Chapter 148 - 147: The Trend of Empty-Nest Beast Husbands

After watching Xiong Jiaojiao and her clone leave, Chu Liangyu closed the door again and resumed her morning training.

However, she had to divert some of her focus to controlling the clone during this process.

It was slightly mentally taxing, but the impact was so small as to be almost negligible for her.

She put away a few of the first weapons she had obtained, the ones she was already quite familiar with, and took out only the thirteen Soul Chasing Needles.

Chu Liangyu had previously formed silver needles from her own power in battle, but such moves were always easily dispersed in the end.

Even when used for a sneak attack, they didn’t have much power.

Judging by the material of these Soul Chasing Needles, it was clear they wouldn’t be so easily destroyed, which compensated for Chu Liangyu’s weakness in this area.

There was just one problem: the needles had too strong of a presence. If she wanted to use them for a surprise attack, she would have to find a way to conceal their aura, making them completely unnoticeable.

With this in mind, Chu Liangyu began to use her Divine Sense to control the aura emanating from the Soul Chasing Needles, retracting it into the needles themselves. The process was slow, but the soul-shaking sense of terror they exuded was indeed diminishing.

At the same time, their originally jet-black color began to fade before her very eyes, like ink wash spreading on paper, until they approached the color of ordinary needles.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Chu Liangyu had completely retracted the aura of the Soul Chasing Needles. Outwardly, they now looked no different from ordinary needles used for sewing.

A pleasant surprise lit up Chu Liangyu’s eyes. ’So they really can conceal their aura, just as I’d hoped.’

’Compared to the bronze short knife, which Jiang Li already knows about, these are far more suitable for a surprise attack.’

The corners of Chu Liangyu’s mouth curled up involuntarily as she imagined Jiang Li riddled with Soul Chasing Needles, looking like a hedgehog.

However, her exploration of the Soul Chasing Needles had only just begun. Next, she had to consider how to best utilize them to their full potential.

While Chu Liangyu was busy with her training, her clone was equally occupied with other matters.

----

Although it was a clone, as mentioned before, there was no difference between it and the original. Speaking to the clone was the same as speaking to Chu Liangyu herself.

Xiong Jiaojiao knew this, so she started asking questions about the Beast God again, like: "Is the Beast God handsome?"

"Not handsome," Chu Liangyu replied, deadpan. "Just an old geezer."

Xiong Jiaojiao wasn’t disappointed at all. Instead, she said, "That makes sense. The Beast God has lived for so long, it’s only normal that he’d be old."

"Does the Beast God ever hide among us to experience our lives?"

"No. He’s very busy and has no time for that."

Her questions were all trivial, and Chu Liangyu felt like a celebrity’s assistant answering questions from a fan.

But after so many questions, Chu Liangyu grew weary. She couldn’t help but say, "Jiaojiao, if I get the chance, I’ll take you to see him for yourself."

Xiong Jiaojiao’s mouth fell open in excitement. "Re-really?"

Chu Liangyu nodded but didn’t make a firm promise. "If there’s a chance," she said.

Perhaps Chu Liangyu’s grand promise was too satisfying, because Xiong Jiaojiao seemed to have her fill and finally fell silent, asking no more questions about the Beast God.

Seeing this, Chu Liangyu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. ’Finally, some peace and quiet!’

But as soon as it grew quiet, Chu Liangyu’s attention was caught by a conversation from some people passing by.

"Sigh... It seems being an ’empty-nest’ Beast Husband is the new trend. Ever since my Female Master left, I just have no motivation to do anything."

His words seemed to strike a chord with the man beside him, who immediately nodded. "Exactly! I feel so idle these days, with nothing to do."

"I even learned how to sew from the Beast Husband next door. I just don’t know if my Female Master will like it."

Hearing this, the other man snapped his head around, his tone laced with shock. "Wait, man, you’ve started doing *that* kind of work?"

That was usually something their Female Masters handled; no male Beastman would ever think of doing it.

The man scratched the back of his head, a bit embarrassed. "I-I just didn’t have anything else to do."

The other man didn’t say anything more, but he pursed his lips in clear disapproval.

Still, it was understandable. After all, the males in the tribe were truly idle these days.

As they spoke, neither of them noticed anyone else up ahead. When they finally looked up, they saw Chu Liangyu and her companion.

After a moment of shock, the two male Beastmen immediately said, "Greetings, Chief."

"Mm, hello."

Chu Liangyu returned the greeting, but she took their earlier conversation to heart.

Just as Chu Liangyu and her companion were about to walk out of sight, the first man who had spoken suddenly called out, "Chief, I have a suggestion."

Chu Liangyu stopped and turned, looking at him with a puzzled expression. "What suggestion? Go ahead."

"Well, we really don’t have anything to do. Could we learn that Body Technique too?"

Chu Liangyu fell silent for a moment before explaining, "That art isn’t very effective for male Beastmen. Not only would it be a waste of time for you to learn, but the tribe also doesn’t have enough of the medicinal herbs required for Body Refining."

"Oh... alright then. It was just a thought. Sorry to bother you, Chief."

Seeing his disappointed face, Chu Liangyu smiled and added, "Don’t worry. You’ll all be busy soon enough."

"Huh?"

Both men let out a confused sound at the same time, but Chu Liangyu just smiled without a word and departed with Xiong Jiaojiao.

Faintly, Chu Liangyu could still hear their conversation. "What do you think the Chief meant by that?"

"Are you stupid? It means exactly what she said. I guess we really are going to be busy from now on."

Originally, Chu Liangyu had planned to send all the Beast Husbands out to search for people possessed by Otherworldly Souls.

But now, their conversation had made her realize a problem: the tribe was too lax, lacking even a single Guard Team.

She recalled the previous sneak attack on the tribe. If there had been patrols, the casualties wouldn’t have been nearly so high.

Furthermore, the tribe members would have to participate in the upcoming plan to deal with Jiang Li.

If they remained in their current state, her plan would be impossible to carry out, no matter how flawless it was.

And her own struggle to contend for the role of Beast God was not something she could win alone. Facing Jiang Li and his unknown number of allies, she needed her own forces.

This was why she was always looking for opportunities to bring other tribes into her fold.

Especially the Phoenix Clan. Although only the Phoenix Clan to which Feng Qingqing belongs has joined, the Phoenix Clan obsessed with bloodline purity would sooner or later follow the Phoenix Clan with more females and join as well.

As more and more tribes joined her, a host of problems would arise. If she didn’t resolve them in a timely manner, she might face huge trouble one day.

Therefore, Chu Liangyu decided to select several Beast Husbands and form a Guard Team within the tribe.