Lu Qingtang stared ahead in a daze, her grip on Ma Yongcheng subconsciously tightened, showing her unease. Feeling a pang of heartache, Ma Yongcheng squeezed her hand.
"Tang’er, I have known you since childhood. I believe you!" His words were full of conviction, and her tense shoulders relaxed slightly.
"Do you not ask me what truly happened?" Lu Qingtang asked, pursing her lips. Seeing Ma Yongcheng believed her even without explanation and regardless of outsiders’ words, her heart felt sweet.
He had always been the most ferocious dog, easily irritated and fierce. However, he was willing to restrain his temper and never mistreated her during their few years of marriage.
Su Yining was shocked when she saw the female beastmen’s accusations. Lu Qingtang was such a cute female beastman, how could she have done such a thing?
She felt sorrowful when she saw them embracing each other amidst the villagers’ curse words. The words were censored, but she still could guess what they were saying according to the number of characters on the words.
How could she help them resolve this? Lu Qingtang was truly innocent, right?
[Restore Lu Qingtang’s innocence and expose an insidious scheme? Yes/No. Reward: 200 gold coins.]
A notification suddenly appeared on her screen. Her eyes lit up when she saw there were gold coins involved. After she sold the portions of rice she harvested this noon, she had a total of 276 gold coins.
But still... the developer was still so stingy this time. Solving such a case wouldn’t be easy since she couldn’t be involved directly and join in interrogating the witness. Nonetheless, she unhesitatingly clicked yes.
Ma Yongcheng was her Yuanyuan’s base resident, after all, which meant he was also her resident. So, she must help him! Once Lu Qingtang and the kids joined Ma Yongcheng in returning to the base, she would also get a reward for the resident recruitment mission.
"There are so many beastmen!"
People were in uproar. After the second female beastman retreated to the crowd, another one stepped out. She also recounted a tragic story, but this time the victim was also a female beastman.
"My sister took pity on Lu Qingtang and her kids, but after they left, she became a fallen beast..."
Ma Yongcheng and his group didn’t even listen to their nonsense anymore. He was focusing on consoling his wife and kids.
Su Yining witnessed the warm-hearted scene and sighed. Since the game gave such a mission to clear Lu Qingtang’s name, she was most likely innocent.
There was a symbol similar to an unread notification above Lu Qingtang’s head, and she clicked on it. Surprisingly, Lu Qingtang’s profile was more complete this time.
She carefully read Lu Qingtang’s life experience.
Ma Yongcheng and Lu Qingtang were childhood sweethearts. They met as early as when they were just babies. Ma Yongcheng was two years older than Lu Qingtang.
Their parents were friends with each other, which further encouraged the interaction between the two. In their early adolescence, they were forced to move from their hometown to their current village because of a natural disaster.
An earthquake had caused the landslide that had killed their families, leaving the two of them as the only surviving members. They were playing far from their home during the incident.
Thus, they depended on each other for survival and gradually started to fall in love. They overcame each hardship together and never doubted each other. A few years after they reached marriageable age, they finally got married.
It was a sad yet sweet story.
"Daddy, I am scared." The small puppy whimpered, burying his head on his father’s chest.
Meanwhile, the older daughter was much more brave. She was scared because there were so many people present, yet she still insisted on seeking justice for her mother.
"Those aunties and uncles are bad, Daddy." She tried to explain anxiously to her father. "They are lying to you. Those uncles want to get close to Mommy, but Mommy didn’t want them." Her small face wrinkled cutely.
Su Yining wanted to poke the cute puppy, but she held back after the previous experience. Except for her Yuanyuan, others didn’t seem to like her poking them that much...
"Daddy knows." Ma Yongcheng grasped his daughter’s tiny hand.
With their daughter’s soft words, he more or less could glean what was happening. However, he was still puzzled how these people had been so ’coincidentally’ became fallen beasts after a brief contact with Lu Qingtang.
He was also a straightforward person, so he directly asked her about it.
Lu Qingtang shook her head and answered in a soft voice. Her voice was small, so besides them, no one would hear her words. "It wasn’t me."
He didn’t even doubt her words. His Tang’er isn’t that kind of person. Although she was a bit fierce, she was also quite straightforward like him in expressing dislike.
Seeing their blatant disregard, the bear beastman was annoyed. He narrowed his eyes and decided to call the most troublesome witness, Zhao Chunmei.
"Do you also have anything to say, Zhao Chunmei?" He spoke loudly, drawing the attention of Ma Yongcheng’s group, who only gazed at him coldly.
"Of course." Zhao Chunmei had stopped her wailing since some time ago, afraid she might disturb others from listening to the witnesses’ story.
She wanted to make sure that the vixen Lu Qingtang received the punishment she deserved. Thinking of their dog family’s bad ending, she grinned maliciously and stepped forward into everyone’s eyes.
Some beastmen showed obvious dislike the moment she appeared, but they also wanted to hear her perspective. What kind of explosive gossip will they hear next?
Zhao Chunmei’s eyes darted about the room. She first emphasized, "My husband isn’t a fallen beast!"
There were murmurs of disagreements, but they were soon quieted down. The words were quite in line with her stubborn and shrewish personality.
She pointed at Lu Qingtang and her lips curled up into a sneer. "This vixen also wanted to seduce my husband, but she failed! Fortunately, my husband already has me. He is loyal and has a strong will."
Her face turned twisted all of sudden. "This wretched woman, however, is stubborn. I didn’t know what kind of poison she had used on my husband. Now, he resembles a fallen beast, but he isn’t one."