Hearing Long Wu’s words, the other beastmen sneered and turned their eyes toward Long Mo.

“That useless guy? There’s no way he’d join us to fight the wandering beastmen.”

“Exactly. He’s such a weakling; he’d only drag us down. We’d probably end up having to protect him.”

Long Wu smirked mockingly as well, standing firmly in front of Long Mo, waiting for his response. The upcoming battle against the wandering beastmen was dangerous, and if something unfortunate happened-if Long Mo got killed by the beasts-it wouldn’t be his fault. Without a mate, that female would surely fall right into his arms, and those little brats? He could deal with them however he wanted.

Long Mo remained silent, his head slightly lowered, long strands of hair covering most of his face. His expression was unreadable, and even as the ridicule poured in, he didn’t respond. The tribe chief, standing closest to him, suddenly felt a cold shiver run down his spine.

“Let it go. Long Mo should stay behind and help guard the tribe,” the chief suggested, trying to ease the tension. For some reason, the memory of Long Mo’s ruthless act of gouging out Lu Cuicui’s eyes sent a wave of unease through him, making him hesitate.

“I’ll go.” Long Mo’s cold, emotionless voice finally broke the silence.

“Long Mo, you…”

The Chief was about to say more, but Long Wu cut him off loudly.

“Chief, if he’s willing to go, why stop him?” Long Wu’s grin widened, already imagining Long Mo’s demise at the hands of the wandering beastmen and his eventual claim over Hu Jiao Jiao. And those five brats? They’d be nothing more than a nuisance to dispose of.

Seeing Long Mo’s firm decision, the Chief sighed in resignation. He knew that isolating Long Mo from the tribe for too long would only make things worse for him. If he didn’t participate in the tribe’s collective efforts, he would be ostracized even further. Perhaps letting him go along was the right decision.

Inside the dark cave, Hu Jiao Jiao tossed and turned, unable to sleep peacefully.

She was trapped in a restless dream, as if something was keeping her locked in a nightmare from which she couldn’t escape. The fire in the cave had long since died out, and the cave was once again swallowed by darkness.

Suddenly, her eyes snapped open, wide with terror. She gasped for breath, her chest rising and falling rapidly as though she had just been pulled from deep water. Her surroundings came into focus, and she slowly realized she was still in the cave.

She wiped her cold, clammy face with a piece of animal hide before pushing herself up, her mind racing.

Another nightmare.

This time, she dreamt that Long Mo, Ying Yuan, and Long Wu had been ambushed by the wandering beastmen. The beastmen had unleashed a mutated wolf pack on them, and Ying Yuan’s group suffered heavy casualties. Long Mo and Long Wu were both surrounded by the wolves, with Long Mo fighting bravely but ultimately being stabbed in the back by Long Wu, left to bleed out and become food for the wolves.

Ying Yuan’s side, without the support of Long Mo and Long Wu, was overrun. The wandering beasts used their corpses to lure the wolves into the tribe, capturing all the females and leaving the wounded males to be devoured alive.

The final scene of her dream was the most horrific: her five children and her family being torn apart by the wolves, their bodies mangled and scattered across the ground in a sea of blood.

The vividness of the nightmare left Hu Jiao Jiao breathless, her heart pounding in her chest.

“Why did I dream about that?” she muttered to herself. “Could it be another prophetic dream, like the one before?”

If it was a prophecy, it was terrifying. But why would Long Mo, who usually kept his distance from the tribe, be fighting alongside Ying Yuan and Long Wu?

Her mind swirled with questions, doubts clouding her judgment.

“No, that can’t be right. Long Mo never joins them. This dream has to be just a normal dream.”

Despite her efforts to convince herself, Hu Jiao Jiao found herself getting up and heading toward the cave’s entrance. She needed to confirm whether Long Mo had gone with them.

Even if she couldn’t leave the cave, she needed to know. If her nightmare had any truth to it, she couldn’t let it come to pass.

As she neared the entrance, footsteps echoed from outside, and soon the chief and Lu Mianer appeared before her.

“Chief, Lu Mianer! What brings you here? Did something happen?” Hu Jiao Jiao asked anxiously.

But her worry was met with smiles.

“Jiao Jiao, we’re here to take you back home. You’ve been cleared of all charges,” Lu Mianer said joyfully, grasping Hu Jiao Jiao’s hands.

The chief, his face warm and kind, nodded. “We’re sorry for the misunderstanding. Lu Cuicui has confessed to everything. We now know you’re innocent.”

Hu Jiao Jiao blinked in disbelief.

How could Lu Cuicui have confessed so quickly? It wasn’t supposed to happen until after Ying Yuan and the others defeated the wandering beastmen. Could they have already dealt with them?

If that was the case, then her dream must have been just a nightmare, nothing more. Hu Jiao Jiao exhaled in relief, her heart feeling lighter.

But then Lu Mianer spoke again. “Oh, you don’t know yet, do you? It was Long Mo who confronted Lu Cuicui and made her confess. He did it all for you.”

“What?” Hu Jiao Jiao’s eyes widened in shock. “Really?”

Just yesterday, Long Mo had shown nothing but cold indifference towards her. Now he was defending her?

“Of course! He was furious about what Lu Cuicui did to you. He even… well, he… gouged out her eyes.” Lu Mian’er hesitated but eventually revealed the brutal truth.

“Long Mo… gouged out her eyes?” Hu Jiao Jiao gasped, struggling to comprehend the extent of Long Mo’s actions. It was shocking, even for someone like him.

After a moment of processing, she reminded herself that this was the Long Mo she knew, a man destined to become a ruthless villain. If he weren’t this merciless, he wouldn’t be the terrifying figure from the story.

Calming herself, HuJiao Jiao glanced behind them, noticing that Long Mo wasn’t there. “Where is Long Mo? Why didn’t he come with you?”