Free Web NovelChapter 198: Chapter 188: Returning to the Peak
"Hmph. If you don’t even know, how am I supposed to?"
When Lea was carried out, her hands and feet were bound. Her hair had been hacked to pieces, and she was stark naked. It was obvious to everyone what had happened two nights ago.
They even knew to use rosemary. It had to be someone from the tribe.
The chief’s expression grew darker and darker.
However, there was another man present whose expression was even uglier than the chief’s.
It was the short man who had rushed into the sea of fire to save Lea.
With Lea in this state, if he married her now, he would become the laughingstock of the entire tribe.
But if he didn’t marry her, the position of chief would be completely out of his reach.
’To hell with it. For the sake of that position, I’ll endure being a laughingstock.’
The man finally decided to accept it, resigning himself to the inevitable shame. His gaze toward Lea turned hostile.
"We’ll hold the ceremony in a few days and have you two married."
Originally, the chief had only casually promised to reward whoever saved his daughter, intending to go back on his word. But under the current circumstances, marrying her off to this man directly was perhaps the best way to save face for everyone involved.
The man’s face was ashen as he nodded.
"I don’t want her firstborn child."
Her chastity might not be that important—he could tolerate that—but his bloodline was no laughing matter for any man.
Who knew if the first child Lea had in this state would be his? He wasn’t about to raise another man’s son.
"What are you talking about? I won’t marry you! In your dreams!"
Lea shrieked. She clearly hadn’t grasped the situation. Just yesterday, she was the apple of her father’s eye, the little princess of the tribe. How had everything changed overnight?
"Shut your mouth!" the chief roared, all traces of his former gentleness gone.
The child who had once been his pride had become the greatest shame of his life. He could no longer maintain the image of a loving father.
Everyone who looked at Lea had eyes full of malicious glee, ridicule, and merciless contempt.
Because of Lea’s usual arrogance, not a single person showed a trace of sympathy.
From her spot in the tree, Tang Mo watched the farce unfold below with great relish, so entertained she almost wished she had a bucket of popcorn.
’Hah, trying to steal my man?’
’If you have the guts to steal a man, you’d better be prepared to face the consequences.’
’You can’t be too greedy in life. If you’re always reaching for things that don’t belong to you, your own greed will eventually be your undoing.’
’But this is far from over.’
Once the farce below had died down, Tang Mo dusted off her hands, jumped down from the tree, and left.
This incident gave her a good idea of the general character of the people here.
This made what she had to do next much easier, without any burden on her conscience.
’Do they think this is painful?’
’It’s not nearly enough.’
’Anyone who dares to bully me won’t get off so easily.’
’That would be too out of character for me.’
A smile crept onto Tang Mo’s face.
When Tang Mo returned to the wooden hut where Qin Ling was being held, she climbed back inside. The group’s morale was worlds apart from yesterday.
One by one, they had started doing light exercises and workouts in the room, all preparing to recover as quickly as possible, roll up their sleeves, and get down to business.
After Tang Mo returned, she took out more food and water for everyone to eat, along with a good number of Crystal Coins.
At times like this, their sugar mama was truly a sugar mama, covering all the food and drink.
Seeing the ground once again covered in food, the group let out a small cheer. They showered their sister-in-law with a round of over-the-top compliments before starting to eat and drink heartily.
Qin Ling, however, took Tang Mo’s hand.
"Where did you go?"
"To get your weapons back, of course."
Tang Mo pulled her hand away and stuffed a chicken leg into his.
Now that the "young miss" had gotten into such trouble, no one was in the mood to watch over them and force Qin Ling to submit.
So Tang Mo let loose, bringing out plenty of good things for everyone. If the smell was a bit strong, so be it. They weren’t afraid of trouble.
"Just getting weapons?"
Based on Qin Ling’s understanding of his wife, he felt it couldn’t have been that simple.
"That’s right," Tang Mo said with a grin, putting on an innocent, harmless expression.
’It was just a little prank I pulled after getting my things back. No need to report such a trivial matter, right?’
Seeing his wife’s expression, Qin Ling’s resolve completely melted. He forgot what he wanted to ask and could only rub Tang Mo’s hair dotingly before starting to gnaw on the chicken leg.
’I should eat more. That way I can get back to my peak condition faster to protect my wife, instead of having her come out to be the "hero saving the beauty."’
Tang Mo spent the next few days in the wooden hut.
However, every day, they would take turns leaving the hut to find a remote, open area to run a few laps and exercise.
Being cooped up in a small space all the time was too suffocating; it could drive a person mad.
In reality, they had already recovered days ago. Leaving was something they could do in minutes.
But clearly, Tang Mo’s goal was more than just getting them out.
She told everyone about the conflict between the Xing Clan and this tribe, the Xing Clan’s treasure, the tribe’s Beast Control Secret, and the secret surrounding Abu.
There were too many things here that she wanted to investigate. How could she bear to leave so easily?
However, after a few days of waiting, the tribespeople still showed no signs of heading up the mountain to fight.
’That shouldn’t be right. According to my analysis, their method for ascending the mountain was already so well-developed. They even sent Abu up to scout. The tribespeople should have made their move by now. Why hasn’t there been any activity for so many days?’
What Tang Mo didn’t know was that her analysis was perfectly sound; it was she herself who had completely derailed the Wildman Tribe’s plan.
The tribespeople had originally prepared everything. They had even confiscated a batch of weapons from Qin Ling’s group and felt that all was ready.
But who could have expected that a great fire would destroy all of their tribe’s treasures and the confiscated items?
How the hell were they supposed to fight now? They couldn’t just go up against those giant apes empty-handed with wooden sticks, could they?
The tribespeople weren’t idiots. They’d be smashed into meat patties with a single punch.
But Tang Mo’s life these past few days wasn’t boring. Besides getting cozy with Qin Ling, she would occasionally check in on her former love rival’s current situation, seeing if she was miserable enough or if she needed Tang Mo to "help" her out some more.
As expected, these people didn’t disappoint her. She didn’t even have to lift a finger, which saved her a lot of trouble.
Perhaps the loss of face was too great, because on the third day after the fire, the chief held a ceremony for his daughter and the short man.
Because Lea resisted so fiercely, the chief personally used rosemary on her, keeping her in a daze for the entire day. She only gradually came to her senses after the wedding night was over.
What was done was done. With her father, mother, and the entire tribe against her, Lea gradually accepted her fate.
Her difficult life soon made her forget all about Qin Ling and his group.
