The two waves dissolved instantly, and the two massive poison beasts materialized in midair, followed at once by two cries in succession—”Awoo… awoo…”
Ziqing and the others had assumed they’d be wolves, but instead, to their surprise, they turned out to be two enormous dogs, one black and one white, similar in build.
“Dogs!”
Xiong Xiaobao blurted out in shock. He’d always assumed these two poison beasts would be something magnificent—if not a phoenix, then at least a dragon.
And yet here they were—two big dogs!
The shock wasn’t limited to Ziqing’s group; many present who had never before seen these two poison beasts were equally stunned.
But it didn’t take long before no one dared underestimate these two large dogs.
Suspended in midair, though they were dogs, they carried themselves with an imposing bearing, like judges looking down from on high, coldly surveying everything beneath them.
Even though they belonged to the Beast Clan and technically fell under the authority of the Nanzhao royal house, they utterly ignored Prince Nanzhao, who stood off to the side.
As if they themselves were the true rulers of this place.
Xiong Xiaobao couldn’t help but marvel inwardly—it truly wasn’t easy for dogs to carry such a regal air.
The two great dogs surveyed the crowd from midair. Sheng Zimo, also suspended in the air, had already stopped playing the phoenix-tail sheng, and the crowd below had fallen completely silent, no one daring to make a sound.
Aside from Ziqing’s group, no one else had yet noticed anything amiss.
The poison beasts had actually been summoned—Sheng Zimo truly was formidable.
It seemed the position of Beast Clan chief was now firmly secured for the Sheng family.
The whole place fell into dead silence. Sheng Zimo and the head of the Sheng family were the most nervous of all, and their hearts pounded the hardest—even they hadn’t expected that a single phoenix-tail sheng could summon the poison beasts in one attempt.
If the poison beasts were willing to appear, that surely meant they recognized the Sheng family’s authority.
Suppressing his surging excitement, Sheng Zimo turned toward the nearer of the two poison beasts with reverence and devotion, nervously pressing his lips together, about to speak—when suddenly, the white dog let out an furious roar. “Was it you who played that?”
Sheng Zimo froze. He wanted to say yes, but didn’t dare—even a fool could tell the poison beast was furious.
For a long moment Sheng Zimo said nothing, and the entire crowd grew uneasy.
Could Sheng Zimo have angered the poison beast?
The poison beast’s fiery temper couldn’t wait for an answer. “Arrogant young man, thinking you could summon my brother and me with a mere sheng—we’re not something to be trifled with!”
With that, it charged straight at Sheng Zimo, who spun around and fled in terror.
Only then did everyone finally understand—these two poison beasts hadn’t been summoned by the sheng’s music at all. They had been provoked by it, and had come out to teach someone a lesson.
The head of the Sheng family stood dumbfounded. He’d never imagined Sheng Zimo would be so arrogant as to play alone, nor had he imagined the poison beasts would emerge for this reason.
For a moment, he was utterly at a loss.
Not to mention everyone else—even the Sheng family’s own people didn’t dare step in or speak up to help Sheng Zimo.
The head of the Xiao family, hiding within the crowd, was gasping for breath. How grateful he was now that their earlier duet hadn’t managed to anger the poison beasts.
Otherwise, it would be him being chased right now instead!
Sheng Zimo fled with all his might, but no one came to his aid. The moment he turned and landed on the high platform, the poison beast pounced, slamming him flat to the ground.
The white poison beast loomed over him, sneering coldly, “Young man, you overestimated yourself. Trifling with my brother and me comes at a price.”
Seeing the massive fangs bearing down on him, Sheng Zimo squeezed his eyes shut in terror, all pride and dignity forgotten, screaming with everything he had, “Help! Father, save me!”
The poison beast wasn’t the least bit frightened by his cries. It studied his terrified expression with great satisfaction, slowly closing in on his face as it sneered, “Tsk tsk tsk, weren’t you so proud just now? Weren’t you so bold? Go on then, don’t call for help!”
“Help me… Father, save me… Father! I did all of this for the Sheng family, Father, please save me!”
“Father, it was all for the Sheng family, all for you!”
…
Sheng Zimo screamed for his life with everything he had. As the white dog’s fangs drew closer and closer, his cries grew ever more hysterical.
But throughout the whole scene, aside from the head of the Sheng family, brow furrowed tight, no one else made a sound. Everyone secretly hoped Sheng Zimo would be bitten to death, if that was what it took to calm the poison beast’s fury—even if it meant the head of the Sheng family himself were killed, they wouldn’t have minded in the slightest.
Ziqing and Jun Beiyue watched the whole scene coldly. As sharp observers, they could tell there was more to Sheng Zimo’s earlier words than met the eye, and they understood exactly why the head of the Sheng family hadn’t taken part in the duet himself.
Even if the Xiao family’s white jade flute had been genuine, this duet was never destined to succeed.
So none of this had much to do with them.
What they wanted was the phoenix-tail sheng—everything else was none of their concern.
The pitiful cries for help filled the entire Heavenly Lake. The white dog moved slowly, as if waiting to see whether anyone would dare step forward to save him.
“Damned dog, how insolent,” Xiong Xiaobao muttered under his breath. He could tell at a glance exactly what kind of creature this poison beast was.
Amid the silence and the cries for help, everyone’s eyes fixed on that not-so-tall platform, both tense and eager.
Human nature was like this—everyone both hoped the white dog would bite down, sating its anger, and hoped the head of the Sheng family would step forward to save his son, giving them a good show to watch.
The head of the Sheng family had already clenched his fists tight. If he stepped in, it would surely mean death—and might even implicate the entire Sheng family.
But the one before him was his own flesh and blood, the son he himself had raised and trained. How could he choose?
No one offered him a word of comfort, no one urged him one way or another—everyone simply waited to see what he would do.
At last, amid the tense wait, the white dog’s fangs closed in on Sheng Zimo’s throat.
“Papa!” Sheng Zimo finally cried out.
“Papa!” This child, ever since reaching adulthood, had never once called him that—always addressing him respectfully as “Father.”
The head of the Sheng family knew he couldn’t act—not for the sake of the Sheng family, nor for the greater good of the entire Beast Clan. He could not intervene.
But at this moment, he no longer cared about any of that. He wasn’t the clan head, wasn’t the family patriarch—he was simply a father.
Just as the white dog’s patience ran out, the head of the Sheng family suddenly threw caution to the wind and lunged forward. “Don’t you dare hurt him!”
The white dog’s fangs stopped abruptly. It let out a soft, mocking laugh and turned to look at the head of the Sheng family, who had dared to step forward. “Head of the Sheng family, are you giving orders to me?”
“The phoenix-tail sheng rightfully belongs to the position of clan head—it was I who ordered him to play in my place. I will bear all the consequences myself. I beg you, spare this child,” the head of the Sheng family said earnestly, neither servile nor defiant.
But the white poison beast merely turned to the black dog with a sinister chuckle. “Brother, so it was this old man who wanted to trifle with us!”
No sooner had it spoken than the black dog, without a word, lunged straight at the head of the Sheng family. Caught completely off guard, he was knocked flat to the ground. The black dog’s temperament was clearly far more violent than the white one’s—the moment it pinned the head of the Sheng family down, it wasted no time and lowered its head to bite, while the white dog showed no sign of releasing Sheng Zimo either.
Ziqing and Jun Beiyue’s brows shot up sharply—these two poison beasts were being far too outrageous.
Xiong Xiaobao gripped his father’s hand tightly, at the very end of his patience. But it was Baili Xiaosheng, even less able to hold back, who spoke first.
In the dead silence, she said through gritted teeth, “You two dead dogs!”
The moment the words left her mouth, every single head in the crowd whipped around at once, and both the black and white dogs froze, turning sharply to look as well.
Who had just insulted them?