But why would Duanmu Yu truly be willing to marry a spirit beast? Surely it could not be the legendary love at first sight?

Wei Zhao was utterly baffled, but Duanmu Yu was at the handsome man's side at this very moment, and no matter how puzzled he was, he dared not go over and ask. After all, that handsome man was an existence capable of standing toe to toe with the Brain-Eating Worm. If Wei Zhao's primal spirit really did blunder over there, the other party would very likely sense him, and then escape would be all but impossible.

Besides, to come back to the point, Wei Zhao had no time now to meddle in Duanmu Yu's affairs. Figuring out a way to solve his present predicament was the proper business.

Had it not been for this accidental journey, had he not heard those few words from the Brain-Eating Worm, Wei Zhao might still have gone on methodically searching for Leng Leng and the others. But now he had changed his mind. If he could not be sure of hiding his traces, then even finding Leng Leng and the others would be useless—it might even make things worse, because by then the Brain-Eating Worm would certainly come chasing after him.

Unless he could sever the root by which the Brain-Eating Worm discovered him—namely this handsome man before him, who claimed to command every stir of wind and grass!

Unfortunately, this too was a plain false proposition. If Wei Zhao had the power to deal with this handsome man, then he would have no need to fear the Brain-Eating Worm so; after all, the two were existences of the same rank.

Meanwhile, the fervent celebratory atmosphere in the hall carried on. Urged on by the assembled spirit beasts, the handsome man even drank the cross-cupped wedding wine with Duanmu Yu in public. And what made Wei Zhao's jaw drop was that Duanmu Yu actually complied demurely, without showing the slightest displeasure. Truly, the devil was in it.

The wedding feast did not last much longer—not because these spirit beasts were so considerate and restrained, but because the hour had come. They began a new round of collective clamor: "Raid the bridal chamber! Raid the bridal chamber! Raid the bridal chamber!..."

Wei Zhao broke out in a sweat listening to it. Truth be told, he was actually rather interested in the matter himself. Had he not feared discovery, and had the situation not been so dire and urgent, he would not even have minded slipping in to join the fun. He was very curious how a wondrous woman with a man's heart like Duanmu Yu would behave in the bridal chamber. Whatever happened, it was bound to be interesting.

"Raid the bridal chamber? Mm. Since it is a traditional human rite, then let us raid the bridal chamber!" The handsome man followed the suggestion with good grace.

Yet just as they were thronging the handsome man and Duanmu Yu toward the lavish great tent at the rear, from some corner where no one was paying attention there suddenly came a voice most out of place—or more precisely, a hysterical scream.

The scream came from Fei Yangnian. In truth he could hardly be blamed. Anyone dragged into the water by a monster like a kappa and losing consciousness, then waking to find himself suddenly amid a great host of hideous, terrifying spirit beasts, would by instinct let out a scream—unless he were mute.

Only after Fei Yangnian came to his senses did he feel he could have killed himself. Had he not screamed, given the concealed spot where he was, these spirit beasts immersed in the rhythm of raiding the bridal chamber would not have been very likely to discover him. But now he had become the sole focus of the entire hall.

"A human?" The spirit beasts exchanged looks. Anywhere else they would certainly have rushed him in a mob, whoever grabbed him keeping him, but not here. This was the Guardian's territory; everything great and small could only be decided by the Guardian. The sole outcome of acting on their own initiative was one word: death.

A flicker of surprise showed faintly on the handsome man's face as well. But his gaze rested on Fei Yangnian for less than an instant before shifting away. He said mildly, "Patrol Wasps."

"Present!" Dozens of Patrol Wasps shot up into the air at once.

"How did he get in?" the handsome man asked, his tone unfathomable.

All the Patrol Wasps fell silent. Today was the great day, with so many spirit beasts gathered in one place. They had not dared be the least bit negligent; every Patrol Wasp had been doing its utmost to keep watch. They had done everything they could, without a moment's slack from first to last. They had thought it foolproof, yet never imagined a living, breathing grown man could have slipped in. How was that possible?

"Very well. Half of you, take your own lives," the handsome man said flatly.

At first the spirit beasts did not understand what he meant, until the Patrol Wasps began killing one another in pairs. Only then did they suddenly realize: "take your own lives, half of you" meant all the Patrol Wasps were to slaughter one another until half were dead. The Guardian was as strict as ever!

Watching one Patrol Wasp after another become a corpse and drop from midair, Fei Yangnian's scalp went numb. He still had not grasped the situation, had not even noticed Duanmu Yu's presence. He knew only that this time he was surely dead. That man was so cruel and merciless even to his own subordinates—a trespasser from outside had even less hope of living past today.

Sure enough, before the Patrol Wasps had even finished slaughtering one another, the handsome man had already pronounced Fei Yangnian's fate: "Kill him."

At any other time, even if human cultivators were caught, they would not be put to death, for human tribute still had to be paid to that lord. But today was different. Today was the handsome man's wedding joy, and this human who knew not life from death had dared disturb his happy occasion. His end was, of course, death beyond question.

The moment the handsome man's words fell, the nearest spirit beast promptly hoisted Fei Yangnian up. The next instant it would pinch his neck broken beyond any doubt. Fei Yangnian was scared out of his wits; for a moment he could not even scream, and could only struggle weakly and futilely with all his might.

Watching this, Wei Zhao hesitated. What weighed on his heart was Leng Leng and the others. Even the crisis facing Leng Leng and the others could not be resolved at present. If he rashly intervened to save Fei Yangnian, setting aside the many spirit beasts present—especially that mighty existence of the same rank as the Brain-Eating Worm—the odds of success would be negligible. And even if he did somehow succeed by sheer luck, Wei Zhao himself would inevitably be exposed. How then would he find a way to deal with the crisis to come?

Yet to just watch Fei Yangnian's neck be wrung before his eyes—in the end Wei Zhao still could not quite bear it. Though there was no true friendship to speak of between him and Fei Yangnian, and he had already saved the man's life once before, which by any account was the limit of benevolence and duty, still, standing by and watching a man die was something Wei Zhao truly could not bring himself to do. (To be continued.)