Chapter 23: You Are All Mere Foils!

Hearing Yun Fu’s reproaches and watching the white lion shamelessly nuzzle up to her, letting her pet its head and paws, Lu Shiling was submerged in a sea of jealousy. Sour and incensed, he pounded against the containment wall until it rang out.

"Yun Fu, can't you see that this lion is only pretending to be scared of me so it can deliberately rub against your hand?"

He glared daggers at the white lion, desperate to rush out and give the dramatic beast a sound thrashing. Unfortunately, the containment facility's walls were made of a special material with top-tier defensive capabilities, making it impossible to break through.

Yun Fu, however, didn't care about his intentions. It was a giant, fluffy creature that just wanted some pets; what could possibly be wrong with that? The white lion was two or three times her size, and lying there before her, it made her look all the more delicate. The stunning beauty and the massive white lion—with the beast willingly prostrating itself at her feet—created a scene straight out of a fairy tale.

It made Lu Shiling’s eyes burn with envy. He wanted nothing more than to charge out, send the white lion flying, and take its place. The other beastmen in the confinement room watched Yun Fu with longing, wishing they too could be petted by the beauty. Even Qing Ze, who was guarding Su Nianwei, found himself envious of the white lion. Bizarrely, he felt the urge to shift into his beast form and fan his peacock tail, using his beautiful feathers to capture Yun Fu’s attention.

After petting the white lion once more and finding that she could no longer extract any more purification points—having gained 10—Yun Fu looked at the progress bar, now at 100, and sharpened her metaphorical blade, eager to put in more effort.

When Warren finished measuring the white lion's contamination level and discovered it had dropped by a full 10 points, he was utterly shocked. Yun Fu then spoke up.

"I feel like I'm in good condition. I can continue to soothe the other beastmen."

When Yun Fu looked at someone with her clear, expectant eyes, no one had the heart to refuse her. Naturally, Warren couldn't say no.

"Then I will trouble you, Miss Yun. If you feel even the slightest bit unwell, please stop immediately."

Yun Fu nodded. She was here to farm purification points, not to make things difficult for herself; the moment anything felt wrong, she would stop without hesitation.

Next, Yun Fu moved on to petting the other furry occupants. She went from leopards to cats, huskies, and even hairless black snakes and lizards. Yun Fu wasn't afraid of cold-blooded animals; seeing a black snake hesitating to come close, she even took the initiative to pet its head.

While she was having a grand time petting the fluffy ones, Lu Shiling watched those beasts wagging their tails and acting cute around Yun Fu, completely forgetting his existence. His resentful gaze became almost tangible. He looked like a pathetic beast-husband who had just caught his wife petting other beasts but was too afraid to scold her, left only to bite his handkerchief in sorrow. He had to reassure himself that his wife still cared for him. His aura of resentment was so heavy it felt supernatural; had he been human, his face would surely have been pitch black.

Yun Fu had no time to console the fox. Listening to the system’s notifications, she focused solely on soothing the beastmen and petting the fluffy ones. After this marathon, she only stopped when the jellyfish had eaten its fill of the black fog buffet. Even then, facing the expectant gazes of the animals, she couldn't bear to disappoint them and went around to pet each one of them on the head as a final comfort.

By the time she finished, the purification progress had hit 97. Yun Fu only wished there were more animals in the facility so she could boost her "Beast Charmer" halo to level 2 in one go. Once finished, the beastmen in the facility were much more docile, having lost all their previous agitation. The clingy, affectionate sounds they made set Lu Shiling’s teeth on edge. These guys had no female of their own, so they came to flirt with his—they had absolutely no sense of boundaries.

He shouldn't have let Yun Fu come to see him. Look at this: before she arrived, Yun Fu had eyes only for him, but now, her heart was being carved into pieces by these lecherous beasts.

"Thank you, Miss Yun, thank you!" Warren looked at the state of his brothers in the facility and didn't know how to express his gratitude. He never expected Yun Fu to be so capable; she had soothed five beastmen, and the contamination levels of the others she had touched had also decreased. Such an ability was something Warren had never seen before—something even an S-class female couldn't achieve. Yet, since Yun Fu claimed her mental power was only F-class, Warren could only assume the testing center's machines were broken. He felt a vague, growing sense that the female before him might be the future hope of the Empire.

Yun Fu smiled, not wanting to appear too conspicuous. "It might be the aid of the perfume that helped everyone's contamination levels drop so much. Other females with higher mental power than mine would surely have even better soothing results if they used this perfume."

Warren intuitively felt the perfume wasn't the main reason, but he couldn't put his finger on what was. Yun Fu didn't dwell on it to avoid making Warren suspicious. Looking around the facility and failing to see Su Nianwei or her peacock, she asked, "Where are Su Nianwei and her beast-husband?"

Warren found it difficult to explain that after Su Nianwei finished soothing the cat-beastman, her contamination level had only dropped by 2 points. Upon learning that Yun Fu had lowered Lu Shiling's level by 3 points and had even used her mental power to soothe the white lion, she had left early with a sour expression.

He only said, "Miss Su likely had something to attend to and left early."

[Ugh, I'm speechless that the female lead just snuck off. I'm here to watch the female lead kick butt and become the heartthrob of the beast world, not to get frustrated, right?]

[Exactly. The female lead's soothing of the white lion was strange too; she even caused him to go berserk. Is this the level of skill she's supposed to have?]

[Hey, you have to be flexible. If you shift your perspective to the female supporting character, it’s endless satisfaction—a bunch of fluffy ones coming over to let you pet them. If someone told me she was a forest princess, I’d believe it.]

Warren finished speaking and looked at Yun Fu nervously, fearing she would be angry that he hadn't kept Su Nianwei there. Fortunately, Yun Fu didn't mention Su Nianwei again and instead went to coax the fox, who was fuming.

"Why are you still coming to me? Aren't there so many beasts swarming around you? Do you still remember I exist?"

Lu Shiling spoke with resentment, turning his head away to avoid looking at Yun Fu—the picture of a living, breathing aggrieved husband.

[Look at the female lead teasing the fox; he's almost turned into a vat of vinegar. Every word out of his mouth is pure acidity.]

[The fox is in the wrong here. Our great female is just petting a few fluffy ones, what's the big deal? As her beast-husband, you should be more virtuous; winning back your female's heart is what matters.]

[Hahaha, don't say that or the fox will break.]

[What's the fox afraid of? With your superb looks, few beasts can compare. Listen to me, fox: don't be jealous yet. Stretch out your tail, pull her hand over, put your head on her palm, and hit her with the triple-combo of acting cute. Hook her heart back first.]

Lu Shiling’s eyes drifted toward the air. After hesitating, he awkwardly stretched out his fluffy tail. The tip of his tail scratched Yun Fu’s palm, then wrapped around her wrist, pulling her hand closer. He nuzzled his head into her palm, emitting a soft, whimpering sound.

[!!! The fox actually did it! Wait, between the merman last night and this, could it be that they can see our comments?]

[Unlikely, we're in different dimensions. How could they possibly see them?]

The comments were buzzing, but Lu Shiling was focused entirely on the female and didn't look up, missing the messages.

Yun Fu hadn't expected the fox to be the one to coax her first. Faced with the well-behaved, adorable, fluffy creature, she had no temper left. She pinched the fox's soft ears, her voice softening involuntarily, perfectly willing to use sweet nothings to attack the beast.

"Don't be angry anymore. I only soothed those beastmen because they are your brothers and partners. In my heart, you are the most special one."

The female’s gentle words completely melted the jealousy of the sulking, awkward Lu Shiling. It was as if he had eaten several cakes; his heart was sweet. Sure enough, no matter how many beasts outside wanted to flirt with Yun Fu, as long as he was there, they would always be nothing more than background scenery!

Lu Shiling glanced arrogantly at the beastmen in the facility who were watching them.

The other beastmen: "..."

They sourly cursed him for being childish.

Once Yun Fu had coaxed the fox—who was as easy to anger as he was to soothe—she checked the time and left the facility with 01. However, just as she returned to the villa and was about to enter, she was blocked by an uninvited guest.

Qing Ze looked at the tall figure blocking Yun Fu, preventing him from seeing her, and said with a grim expression, "Yun Fu, tell him to leave. I have something to say to you."

Seeing this android, who followed Yun Fu around like a loyal dog, looking so handsome and standing taller than him, made Qing Ze feel nothing but irritation.