Favorite of the Beast-world: I Got Rich Through Farming-Chapter 387 - 260: His Selfishness and Abnormality

Chapter 387: Chapter 260: His Selfishness and Abnormality

The woman with black hair and snow-white skin rushed toward him. Ze Sheng froze for a split second, and in that instant, she threw her arms around him without warning. His body went rigid.

"You were gone for so long. I missed you so much..." The woman’s coquettish tone held a hint of discontent, but it was overshadowed by deep concern. "From now on, if something’s going on, can you please tell me? What if you run into danger out there? I’ll be so worried about you~"

Ze Sheng looked down at her, then closed his eyes for a moment before pulling her away. "...No one can hurt me."

The cold detachment in his voice stunned Lin Shaoxue. Feeling the emptiness in her palms, she clenched her fists in frustration.

’But he was never like this before.’

’He was so good to her, so gentle. She’d never met a male beastman who made her heart flutter like this.’

"I... I was just worried about you," she said timidly, looking at him with misty eyes. The red at the corners of her eyes betrayed her sense of grievance. "Of course, I know no one can hurt you, but you always leave so suddenly, and you’re often gone for days at a time. It makes me so worried. I want to do something for you, too..."

"Do something for me?"

"Ah?" Lin Shaoxue, who had been about to make a grand, empty promise, stopped short. She looked at Ze Sheng shyly, thinking, ’I was just saying whatever came to mind. Don’t all men fall for this sort of thing?’

"Y-Yes. You know I like you, so I want to do something for you. I’ll do anything. So... can you please not leave without a word from now on?" she asked, wrapping her hands around his wrist again and leaning against his chest.

Such a docile and dependent display would have stirred the heart of any normal male beastman.

Sure enough, Ze Sheng didn’t push her away this time. Lin Shaoxue grew even more smug, a flicker of triumph and greed flashing in her clear dark eyes. She thought she had finally managed to snag this unattainable prize.

"Then, do one thing for me."

He said softly, lowering his head.

His cool fingertips hooked under her chin, forcing her to tilt her head up to look at him. Lin Shaoxue stared at his cold, handsome face, blushing so hard she could barely breathe, and conveniently ignored the indifference in his eyes.

’Is... Is it about to happen?’

She closed her eyes nervously.

But nothing happened.

’Huh?’

Clutching her wildly beating heart, she frantically opened her eyes again. The first thing she saw was a pair of enchanting purple eyes, so captivating they seemed to pull her into their depths.

"AHH—" Her mind roared and then went completely blank. Her once-clear dark eyes instantly became vacant and lifeless.

Lin Shaoxue slid limply from his grasp, slumping onto the soft carpet. Her eyes were shut tight; she had already fallen into a deep coma.

A coma from which she would never wake.

A gloomy shadow fell over Ze Sheng’s cold, handsome face. He furrowed his brow and staggered forward a couple of steps, only to suddenly cough up a mouthful of blood. "Ugh..."

He weakly steadied himself on the nearby stone table, then raised a hand to wipe the blood from his lips. His slender fingertips were stained with specks of crimson—a shockingly stark sight.

—A High Priest who divines the fates of others at the cost of his own lifespan must also bear the punishment and backlash that comes with it.

’But he had no regrets. This was enough.’

’Now that he had attachments and obsessions, he had finally lost the tranquil state of mind he had cultivated for decades.’

’He couldn’t control the darkness, selfishness, and madness in his heart. He was even willing to use another’s life, all to salvage one greedy desire of his own.’

—Why would two otherworldly souls appear in this world?

During this time, by manipulating the strings of fate, Ze Sheng had finally gleaned some insight.

He wanted to twist the thread of An Jin’s fate, set for half a month from now, in the direction he desired.

This woman, saved by a strange twist of fate, would be the perfect conduit.

...

Meanwhile, not long after An Jin and the others left Re-refining City, the hot, arid desert climate became unbearable. They could travel for half a day without seeing a single oasis, and An Jin was not faring well.

So Mi Yin flew ahead with her, while Ling Hong followed behind.

After several months of practice, Mi Yin’s flying still wasn’t exactly graceful, but it was more than enough for basic travel.

"You look so pale." Mi Yin lowered his head, pressing his cheek against her feverishly hot one. He couldn’t help but ask with concern, "Is it the heat? Are you thirsty? I’ll take you to find some water."

An Jin shook her head, her face looking even paler. The scorching sun seemed to be making her terribly uncomfortable, and she tried to bury her face against his cool chest.

Mi Yin freed a hand to hold her head.

’I didn’t feel this way on the journey here. Why...’

An Jin had a gut feeling this wasn’t just heatstroke. She knew her own body, and this feeling was alarmingly similar to what the plague-stricken beastmen had experienced.

’But that shouldn’t be possible. I was in the city for seven or eight days and had been perfectly fine after that first night. I even took the medicine. Logically, my chances of getting infected should have been minuscule.’

’Wait.’ She suddenly remembered being bitten by some kind of insect before they left. There was still a small red dot on her neck, hidden beneath her hair.

’I slapped it dead at the time without a second thought, assuming it was just a common mosquito. After all, all sorts of biting insects were rampant in the Beast World.’

’I was careless.’

’In an area where a plague is rampant, an insect like that could carry a host of pathogens, making secondary infections highly likely.’

’I should be fine once I get back and take some medicine.’

She tried to reassure herself, but her chest was tight, making it difficult to breathe, let alone speak. She didn’t even have the strength to respond to Mi Yin’s repeated words of concern.

Mi Yin’s expression instantly darkened as he recalled Ze Sheng’s prophecy. ’Damn it! Is this a prophecy or a curse?’ He had never believed in the Beast God or some intangible notion of fate.

Mi Yin rushed back to their city at top speed. He handed An Jin over to Chi Li, briefly explained the situation, and followed them into the medicine room.

Although An Jin felt horribly sick, her mind was still clear. "There’s a plague outbreak in that city," she said. "I think I must have been infected..."

She pulled several prescriptions from her pocket and gave them to Chi Li. "These are for similar conditions. I can’t tell which one it is at the moment, so just try them all."

"You need to rest." Chi Li’s expression was laced with anxiety. He called a few beastmen over to look after her, then disappeared into an adjacent room, quickly returning with a bowl of medicinal broth.

She fell into a deep sleep after drinking the medicine.

But the high fever began to subside.

Seeing her condition improving, Chi Li breathed a sigh of relief. However, as he was about to leave, he caught sight of a small wound on her neck from the corner of his eye.

"What’s this...?"

He moved closer to examine it and discovered that not only had the wound failed to scab over, but it was also starting to turn black.

A look of surprise crossed Chi Li’s face. ’Could her illness be related to this?’ The wound was clearly a bite mark, but he couldn’t recall any creature capable of leaving a wound of this shape and color.

Strange.

He decided to pull an all-nighter, poring over the beast-skin scrolls and medical texts again.

Cool moonlight spilled in through the window, brightening the dark room. A black-and-red python was coiled by the bed, dozing lightly. On the bed, the sleeping woman’s eyes suddenly snapped open.