“Qingqing, how is it going?”

Tang Zifeng couldn’t help but speak up when there was no sound from Qin Ruqing, who had gone outside the bell to investigate.

As he spoke, his hands continued to hold up the concealed barrier, and his voice transmitted through a strange ripple that reached Qin Ruqing’s ears.

Unseen by Tang Zifeng, Qin Ruqing was extending her hand toward a gap in the barrier.

The dark, gaping hole had a chaotic, time-twisting sensation, with visible distortions occurring intermittently.

It was easy to imagine that if one were to step inside, the outcome wouldn’t be pleasant.

Just as her hand was about to touch the barrier, she froze, as if suddenly waking up.

She had almost gone in—pulled in by some kind of instinct or call.

Her delicate brows furrowed as she silently gazed at the gap, the warped space resembling the open jaws of some monstrous beast.

Had she stuck her head inside, it might have been severed in an instant.

Was it a coincidence, or something else…?

“I’m fine,” Qin Ruqing replied as she returned inside the bell.

“You’re not fine,” Tang Zifeng said calmly, his sharp intuition kicking in. “Did you see something?”

There was no hiding it from him.

Qin Ruqing recounted the strange sensation she had while standing near the gap in the barrier.

Tang Zifeng frowned and immediately maneuvered the bell further away from the barrier.

“Your body is in tune with the Dao. Any sensation you feel is never just a coincidence.”

“Don’t approach the barrier so recklessly in the future, and definitely don’t put yourself in danger,” he said, his dark eyes fixed on hers.

Under his meticulous care, Qin Ruqing felt a soothing warmth, as if immersed in gentle water.

Her brows relaxed, and she was about to nod in agreement when her expression suddenly froze.

She turned her head sharply toward the direction of the barrier.

“There’s movement inside,” she said, referring to the barrier.

“Could another beast be coming through?” Tang Zifeng immediately expanded the barrier to its maximum and moved the bell to a branch further away.

“It’s nighttime,” he reminded her, implying that it wasn’t normal for such activity.

“Yes,” Qin Ruqing replied.

Even though some beasts were still active at night, most carried out important activities during the day.

Movement from the barrier at night wasn’t typical.

After sensing the power of the concealed barrier, Qin Ruqing commented, “This isn’t secure enough.”

There was a possibility they could be detected.

She turned to him and said, “Here, take my hand.”

Without waiting for Tang Zifeng’s response, she reached for his hand, pulling him closer.

Tang Zifeng’s body tensed, but he didn’t retreat.

He had a hunch about what she was planning and locked his dark gaze on her. “You’re going to use fire.”

“Mm,” Qin Ruqing smiled at him. “Don’t worry, my fire won’t hurt you.”

I know, Tang Zifeng thought, swallowing the words he didn’t say.

A thin veil of purple-gold flames began to radiate from Qin Ruqing, slowly enveloping both of them.

Tang Zifeng felt the heat, but it wasn’t uncomfortable.

As the fire completely coated the inner walls of the bell, it was as if their presence had been entirely erased from the world.

At that exact moment, a beastly figure began to emerge from the barrier.

Its fur was black and glossy, with a pair of long, sharp ears.

Most striking of all were the three eyes on its forehead, wide open, in addition to its original two eyes, making five in total.

The five green eyes, all with vertical pupils, glowed with the cold ferocity unique to beasts.

As this beast emerged, the barrier trembled, and another beast followed.

This one had fluffy white fur with a tuft of pink at the end of its tail.

“Ah, the clumsy wolf king and little pretty fox,” Qin Ruqing’s amused voice echoed in Tang Zifeng’s mind with a hint of surprise.

“You know them?”

“You recognize it too, huh? This wolf—remember it from the Abyss?” Qin Ruqing reminded.

Tang Zifeng thought carefully, recalling the five-eyed wolf and matching it with the one that had fought with Qingqing in the Abyss. Indeed, it was the same one.

“Does it have a grudge against you?”

“I have plenty of enemies who hate me to the core,” Qin Ruqing said dismissively. “The Wolf King doesn’t even rank among them.”

She turned her head again to observe outside, lost in thought. “So, the beast tide in the southern region is indeed under his command.”

With the Wolf King’s return, the beasts that were previously resting or lying down all stood up, growling in low, rising waves.

They were communicating in beast language, and Qin Ruqing could read the Wolf King’s expressions through the fur that covered his shadowy face.

Qin Ruqing translated his expression roughly: “Look at the little ones coming to greet the King so respectfully. Not bad. Feels pretty good.”

But his satisfaction didn’t last long.

As his subordinates reported to him, his expression turned grave.

Qin Ruqing’s eyes flickered.

If something was displeasing to the Wolf King, it was most likely related to the humans.

If she could understand what they were saying, she might catch some critical information about the battle.

Tang Zifeng seemed to be thinking the same. “Too bad they’re speaking in beast language—we can’t understand it.”

Qin Ruqing had initially intended to express regret, but hearing Tang Zifeng voice it first gave her a new idea.

She stroked her chin and pondered, “Not necessarily.”

“It’s not necessarily impossible to understand them!”

While she didn’t speak beast language, she could understand it back when she was a beast in the Abyss illusion!

Back then, she was a majestic, fiery tiger commanding armies!

Seeing Qin Ruqing’s bright eyes, Tang Zifeng knew she had a plan.

Qin Ruqing closed her eyes, and Tang Zifeng didn’t disturb her.

He watched her delicate features silently.

After a while, Qin Ruqing opened her eyes again, and in that instant, her gaze was as brilliant as sunlight breaking through clouds, breathtakingly radiant.

Tang Zifeng, without showing his surprise, asked, “You’ve figured out how to understand beast language?”

Qin Ruqing nodded enthusiastically. “Back in the Void illusion, I was once a beast. When I was a beast, I could fully understand their language. Now, I just need to recall that experience and translate indirectly. The downside is that it might be slow—there’ll be a delay.”

Tang Zifeng’s expression was complicated, his voice strange. “…You sure went through a lot in that illusion.”

Qin Ruqing suddenly remembered something and shrank back, alarmed.

Oh no, why did I bring up that illusion for no reason?

Now I’ve given him something to latch onto!

She forced a smile, gesturing outside to emphasize that gathering intelligence was more important.

Then she pretended to start translating.

The beast language outside, rising and falling through the bell, gradually became clear and distinct in Qin Ruqing’s ears.

“King, you’ve finally returned. We lost a squad of armored bugs!”

“Lost?” The Wolf King bared his teeth. “Could they have been busy mating because it’s spring?” His voice was tinged with displeasure.

“King, spring isn’t the mating season for armored bugs. Besides, they just received the Beast God’s blessing recently. Why would they do something foolish at such a critical time?”

The speaking beast had an insect-like appearance, with long antennae and black-and-white spotted patterns covering its body.

Its eyes gleamed with intelligence.

The Wolf King thought it over and realized that made sense.

“What did they say before they left? Didn’t I order that no one was to act rashly before my return? Only small-scale raids—hit and retreat!”

This was the battle strategy jointly decided by the higher-ups of the beast tide before it began.

“King, they did strictly follow your orders! That squad of bugs, fifteen in total, were dispatched today for a raid mission. They haven’t returned and haven’t sent any scent signals.”

The insect beasts had a bloodline talent for long-distance communication that didn’t require sound or any external medium.

They left behind scents, and any passing insect beast could decipher the information from it.

But today, the squad sent to find the missing bugs found no scent signals in the forest.

That either meant they forgot, or they didn’t have time to release the scent…

The former was highly unlikely because, whether their raid was successful or not, they had to return.

This suggested it was more likely the latter.

The Wolf King evidently considered these possibilities and fell into deep thought.

The little fox spirit beside them, having listened to the entire conversation, casually remarked, “Seems like that squad of bugs is probably dead, then!”

She wasn’t a “native beast” of the Beast Realm but an “outsider beast” or “human realm beast” in their terms, so she spoke without any reservations.

The Wolf King gave Little Beauty Fox an approving glance and looked sternly at the insect beast.

The insect beast’s long whiskers flicked lightly as it seemed to recall, and a nearby small soldier quietly reminded it, “… There were scorched marks.”

The insect beast seemed to suddenly realize, and said to the Wolf King, “We found a place on the eastern side of the dense forest with signs of intense fire burns. What’s strange is that only the ground was scorched, while the nearby trees were untouched.”

The Wolf King pondered.

The fact that only the ground was burned and there were no signs of fire damage nearby suggested that the flame was controlled with extreme precision.

The absence of other traces, apart from a few scorch marks, indicated that the owner of the flame was extremely powerful, almost instantaneous in action.

This kind of flame power and precision reminded the Wolf King of someone: a human with particularly bright eyes, who always had a smiling, calculating, and treacherous demeanor.

It was said that this human was responsible for resisting the beast tide this time.

The Wolf King had his answer, while the insect beast sentinel awaited his response.

The Wolf King said, “I understand this matter. That team of insect beasts was likely killed by a human general named Qin, who used heavenly fire. That human is treacherous and can also control the soul force, which the beast race is not good at. If you encounter them, just avoid them from afar.”

Little Spirit Fox didn’t remember the girl who once designed her, but she knew of Qin Ruqing.

Because of the incident where the Wolf King encountered Qin Ruqing in a narrow path in the dense forest and then fled, Spirit Fox had a deep impression.

So Spirit Fox asked, “My Lord, is she the human woman you encountered that day? Is she very powerful?”