Chapter 77: Opening Up About Secrets

Chapter 77: Chapter 77: Opening Up About Secrets

"W-wait a minute," Ophelia said, patting Tyler to stop him.

"What’s wrong?"

"Put me down first. I have something to tell you."

Tyler obediently set her down, looking nervously at the little female in his arms.

Ophelia looked around and found a relatively hidden spot. "Close your eyes."

Tyler obediently closed his eyes, his long eyelashes casting dark shadows across his skin. Ophelia held his hand and willed it in her mind. The scenery before them flipped, and they were suddenly standing inside the farm space.

"All right, you can open your eyes now."

Tyler was astonished to find himself seemingly transported to another world. A rice field stretched out before him, its golden ears heavy with grain. The air was filled with the fresh scent of soil and rice.

He stared at everything in disbelief. "Princess, where is this? How could there be..."

Ophelia just smiled silently and pulled him toward the warehouse. With a gentle push of her slender wrist, the iron doors swung open.

Inside, an array of goods was displayed in all its glory. Various fruits, such as sugarcane and Golden Pears, were neatly packed into baskets. Most importantly, there were numerous fresh carcasses of prey, and it looked like a substantial amount.

Tyler’s expression shifted from astonishment to pleasant surprise, and finally, a hint of worry crept onto his face. Ophelia didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at his turbulent thoughts. She wondered what exactly was going through his head.

"What is going on? Princess, where exactly is this place?" Tyler asked. This space stretched endlessly as far as the eye could see, but there were no forests or mountains, let alone tribes or wild beasts.

"This is a space I obtained by chance. It’s not the real world, and no one else can enter except for me," Ophelia explained slowly.

"Is that so? How did you get this space, Princess?" Tyler still felt a bit surreal.

"It might be a gift from the Beast God. That day, after I fainted by the Wishing Pond, I woke up with this space.

"And the food and fruit I brought out earlier weren’t from a friend. I planted them here."

Ophelia knew Tyler had long suspected she was making up a nonexistent friend, but since he hadn’t asked, she hadn’t bothered to explain. Now that she was sharing her biggest secret with him, there was no need to hide the rest.

"I see. To think you received a gift from the Beast God." He thought that the Beast God must still pity her, granting her such a miraculous encounter after all the suffering she had endured. Tyler didn’t doubt Ophelia’s excuse in the slightest.

"This space is different from the outside world," Ophelia continued. "Time flows faster here, so crops mature quicker than outside. It only takes two days for the rice to ripen after being planted.

"Also, this warehouse has a preservation function. Anything put inside won’t spoil."

"This is truly amazing." Tyler marveled at the wonders of the space, but there was not a trace of greed or covetousness in his eyes.

"Let’s leave for now. You can’t stay here for too long."

Since Tyler was neither a product of this space nor its master, he couldn’t remain there for extended periods without risking suffocation.

"Okay."

Tyler obediently closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the two of them were back in the hidden corner of the forest.

"You don’t need to worry about the prey anymore," Ophelia said. "I still have a few Orange Crystal Stones, which are more than enough to establish the tribe."

She had revealed her biggest secret simply because she didn’t want Tyler to worry.

Tyler nodded, but his expression turned serious. "Princess, why would you tell me such an important secret?"

Ophelia stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the lips. "Silly, you are my mate. There are no secrets between us. Besides, I trust that you won’t hurt me. You don’t blame me for hiding it from you before, do you?"

Tyler shook his head and pulled the little female into his arms, his heart pounding wildly in his chest.

"How could I blame you, Princess? If possible, I wish I had never learned this secret." He then tightened his lips and said solemnly, "You must guard this secret well, Princess. You can’t tell anyone else, not even Laxus, Leon, or Rebecca."

If anyone with malicious intent found out about such a miraculous space, she would be in grave danger. Even family members could become enemies when their interests conflicted. Therefore, for the sake of safety, absolutely no one else could know this secret.

Seeing Tyler so serious, Ophelia curled her lips in a teasing smile. "You say not to let anyone know, but I’ve already told you. What should we do about that?"

"Don’t worry, Princess. It is absolutely impossible for me to tell anyone."

To prove his determination, Tyler drew his Bone Knife from his waist and moved to slash at his own face.

Ophelia’s heart leaped in terror, and she hurriedly stopped him. "Stop! Don’t move!"

She was so frightened that her face turned deathly pale, and her voice trembled. "What are you doing?"

"Don’t worry, Princess. I’m just going to cut out my tongue. That way, you won’t have to worry about the secret leaking out."

Ophelia was speechless, sarcastically thinking that he had certainly thought this through. The Beast World had not yet developed a written language, so cutting out one’s tongue was indeed the most foolproof way to ensure silence.

"I trust you! No cutting your tongue, and no hurting yourself. Otherwise, I don’t want you anymore!"

Faced with the prospect of mutilating himself, Tyler had remained as steady as a mountain, but hearing Ophelia’s words immediately threw him into a panic.

"Princess, please don’t be angry. I... I won’t do it. Please don’t abandon me." He held her tightly in his embrace.

Ophelia felt a bit resentful and struggled, but she couldn’t escape his grasp.

"I won’t hurt myself again, but I want to swear an oath to the Beast God.

"I, Tyler, will never betray Ophelia in this life, nor will I ever reveal her secret. If I do, let me die in the jaws of wild beasts."

Ophelia hadn’t expected Tyler to make such a venomous oath just to prove his sincerity. She felt both angry and deeply moved. It was a true blessing to be loved by someone like him.

Half a month later.

Ophelia returned to Ten Thousand Beasts City with Tyler. She had asked several males from the Golden Dragon Clan to help transport a hundred prey animals to the city. Outside the gates of the City Lord Mansion, the carcasses piled up into a small mountain, quickly drawing the attention of City Lord Mo Ye inside.

Mo Ye stared at the mountain of prey in astonishment.

"City Lord Mo Ye, here are the one hundred prey animals. You can have someone count them," Ophelia said with a bright smile, in an excellent mood.

"Good, good, good. Let’s go inside first. We can talk inside."

Mo Ye waved his hand, and several males emerged from the City Lord Mansion to carry the prey.

Back in the same hall as before, Mo Ye sat in a round-backed armchair and asked curiously, "How did you do it? How did you manage to gather a hundred prey animals in just a dozen days?"

"We saved some before the rainy season, and these past few days I just had the clan members work a little harder to gather the rest," Ophelia replied. Naturally, she wasn’t going to tell the truth.

Mo Ye’s eyes narrowed slightly. "As far as I know, the Golden Dragon Clan was flooded this time. You’ve all been living in temporary stone houses built on the mountain.

"Given how long the rainy season has lasted, it seems highly unlikely that your prey hasn’t been eaten, let alone preserved this well."