bantayden Chapter 266: The Trouble of an Empty Home
Chapter 266: The Trouble of an Empty Home
A soft, fluffy little cub plunged into his arms.
The little one probably wasn’t fully awake; she must have followed the scent of her father out of the shelter.
After sensing her father’s strong scent, she closed her big eyes, flopped onto his leg, and fell completely asleep.
Jin Ling’s heart melted as he gazed at the round, pale, and tender little face. When he looked up, he met Qiao Xixi’s helpless gaze.
The sleeping cub had been restless, as if looking for something. No amount of coaxing had worked, so she’d let her crawl outside to see what she wanted.
Who would have thought the little one would run off to find her father?
"I’ll take An’an. Xixi, you go get some sleep."
Qiao Xixi nodded and went back into the shelter.
Jin Ling shifted into his beast form, letting the cub rest in the crook of his arm, completely shielding her.
Mo Yan, who was leaning against a tree not far away, heard the even breathing of the others and closed his eyes as well.
Everyone slept soundly. To minimize the risk of Qiao Xixi and the cubs encountering danger on the road, they had a simple meal and set off right after.
Qiao Xixi, holding the tiger cub and Xiya, was curled up inside Sunxiao’s long tail. To speed things up, Jin Ling and the others carried Qiao Qiao and the rest on their backs, advancing quickly through the mountains.
As they entered the mountain forests near the Black Panther Tribe, the number of wild beasts began to increase.
Jin Ling had Qiao Qiao move onto Sunxiao, while he walked at the very front to clear a path.
Sunxiao and Sangze traveled in the middle with the cubs. Qiao Xixi beckoned to Mo Yan, who was behind her, and he came forward, pleasantly surprised.
"Can you change into your beast form?"
Mo Yan nodded and, in the blink of an eye, transformed into a small black dragon. It was no wonder they had all mistaken him for a black snake; before the horns on his head had grown in, he had looked remarkably like one.
Just as Qiao Xixi was about to scoop him up, a chubby little hand beat her to it, grabbing Mo Yan and swinging him happily through the air.
"An’an, you can’t do that."
The little tiger cub felt that her father and mother had been getting angry very easily these last two days, and she pouted, feeling wronged.
Mo Yan, who had been dizzy from the little tiger cub’s swinging, grew anxious the moment he recovered a bit and saw the cub’s pitiful expression.
"I’m fine! Please don’t scold An’an."
Qiao Xixi found it quite cute watching Mo Yan, who was so anxious his tail was wagging back and forth.
’System, are you sure Mo Yan is the male lead? He doesn’t seem majestic or domineering at all.’
’Host, he’s just a cub right now! You tell me, how is a cub supposed to be majestic and domineering?!’
’Qiao Xixi didn’t say anything, her mind filled with the trope of a "fiercely cute" three-year-old master descending from a mountain to conquer all before him.’
"An’an is very strong. She could hurt you."
"She won’t. An’an is—MMF!"
Before Mo Yan could finish speaking, the little tiger cub let out a RAWR and chomped his entire head into her mouth!
"An’an!"
Qiao Xixi frantically pried open the cub’s mouth to pull Mo Yan out, then had Qiao Qiao check him for injuries.
Mo Yan, covered in drool and still a bit dazed, had only one thought in his head: ’That lady was right. An’an is really, really strong!’
With Qiao Xixi holding the cub, their journey was a rowdy one. By the time the cubs started getting sleepy, they had arrived outside the Black Panther Tribe just before dusk.
Outside the Black Panther Tribe, things were just as chaotic as when they’d left. The ground was littered with traces of the previous battle, though the bodies of the beastmen had been cleared away.
"That’s strange. How is there not a single beastman on guard outside the tribe?"
"I’ll go in first to check on the situation. You all wait out here."
"Be careful."
Jin Ling nodded and walked into the tribe.
The tribe was completely different from its previous bustling state. It was eerily quiet. The beastmen who had originally lived in the tribe seemed to have vanished into thin air, nowhere to be seen.
As Jin Ling passed a stone house, he heard a faint noise from within. He cautiously unsheathed his sharp claws and moved forward.
"Is anyone in here?"
Hearing Jin Ling’s voice, the wooden door was pushed open, and a male fox beastman walked out.
As if uncertain, he moved closer to sniff Jin Ling’s scent and take a good look at him before exclaiming in surprise, "You’re... Jin Ling."
Jin Ling frowned at him, then his eyes widened in realization. "You’re... Loren, Ma Qing’s mate?"
"It’s me! You remember me! This is wonderful. I never thought I’d see you again."
Jin Ling was no less surprised than Loren.
"What are you doing here?"
"Well, that story starts after you all left the Silver Tribe..."
Qiao Xixi was pacing worriedly outside the tribe when, in the next moment, she saw Jin Ling walk out with a fox beastman.
Before Qiao Xixi could react, Feiyan cried out in surprise.
"Loren, what are you doing here?"
"Young Clan Leader!" Loren had already heard from Jin Ling what had happened after they left, but seeing with his own eyes that Feiyan was safe still made him very happy.
"It’s getting dark. Let’s go into the tribe and talk there."
"Okay."
As Qiao Xixi walked into the tribe, she discovered it was completely deserted; she couldn’t see a single beastman.
"Was there really not a single beastman left in the tribe?"
Loren was also shocked. "When we first arrived, there were still some beastmen here. But before long, they all left, one after another."
In the past, many beastmen wanted to settle in the Black Panther Tribe because it was powerful. The tribe had several hunting parties that could provide cubs and females with plenty of food during the harsh winters and scorching summers.
But after all the powerful beastmen migrated to Tiger Beast City, the only ones left were the old, weak, sick, and disabled, or males with little skill. Over time, the fertile females also had their mates take them away.
Qiao Xixi never would have guessed that the "trouble" in the tribe was that it was completely abandoned.
"I’ve been living here for several days now. The entire tribe only has a few dozen beastmen left. Most of them are elderly beastmen in poor health who can’t travel for long periods, along with some sick and weak cubs. Oh, right, there’s also a small group of Wandering Beasts that wandered in. But they just seem to be looking for a place to stay and haven’t caused any trouble."
Qiao Xixi got a detailed picture of the tribe’s current situation from Loren.
The atmosphere grew heavy for a moment.
Seeing Qiao Xixi remain silent, Feiyan said nonchalantly, "It’s just a lack of beastmen, right? The Silver Tribe has plenty. And as it happens, a poisonous miasma has appeared in our territory. I’ll go back and tell my father to have him lead our tribespeople over here."
"That’s right, Qiao Xixi," one of Feiyan’s companions added. "We originally came looking for the Young Clan Leader to ask if there was room for our tribe’s people to settle here. We didn’t expect you all to be gone when we arrived. I’ve already sent a companion back to explain the situation to the Clan Leader. We should hear back soon."
Qiao Xixi wasn’t particularly fazed by the departure of the Black Panther Tribe’s members. There were plenty of beastmen, and it wouldn’t be difficult to absorb others from small or medium-sized tribes. Still, having familiar faces settle in the Black Panther Tribe would be the best-case scenario.