I was terrified! Raising a colossal star beast in the Beast Taming World

Chapter 169 But then again...

These words were like a pebble thrown into a lake, creating invisible ripples in the silent sanctuary.

Bao Yunxing's pupils contracted slightly.

Not free, or rather die.

She spoke those six words so softly, yet so heavily.

It is commendable that someone so young can see through life and death.

However, from Bao Yunxing's own perspective, this exceptional character became a considerable problem.

"Oh."

Bao Yunxing snorted softly, a cryptic smile playing on his lips. It was unclear whether he was laughing at Lu Yutang's arrogance or at his own momentary lapse in judgment.

"That's a nice way to put it."

Her tone softened, but she wasn't angry: "But Lu Yutang, have you considered this—even if you reject me, how will you protect yourself? Can you, alone, withstand the swarms of jackals and tigers?"

Lu Yutang fell silent.

Her silence lasted only a moment before she turned her head and looked at Xue Youyou, who hadn't uttered a sound from beginning to end.

Xue Youyou was enjoying her tea and eating melons as if nothing was wrong when she suddenly caught Lu Yutang's gaze. She blinked and looked at him with a "Why are you looking at me all of a sudden?" expression.

Lu Yutang seemed to have made up her mind. She turned her gaze back to Bao Yunxing, her voice more resolute than before.

"Alliance Leader, if... if I absolutely must find someone to protect me, I hope to stay by Xue Youyou's side from now on."

A crack finally appeared on Bao Yunxing's expression.

She almost thought she had misheard.

"What did you say?"

Lu Yutang repeated himself, his tone more composed than before: "I said, I hope to stay by Xue Youyou's side from now on and be under her protection."

"puff--"

Xue Youyou spat out a mouthful of tea.

She choked and coughed several times, wiping her mouth as she looked at Lu Yutang with a blank expression: "Wait... how did this get involved? You guys talk, I'm just a notary here for tea, okay?"

However, no one paid any attention to her protests.

Bao Yunxing frowned, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Lu Yutang and Xue Youyou twice, before finally letting out a cold laugh that was hard to decipher.

"Ha, I thought you were so tough."

She leaned back in her chair, her hands folded on her knees, a hint of sarcasm in her voice: "Lu Yutang, you refuse my protection, saying 'Give me liberty or give me death.' But you turn around and want to follow Xue Youyou—do you think following Xue Youyou makes you free? Do you think my protection is a cage, but hers isn't?"

This question hits the nail on the head, directly addressing the core contradiction of Lu Yutang's bold statement just now.

If the price of freedom is the need to depend on another person to survive, then freedom itself carries a natural paradox.

Lu Yutang fell silent.

This silence was longer than any before.

The Milky Way overhead flowed slowly, and a cool breeze rustled the tips of the grass. The steam from the three cups of tea on the table mingled together, only to be quietly dispersed by the wind.

Xue Youyou stopped spitting and turned her head to look at Lu Yutang, a serious scrutiny in her eyes.

She also wanted to know how Lu Yutang would answer this question.

After a long while, Lu Yutang raised her head again.

Her eyes were a little red, but a very faint smile slowly bloomed on her face. The smile wasn't particularly bright, but it conveyed a touching sense of certainty.

"Yes."

She only said one word.

Bao Yunxing was stunned.

"Actually, I noticed it a long time ago."

Lu Yutang's voice was soft, but every word was clear: "Youyou's eyes are different from everyone else's."

"No matter how you embellish them, they are still lonely eyes, eyes that are equally indifferent to all things. I believe that even the rare ability to resurrect is no different from a flowering tree by the roadside in her eyes—oh, this tree can flower, I see. That's all."

"But it's that look in your eyes that makes me feel... I'm free."

She took a deep breath, turned to Bao Yunxing, and looked at him with a frank and clear gaze.

"By following Xue Youyou, I won't be treated as a fragile object that needs to be protected, nor as a rare resource to be sold. I am just Lu Yutang, as her... friend."

"So, Lord Alliance Leader—"

She bowed slightly, her voice soft, yet it seemed to have summoned all the courage of her life.

"Yes, I am free when I am by Xue Youyou's side."

But then again, if it's a shackle you like, then there's no problem.

Bao Yunxing understood the implication in Lu Yutang's words and remained silent.

She stared at Lu Yutang for a very long time, so long that the steam from the tea had dissipated, so long that the Milky Way seemed to have shifted slightly.

Finally, she let out a long sigh.

That sigh contained too many complex things.

She turned to look at Xue Youyou and saw that the girl was sitting there with a subtle expression that seemed to say, "It's like I've heard something terrible," and she looked a little uncomfortable.

"OK."

Bao Yunxing picked up his teacup and drank the last sip of cold tea in one gulp. His tone was a complex mix of relief and helplessness: "Since you've chosen this path, I won't stop you."

Lu Yutang breathed a sigh of relief and solemnly bowed to Bao Yunxing one last time: "Thank you for your kindness, Alliance Leader."

"Don't thank me yet."

Bao Yunxing put down his teacup, waved his hand, and his voice regained a hint of coldness: "If you stay by her side, it means you'll have to face all the troubles that are targeting her together. Let me tell you in advance, the troubles this girl brings are far more numerous than the troubles caused by Qingnang Tangxian's resurrection ability."

She paused, glanced sideways at Xue Youyou, and suddenly changed the subject: "This girl is the remnant soul of an emperor's pet beast that was just released from another dimension."

Lu Yutang was slightly taken aback, then nodded earnestly: "This junior will remember."

Xue Youyou's lips twitched slightly as she stood to the side, silently turning her face away and pretending to look at the stars.

Family members, I'm completely speechless.

She is clearly such a loving beast tamer, fighting for the cause of love and peace in the world every day, so how did she get associated with words like loneliness and indifference that exude the temperament of an "orphan and mute girl"?