After Being Stranded in the Wilderness, I Became the Bride of the Giant Tribe - 28

 

| GB | Scent | 28

Huo Duo'er signaled to A'Li: "Lead the way."

A'Li and Take exchanged a glance, picked up the stone jar, and walked ahead to guide the way.

The orcs busy with chores around the tribe noticed the strange atmosphere. One by one, they stopped what they were doing and, curious, followed along.

"A'Li, where are you going?"

"Take, tell us what's going on."

A'Li and Take didn't respond.

The nosy orcs couldn't get any answers and had to follow quietly until they stopped in front of A’Shi's home. Only then did they slowly start to piece together what was happening.

Huo Duo'er looked around, then placed Yu Bai, whom he had been carrying, behind a nearby tree trunk. He squatted down on one knee and patted Yu Bai on the shoulder. 

"Bai, don't watch what happens next."

Worried about frightening Yu Bai, Huo Duo'er had him step aside. But as an orc, seeing his sub-female bullied was something he could not tolerate, as a mate, he had to take immediate revenge.

Huo Duo'er entered the wooden hut, and shortly after, dragged out the horned bull orc A’Shi.

The horned bull orc were the strongest in the tribe, yet Huo Duo'er effortlessly lifted A’Shi with one hand, drawing gasps of shock and wariness from the gathered orcs, who instinctively backed away to form a wide circle.

A’Shi struggled violently, cursing aloud: "Let go of me, bastard! If you've got guts, fight me—ahh—"

Before he could finish, Huo Duo'er slammed his head into the ground, cutting him off mid-sentence and forcing a mouthful of dirt down his throat.

Huo Duo'er's gaze was dark and heavy. Without hesitation, he grabbed a handful of soil and grass scraps and stuffed them straight into A’Shi's mouth, choking him until his face turned a blotchy red and black, his eyes nearly bursting from their sockets.

More and more orcs gathered to watch, but seeing the way things were unfolding, none dared to speak up or intervene.

They were afraid of getting into trouble and frankly, few had any desire to help A’Shi. Especially not the sub-females.

A’Shi’s reputation in the tribe was terrible. He had a habit of getting handsy; after being beaten up a few times by other orcs, he stopped harassing females and turned his attention to the sub-females instead.

Sub-females were easily overlooked, and when they were bullied, no one stood up for them. Now, seeing A’Shi being taught a brutal lesson by a giant-tribe orc, they couldn't help but feel a wave of satisfaction.

Pinned to the ground, A’Shi thrashed and struggled with all his might, but no matter how hard he fought, he was no match for the sheer strength of the giant tribe. He flailed wildly, trying to throw a punch, only to let out a pained howl — Huo Duo'er had stomped directly on the back of his hand.

Huo Duo'er's face was as cold as ice. He ground his foot heavily down on A’Shi’s hand.

"Ahhh—!"

"I won’t dare anymore, I swear—I won’t dare again—!"

The surrounding orcs all fell silent.

A’Shi’s pitiful cries dragged on for a long while before Huo Duo'er finally let up. He reached to his waist and pulled out the stone knife he carried.

It was only then that real fear showed on A’Shi’s face. "Please, spare me this time! I was wrong, I really was wrong! I’ll never do it again, I swear…"

Some of the horned bull orcs on the sidelines couldn’t bear to watch anymore and wanted to step in to plead for A’Shi.

Though A’Shi’s behavior had always been disgraceful, constantly taking liberties and bullying sub-females, he was still one of their tribe. If word got out that he was humiliated like this by Huo Duo'er, it would be a major blow to the tribe’s reputation.

"A’Shi, he—"

Before the words could leave their mouth, Huo Duo'er lifted his eyebrows, his gaze dark and razor-sharp, as if warning that anyone who spoke up would be beaten down alongside him.

The horned bull orc who had been about to plead for A’Shi immediately swallowed their words, not daring to say a thing.

"If you dare bully the weak again…"

Huo Duo'er's voice paused. Then he slammed A’Shi’s head back into the ground. Without hesitation, his hand rose and the stone knife fell with a heavy strike. 

Bang—!

"Awwooo—!!"

A’Shi’s screams tore through the air. The watching orcs gasped sharply, chills running down their spines.

They stared wide-eyed in disbelief, the giant orc had used sheer force to cut off half of A’Shi’s right horn with the stone knife!

Before anyone could react, another swift chop followed, the left half of A’Shi’s horn was sliced clean off as well.

Ignoring A’Shi’s writhing, wailing figure on the ground, Huo Duo'er casually tossed the two severed horn pieces in his hand, and calmly finished his earlier words:

"If you’re not convinced, you’re welcome to come find me. But if you dare bully the weak again—"

He tilted his head slightly, his icy gaze locking onto the blood vessels pulsing in A’Shi's neck.

"—next time, this stone knife will cut something else."

The threat hung heavy in the air.

Casting one last cold glance at A’Shi, Huo Duo'er turned his eyes toward the tree trunk where Yu Bai was waiting.

The surrounding orcs hurriedly stepped aside, opening a clear path for him.

Huo Duo'er, still exuding a sharp, blood-chilling aura, walked up to Yu Bai and gently scooped him back into his arms.

"Come on, Bai. Let's go home."

Yu Bai clung to Huo Duo'er's shoulder. With the advantage of Huo Duo'er's height, he could clearly see A’Shi still writhing on the ground in agony.

The orcs who had gathered to watch remained frozen, their faces full of shock.

Orcs like A’Shi were unruly males who liked to take advantage of sub-females weren't rare. Because incidents like these happened often, most of them had long since stopped finding it surprising.

But no one had expected A’Shi to be punished so brutally by a giant orc.

Gradually, murmurs started to rise among the crowd.

"Isn't this a bit too much?"

"Should we go tell the chief?"

A'Li crossed his arms over his chest and let out a cold laugh.

Straightforward by nature, A'Li had always been someone who spoke bluntly. In the past, when he witnessed other’s filthy words or something bad, he would at most mock him a few times verbally, never resorting to violence.

The horned bull clan was one of the larger groups within the tribe, and on top of that, A'Li’s elder had warned him to be cautious.

As someone who had only recently reached adulthood, A'Li usually didn’t dare to openly oppose the horned bulls.

But this time, Yu Bai had been personally bullied by A’Shi, and Huo Duo'er had publicly and heavily punished A’Shi in front of so many orcs.

The young and hot-blooded A'Li felt deeply encouraged, his heart swelling with newfound courage to speak up without fear.

He said, "Wasn't it A’Shi who brought this on himself? He always targeted and bullied sub-females. Now he’s getting his payback, it’s nothing more than karma."

"You're a horned bull orc too, Take. How can you side with A'Li?"

Take, his face honest and sincere, said firmly, "I’ve never bullied weaker orcs."

While debates broke out among the onlookers, on the other side, Huo Duo'er remained silent, steadily carrying Yu Bai in his arms.

Neither of them spoke along the way. It wasn’t until they reached the small hut that Yu Bai finally broke the heavy silence.

"Huo Duo'er, you..." His voice faltered, then shifted with concern. He gently took Huo Duo'er's left wrist into his hands.

"You're bleeding...?"

"Did you get hurt just now?"

Before Yu Bai could blame himself, Huo Duo'er calmly dismissed his worry.

"I scraped it while working. It doesn’t hurt."

Since the afternoon, Huo Duo'er had been feeling restless, his mind constantly drifting, wondering what Yu Bai was doing.

That was why he had returned and ended up witnessing what had just happened.

Huo Duo'er pulled Yu Bai to sit on the bed, then squatted down in front of him, meeting his eyes.

"Bai, you didn’t want to tell me what happened earlier, did you? Why?"

Yu Bai: "…"

The sub-female lowered his eyes, looking quiet and obedient.

Normally, just seeing him like this would have softened Huo Duo'er's heart completely.

But right now, his chest ached with emotion, he couldn’t simply let Yu Bai avoid the issue.

"Bai, tell me the reason," he urged.

Yu Bai: "…"

Seeing that he couldn’t get away with evading the question and not being good at lying in the first place, Yu Bai finally whispered,

"I didn’t want to cause you more trouble... The horned bull clan has a lot of influence in the tribe. I was afraid it would cause even more conflict, and I was afraid they would take revenge on you... and besides, A'Li already hit him with the jar earlier..."

"Bai," Huo Duo'er stared into Yu Bai’s eyes. "Look at me."

Yu Bai widened his bright eyes, holding his breath in focus.

"Promise me, no matter what happens from now on, you will tell me. The giant tribe fears no hardship, and we will never allow anyone to bully our own."

In Huo Duo'er’s pale gray beast eyes, a small flame seemed to burn.

Yu Bai gazed at him in a daze, and somehow found a little more courage in his heart.

"I promise you," he said quietly.

—

Huo Duo'er's shoulder had been scraped by a piece of wood. He sat bare-chested while Yu Bai carefully cleaned the wound for him.

Yu Bai leaned in and gently blew on the scraped area. "Does it hurt?"

Huo Duo'er shook his head. He turned his hand around to lightly grasp Yu Bai’s wrist.

"Are you still scared?"

Yu Bai bashfully nodded, then shook his head.

"I was actually really scared at first," he admitted softly. "But the moment I saw you coming… my whole heart just settled down."

—

That night, the two of them stopped working.

Yu Bai ate his fill, took his medicine, and then boiled two pots of hot water to wash his body clean.

He went to bed early, obediently waiting for Huo Duo'er to come in.

The giant, still carrying the warmth and steam from his bath, closed the door behind him. Instead of lying down immediately, he looked at Yu Bai and said, "I want to see."

Yu Bai: "Huh?"

"Did he hurt you?"

Yu Bai shook his head quickly. "A'Li and Tucker came just in time. I'm fine."

They stood there in silence for a moment.

Huo Duo'er’s expression remained firm. It was clear that he was acting out of concern for Yu Bai.

Reluctantly, Yu Bai couldn't refuse him. His hands trembled slightly as he slowly lifted the fur robe.

Beneath it, his fair, soft waist and limbs were marked with bruises, clear imprints from where the orc had grabbed him with force.

"R-Really, it’s not that bad... it just looks a bit exaggerated..."

Yu Bai carefully pulled his fur robe together, his face flushed with discomfort as he buried it into the bedding.

"Let's go to sleep early."

Huo Duo'er’s gaze was deep, driven by an instinctual urge to cover the marks on his mate's body.

He murmured a low reply, and once Yu Bai fell asleep in his arms, he slowly began to lift the fur robe.

Yu Bai trusted Huo Duo'er completely. His sleeping face was serene, without a hint of struggle.

In his dream, he found himself forced to open his arms and legs. He dreamt of a massive beast licking him all over.

—

Huo Duo'er pulled back his tongue, studying the small sub-female in his arms.

He lowered his head and sniffed around, the scent of his own mark still lingering on Yu Bai’s body. Only then did he relax, his expression softening.

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