When An Jin first arrived in this world, her hair was a messy, shoulder-length tangle, as withered and dry as wild grass.
After two or three years of care, it grew thick and smooth, cascading down to her waist like seaweed.
The only drawback was that her hair often got tangled, making it a huge hassle to manage every morning.
’Am I really going to cut it?’
An Jin stroked her long hair, reluctant to part with it. After hesitating for a few seconds, she fumbled for a pair of stone scissors nearby and handed them to Gu Yin behind her. "Alright, cut it. It’ll be more convenient for work, and I won’t have to deal with it every day."
’I’m so envious of Gu Yin’s long, silky-smooth hair. I’ve never seen him take care of it, yet it never tangles at all.’
Gu Yin glanced at her in surprise but didn’t take the scissors. Instead, he used his long fingernails to quickly smooth her hair and said softly, "Keep it. It’s beautiful."
He couldn’t bear to let her cut such beautiful hair.
Gu Yin then sliced off a thin strip from a piece of Snake Shedding. With a natural deftness, he tied her hair into a ponytail. "There, that’s better. From now on, I’ll help you comb your hair every morning."
From outside came the thunderous sound of stampeding beasts, mixed with excited shouts.
"Huh?"
An Jin’s ears perked up. She wriggled out of Gu Yin’s embrace and curiously peered out the window at the ground below.
She saw many Beastmen from the tribe running toward the southwest corner of the city.
"What’s going on? Where are they all going?" she asked Gu Yin curiously as she turned around.
"The group of Water Beastmen we took in a month ago are about to migrate. Before they leave, they need to select a new Clan Leader through combat."
Gu Yin spoke softly, his expression listless, as if he had no interest in the matter.
An Jin, however, was buzzing with excitement, as if infected by the mood of the Beastmen outside. She walked over, grabbed Gu Yin’s arm, and shook it. "It’s so boring just sitting around at home."
"Let’s go watch, too. I’ve never seen how Water Beastmen fight before."
Gu Yin smiled at her words, his tone doting and indulgent. "Alright."
He then scooped her into his arms and, with a sway of his long snake tail, quickly headed to the other corner of the city.
In fact, even on the way there, An Jin already had a vague idea of who the winner would be.
The Sixth Rank Tiger Shark Beastman had left a deep impression on her.
By the time she and Gu Yin arrived, the battlefield was impenetrably surrounded by a dense crowd.
"ROAR—!"
The Beastmen’s zealous roars echoed through the sky. The blood and battle stimulated the wild, bestial nature within them, turning their eyes red.
A large open area had been cleared near the river, and it was stained with a great deal of blood.
When An Jin and Gu Yin arrived, the Beastmen parted for the pair like the Red Sea, clearing a path.
The battle had moved past its white-hot peak and was drawing to a close.
A ferocious, five-to-six-meter-long Tiger Shark thrashed in the water, creating monstrous waves. Its sharp fangs, as keen as steel, were a terrifying sight to behold.
After several rounds of an evenly matched struggle, the Tiger Shark suddenly burst with power and bit off a tentacle from a giant octopus nearly ten meters long?!
"PFFT~"
The giant octopus spewed a large amount of ink from its mouth and fainted from the shock.
Ink continued to sputter from its mouth.
The Tiger Shark transformed into a Beastman with a strong, slender body and blue-gray hair. He disgustedly wiped the pitch-black ink from his skin.
The bodies of various marine creatures lay strewn about him, their agonized screams filling the air.
The battle’s outcome was already beyond doubt.
—Shalv was the new Clan Leader of these Water Beastmen.
"Hmph. Useless. Not a single one of them could put up a fight!"
Shalv stepped over the bodies of the defeated.
His gray-blue vertical pupils were bloodshot red. His ferocity, unleashed by the blood and battle, was on full display. He licked the blood from the corner of his mouth and bared his sharp teeth in an utterly arrogant taunt.
As a powerful being himself, Shalv revered strength and other powerful beings above all else. He constantly pursued the thrill that battle and death brought him.
Suddenly, his expression changed drastically. His fierce gaze locked onto the black and red figure at the back of the crowd, his eyes erupting with a crazed light.
’A Seventh Rank Beastman?!’
’I’ve really underestimated this tribe.’
It all happened in a flash. Shalv, his mind completely swept away by the battle, threw a punch directly at Gu Yin, not even considering the severe consequences of provoking someone so far beyond his own strength.
Gu Yin was speechless. ’I just brought my female out to watch a show, and now I’m part of it.’