The Strongest Beast-Tamer (Transmigration)(GL) - Chapter 12

“How dare you!”

Lord Lu’s rebuke rang out, and the beastmen waiting outside swarmed in. In an instant, they lifted Qin Rong off the ground with ease. Her face turned pale with fright.

“My Lord, please, let me explain.”

“Speak.”

Qin Rong immediately began recounting how Yi Xian had poisoned the fish, blending the accusation with stories of her past wrongdoings and emphasizing her lack of remorse. She also mentioned an important figure named Zhu Yu, a friend who had recently been discovered to be pregnant. Qin Rong claimed that in order to protect her friend and the unborn cub, she had rushed in without hesitation when she heard Yi Xian had returned, fully aware that her actions might offend others.

Her tone was sincere, even moving.

Yi Xian nodded occasionally from the side. What a touching story. If the accused poisoner weren’t herself, she would probably find Qin Rong courageous, loyal, and kind-hearted.

“Was it this lowly slave who poisoned the food?”

“My Lord, Yi Xian could not accept having given birth to a cub. Her despair pushed her to do this. Please, spare her life for the sake of her bearing Little Lan for Lan Tong.”

“Could not accept it?”

“Hold on.”

Yi Xian cut them off before they could make decisions about her future yet again. She had no intention of playing passive, as she had last time, only to end up locked away and subjected to a chain of uncontrollable events.

“Since you are so adamant it was me, and aside from those two destroyed herbs, do you have any other evidence?”

Qin Rong replied, “You brought the fish yourself. If not you, then who else could have done it?”

Her righteous tone made Yi Xian chuckle.

“You just said I personally delivered the fish. Would anyone be foolish enough to poison something they gave out themselves?”

Qin Rong was momentarily speechless. She had not expected Yi Xian to refute her so directly. Thinking quickly, she added, “You brought back a poisonous herb from the forest. You destroyed it because you feared we would find out.”

Yi Xian had no interest in word games. “How about this? Call everyone to the gathering point, and I will find the real poisoner for you. How about that?”

Qin Rong declared, “Yi Xian, stop stalling. Zhu Yu cannot hold on much longer. If you have any conscience left, hand over the antidote.”

Yi Xian looked at her calmly and smiled. “Why so anxious? Once we find the poisoner, the antidote will follow.”

Lord Lu watched the two lowly slaves fight like snarling dogs, clearly entertained. She turned to Lan Tong with amusement.

“Lan, what do you think?”

Lan Tong and the little one had silently finished off the rest of the fish soup in the stone pot. The larger one ate with a semblance of grace. The little one licked the pot clean, swallowing even the fish head and bones, then let out a long, satisfied burp.

The two of them stared back with wide, innocent eyes.

If the situation weren’t so tense, Yi Xian would have burst out laughing.

Seeing the empty pot, Lord Lu was shocked. “Lan, it was poisoned.”

Lan Tong calmly wiped her mouth. “It wasn’t.”

Yi Xian was a little surprised that this brute actually stood by her at such a critical moment. She began clearing away the stone bowls and basin from the table.

“Are we going or not?”

Lan Tong picked up the little one, who was staring up with her tiny head tilted.

“We’re going.”

They arrived at the gathering point. Within the time it took to drink a cup of tea, beastmen and shackled human slaves came trickling in. The area quickly filled with heads, shoulder to shoulder. The beastmen in front blocked the view of the humans behind them entirely.

“Everyone is here. Yi Xian, hand over the antidote already!” Qin Rong pressed first.

“Do not panic.”

Yi Xian casually patted Qin Rong’s shoulder and stood on her toes. She still could not see a single human through the wall of beastmen.

“Could the poisoned humans be brought to the front? I want them to see the poisoner right away.”

Lan Tong exchanged a glance with a beastman beside Lord Lu. That person swiftly carried out her request. Soon, the poisoned humans were brought forward, either helped or carried. Each looked deathly pale, their lips a purplish hue, and their eyes sunken with dark circles. Clearly, they had not slept well for days due to stomach pain.

Yi Xian stepped forward to examine Zhu Yu’s condition, but Qin Rong rushed in and slapped her hand away, blocking her path.

“She is carrying a cub! Yi Xian, just because of your own suffering, you cannot hate all cubs!”

That one line stirred a massive wave. The previously calm beastmen started to murmur. Cubs were sacred to them. Yi Xian’s past abuse of Little Lan had already brought her to the edge of their tolerance. Now, with the poisoning and the threat to Zhu Yu’s unborn child, she stood at the center of their outrage.

Yi Xian caught the flash of triumph in Qin Rong’s eyes. She thought it was truly a waste for Qin Rong to be a physician among humans.

“Silence.”

Her voice was like a single drop of water. It vanished into the sea of noise without even a ripple. Yi Xian helplessly turned to Lan Tong.

Lan Tong seemed to read her mind. “Silence.”

The chaotic clamor and calls for punishment ceased instantly at Lan Tong’s word.

Yi Xian thought to herself that this loudspeaker was surprisingly effective. In moments like this, the brute was actually useful.

“Everyone, the reason we gathered here today is to find the true poisoner. Please be patient. The truth will be clear in the time it takes for one incense stick to burn.”

Qin Rong raised an eyebrow. “You’re joking.”

Yi Xian shrugged and whispered a few words to Lan Tong. Soon, a beastman brought over everything she had asked for.

There was a large vat, taller than a person, filled with fresh water and live fish. Yi Xian called a few people to come look.

“Everyone, take a good look. This is a fish tank.”

Everyone, including Lan Tong, looked utterly confused. No one had any idea what a fish tank had to do with identifying the poisoner.

Lord Lu grew impatient. “Stop playing games and get on with it.”

Yi Xian crouched down and whispered to the little one. Borrowing the purple yuanxiao, she tossed it into the fish tank in front of the crowd.

The little one clapped excitedly and chirped at the tank. Lan Tong, seeing no other choice, lifted her onto her shoulders so she could see the spectacle unfolding inside.

Giggles and exclamations quickly spread through the crowd.