The silver-haired man's eyelids twitched slightly; the surrounding wolves looked horrified, but only Xue Yao seemed completely unaware.
The moment Honghong disappeared from sight, the plaza suddenly felt much larger and much more dangerous. Now she felt truly alone.
The silver-haired man slowly walked toward her. Xue Yao instinctively wanted to retreat, the pressure coming from him was overwhelming and hard to breathe. Unfortunately, the rope around her wrists prevented her from moving far.
Soon, he stopped directly before her. His golden eyes looked down at her, cold and unreadable. "Human."
Xue Yao immediately felt offended. 'I have a name,' she thought inwardly. "Bai Xue Yao," she corrected.
The silver-haired man stared at her, and a strange silence followed before he spoke again.
"Bai Xue Yao." The way he said her name made her spine tingle slightly.
Not because it was pleasant. Because it sounded like he was deciding how to punish her.
"You assaulted me."
Xue Yao coughed. "A misunderstanding."
"You abducted me."
"A temporary misunderstanding."
"You humiliated me before my clan." His voice became colder and more hoarse.
"A slightly bigger misunderstanding." She said in a light, confused tone.
The surrounding wolves looked ready to explode with anger. Several growls echoed through the plaza.
The silver-haired man's expression darkened.
"And you used that thing." His voice became noticeably colder.
Xue Yao immediately knew what he meant. The Sticky Smelly Socks.
"That was because you attacked me, if you had kept this civil, I wouldn't have resorted to that." Xue Yao replied without a single guilt on her face.
"Good." His lips curved into a dangerous smile. "Stubborn, but I wonder how long."
A chill ran down Xue Yao's spine. She cleared her throat and looked up at the silver-haired man standing before her. The closer he stood, the more overwhelming his presence felt, as though a mountain had suddenly appeared above her head and was waiting for the perfect moment to collapse.
"So what are you going to do with me?" she asked, trying her best to sound calm.
The silver-haired man's golden eyes slowly swept across her face before moving lower. The look wasn't lecherous nor was it appreciative. Instead, it felt as though he was examining a piece of prey, assessing its value before deciding its worth.
"The beast world lacks females," he finally said.
Xue Yao frowned slightly. She wasn't sure where this conversation was heading, but for some reason, she suddenly had a very bad feeling about it.
"A lone human female possesses value."
The bad feeling immediately intensified.
The surrounding wolves remained silent, yet not a single one appeared surprised by his words. Some nodded in agreement while others looked at her with strange expressions, making the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.
"You will remain here..." His tone remained calm, almost indifferent, as though he was discussing the weather. "… and you will contribute to the clan."
Xue Yao blinked. She tilted her head slightly, wondering if she had misunderstood something. "What do you mean by contribute?"
The silver-haired man stared at her for a long moment before answering. "The human females possess strong reproductive capabilities. Since the beast world lacks enough females, your presence here will be beneficial to the clan."
The plaza fell silent. For a brief moment, Xue Yao thought she had heard wrong… surely she must have heard wrong.
There was no way she had travelled through a life-threatening apocalypse, survived being chased by monsters, escaped becoming bird food, fought rabbits, kidnapped a wolf, got captured by an entire wolf clan, only to hear such nonsense.
Her left eye twitched. A moment later, she burst into laughter.
The laughter came so suddenly that the wolves around her froze in confusion.
"Hahahaha!"
She laughed until tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. The more she laughed, the more ridiculous the situation became.
'The Alpha wanted me to what? Bear children? For wolves? Had they all lost their minds?… they must have lost their minds!' She thought inwardly.
"Hahahahaha!"
The surrounding wolves exchanged uncertain looks. Even the silver-haired man's expression darkened slightly.
After a while, Xue Yao finally wiped her eyes and looked up at him. "You want me to become a breeder?"
The silver-haired man neither denied nor confirmed it. His silence was enough.
Xue Yao's laughter slowly disappeared, her eyes widening slightly. "You are serious."
No one answered. The strange thing was that nobody laughed either.
It was as though every single person present genuinely believed there was nothing strange about what had just been said.
For the first time since arriving at the wolf clan, Xue Yao felt a cold sensation spread through her chest. They weren't joking.
"You should be grateful." A female wolf stepped forward. "With your weak strength, no clan would willingly accept you. The Alpha is giving you a purpose."
"Purpose?" Xue Yao repeated.
The female nodded. "Yes. Human females are valuable."
The more Xue Yao listened, the uglier her expression became. A purpose? Valuable? Useful?
She had heard about humans being used as medicines for beast cultivation, and she was fully aware that the beasts also see humans as food. But she had never heard of humans becoming breeders.
Her fist clenched tightly, the situation was getting out of hand… and she didn't know if Honghong had already been cooked or not.
The realization made her strangely calm. She slowly lifted her head and looked directly at the silver-haired man. "You know what?"
The silver-haired man's gaze remained fixed on her.
"I was beginning to think you were impressive." She said in a condescending tone.
A few wolves immediately growled at her disrespectful tone, but Xue Yao ignored them.
"You are powerful, your clan is powerful, and even your village is more impressive than I imagined. But after all that, this is the best idea you could come up with?" She didn't bother to hide her disappointment.
The temperature in the plaza suddenly plummeted.
Several wolves took a step forward. Yet Xue Yao continued speaking as if she were immune to the threat brewing.
"If your clan is truly that remarkable, why can't you convince a female to stay willingly?"
Silence followed, and the expressions of the wolves changed as if they were considering her words.
Even Xue Yao felt the pressure in the air become heavier.
The silver-haired man stared at her for several seconds before taking a step forward.
It was only one step, yet Xue Yao suddenly found it difficult to breathe.
"You misunderstand something, Bai Xue Yao." He said in a calm, hoarse voice. "You seem to believe that your opinion carries weight here."
Xue Yao's heart skipped a beat.
The silver-haired man continued looking at her, his golden eyes devoid of any emotion.
"You are a prisoner standing within the heart of my territory, surrounded by thousands of wolves. Whether you agree or not, it changes nothing."
Xue Yao opened her mouth to retort, but nothing came out.
"Take her to the dungeon." The silver-haired man ordered.
"Yes, Alpha," the wolf-man holding the rope pulled her forward.
"Wait…" Xue Yao shouted, pulling her hands back.