Setting aside its massive size and terrifying aura for a mont, this silly, endearing appearance had no discernible difference from that of a dostic cat.
Mo Yan patted Mao Tuan’s body, signaling it to return, and then had the remaining four beasts step forward to greet the villagers in unison.
The more ti the five beasts spent in the human environnt, the more they understood human rules and etiquette. By having them greet these people, Mo Yan actually treated them as equals, and didn’t feel that greeting these humans was an indignity to them.
If all went well, they would henceforth be able to walk freely among people, dispelling their fears and making life more comfortable for themselves. This was a logic Mo Yan understood, and they did too.
Thus, the four beasts stepped forward, lining up in front of the villagers. Except for Red Python, which couldn’t use its feet and could only rear up half its body to nod its large head, the other three beasts stood up on their hind legs like Mao Tuan and bowed with their paws.
In the incredulous gazes of the villagers, the four beasts retreated and stood behind Mo Yan with an imposing air, their eyes looking at Mo Yan with a tenderness that didn’t seem fitting for fierce beasts.
Seeing that the villagers were clearly not as frightened as before, Mo Yan’s smile grew even wider, "Dear uncles and aunties, as you can see, the five beasts are very understanding of humans and have gentle temperants. As long as no one deliberately harms them, they will not attack people on their own! Moreover, had it not been for them tonight, I could not have possibly rescued your children from the hands of four or five dozen bandits."
She then recounted in full how the five beasts had rescued the children from the fifty bandits’ clutches. As for the true reason why the bandits had appeared and kidnapped the children, she chose to conceal it, only saying that the bandits had been frightened off by the beasts and would no longer dare to co here to do evil.
She indeed had selfish reasons for doing so, not wanting the villagers to harbor different thoughts towards her family because of this incident, but the main reason was that so aspects of the kidnapping were simply beyond explanation to the villagers. Even if she did explain, they might not understand and instead beco needlessly panicked.
The villagers didn’t doubt her words. Although they were poor, if the bandits had demanded a ransom for the children, they would have scraped the money together, even if it ant selling their pots and iron. The ransom for twelve children wasn’t a small sum, and if the bandits had been crueler and sold the children, they would have made a tidy profit. Either way, it wouldn’t have been a wasted trip for them.
What attracted the villagers most at the mont were the five beasts behaving properly behind Mo Yan. Realizing that their own children owed their escape to these creatures filled them with gratitude, and the earlier gesture of bowing convincingly showed their human-like intelligence, making the villagers even less afraid.
Yet people can change their minds in an instant, and what about fierce beasts that are naturally savage? They worried that without Mo Yan’s control, these beasts might rampage through the village—and if that happened, no one would be able to stop them.
However, such doubts were ultimately not expressed. No matter how ferocious the beasts were, they had just saved their children. To voice such concerns would make them seem ungrateful.
Mo Yan could clearly see their concerns but didn’t rush to explain. Instead, she simply said with a smile, "Having cared for them for so many days, I have to prepare at least fifty chickens every day. It’s as if our house runs a chicken farm, and they can also hunt wild boars and wild sheep in the mountains on their own. Otherwise, they would be unaffordable to keep."
The villagers weren’t fools and imdiately understood the implication. Soone imdiately said, "They are all good. Tomorrow I’ll bring two chickens over. It might not be enough for one al for them, but it’s a token of my sincerity. Yan girl, you can’t refuse."
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