My husband is too wild, I need to go home and find my mom.

Chapter 192 Orcs' Feelings Aren't That Complicated

A-Zhi looked a little flustered and shook her head, saying, "No. I know Lin isn't the kind of female who would force a male. You're so gentle and lovely, it's my honor to be liked by you, and I like you very much too."

Lin Ni pursed her lips and said softly, "What if I told you that when I looked at you back then, it wasn't because I liked you?"

A-Zhi stared at Lin Ni in astonishment, her pink lips even forgetting to close: "Lin, what do you mean?"

Lin Ni didn't dare look into his sincere eyes. She lowered her eyes and slowly said in a low voice, "Do you know that when I first came to Wanren Stone Cliff, I lost a partner?" As she spoke, Lin Ni glanced at him.

A-Zhi nodded and said, "I asked Lan later, and he said he was an exceptionally outstanding male."

Lin Ni felt a pang of pain in her heart. Feng was indeed outstanding. Lin Ni forced a weak smile. At that moment, Yao gently hugged her from behind: "It's all in the past. You didn't have to talk about these things."

Linni shook her head and continued to say to Azhi, "I look at you only because you look a lot like my third partner, the only level eight single beast in the towering mountains—the tiger-beastman Feng. I'm really sorry, because I see his shadow in your face, so I can't help but look at your face. I know that what I'm doing will cause misunderstandings, but I can't control myself. I'm sorry!"

Azhi bit his lower lip, his face contorted with sadness, on the verge of tears. Before Xuan and Ling appeared, no single beastman of level eight had ever appeared at Wanren Stone Cliff; level seven was considered the highest level a single beastman could reach. Everyone had heard of the legendary Feng; a level eight single beastman was the ultimate goal for all males without a mate. Azhi had secretly aspired to be a level eight single beastman, using Feng as his benchmark. But he never imagined that this legendary tiger-beastman, Feng, would look so much like him. The female he admired was looking at him for this very reason. He wasn't as powerful as Feng; he was just a level seven single beastman, and he didn't even know how to face her.

Seeing Azhi's complicated and sad expression, Linni knew she had hurt him. His rejection of her feelings was something she hadn't expected. Linni whispered, "I don't want to hurt you, and I don't want to deceive you. Actually, I still like you quite a bit. If you don't mind, then we can become partners when we get to a safe tribe; if you feel you can't accept it, then I won't force you. I'm very sorry for the hurt I've caused you. If you want some compensation, I'm willing to do anything I can."

After Lin Ni finished speaking, she looked at A Zhi's face, which resembled Feng's by five or six points, and suddenly felt that she was being cruel. However, she did not want to lie to him; she wanted an open and honest relationship.

Azhi looked up at Linni with blank eyes. She was staring at him intently, waiting for his answer. Orcish emotions weren't so complicated; liking was liking, and disliking was disliking. Substitute tropes and deceiving feelings didn't exist for them. Linni's words and actions had a huge impact on Azhi; his simple orcish mind couldn't process it. Azhi could only helplessly say, "I don't know..."

Linni felt she had hurt him too much, so she said patiently and gently, "Then think about it again, okay?"

Ah-zhi nodded after a long while.

Linni added, "No matter what the answer is, I won't be angry, and I won't force you. I'll wait for your answer... So, get some rest now, goodnight!"

Azhi nodded again.

Linni slowly lowered the animal skin from the treehouse doorway, blocking the two people's view and keeping Azhi outside.

Yao carried Lin Ni back into bed, and he and Yan embraced her from both sides. Lin Ni whispered in their arms, "Yao, Yan, am I a bad woman?"

Yan said, "No, you are the best woman."

Yao kissed her cheek and lips, and said softly, "It's good that you've explained yourself. Don't think too much. Go to sleep."

Lin Ni hugged Yao tightly: "Okay."

Thinking of Feng, and then of A-Zhi, Lin Ni slowly fell asleep.

Lin Ni didn't know how long she had slept, but in her hazy state, she heard the roar of a tiger, the cry of an eagle, and other random noises. Lin Ni opened her eyes and saw Yao standing at the treehouse door, looking down. Lin Ni got up and went over to him: "Yao, what's wrong?"

In just a short while, Linni had already guessed what had happened from the sounds she heard: it must be that some wandering orcs were attacking them.

Sure enough, Yao opened the animal skin curtain at the treehouse door, pulled Linni into his arms, and looked down with her: "Wandering beastmen attacked us, Bai fought with them, and Yan and the eagle beastmen went down to help."

Linni looked down from the tree. It was probably the darkest time before dawn, and the rainforest was so dense that she could only see many shadowy figures moving about; she couldn't make out what was happening below. She could hear the occasional roars of wild animals—the howls of tigers, the hisses of snakes, the cries of eagles and hawks, the flapping of their wings, and the roars of other unknown beasts.

Suddenly, a clap of thunder sounded in the sky, followed by a torrential downpour. The sound of the rain made it even harder for Linni to hear anything below. She only caught glimpses of dozens of figures fighting below during flashes of lightning, and then nothing more. After peering down for a while, Linni realized she couldn't see anything clearly and could only whisper to Yao, "Are there many wandering beastmen? Is everyone alright?"

Yao said, "There are less than a hundred, only a few level seven stray beasts, the rest are mid-level and low-level."

Suddenly, a mournful cry came from below, and then Xuan said, "Quickly, take him up to the treehouse! No level six orcs should come down!"

Someone responded, "Okay!" Then came the sound of flapping wings. Lin Ni saw three level six eagle beastmen fly up, one of whom, a golden eagle, had a black eagle in its talons.

Linni asked worriedly, "What's wrong with him?"

The beastman Da Wen replied, "He was recently bitten by a poisonous snake. Let's help him squeeze out the venomous blood first!"

"Okay!" Lin Ni didn't know how they usually dealt with poisoning, so she could only continue watching with concern. Although she couldn't see the fighting clearly, she could tell from the sounds of fighting and shouts that the scene was getting more and more intense.

The battle lasted for about ten minutes, but Linni felt that the time had been exceptionally long.