Azul's sharp gaze slowly softened, turning into pure confusion.
Roxanna had never called him "poor fishy" before, and her voice had never sounded that gentle. But what confused him the most was the fact that she didn't even open her mouth, yet he clearly heard her voice.
Unfortunately, he didn't have time to think about it any longer because he heard something huge swimming toward him.
"Pull me up!" he shouted at Calen.
Without a second thought, Calen grabbed Azul's hands and pulled him out of the lake covered in green moss. Just a few seconds later, a group of crocodiles—each twice the size of normal ones—rose to the surface.
Roxanna turned pale when she saw so many giant crocodiles emerging from the lake. They had razor-sharp teeth and skin so tough it looked like hardened steel.
How could anyone survive after being surrounded by these monsters?!
Calen quickly slung Azul onto his back and sprinted away. "Luan! Cyrus! We found Azul! Let's get out of here!"
Roxanna peeked over Zeir's shoulder, watching the crocodiles snap their jaws. As scary as they were, those demon-beast crocodiles couldn't survive on land, so they wouldn't be able to follow once the group got far enough from Mushy Lake.
However, there was still another problem: they needed to pass through the forest filled with demon beasts again!
"The sun is almost down," Luan said as he caught up. "We need to find a safe place to sleep. Maybe a small cave will work."
"I'll look from above," Cyrus said. Without another word, he leaped into the air and transformed into a tiny red bird that looked like a sparrow.
[Holy shit! He really can turn into an animal!] Roxanna screamed in her mind. [I thought we only had animal ears and tails like furries!]
The husbands shared confused looks. They had no idea what "furries" meant. The only familiar word was "fur," and not all of them even had that.
A few minutes later, Cyrus landed again. "I found a small cave to the east. It's shallow, so there shouldn't be any demon beasts inside."
"Show the way," Zeir said.
They ran as fast as the wind, to the point where Roxanna could only see a blur. When they reached the cave, they quickly dragged logs to block the entrance. She honestly didn't expect them to move that fast!
But forget about the logs, what about Azul?
Calen gently laid Azul on the ground, where they had spread a layer of leaves. Azul was still covered in moss and smelled strongly of thick, swampy mud. Even so, Roxanna could clearly see how terrible his leg injuries were. The wounds were so deep that parts of his bones were showing.
"We need water to clean him," Luan said urgently. "Anything to keep him alive."
"I'll get it," Cyrus said right away.
As soon as Zeir put her down, Roxanna sprinted toward Azul and bowed her head so low it almost touched the ground. "AZUL! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!"
Azul's eyes widened as he stared at her like he had just seen a ghost. "W-what?"
She apologized?
Roxanna apologized?
A woman as cruel as the evil Roxanna would never say "sorry" to him! Azul finally realized the person in front of him wasn't the same Roxanna who used to torment them.
[Shit! Shit! Shit! His blood is pouring out! What do I do? Damn it, that evil woman left me with this mess!]
Roxanna panicked inside her mind. [Poor Azul… he's dying. What if he dies because I can't heal him in time?]
Hold on… the evil Roxanna was a pink fox beast!
Unlike other foxes who could change their appearance into other people, a pink fox couldn't. But in return, they had a powerful healing ability, and they could heal others with their bodily fluids.
Blood, sweat, saliva, and… everything else.
Roxanna bit her lower lip and shook her head quickly, pushing away the thought of that "everything else."
[His wounds are so bad… my saliva probably won't do anything.]
[Then I'll cut my hand instead!]
Azul immediately sat upright, and the others grabbed Roxanna's hands before she could do anything.
"What are you trying to do?!" Calen yelled.
Roxanna blinked rapidly, confused by the horror on their faces.
"I want to heal Azul," she said softly. "Is that… wrong?"
She truly didn't understand why they were stopping her. [Do they hate me so much they want to tear my hands apart? But that's fine, I can use my blood to heal Azul!]
Besides, pink foxes had an incredible healing ability, ten times stronger than other beasts. She could even regrow her own limbs, making her almost impossible to kill.
"How exactly are you planning to heal him?" Luan asked, narrowing his eyes.
"By… cutting my hand?" Roxanna whispered. "My blood would—"
"Absolutely not!" Azul shouted, ignoring the mud still in his mouth. "Don't you dare cut your hands!"
Roxanna blinked again, even more confused. Weren't her beast husbands supposed to hate her? Why did they suddenly look like they were scared for her?
"Okay… I won't cut my hands, but let me heal him," she said.
They exchanged a quick look before finally letting go of her hand. And before any of them could stop her, Roxanna dragged her long nails across her arm, slicing her skin open. Blood spilled out fast, running down her arm in thick streams.
Strangely, it didn't hurt as badly as she thought it would. Maybe beasts naturally had a higher pain tolerance than humans. If she had done something like this in her old body, she was sure she would've passed out on the spot.
"You—Roxanna!" Azul tried to shout, but the words died in his throat as she leaned over him.
Without hesitation, Roxanna poured her own blood onto his wounds.
The moment her blood touched him, Azul's entire body tensed. Her blood was scorching hot—like molten fire—burning through the damaged flesh as it forced the wounds to close. Torn muscles tightened and knitted back together, the skin sealing itself shut as if thousands of tiny needles were stitching him from the inside out.
In less than a minute, his wounds completely vanished from his skin.
[Ding! Azul's affection increased by 10%]