According to legend, a thousand years ago, as long as a female master was willing, she could unilaterally dissolve a marriage contract, and her beast husband would not be harmed in any way.
However, back then, a holy female despised her dragon-tribe mate and forcibly broke their bond.
The dragon, heartbroken and despairing, sacrificed himself in his ancestral land and laid down a curse upon heaven and earth.
From then on, once a female and a beast husband formed a marriage contract, it could never again be dissolved.
Only a handful of the most powerful beast tribes retained secret methods to forcibly sever the bond, yet even then, the beast would suffer great pain.
The extent of that pain depended on the female’s will—the more unwilling she was, the greater the suffering her husband would endure.
In Jiang Xi’s eyes, this “marry once for life” system was deeply unreasonable. In her world, you could break up when dating and divorce after marriage.
So, if they wished to leave, she would not stop them.
Of course, that was provided they could find a way to do so.
Lu Liufeng and Mu Ling sat in silence before the fire.
In the quiet kitchen, only the crackling of flames broke the stillness.
Lu Liufeng had been taught since childhood: once married, follow your female master; if she says one, you cannot say two.
He was a diplomatic husband sent to marry into another tribe. Before the marriage, he had never met his female master. Though he did not like her and refused her help in strengthening his abilities, he had never thought of breaking the bond.
Unlike other beastmen, he could not return to his clan after dissolving the marriage.
If he were cast off, he would not only be unable to return to the Eagle Strait but would also become the laughingstock of the eagle tribe.
Mu Ling, meanwhile, was surprised by his female master’s change in attitude, yet cherished this opportunity to leave her.
“Thank you, Female Master,” he said. “If I can find a Golden Soul Fruit, I hope you won’t forget what you’ve said today. Before I find it, I remain your beast husband—I will provide for you and let you punish me as you wish.”
As long as there was no intimate contact, he would do anything she asked.
He was a traditional beastman, one who believed in lifelong devotion. Until he met his destined female, he would never allow another to touch him.
So even though he had been forced to marry Jiang Xi, he had always kept his distance.
To dissolve the bond with her and seek his true mate had been his long-held wish.
Jiang Xi nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep my word.”
But when he mentioned letting her beat or scold him, she felt the need to clarify again.
“I won’t hit you anymore,” she said.
Lu Liufeng’s heart stirred slightly. It seemed their female master truly had changed.
Yet Mu Ling’s eyes flickered with a trace of mockery.
He had served as her guard since childhood and had witnessed her cruelty too many times. He would never believe she could repent.
Only a fool like Lu Liufeng would believe that their female master could change.
After saying her piece, Jiang Xi felt much more at ease.
But the food before her was simply too awful. No matter how much she told herself to eat a little, she couldn’t force it down.
Aside from dealing with the poisonous swelling on her body, the most urgent thing now was to improve their meals.
She turned to Lu Liufeng—the only one who still seemed gentle and good-natured.
“After we eat, could you come up the mountain with me? I want to see if there’s anything edible.”
Lu Liufeng was taken aback.
“I could, but… Female Master, you needn’t go yourself…”
Mu Ling frowned. “Female Master, finding food is our duty. If you personally go searching, others will think we beast husbands are useless.”
Jiang Xi: “…”
She couldn’t hold it in anymore. “But the food is so bad—I really can’t eat it!”
Mu Ling: “…”
So she was still the same selfish Jiang Xi who cared for no one else.
Lu Liufeng quickly spoke up to ease the tension.
“I happen to be going hunting later. I’ll take Female Master with me. It’s been a long time since she went out; she could enjoy the mountain snow.”
Jiang Xi thought, Thank goodness for Lu Liufeng.
After the meal, Lu Liufeng slung a basket and a stone axe over his back and led her out.
Afraid she might be unwilling to walk through part of the village, he explained,
“Female Master, to keep beast forms from damaging the houses, the tribe’s rule is that we can only transform once we leave the village. So please walk a little—just a short way, and we’ll be out.”
Jiang Xi nodded in understanding.
From her memories, the Land of the Cursed wasn’t just one tribe, but seven gathered together.
From south to north they were: Dark Lake, Sheepdog, Pythoncoil, Lion’s Roar, Sky Dominion, Wolfspeed, and Scorpion Tail.
They lined up behind a massive wall built by ancient beast magi—the Wall of Guardians.
Each tribe sat at a gap in the wall, and beyond those gaps lay the true cursed wilderness—a place where no beast could survive.
Any living thing that entered would be tainted by the curse to varying degrees, eventually turning into a mindless, resurrecting creature that knew only slaughter.
Between each tribe—and behind the Wall of Guardians—stretched the Giantwood Forest, vast and endless, home to countless smaller clans.
Even the fastest winged beasts of Sky Dominion would need months to cross it, and the skies were patrolled to prevent exiled beasts and females from escaping.
Traveling from one tribe to another took at least half a month on foot, or five days by air.
Jiang Xi’s place of exile was the Lion’s Roar Tribe—the largest of all seven, guarding the widest breach in the wall.
Though each tribe was named after a beast, the constant influx of exiles had long turned them into mixed-race settlements.
