"I knew you'd understand eventually, you've always been so wise." Xi ger pulled Yue ger inside. "Actually, Jin ger is quite kind, not at all like the rumors. He's very approachable. Being friends with him wouldn't be bad at all."
"......" Yue ger lowered his eyes, masking their growing chill. "You're right. I should befriend Jin ger. But..."
He paused delicately. "Given our history, it may not be so simple."
Xi ger waved this off. "If you're sincere, it's possible. He's been very welcoming to me, not petty at all, quite magnanimous actually."
"......" Watching his friend's animated praise for Jin ger, Yue ger silently ground his teeth.
Both the man he loved and his closest friend now sided with that madman.
How ironic.
Forcing a stiff smile, Yue ger said, "I hope he can accept my friendship..."
"He will," Xi ger assured warmly, then added apologetically, "I also spoke harshly in anger, and avoided you all this time. Please don't hold it against me, I was just so hurt by your accusations."
"......" Yue ger pressed his lips together. "Of course not. We're best friends, aren't we?"
Xi ger patted his hand gratefully. "I'm sure you'll find an excellent beastman, one who treasures you properly."
Yue ger lowered his eyes to conceal their bleakness, adopting a mournful expression. "I've lost faith in such things."
"?" Xi ger looked puzzled.
"Remember how the leader pursued me for years?" Yue ger said sorrowfully. "After that incident, he never sought me again, as if I never existed."
"......" Xi ger's eyebrow twitched. He'd learned the full story, Yue ger had publicly humiliated the leader that day.
No matter how deep the leader's affection, as tribal leader, he couldn't debase himself by chasing someone who'd rejected him in front of everyone. It would undermine his authority entirely.
Yue ger had been the one to refuse him, yet now complained about being ignored? This...
Even as his friend, Xi ger struggled to sympathize.
"Yue ger... no one waits forever," he said carefully. "The leader pursued you for years without reciprocation. Naturally, he'd eventually give up."
"See how cheap his love was," Yue ger muttered.
"......" Xi ger's mouth now joined his eyebrow in spasming. "Yue ger... without any encouragement, of course he'd..."
He sighed heavily. "Never mind. What's passed is past..."
Yue ger's eyes flashed with resentment. "No chance of reconciliation? The leader's wife holds the tribe's third highest status, after only the leader and herb master..."
This near-whisper seemed directed more to himself than Xi ger.
Catching only fragments, Xi ger asked, "What was that?"
Yue ger snapped back, smiling wanly. "Nothing... just realizing... I might have feelings for the leader all along. I only noticed too late."
"......" This...
Xi ger found himself at a loss for words. After a pause, he suggested, "The leader probably still likes you. Why don't you take the initiative to visit him and apologize?"
What kind of ger would ever actively seek out a beastman to apologize?!
Yue ger's face turned ashen. Realizing his blunder, Xi ger quickly added, "Forget I said that. Let things take their course. Maybe after not seeing you for a while, the leader will miss you and come looking. After all, a beastman who's truly smitten doesn't move on so easily."
"A ger in love doesn't move on easily either..." Yue ger suddenly interjected.
Xi ger froze, studying Yue ger, was he still hung up on Yuan Heng?
Noticing his gaze, Yue ger hastily explained, "I just mean that every emotional attachment leaves a deep mark. But when it's time to let go, one must."
Xi ger nodded silently, then cheerfully pulled Yue ger along. "Come, A-Yue, let's try this wine Jin ger gave me. They say it's delicious."
He took out two cups and poured the wine, a translucent red liquid with a rich fruity aroma.
Yue ger recognized it. Rumor had it many got drunk on this yesterday, some even passing out on the road and being carried home by their beastmen... waking up with terrible headaches the next day.
Eyeing the wine, he asked, "They say... it makes you feel awful afterward?"
Xi ger chuckled. "I wouldn't know. I had a patient yesterday and couldn't go. Brother Heng brought this to me today. Jin ger said it's fine in moderation, just don't overdo it. And never drink it with a beastman."
"Oh?" Yue ger feigned confusion. "Never with a beastman?"
Blushing slightly, Xi ger mumbled, "Jin ger said... it might lead to... impropriety..."
He lowered his head shyly, missing Yue ger's unnaturally gleaming eyes.
Lead to impropriety?
Perfect...
Yue ger downed his cup in one gulp, then examined the bottle closely. "A-Xi, could you give this to me?"
"Hmm?" Xi ger looked up. Yue ger licked his lips nostalgically. "After tasting it, I really like it... Could I have it?"
"...Of course." He could always get more from Jin ger later. Seeing Yue ger's rare cheerfulness, Xi ger felt relieved.
Delighted, Yue ger pocketed the wine. Xi ger reminded him, "Remember, never drink it with a beastman."
"I know." After chatting a while longer, Yue ger left.
But instead of going home, he resolutely headed elsewhere.
In the largest, most strategically located house in the tribe, the leader was in a rage, hurling objects everywhere.
"Elder brother, don't be angry." Several beastmen, the leader's brothers, stood by nervously, one daring to console him.
The leader responded by pelting him with ceramic jars, making him grunt in pain.
"All you know how to say is 'don't be angry'! Is that all you're good for?!"
"......" They fell silent.
The leader paced furiously. "Look at our tribe now! Yuan Heng's home is livelier than a festival, while mine is deserted! Am I still the leader here?!"
Pointing accusingly, he roared, "And all of you! During hunts, you still follow Yuan Heng's lead! Are you truly my blood brothers?! Why don't you just acknowledge him as your elder brother instead?! Or better yet, let him be leader! What use am I?!"
His face pale with fury, the beastmen cowered in a corner.
Gritting his teeth, the leader spat, "Even the herb master's apprentice Xi ger flocks to that lunatic! Claiming he knows more about medicine, what nonsense! Brought me some formula to record in the medicinal compendium under his name! So future generations would revere him?! That lunatic deserves no such honor! The herb master's apprentice, behaving so improperly, what kind of disciple has the old herb master raised?!"
Another jar shattered against the wall as the leader heaved with rage.
"Brewing wine! Making medicine! Sewing clothes! One novelty after another 'benefiting the tribe', yet I, the leader, am always the last to know! Never once have I seen these so-called marvels! They're the real rulers here!" His features twisted grotesquely with each shout.
Yue ger heard the roars from afar. Pausing at the doorstep, he curled his lip disdainfully.
This man is really no match for Brother Heng.
If his Brother Heng faced such situations, he'd quietly let his capabilities speak for themselves, not throw tantrums behind closed doors.
Complaining about Xi ger recording Wang Jin's formula in the compendium, yet when proposed, he'd approved it without protest, only to rage about it afterward.
What a pathetic excuse for a leader.
Disgusted yet despairing, Yue ger's resolve hardened.
Only by becoming the leader's ger could he achieve his goals, make that lunatic pay, make Brother Heng see him again.
This was his only path forward...
Even if it destroyed him, he'd make that lunatic an outcast, driven from the tribe!
Clutching the wine bottle, Yue ger plastered on a smile and knocked.
"Who?!" came the leader's wary bark.
Clearing his throat delicately, Yue ger called sweetly, "Leader, it's me, Yue ger."
After a long silence, the door swung open to reveal the leader's astonished delight.
"A...A-Yue? You...you came?"
Smiling winsomely, Yue ger raised the bottle. "I brought you a gift. Tribe-made wine, a novelty that just appeared yesterday."
The leader froze. Just moments ago he'd been ranting about never seeing these novelties, now his beloved had brought one straight to him.
His anger evaporated instantly, his eyes only for the beautiful ger before him.
After hastily dismissing his brothers and tidying up, the leader welcomed Yue ger in with mingled eagerness and suspicion, all earlier vows to leave him alone forgotten.
Yue ger poured wine for them both, coaxing the leader to drink cup after cup.
The novel liquor tasted pleasant but went straight to the head.
Soon the leader grew dizzy. After a few more cups he collapsed onto the table, unconscious.
"......" Yue ger hefted the bottle, still half full. How useless, getting drunk so easily.
Yesterday, from his hiding spot near Yuan Heng's home, he'd seen Brother Heng drink endlessly without faltering, eventually outlasting even that lunatic...
And afterward...
His expression twisted viciously at the memory. Gripping the bottle, he suddenly hurled it to the ground with a crash.
Shards and spilled wine scattered everywhere, filling the room with cloying sweetness that turned Yue ger's stomach, everything that lunatic touched reeked of sickening saccharine falseness.
The noise stirred the leader slightly, but he didn't wake.
Yue ger approached, standing over him for a long moment before finally taking a deep breath and lowering himself onto...
The next morning.
The leader clutched his throbbing head as he sat up, what in the world had he drunk yesterday?
As he moved, something soft slid against his chest. Looking down, he saw a pale, delicate arm draped across him. Following it, his eyes landed on the ger sleeping peacefully beside him.
With a strangled gasp, the leader tumbled off the bed.
After pursuing Yue ger for so many years, he'd actually... with him...
What was in that drink?! He remembered nothing!
Panic set in, tribal law strictly forbade beastmen forcing themselves on ger. The punishment was exile, regardless of status.
Had he... forced Yue ger?
A soft moan came from the bed as Yue ger stirred awake. The leader stood frozen as the ger took in the scene, then shrank into the corner, eyes welling with tears, a picture of pitiful vulnerability.
"A-Yue, I..." The leader's face contorted with remorse. "I... if you'll have me, I'll marry you, I..."
Trailing off, his shoulders slumped in defeat. "I understand. I'll seek the herb master's judgment, resign as leader, and accept whatever punishment..."
With a heavy sigh, he dressed to leave.
Just then, Yue ger's voice came from behind, tinged with hope: "If you marry me... will you treat me well?"
The leader whirled around in shock, nodding fervently. "Of course! This is my fault, I'll treat you better than Yuan Heng treats that lunatic, a hundred times, no, a thousand times better!"
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