zChapter 1292 - [Linger] Seeking death
Chapter 1292: [Linger] Seeking death
Faced with Jin Zi’s fury, the woman’s arrogance evaporated on the spot, leaving only terror in its place. She looked at him and suddenly lost all nerve to open her mouth.
“Speak!” Jin Zi roared.
The woman’s hands went limp, inadvertently releasing Mu Linger. Jin Zi seized the chance to drag Mu Linger over and embrace her in his arms. He didn’t need an answer anymore and grimly pronounced her fate with an icy glare. “You’re seeking death!”
In a flash, the ten white tigers behind him moved to surround the woman. She had never feared animals since she was child. Even though she couldn’t harness the tigers, she didn’t use to fear them either. But now the ten beasts left her falling on her butt as she screamed. “Ahhh…ahhHHHhh!”
“Tear her to pieces!” Jin Zi commanded and a tiger pounced forward to press the woman against the ground. As it prepared to rip out her throat, the woman suddenly gave a strange cry that was a mix of wolf and leopard howl, obviously issuing orders to her own beasts.
Both the wolves and leopards huddled on the ground, too afraid to move. Instead, it was the big white tiger who paused in curiosity to glance back at his master. Jin Zi had already drawn his conclusions after seeing all these beasts. This woman knew the beast language and led so many animals up the mountain, so she was probably part of the Black Clan. Even then, so what? He would still kill her! How dare she bully Mu Linger? He couldn’t tolerate it!
After all, even he had never bullied her to the point of tears. Who gave this woman the right?!
When the big tiger paused, Jin Zi kicked him in the butt and gave an angry roar. Scared, the tiger immediately opened its massive jaws to bite down. This made the woman scream, “You must have been abducted! I know who you are and where you came from! If I die, no one else will be able to tell you!”
Jin Zi froze. The still-crying Mu Linger ran over and pushed the white tiger’s jaws aside. “Don’t!”
The woman was left gasping for breath as her heart pounded, having narrowly escaped death. Mu Linger looked back at Jin Zi only to see his gaze grow complicated. He had always been searching for his origins, she knew. She thought of Jin Zi’s background as soon as this woman showed up. Kneeling on the side, she silently exhaled. She even forgot how bad she’d been abused to consider Jin Zi’s origins instead. What really got his attention was probably the word “abducted.” This proves the woman knows about him and that she’s probably not from the Black Clan.
His indenture agreement was with Ning Cheng, but he had never been the man’s slave. Instead, they were friends and allies. Back in Three-Way Black Market, Jin Zi had long become a master in his own right and didn’t live the life of a slave at all. He had always wanted the indenture agreement and return to Wintercrow Country, first to gain his freedom without restrictions, next to figure out his past and who he was. He wanted to find his parents and family. When he discovered he had the ability to command beasts back at Tiger Prison and even harness the tigers beyond the reach of the Black Clan, he knew his origins weren’t ordinary. Ning Cheng once asked about his childhood memories, but Jin Zi couldn’t remember anything.
Ning Cheng said that someone of his talents must have been trafficked into the slave trade, not born into it.
The woman was about to get up when Jin Zi suddenly stepped on her neck as he loomed above. “I don’t care who you are and what you know. First, make amends for Mu Linger.”
Heaven knows how hard he stepped, but the woman’s face was completely red. She had trouble breathing, much less opening her both, and only waved at Jin Zi to release his foot. Mu Linger wanted to speak, but didn’t dare in the face of Jin Zi’s scowl. She thought she’d already seen him at his angriest last time, but this was ten times more ferocious. So much that…she had no guts to speak up.
As soon as Jin Zi let go of the woman, she began to cough. He didn’t care and said, “Are you compensating or not?!”
The woman was wholly unwilling and said with impatience, “I know, but you should at least let me stand up!”
Jin Zi only watched her crawl to her feet, but as soon as she straightened, he kicked her in the legs and brought her back to her knees. Eyes hooded, his bangs hid the left corner of his eyes and he said, “You have to look the part when making amends.”
The woman had always been proud and never suffered such slights. She stubbornly stood up with her chin high and said, “What kind of man are you to act against a woman?!”
“Thanks for the reminder. Don’t worry, this Excellency won’t touch another hair on your head!” Jin Zi smiled coldly before casually snapping his fingers. A large tiger bounded over and knocked the woman down from behind, causing her to eat dirt at Mu Linger’s feet.
The woman exploded. “You’re going too far!”
This man was outright humiliating her. Was he say she only deserved to be touched by beasts? How hateful!
Jin Zi was an absolute block of ice when he turned cold. He didn’t understand anything about going too far, only that those who bullied Mu Linger had to pay the price.
“Then just make your reparations!” he snapped.
“If you have the skills, then kill me!” the woman retorted, but fear made her quickly threatened, “And you’ll never know about your origins again!”
Black Forest was the place where all the beast tamer families of Mysterious Continent dwelled. There were over ten clans divided into different hierarchies of beast taming skills. Commanding them through language was just one skill that even non-clan members could learn. The master of Black Forest was the head of the beast tamer families, the Ling (凌) Clan! That was because their beast mastery towered above all the rest. They were even capable of stealing other families’ beasts. Most importantly, the Ling Clan was capable of harnessing the king of the beasts, the tigers.
Many years ago, the young master of the Ling Clan disappeared when he was less than a week old. Multiple searches were led without success. The mother of the Ling Clan lots her wits and went crazy, while the Ling family head stopped looking after any affairs of the Black Forest to live alone with his wife in seclusion. Without their leadership, Black Forest lost its normal hierarchy and the various families began to fight for dominance, leading beasts to run rampant and hurting people without reason from time to time.
Black Forest was already a dangerous place in Mysterious Continent, but everyone grew to fear it after that.
Commanding one tiger was no big deal, but a pack of them was a different matter. The woman was certain this man was the missing young master of the Ling Clan. If he wasn’t killed back then, he must have been sold to Cloud Realm Continent. How could the Ling couple have ever thought of searching for him here? She knew this secret would be her biggest bargaining chip!
“You’re threatening me?” Jin Zi narrowed his eyes.
“If you spare my life, I’ll take you to your clansmen!” the woman declared.
Jin Zi ignored her and glanced at the wolves before making an odd sound. Soon, one of them darted over and stepped on the woman’s back. Before she realized what was happening, the wolf bent down to tear off a large piece of flesh from her back.
“AhHH!” she shrieked in pain, her miserable cries echoing through the snowy grounds.
Mu Linger gaped at the sight, her heart pounding. But Jin Zi’s gaze was cold and unmoved. As the wolf trod on the woman again, she finally compromised. To be exact, she completely gave in. Ignoring the pain, she howled, “Sorry! I’m sorry! It’s my fault, sorry!”
Mu Linger was too stunned to react.
“Who owns the medicinal field?” Jin Zi demanded coldly.
“It’s hers! Hers!” the woman cried hastily, and admitted before Jin Zi asked, “I’m a b*tch, I’m a b*tch!”
Mu Linger looked at the woman before slowly turning towards Jin Zi. He also looked at her until their eyes met, and then she subconsciously avoided his gaze. For some reason, her grievances and anger were now…replaced with an urge to laugh. Not because she felt relief, but because of something she couldn’t describe. In any case, she wasn’t mad at the woman anymore, not did she want to nitpick anymore.
Jin Zi asked coldly, “How did your face get injured?”
Mu Linger finally recalled her face and touched it lightly. It still hurt. “That woman scratched me!” she declared.
“Scratch her back!” Jin Zi’s tone was basically an order. He didn’t want Mu Linger to suffer a single loss.
Mu Linger looked up. “Forget it, better to…”
“You can’t just forget it!” Jin Zi interrupted unhappily.
Mu Linger dropped her voice. “I’m fine, I’m not gonna bother with someone like her…”
Jin Zi’s face turned gloomy at her words. He hated people who acted kind and generous, but unexpectedly, Mu Linger kept talking.
“You should let her apologize to Big White and have him scratch her in my place. I don’t want to get physical with the likes of her.”
The woman on the ground forgot about her back pain and nearly exploded. She thought Mu Linger might be more magnamious, but she was humiliating her just like Jin Zi. This was clearly claiming she was only worthy of being touched by beasts!
Jin Zi’s frosty demeanor finally cracked as his face quirked into a doting grin. Unfortunately, it quickly vanished before Mu Linger could see.
“All right,” he said coldly. He looked at Big White and his blood-ridden body. Of course the sight hurt him too. With a wave of his hand, Big White came bounding over. Before he spoke, the tiger moved first, swiping at the woman with a huge paw. She was sent rolling and ended up sprawled on the ground at a distance.
Even beasts disdained her apology!
Things like that didn’t even exist in their world. It was better to take action than talk!
Jin Zi and Mu Linger ran after the woman with Big White following. They saw her spit up blood before losing consciousness. Before Big White could claw her again, Mu Linger held him back. “Enough! If you kill her, your master will never find out where he came from!”