25 Threatening to Expose the Truth

The High Priest Tienna quickly clutched her clothes tightly, vehemently denying, "No, I did not form a bond with any young female beast; you must be mistaken!"

Cang Qian smiled wryly. "Mistaken? When it comes to lying with your eyes wide open, no one can outdo you, High Priest."

"I think you'd better admit it openly. Which young female beast did you bond with?"

Tienna shot Cang Qian a displeased glare.

Cang Qian hadn't intended to expose Tienna, but since the High Priest had just, on his second pulse reading, claimed upon Sang Yingying’s word that he had misread the first time—trying to deny her pregnancy—she decided not to hold back.

Ignoring Tienna’s glare, she circled the table as she spoke, "Let me guess—who is the young female beast you bonded with?"

"Hmm... I suppose it would be my dear cousin who bonded with you!" Tienna instantly and firmly denied. "Nonsense!"

Cang Qian’s lips curved slightly. "Is it nonsense? Why don’t we just test and see?"

At that moment, she reached behind Sang Yingying.

Suddenly, she stepped forward and grabbed Sang Yingying’s shoulder from behind.

Before anyone could react, she produced a gleaming dagger from somewhere and pressed it against Sang Yingying’s neck.

The onlookers gasped sharply.

The clan chief, Cang Lian, shouted anxiously, "Xiao Qian, what are you doing? Put the dagger down!"

Sang Yingying’s legs went weak with fear.

She hadn’t expected her cousin to dare brandish a blade against her in front of so many clan members.

More anxious, however, were the two men who had bonded with Sang Yingying.

One was Ai Chuang, her beast husband from the coming-of-age ceremony.

The other was High Priest Tienna.

Tienna’s pupils contracted as he abruptly stood and pointed at Cang Qian, nervously demanding, "What are you doing? Let her go!"

"Strange," Cang Qian raised an eyebrow, "It’s understandable that Ai Chuang, her beast husband, is nervous about me holding a knife to Yingying. But High Priest, why are you so anxious?"

Feigning sudden realization, she added, "Could it be that the female beast bonded to you is Sang Yingying herself?"

Tienna’s eyes widened, and he immediately denied, "No! Yingying has moderate fertility. As High Priest, I would never allow you to harm her!"

"Are you sure she has nothing to do with you?"

As she asked, Cang Qian slowly moved the dagger closer to Sang Yingying’s carotid artery.

Both Tienna and Ai Chuang panicked.

Cang Qian threatened again, "High Priest, I ask you one more time—who is the female beast you bonded with?"

This time, her smile vanished, replaced by a sharp gaze as she pressed the blade closer to Sang Yingying’s neck.

Tienna’s heart pounded wildly. Faced with her fierce look, fear crept in.

He finally confessed, "It’s Sang Yingying. The female beast bonded to me is Sang Yingying!"

"Good," Cang Qian said.

She continued, "Last time at the Che family’s place, Yingying wanted to kill the cub but I stopped her. Then she stabbed herself. Had you already bonded with her at that point?"

Tienna gritted his teeth and nodded.

"Then why was it that when she stabbed herself, you were unharmed? And why did her wound heal so quickly?" Cang Qian pressed.

Sang Yingying shouted angrily, "You’re not allowed to reveal that!"

She would rather be stabbed by Cang Qian than have her misdeeds exposed.

Because if the clan knew the truth, she would lose all support and be utterly despised.

She refused to be abandoned and scorned.

But Tienna thought differently. If Yingying were stabbed and died, he would lose his own life as well.

He had no intention of dying with her.

Tienna had agreed to bond with Yingying because he knew she had moderate fertility.

Since he desired offspring, he naturally preferred a female beast with higher fertility.

His plan had been to wait until Yingying conceived and gave birth, then use an ancient forbidden technique to sever the bond.

But unexpectedly, before Yingying could conceive, Cang Qian’s threat forced the secret of their bond into the open.

Now, staring at the dagger still pressed near Sang Yingying’s neck, Tienna took a deep breath and explained, "Before she acted at the Che residence, I cast a transfer spell on her."

"As long as her vital points aren’t harmed, it’s nothing more than bleeding."

Cang Qian said, "If I’m not mistaken, the abdominal wound Yingying suffered was transferred to Ai Chuang, right?"

At that moment, Che Baiyuan signaled to Naiwa.

Naiwa understood and immediately went to Ai Chuang, lifting his shirt to expose his abdomen.

Everyone was shocked to see a knife wound there, exactly matching the location of Yingying’s stab.

The clan members erupted in uproar again.

They had never imagined that the incident at the Che family was truly as Cang Qian claimed—that Yingying had stabbed herself.

Their image of Yingying began to crumble.

Sang Yingying looked around at the clan members’ expressions and was on the verge of collapse.

She hated Cang Qian.

Hated her for destroying everything she had painstakingly built over the years.

"Cang Qian! I will kill you!"

She tried to turn and strangle Cang Qian standing behind her.

Cang Qian immediately pressed the dagger closer to Sang Yingying’s neck and threatened, "Hey, don’t move. This dagger can cut through iron like mud. And I’m pregnant, so my hands tremble easily. One wrong move and you’ll be meeting our great-grandmother in no time!"

Sang Yingying dared not move.

In her rage and hatred, she had momentarily forgotten that the blade was still against her throat.

Cang Qian then looked to Tienna and asked, "What exactly is my healing ability?"

At her question, both Sang Yingying and Tienna trembled, while the clan members looked on bewildered.

Cang Lian asked in confusion, "Xiao Qian, what do you mean by ‘your healing ability’?"

With a blank expression, Cang Qian replied, "Grandfather, I actually awakened healing powers that day! I wanted to tell you the good news."

"At that very moment, Yingying came to my room and said you had gone out and asked me to wait for you. She gave me a bowl of soup, claiming it was made by the kitchen servants. After drinking it, I passed out."

"When I woke, I found my healing ability had vanished! When I confronted Yingying, she said I never awakened any healing powers and that I was just dreaming."

"Three days later, at the clan assembly, Yingying announced she had awakened healing abilities and claimed I had none. But I had no proof then, so I had to keep silent."

Hearing Cang Qian’s account, the clan was shocked.

They began to suspect that Yingying’s healing powers might have come at the expense of Cang Qian’s own.

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