original owner, this was Wen Shu’s first time seeing the face beneath Nan’s mask.

He seemed to have experienced a fire, with only a few coarse, curled hairs left at his hairline, and his whole face was pitted and uneven, with his skin being gnarled and light brown.

Among these scars, there were also dozens of deep knife scars, scattered from his brow to his chin. His eyebrows were almost gone, the right side of his lips was split open, and a piece of dark red flesh had even turned outward.

Even though she’d seen countless zombies, she couldn’t help but feel a bit stunned. Most of these scars were very old, judging by the depth of their color, at least ten years old.

Calculating a bit, at that time Nan was only a teenager... how cruel the person who harmed him must have been!

Even with her lingering suspicion of Nan, she couldn’t help but feel compassion for him.

"Are you okay?"

Wen Shu reached out to him, using a gentle tone for fear of scaring a little animal, "Let me check your wounds, okay?"

She leaned down closer, and Nan finally recognized her face.

How could it be her?

Although she looked much fresher, her gentle and clean eyebrows and eyes were quite different from before, yet he still recognized her.

Her face made Nan feel disgusted, but the gentle and unfamiliar tone filled his heart with warmth.

For a moment, a sharp contradiction arose in Nan’s heart; he never forgot the humiliation and torment this female had caused him!

Three years ago, when the female first saw him, she furiously cursed him as an ugly zombified mutant beast, whipping his face until it was a bloody mess, and wouldn’t stop until those ugly scars couldn’t be seen.

Later, during meals, she found his appearance disgusting, and splashed hot food on his face in anger, insisting he must wear a mask.

What was most unbearable was that she, for the sake of reputation, drove him, severely injured from whipping, into the dense forest for three whole days and nights as winter approached.

She wanted him dead!

But...

He looked deeply into Wen Shu’s eyes, a great confusion rising in his heart.

He remembered the female’s gaze every time she saw him—fearful, loathing, venomous, sinister...

But he had never seen her, at this moment, have such a... concerned look.

His insight into others had never been wrong, yet this time he couldn’t help but doubt himself; was the female really concerned for him?

Why would she come to save him, in a beastly society where the strong prey on the weak, even those females who boast about their kindness wouldn’t pity a vulnerable male, let alone this cruel female?

Unless, the female before him wasn’t her...

Seeing Nan’s bewildered look and persistent silence, Wen Shu realized his head had been struck heavily just now, worrying about a concussion, she grabbed his arm without hesitation, "Don’t move, let me check you first."

A white light slipped from her fingertips into Nan’s arm, first rushing to his head, fortunately, his male skull was hard, not too problematic.

But Wen Shu didn’t withdraw her hand, her superpower toured around Nan’s body, silently breathing a sigh of relief.

High-level males have strong self-healing abilities, but Nan’s chest fracture hadn’t healed.

Having dispelled most of her doubts, she checked around Nan’s body, soon feeling a bit troubled, those three beastmen had truly aimed to kill, Nan’s left leg bone was broken, several ribs and parts of his chest bone were fractured!

While worried, Wen Shu grumbled inwardly: Great, added a few more days of work.

She pouted unhappily, looking towards the males still fighting behind her.

Those three males couldn’t win, they had already transformed into beast forms, each baring bloody mouths, pouncing toward Wu Xuan with intent to tear off a piece of him.

Faced with their fierce offensive, Wu Xuan appeared to handle it with ease, his agile figure leaping skyward, kicking the red fox into the ground.

The white fox attacked from the back, he sharply sensed it, raising a hand to grab the white fox’s neck, choking it until its eyes rolled back.

Having dealt with the two fox beasts, his cold gaze turned to the last tiger beast, lips tilted evilly, intending to torment this foul-mouthed beastman slowly.

But before he could act, Wen Shu’s urging voice resounded, "Wu Xuan, I’m a bit hungry, hurry..."

Noticing that the tiger beast was clearly much bulkier than the other two, she paused, "This tiger beast is the leader, right?"

Her gaze turned cold, exchanging a silent look with the male.

Wu Xuan instantly grasped her intent, fiercely leaping onto the tiger beast’s back, grabbing its neck meat, and harshly slamming it to the ground...

After mirroring the way the tiger beast treated Nan, Wu Xuan coldly glanced at the bloodied tiger beast, leisure-like lifting his foot, smiling as he turned to find the female.

"It’s solved!" Wu Xuan stared at Wen Shu, eyes bright, with a proud smile.

From the moment he turned to approach, Wen Shu felt like she was hallucinating a dangerous wolf suddenly changing into a wagging dog...

If Wu Xuan had a tail, it might have been wagging furiously by now.

Unable to hold back a smile, she decided to play along, "Beast God above, you’re the most impressive Beastman I’ve ever seen!"

Genuinely praised, Wu Xuan became bashful instead, hearing Wen Shu’s child-like coaxing tone, from his ears turning red to his chin.

He rubbed his nose, eyes lowered to the ground, upon seeing the male slumped on the ground, he unwittingly stepped back, eyes wide with astonishment, "This, is this your Beast Husband?"

Is this even a beastman? He had never seen anyone’s face ruined this badly!

How could a female couple with such a male?

Hearing Wu Xuan’s shocked voice, Nan gave him a cold look.

He saw the familiar surprise and disdain in the male’s eyes, yet oddly felt at ease.

Yes, this was the normal reaction every Beastman had when facing him, this was the situation he was most familiar with...

His gaze slowly moved towards Wen Shu, her eye corners carrying a smile, there were tiny dazzling glints in her eyes.

At this moment seeing her, Nan felt only anxious and powerless, as if something was starting to lose control.

Noticing Wu Xuan’s reaction, Wen Shu’s lips curved slightly in response, she knew how inferior and sensitive a disfigured person could be.

Worried Nan might overthink, she nodded to acknowledge Nan’s identity, extending her hand to Wu Xuan, "Don’t linger here, Wu Xuan, we’d need trouble you to take us back to the cave."

Wu Xuan’s face stopped in surprise; contrasting the female’s calm, he realized he had been somewhat impolite, he pulled a hint of an apologetic smile, straightforwardly said, "I meant nothing else, just a bit surprised at the moment, but the female..."

He leaned down to scoop Wen Shu into his arms, the other hand grabbing Nan, as gently as possible hoisting him over his shoulder, "The female must really like you."

His tone was confident, after all, females have many choices, if not for liking, who would accept an ugly male and refuse to adopt a Beast Husband for him?

Nan lowered his head without a word, Wen Shu, however, was somewhat sweating, secretly praying Nan wouldn’t expose her.