Chapter 467: Meeting Her
An Mo, however, was more than happy. He loved anything soft, squishy, and squeezeable.
After devouring a piece of dried meat Xuan Long threw his way, he gathered all three cubs...the snake and the two tigers into a giant, suffocating hug.
"My little fluffy treasures!" An Mo chirped, resuming the journey right alongside Su Qinglan’s group.
He didn’t even ask where they were going. He was just happy to have an audience and some tasty snacks.
But aside from Xiao San, who was enjoying the ride, the tiger cubs were miserable.
They felt like An Mo was trying to squeeze the very breath out of their little bodies.
Why was he holding them so tight? It was like being hugged by a giant, overly enthusiastic octopus.
Xiao Yi had enough. He opened his mouth and bit down hard on An Mo’s forearm.
Crunch!
Instead of a scream of pain from An Mo, Xiao Yi felt a sharp jolt in his own gums.
An Mo’s skin was surprisingly tough for someone who looked so pampered.
Sudden tears pricked Xiao Yi’s golden eyes. His little mouth quirked up at the corners, looking exactly like Su Qinglan when she was trying to hold back a temper tantrum.
He tried his best to stay brave, but the pain in his teeth was too much.
Shi Feng couldn’t stand to see the cub in distress any longer. He stepped forward and plucked the sobbing Xiao Yi out of An Mo’s arms.
"That’s enough. You’re traumatizing the boy," Shi Feng muttered, cradling the cub against his broad chest.
He began to coax him gently, rubbing Xiao Yi’s back until the cub finally let go of his grudge and fell into a deep, exhausted sleep in his fish lion arms.
The journey continued in silence for a while.
All the men remained in their human forms, walking steadily toward the distant. Su Qinglan, tired from the long day and the heat, eventually leaned her head against Xuan Long’s sturdy shoulder.
She tucked her face into the crook of his neck, breathing in his cool, familiar scent, and drifted off into a peaceful slumber while he carried her forward.
The sun began to set, casting long shadows over the small group as they moved closer and closer to the Dragon Beast City.
The days passed quickly as the group moved further away from the desert and back into the lush green grasslands.
They were getting closer to the Dragon Beast City every day, stopping only for quick meals and short naps to keep their strength up.
As they were walking, Su Qinglan suddenly felt a prickle on her skin. She stiffened, her eyes scanning the sky. Someone was staring at her.
The intensity of the gaze was so high it made her heart race, yet she didn’t feel any evil or malice. It was just... overwhelming.
High above, a group of flying beastmen appeared as small dots. But as she watched, they grew larger and larger, circling directly over her group.
The Mermaid Tribe immediately went into a panic. They crowded around their salt bundles, their faces pale with fear.
They thought they were about to be robbed by a powerful aerial tribe.
Looking at the lead hawk, which was so massive it looked like it could crush them in one swoop...the mermen trembled.
However, they looked at Su Qinglan’s husbands and found a bit of courage. With such strong warriors on their side, maybe they wouldn’t be wiped out. They took a defensive stance, refusing to surrender.
The giant hawk in the lead spiraled down gracefully, landing a respectful distance away so as not to seem like an attack. Su Qinglan’s heart hammered against her ribs.
"Xuan Long, put me down," she whispered.
Xuan Long didn’t ask questions. He gently set her on her feet. Su Qinglan stepped forward, but her legs felt like jelly. She stumbled slightly, her body feeling heavy and strange.
Before she could take another step, a figure jumped down from the back of the massive bird.
The woman landed with the grace of a feather. Su Qinglan froze, her breath catching in her throat as she looked at the beautiful woman in front of her.
The woman was breathtaking, possessing a beauty that seemed to belong to a dream rather than the dusty grassland.
She looked like a more mature, regal version of Su Qinglan herself. Her skin was fair and glowing, and her long, blue, silky hair flowed behind her like a river of ink.
She wore a gown that Su Qinglan had never seen before in this beast world. It was a flowing dress made of ethereal, lightweight fabric that shimmered with every movement.
The dress was a soft, pearly white, adorned with delicate embroidery that looked like silver vines.
As the wind caught the long, translucent sleeves and the wide hem of her skirt, she looked less like a beastman and more like a celestial being who had just stepped out of the clouds.
Su Qinglan stared, mesmerized. The woman’s face was elegant, with high cheekbones and eyes that held a depth of wisdom and ancient sorrow.
But right now, those eyes were wide and trembling, fixed entirely on Su Qinglan.
The entire area went silent.
The woman took a shaky step forward, her voice barely a whisper. "Child... you are my child, right?"
Su Qinglan was stunned. She couldn’t form a single word. This woman looked incredibly familiar, yet Su Qinglan knew for a fact she had never seen her before in her life.
Suddenly, a strange sensation gripped her.
She wanted to run to the woman, but her body felt hesitant, as if something inside her was holding her back.
She could see the pure, motherly love in the stranger’s gaze, but her emotions were in a total whirlwind.
Who was this? Her mind was filled with a thousand questions, but her body refused to obey her.
She stood there, trapped between the urge to cry and the shock of a meeting she never expected, staring at the woman who looked like her own reflection in a mirror of the past.