Chapter 187: The Poor Cubs
Manda’s lion ears shot up, and the air in the cave instantly froze.
All the females stopped what they were doing, their sharp gazes shooting toward Su An’an in unison.
"Little female,"
Manda slowly rose, her two-meter-tall frame casting an intensely oppressive shadow in the firelight.
"Do you have any idea what you’re saying?"
"Of course."
Su An’an met her gaze, her cool voice echoing through the silent cave.
"I can neutralize the Two-headed Toad’s toxin. And my..."
She glanced at Seville, who was floating in the air.
"...brother, can find the toad swarm’s weakness."
Seville crossed his arms, his six Wings spreading slightly in an attempt to look majestic and imposing.
Unfortunately, his child-like form made him look more like a ruffled fledgling.
"You can cure the toad’s poison?"
Manda’s voice suddenly turned gentle, but it carried a dangerous undertone.
It was as if she were luring a young beast into exposing its vulnerable throat.
"Little girl, a joke like that could cost you your life."
CLANG!
The brown bear female slammed her Bone Spear into the ground, sending shattered rock splashing at Su An’an’s feet.
"There’s no cure for the Two-headed Toad’s poison!
"Those who are poisoned either wait to die or sever their own limbs!
"So stop spouting bullshit!"
"She really can cure it!"
Lu Ming timidly raised his hand. Under everyone’s watchful eyes, he rolled up his pant leg to reveal his smooth calf.
"I was poisoned today, and she’s the one who healed me."
"You foolish cub!"
The brown bear female roared in her gruff voice.
"You’ve been tricked again, haven’t you?"
"It’s true!"
Just as Lu Ming’s ears drooped in frustration, his nostrils suddenly flared.
He whipped his head toward the cave entrance and said in pleasant surprise,
"Jin Zhu is back! If you don’t believe me, ask her!"
Jin Zhu was walking in, tracking in water. Her Bone Spear was skewered with seven or eight scrawny black-spined fish.
The fish were no bigger than the palm of a hand, their spine-covered backbones sticking out sharply.
Their grayish-white eyes were wide and vacant. They were clearly the lowest quality of Prey.
Water dripped from her soaked Tree Bark Armor, and fresh scratches on her arm were still seeping blood.
"She can indeed cure the Two-headed Toad’s poison."
Jin Zhu flung the black-spined fish into a stone basin. The skinny fish made a dull THUD as they hit the bottom of the empty container.
This was hardly Prey; it was clearly just what they were forced to eat to fill their stomachs during the acid rain season.
Manda’s lion tail slapped anxiously against the ground. "What’s the limit of your healing?"
She stared intently at Su An’an. "Saving one a day isn’t enough."
"I have more than enough power to save a hundred."
A green light suddenly bloomed from Su An’an’s fingertips, illuminating the cave. Vine-like spiritual power unfurled in the air.
Seville’s Wings unconsciously tilted an inch toward the light source.
’This vicious female... right now, she’s so dazzling he can’t look away.’
"Prove it to me!"
Manda turned and dragged out a little one curled up in a pile of beast hides.
It was a Pallas’s cat cub, its round, amber eyes set in a sallow little face.
Its normally fluffy, grayish-white fur was limp and matted.
"It swallowed a black-spined fish bone yesterday."
Manda’s rough fingers brushed over the cub’s swollen belly.
"It’s coughed up blood three times."
Su An’an’s gaze went past Manda’s shoulder, and she suddenly froze.
In the shadows at the back of the cave, a dozen or so small figures were huddled together.
A little wolf cub missing half an ear was secretly licking moss from a crack in the stone.
Beside it, an even smaller marmot cub didn’t even have the strength to stand, lying on the ground gnawing a piece of moldy bark.
"All these cubs’ parents are dead."
Lu Ming sighed and said dejectedly,
"The tribe doesn’t support idle beasts, so Manda is the one taking care of them.
"But food is scarce. Sometimes they don’t even get a share of the black-spined fish."
Seville crossed his arms, his black and white Wings reflecting a cold light off the cave walls.
"The male beasts in your tribe are truly useless."
Lu Ming’s deer ears instantly drooped.
Su An’an wanted to say something, but she found that any words of comfort would be hollow.
This boy, who couldn’t even hold a Fluorescent Frog steady, was indeed a type of weakling she had never seen in the Empire.
"Can you heal it?"
Manda stared intently at Su An’an. The other females held their breath as well.
A glimmer of hope burst forth in the Pallas’s cat cub’s dull, listless eyes.
"I can!"
Su An’an knelt on one knee, and the green light from her palm enveloped the cub like a spring breeze.
A miracle happened before their very eyes.
The cub’s limp fur fluffed up at a visible rate, and a healthy blush returned to its sallow face.
With a soft cry, the little Pallas’s cat suddenly nipped Su An’an’s finger.
It wasn’t an attack, but a cub’s instinctual way of showing affection.
"There are thirty-seven more cubs."
Manda’s voice was hoarse, but she couldn’t hide the tremor in it. "Can you heal them?"
"I can!"
By the time Su An’an finished treating the last cub, a young wolf with a high fever,
the cave was so quiet you could hear the Fluorescent Vines growing.
Lu Ming stared at her still-rosy cheeks and said excitedly,
"That was amazing!"
Seville snorted coldly, but he quietly used one of his Wings to support Su An’an’s trembling wrist.
It was covered in bite marks and scratches left by the cubs.
"This is great!"
The brown bear female slammed her fan-like paws together, the impact shaking the vines on the cave ceiling and making them rustle.
"With her help, let’s see how the Hunting Team can keep monopolizing the Gang Vine now!"
Su An’an keenly caught the keyword. "Gang Vine?"
Lu Ming immediately leaned in to explain, "It’s a type of vine that can grow in the acid rain."
He mimed a weaving motion.
"Cloaks made from it can let Beastmen hunt outside during the rainy season, but the chief gives them all to his cronies."
"We want more than just the Gang Vine!"
A moth-like female suddenly beat her wings, her sharp foreclaws scraping sparks from the stone wall.
"Let’s use this opportunity to drive that old bastard Grey Gang from the chief’s position!"
"Right! Let Manda be the chief!"
The cave instantly erupted, and the cubs began to clamor along with them.
A little one with wolf ears even jumped onto a stone platform and shouted in a squeaky voice,
"Bite... bite the bad wolf to death!"
Manda raised a hand to quiet the commotion and asked Su An’an, "Tell me, what do you want?"
"A way to leave."
Su An’an looked her straight in the eye.
Manda’s mane bristled slightly, and she let out a scoff. "No beast has ever been able to leave this place!"
"The bodies of all the Beastman Warriors who tried to leave are soaking in the Acid Rain Pond."
"Then I’ll change my terms."
Su An’an said, "Tell me everything about the Divine Army."
The temperature in the cave seemed to drop suddenly.
Jin Zhu shot Lu Ming a harsh glare.
Lu Ming’s deer ears pressed flat against the back of his head, and he shrank into a ball.
"Enough."
Manda raised a forepaw, her sharp claws glinting coldly in the firelight.
"Little female, you’re playing with fire."
Su An’an smiled faintly. Blinding, silver-white arcs of electricity suddenly erupted from her fingertips, illuminating her calm face.
"My healing ability can save people."
The arcs crackled. "It can also be a weapon."
Seville’s six Wings abruptly spread, locking onto every female’s throat. "Choose!"
His voice carried an authority that didn’t belong to a child. "Will it be cooperation, or will you become the toads’ dinner!"