"Brother, look at her waist."
"Look at the way she moves, oh my, look at her kicking her leg up, hiss... slurp..."
"Her legs are so thin!"
"Wow, look how good her skin is, like milk. It must feel so smooth to touch. Was her hand nice when you held it just now?"
"Did you tickle her palm?"
All the way, Hei Dou, perched on Chen Yu's shoulder, couldn't stop talking.
He babbled incessantly.
Chen Yu, annoyed by his constant chatter, reached out, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, and glared at him.
"Are you in heat?"
"Meow~"
Chen Yu: ???
Meow?
It had been a long time since he'd heard that meow since Hei Dou signed the spiritual pact with him.
"Sir, is your cat bothering you?" The fox girl, Su Ni, stopped walking. "Perhaps I could hold it for you? Please rest assured, I will take good care of it..."
Whoosh!
Before Su Ni could finish speaking, Hei Dou, whom Chen Yu was holding, suddenly kicked his hind legs against Chen Yu's shoulder and crashed into Su Ni's arms.
Su Ni instinctively held him, and Hei Dou, nestled in her embrace, wasn't satisfied.
His head kept nudging towards...
Her!
Once his entire body was practically pressed against Su Ni, Hei Dou poked his little head out, revealing a cute smile and meowing playfully.
"Oh, how adorable."
Su Ni, holding Hei Dou, didn't realize she was being taken advantage of. Her face was filled with a gentle smile, and she occasionally moved Hei Dou's little paws from her chest, murmuring not to place them there.
Unfortunately, Hei Dou, the old lecher, was not one to give up easily.
His persistence ultimately made Su Ni surrender.
She let Hei Dou place his paws on her chest, watching as he rubbed his head there.
Chen Yu: (￣ェ￣;)
He really had a way with him!
He recalled when he first met Illyas, Hei Dou had also taken advantage of his cat form to burrow into Illyas's embrace.
Hei Dou finally got his wish.
For the rest of the journey, he was held gently by Su Ni, his face full of contentment.
"Sir, the city is just ahead." After walking for about half an hour, Su Ni smiled slightly and pointed ahead with her hand.
"Just entering the city?" Chen Yu was surprised.
"Mhm~"
Su Ni pursed her lips and nodded slightly.
"This city-state has actually been abandoned for a long time. It was only a few months ago that the current city lord rebuilt it. The city area is only what you see ahead."
"No wonder."
Chen Yu nodded gently and chuckled.
"Your city-state actually has quite a promising future. It's large enough, and there are many undeveloped lands. If you were to invest in real estate, you could make a fortune."
Based on Chen Yu's observations, this city was quite large.
At least—
It was the size of half a prefecture-level city.
Only a small portion of the core area had been developed. If large capital were invested and reconstruction carried out, then with a few fabricated marketing gimmicks, announcing it to other city-states or cities, selling properties in those abandoned areas could yield substantial profits.
"Ah?" Su Ni looked bewildered.
"It's nothing."
Chen Yu smiled and shook his head. For a native of the underground like Su Ni, real estate was probably incomprehensible.
"Let's go into the city and take a look."
The main urban area.
Upon entering the city, it did indeed begin to resemble a city-state. While the buildings weren't particularly luxurious, they weren't abandoned like the outside.
People could be seen moving about, but—
It was a bit strange.
Bang!
A sound reached Chen Yu's ears. Following the sound, he saw a beast-girl lying on the ground. In front of her was a pile of scattered apples, and her knees were scraped, bleeding.
Yet, she didn't even look at her scraped knees.
Instead, her eyes were filled with terror as she looked up.
"Useless!"
The whip instantly cracked down, striking the beast-girl heavily on her back. The girl, whipped, cried out in pain and apologized incessantly while kneeling on the ground.
"Hurry up and pick them up! You'd better pray the apples weren't smashed by you!"
The beast-girl lowered her head and bowed, tears welling in her eyes. But she didn't dare to even wipe them away. She carefully picked up the apples from the ground.
She examined each apple with utmost care.
As if silently praying.
Unfortunately—
Two of the apples were still damaged.
Holding the two ruined apples, she looked up with eyes full of fear, only to be met with another whip.
"Ah!!!"
Screams of agony echoed endlessly within the city.
However, the passersby didn't stop, not even casting a second glance, let alone stepping forward to help.
Creak.
Chen Yu's fist suddenly clenched. Just as he took a step forward, Su Ni grabbed him, bit her lip, and subtly shook her head at him.
"You..."
Confusion filled Chen Yu's eyes.
What did that mean?
Aren't they going to intervene?
Just watching that beast-girl being bullied like that.
"Stop."
Just as Chen Yu was being held back, someone in the city suddenly shouted. Immediately, a person dressed reasonably well walked forward.
"It's just a few apples, I'll pay you for them!"
"Oh, twenty silver coins. Hand them over."
The burly beastman extended his hand.
Twenty silver coins for two apples was clearly unreasonable. But it was evident that the traveler was also angered. He took out a coin pouch from his belongings and threw one gold coin into his hand.
"Take it. No need to give me change!"
"Heh, alright." The burly beastman looked at the gold coin in his hand and then glanced at the beast-girl. "Consider yourself lucky, you met a kind master. You don't have to do this work anymore. Take a break and go rest."
The beast-girl left, staggering and cautiously.
The farce seemed to have ended.
Chen Yu also let out a sigh of relief. It was good that someone had stepped in to intervene, but he didn't expect to see Su Ni's face turn terrifyingly grim.
"What's wrong?"
"No, he shouldn't have done that," Su Ni bit her lip, her voice very low. Chen Yu looked perplexed, "Miss Su Ni, isn't it a good thing for someone to help?"
Su Ni pursed her lips and remained silent.
The traveler who had valiantly intervened at this moment also coldly snorted at the strong man holding the whip. Just as the traveler was about to leave—
"Ah!!!"
"Don't hit me anymore, it hurts so much. I was wrong, I'll work hard."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
"I wasn't slacking, I've finished all my work..."
"I'm sorry!"
The quiet city was now filled with heart-wrenching screams from all directions. Beast-girls were dragged onto the streets, pushed to the ground, and whipped incessantly by beastmen holding whips.
The traveler stopped.
Seeing this scene, Chen Yu's eyes widened abruptly. Su Ni lowered her head in pain, tears welling up in her eyes, and she bit her lip tightly.
"He... shouldn't have helped!"
--
Author's Note:
Wuwuwu, I'm crying~