Help! I transmigrated to a Beast World-Chapter 48: Mo Yan’s Story

Mo Yan stood in the doorway.

"Xiao Long," the massive Serpent King said quietly. "Go practice your hunting forms. I will check your progress later."

"But Papa—"

"Now, little one."

The tone left no room for argument. Xiao Long looked between his father and Xin Yi, then sighed dramatically.

"Fiiiine." He hugged Xin Yi one more time. "Don’t leave without saying goodbye, okay?"

"I promise."

The boy shifted into his small python form and slithered out, but not before shooting his father a look that clearly said You better not make her cry.

The door closed.

Silence.

Mo Yan didn’t move from the doorway.

"Thank you for helping my people with your ’mud-paste,’" he finally said, his voice that low gravel rumble. "That was.....unexpected. I am grateful."

"Oh! That was nothing!" Xin Yi spluttered, scratching her neck nervously. Please don’t talk about Qing Lin, please don’t talk about Qing Lin.

"You’re avoiding him." Damn it.

Xin Yi opened her mouth to deny it. Then closed it. Then sighed. "...Yes. I am."

"Why?" Mo Yan’s yellow eyes fixed on her, unblinking.

"Because everything is CONFUSING!" The words burst out before she could stop them. "I’m supposed to be Hei Yan’s mate! He marked me! But then Qing Lin is so... and yesterday he said... and I don’t know what to DO!"

She expected judgment. Maybe that territorial growl about "taming" her again. Instead, Mo Yan did something that surprised her.

He smiled.

"Can I tell you something about Qing Lin?" His voice dropped lower.

"I... yes?" Xin Yi’s heart hammered.

Mo Yan didn’t sit, he didn’t make himself smaller or less threatening. He just stood there, a wall of muscle and scars, and looked down at her with those unsettling yellow eyes.

"His sister—the one the Panthers killed—her name was Qing Yue." He paused. "She was supposed to be my mate."

Xin Yi’s eyes went wide. "What?"

"Our fathers arranged it when we were cubs. But it wasn’t just duty." His hands clenched into fists at his sides, knuckles going white. "I loved her. She was fierce. Clever. Her laugh..." His jaw worked. "I would have burned the world for that laugh."

[DING! (╥﹏╥)]

[BACKSTORY UNLOCKED: The Reason Mo Yan is Alone]

[This is SAD, Host!]

"When she died....." Mo Yan’s voice went flat. Dead. "Qing Lin lost a sister. I lost the female I was going to spend my life with. The Panthers took everything that day."

"I’m so sorry," Xin Yi whispered.

"Don’t." The word was sharp. "I don’t need your pity, pink skin. It’s been twenty winters. The grief is......there. Always there. Like a scar that won’t heal." He finally moved, turning away from her to stare at the wall. "But I see the way Qing Lin looks at you."

He glanced back over his shoulder.

"It’s the same way I used to look at Qing Yue."

Xin Yi’s breath caught in her throat.

Mo Yan turned to face her fully again. "He’s careful with you. Patient. Asks before touching." His lips pulled back slightly, showing fang. "Not like me. I prefer to just take what I want. But Qing Lin..." He shook his head. "He suffers alone rather than risk hurting you. He is devoted to you."

"But I barely know him—"

"Time means nothing to serpents." Mo Yan crossed his arms over his massive chest. "We’re patient. We wait years—decades—for the right moment to strike. But when we know what we want?" His yellow eyes gleamed. "We don’t let go. Ever."

Xin Yi’s hand crept to her neck again, to Hei Yan’s mark. "That’s.....a little terrifying."

"Terrifying. Inevitable." Mo Yan’s scarred hand suddenly shot out, and Xin Yi flinched, but he didn’t grab her. Just pointed at her with one thick finger. "Same thing to a serpent. You should be terrified. You walked into a nest of predators and made them all want you."

He dropped his hand, and his expression shifted.

"I wanted you too," he said bluntly. "From the moment you stood up to me covered in mud, waving that Tiger’s claw like you could actually take me down. Small. Soft. Fierce*" His voice dropped to something almost like a growl. "I thought about keeping you. Making you mine. Showing you what a real serpent king could give you."

"Mo Yan—"

"But Qing Lin saw you first." He cut her off, his voice hard as stone. "Marked you in his mind before the Panther ever sank his teeth into you."

Mo Yan’s jaw clenched, and for a moment, genuine pain flashed across his face.

"I had that once. A female who made me forget how to think straight. Qing Lin’s sister. She was supposed to be mine." His hands clenched into fists again. "And the Panthers took her. Slaughtered her like she was nothing. Like she didn’t matter."

Wow.....so it wasn’t just Qing Lin the panthers hurt....

"So no." Mo Yan’s voice went cold. Final. "I won’t compete with Qing Lin for you. I won’t steal from my brother. He lost his sister because of those cats. I won’t make him lose you too."

He moved toward the entrance.

"That’s honor, pink skin. That’s law. He gets first chance. Even though every instinct I have screams at me to wrap you up and claim you as mine."

He paused in the doorway, his massive frame blocking out the light.

"But Xin Yi?" He looked back at her, and there was nothing gentle in his expression. "You need to choose. Soon. The Panther is at the border going mad with jealousy. The Tiger is circling, waiting for weakness. And Qing Lin?"

"That snake has been patient. Waited. Planned. Endured." His yellow eyes gleamed. "But even serpents have limits. And when Qing Lin runs out of patience?"

His smile revealed his fangs.

Then he was gone.

Xin Yi sat in the silence, her mind spinning.

[DING! (⊙_⊙)]

[Well THAT was heavy, and terrifying!]

[Mo Yan Status: Officially Confirmed Reluctant Wingman]

[Reason: Dead First Love]

[He wants you but is stepping aside!]

[This is some NOBLE SACRIFICE stuff! ☆]

"I don’t know what to do," Xin Yi whispered to the empty room.

[DING!]

[Suggested options:]

[A) Continue hiding like a coward]

[B) Talk to Qing Lin like an adult]

[C) Pack your things and run away to start a new life as a traveling soap merchant]

"Option C is looking really good right now..."

[Host.]

"I know, I know! I have to talk to him!"

BANG!

The door suddenly yanked open.

Qing Lin stood in the doorway.

His green hair was scattered. His chest was heaving like he had been running. His eyes were wild, not feral like during the molt, but desperate in a way that made Xin Yi’s heart stutter.

"Found you," he rasped.