XiShi perched beside XueLing, who, frankly, acted like he'd single-handedly purchased the entire venue. The man had a knack for turning her insides into an acrobatic butterfly show―a performance she was so over ( no she's not ), hah.

"We will be starting the auction," the host announced, his voice echoing through the hall.

A whole gaggle of beastmen had turned up, most sporting the fancy, rarely-seen awakened beast soul. The ranking system? A complete mystery, even if the novel had bothered to explain it. What XiShi did know was this: ten stars on a beastman's soul pattern apparently meant demigod status. And if she remembered correctly, XueLing was offered to become a full-blown god in the book, but didn't accept the offer for some reason, it was something she learned from the spoilers (and he's, like, a thousand++ years old by canon law). His origin? A complete blank in the novel , at least till she got to read before she died. So, yeah, zero stars on his soul pattern , and he was strong, this guy was definitely in the demigod league. Not a demigod yet.......but definitely could've been.

"Like what you see? My dearest," XueLing purred, pulling her closer, his hand squeezing her waist. She could feel the blush creeping up her neck, as if her body needed a reminder of how gorgeous he was and how , she was totally not used to this treatment. "We could ditch this place and have some actual fun, just you and me."

"Shut up," she grumbled, turning her attention back to the stage.

The auction was underway, the host rambling on about some garbage she couldn't be bothered to register. Around twenty men were parading onstage. Okay, XueLing was right―fewer men than expected.

"You know," XueLing said, a rather disturbing smile playing on his lips, "sometimes the host even lets the winner fight the female's mate. It's a little check-out-the-goods thing, making sure the male they've got isn't a complete dud."

"How do you even know about this place?" XiShi finally asked, the question itching at the back of her mind.

"Been alive for quite a while, my life," he intoned, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Back in the day, my tribe was the bee's knees. Fancy gatherings like this were standard fare."

"Now," he chuckled, pointing towards the stage, "eyes on the prize, my love." Turns out, most of the men on stage had their gazes locked right on her.

Damn.

Was she that pretty?

"You're my mate, after all," XueLing chimed in, the words dripping with a smugness that was, annoyingly, kind of endearing.