Little Family Treasure of the Apocalyptic Boss

Chapter 18: Knocking

Because of the chief’s prohibition, they missed this year’s caravan.

Learning this truth from Grandma Kanglan’s mouth, the little snake sub-beast felt extremely discouraged. It was like the sudden rainstorm in the sky, gloomy and dim.

However, the little snake sub-beast was much cuter than a rainstorm.

Ye Ze had anticipated this, so he wasn’t surprised at this moment. He took out an umbrella and held it over their heads, pulling the little snake sub-beast into his arms to shield them from the wind and rain outside. He patted the little snake sub-beast’s drooping head and said, “Alright, don’t be sad. When we get home, I’ll treat you to some beautiful candies, okay?”

The little snake sub-beast lowered their head, feeling downcast.

“I’m sorry.” Tears welled up in the little snake sub-beast’s eyes but didn’t fall. His voice choked with uncontrollable emotion, “It’s all because of me that Ye Zi missed the caravan.”

If it weren’t for following him, Ye Zi would definitely be the most popular beastman in the tribe. He wouldn’t have to face such embarrassment at all.

And yet, here he was, needing Ye Zi’s comfort.

Ugh. Nuo Nuo was really useless!

“Don’t be like this.” Ye Ze sighed softly and stopped walking.

As he folded the umbrella, the red thorny vine that grew behind the little snake sub-beast automatically wove itself into a small pavilion, sheltering them from the wind and rain.

Ye Ze gently cupped the little snake sub-beast’s face, and sure enough, he saw their eyes reddened with a look of grievance and forbearance.

“Nuo Nuo is my favorite,” Ye Ze said firmly. He gently wiped away the tear at the corner of the little snake sub-beast’s eye. “And, missing the caravan isn’t Nuo Nuo’s fault. It’s because those people on the other side are too narrow-minded, that’s why they’re trying to take advantage. If Nuo Nuo weren’t here, I might have become sad from indifference.”

Ye Ze knew exactly how to hit the little snake sub-beast’s soft spot.

Before the words had even finished, the little snake sub-beast quickly wiped their eyes with the back of their hand, trying hard to appear cheerful. Anxiously, they asked, “W-will you really be sad because of me?”

“Of course,” Ye Ze chuckled. He grabbed the hand of the little snake sub-beast, who didn’t know how to treat themselves kindly, and held it in his palm. “Nuo Nuo, I like you the most.” Ye Ze emphasized again, “So, if Nuo Nuo is happy, I will be happy even if I’m not; if Nuo Nuo is unhappy, it will affect me, and I will be unhappy too.”

The little snake sub-beast looked into the beastman’s focused black eyes. Taking a deep breath, they showed Ye Ze a big smile, “Then I’ll be happy every day!”

With that said, Ye Zi had to be happy every day too.

“…”

Silly kid.

Tears still lingered in the corners of his eyes, yet he smiled like this.

He was too soft-hearted.

Ye Ze pinched the little snake sub-beast’s cheek. Taking advantage of the situation, he kissed the little snake sub-beast’s forehead, “Alright, let’s go home. Look, the weather is urging us to hurry up…”

Ye Ze’s teasing words suddenly stopped. Looking at the vine pavilion outside, he saw that the light rain had turned into a drizzle, and the sky was gradually clearing up, leaving him speechless.

“Pfft.” The little snake sub-beast covered their mouth, burying their head. He tried hard to restrain himself from laughing out loud so that Ye Ze wouldn’t notice.

But, aside from the slight sound of suppressed laughter that had just escaped, the trembling shoulders of the little snake sub-beast completely exposed his true feelings.

Gee, so heartless.

Who was the reason he had said such out-of-character words?

Ye Ze felt both annoyed and amused. He pressed his palm against the little snake sub-beast’s head and rubbed it a few times before taking the trembling little snake sub-beast back up the mountain. “Then think about the vegetable garden in front of your house. Won’t that give you motivation?”

“Ah!” After a heavy rain, wouldn’t all the seedlings he had just planted be washed away?

The little snake sub-beast widened their eyes in shock, feeling both distressed and anxious. Suddenly taking charge, he urgently urged Ye Ze, who was leisurely strolling, to hurry back, “Ye Zi, Ye Zi, you need to hurry up! What if something happens to the seedlings!”

Ye Ze smiled, unreservedly laughing.

And unbeknownst to the two of them, a small clump of soil loosened at the edge of the cave’s field. It gradually piled up more and more, forming an exit like that of a mole’s burrow. A small creature resembling a groundhog emerged from it.

Sniffing the air, its eyes brightened, and it leaped out joyfully.

“Squeak! Squeak squeak!”

This was the place.

It hadn’t come to the wrong spot. It was the first one here!

The fur of the soft and smooth creature swayed as it trotted around the entrance of the cave. Satisfied with the comfortable environment it saw, it tilted its head and then burrowed back into the ground, beginning to construct its underground dwelling.

The communicator had a beautiful and warm house, so it couldn’t be left behind and embarrass the communicator!

Quietly, the soil in the field became even more loose and fertile.

Nightfall.

Listening to the steady breathing from the little snake sub-beast’s room, Ye Ze got up.

Although he had said indifferent words, Ye Ze was always a person who would take revenge for grievances.

Moreover, these people were stirring up trouble outside all day long, causing the little snake sub-beast to be unhappy many times.

“Who’s there!”

“Bang!”

Ye Ze pressed the middle-aged beastman’s head and slammed it fiercely onto the table. The eyes, flickering in the firelight, darkened like those of a bloodthirsty demon lord. “Aren’t you sending people to deal with me? How come you don’t even recognize my appearance?”

In the midst of excruciating pain, the beastman chieftain, hearing Ye Ze’s words, felt his pupils shrink in disbelief. “You’re that wandering beastman?!”

“Oh? So that’s what you call me.” Ye Ze’s lips curved into a playful smile. With force in his palm, he forcefully pressed the beastman’s head into the solid wooden table. “It seems there’s no problem being here.”

Ye Ze’s movements were too sudden, too swift. The beastman chieftain didn’t even have the consciousness to scream in agony. His brain was already blanketed by successive impacts, plunging into a haze.

Crimson blood oozed from the side of the beastman’s head. Trickling through the cracks in the table, it seeped in, drop by drop, onto the wooden floor. Blooming into dark blood flowers.

The beastman chieftain’s eyes trembled in horror. He opened his mouth, wanting to scream in pain, to cry for help, but due to extreme tension, his tense throat produced no sound at all. Only futile struggles.

How could this beastman be so strong!

He had only killed a black lion… Wait. What if it really was the Demon Bull Lion?!

Despite the chaotic thoughts in his mind, they became strangely clearer than ever before.

The beastman chieftain couldn’t stop trembling, his whole body as cold as if he had fallen into a frozen lake in midwinter.

He would die.

He would really be killed!

As easy as turning over his hand. Just like crushing an ant.

No one would find out, and there would be no trace left behind!

“Tch.” Ye Ze uttered a disdainful chuckle.

“Remember how you feel today.” Ye Ze withdrew his hand indifferently. His cold gaze looked down on the gasping beastman chieftain. “Don’t let there be a next time. Understand?”

Continuing to live honestly by the little snake sub-beast’s cave, supplementing some unnecessary but habit-forming popularity for the little snake sub-beast.

And as for everything else, don’t touch it anymore.

“Yes, yes! Please rest assured, I will definitely restrain my people and will never disturb your life again!” The beastman chieftain nodded frantically with all his strength. He feared that if he were late by a second, Ye Ze’s hand would crush his skull.

And when he snapped out of his panic, there was no longer any foreign figure in the entire wooden house.

Ye Ze walked as if in a deserted place. Passing through the tall and short wooden houses of the tribe, he finally stood in front of a simple yet clean little house.

Raising his hand, curling his fingers, his wrist gently swayed. It seemed as leisurely as visiting a neighbor.

“Knock, knock.”

“So late, who…” Grandma Kanglan’s pupils shrank as she opened the door. Her wrist quickly pushed forward, instinctively attempting to close the door.

Easily intercepted by Ye Ze. Then he pushed the door open.

“It seems like you’re doing pretty well here.” Ye Ze casually glanced around the room. Turning back, he looked at Grandma Kanglan, smiling ambiguously.

Grandma Kanglan’s fingertips trembled slightly, pretending to be calm as she asked, “What are you doing here? It’s too late, it’s dangerous, and Nuo Nuo…” would be worried.

Her subsequent words were blocked by the sudden appearance of vines breaking through the ground in front of her.

“Shh.” Ye Ze raised a finger to his lips, motioning for silence. “Don’t let me hear that name from your mouth.”

It was too ominous. It would affect the little snake sub-beast’s luck.

“Next, if you want to suffer less, just honestly answer my questions.”

Under extreme fear, Grandma Kanglan’s robes on her back were soaked with sweat. Standing stiffly in place, she dared not move, nor could she. Only her eyes, turning with fear and trembling, showed the terrifying beastman’s willingness to cooperate.

Ye Ze smiled.

The crimson thorns retracted their barbs, weaving into a chair behind him.

“Now, let’s talk about Nuo Nuo’s identity.” Ye Ze sat down leisurely, as if taking a stroll in his own backyard.

But Grandma Kanglan didn’t feel it was leisurely at all.

She only felt the imminent danger of death.

“In fact, I don’t know An Nuo, his true origin.”

Grandma Kanglan swallowed hard, her voice hoarse as she replied, “I was originally a common female living in a large tribe. However, the beastman I married passed away during an outing. A common female cannot support herself and underage beastmen alone in a large tribe. My life became impoverished.”

“At this time, a person dressed in black appeared before me, promising me a better life and opportunities for cultivation for my child. In exchange, I had to take an egg to the remotest tribe. And ensure that the child hatched from it would never have the idea or opportunity to leave the tribe.”

“After he showed strong power, I agreed. I brought the egg to settle in the Black Snake Tribe. At the same time, with that person’s help, I forged the identity of the egg as an orphan of the Black Snake Tribe.”

So Grandma Kanglan, while assisting An Nuo, also instilled thoughts into An Nuo’s mind that he couldn’t leave the cave easily or interact with other beastmen casually, taking advantage of her identity.

Everything went smoothly before meeting Ye Ze.

Even if An Nuo occasionally saved well-intentioned beastmen, for various reasons, they wouldn’t take An Nuo away.

Grandma Kanglan looked at the beastman in front of her, feeling complex emotions for a moment.

Ye Ze narrowed his eyes.

In other words, Grandma Kanglan was just a pawn that could be discarded at any time, and no useful information could be extracted from her.

Ye Ze wasn’t entirely satisfied with the results he heard. But he had already expected it.

“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you.” Quickly organizing his thoughts, Ye Ze stood up. “Just maintain the current situation with your words.”

Whether it was the information conveyed to the outside or the attitude towards the little snake sub-beast.

He didn’t want the little snake sub-beast to be sad after knowing these dirty things.

“I think you wouldn’t want to know the consequences of defying me.”

Ye Ze stood in front of Grandma Kanglan, slightly leaning forward, his eyes curved in a smile.

Grandma Kanglan was sweating profusely, like a puppet on strings, nodding repeatedly.

This smiling beastman was not some gentle fellow, but a devil seeking lives!

Ye Ze’s smile grew even brighter. He patted Grandma Kanglan’s shoulder and passed by her.

A parasitic vine, so small it was almost invisible, wormed its way into the fabric, melting into Grandma Kanglan’s skin from her shoulder.

As Ye Ze walked out of the door, his gaze was cold and merciless.