Chapter 192: The Disingenuous Swan
"Stinky Bear, who said you could follow us?"
Manda’s Lion Tail whipped against the ground, cracking it. Her voice was thick with suppressed fury.
Xiong Guo spat, her face full of disgust.
"Is this that disgusting stealth ability of yours again? What can you do besides peeping and launching sneak attacks?"
"Cut the crap!"
Stinky Bear stared intently at Su An’an. "I just saw you detoxify Xiong Guo!"
"Hurry up and detoxify me!"
Su An’an gently crushed an Ice Crystal between her fingertips, the corner of her lip curling into a cold sneer.
"Oh? My ability... and why should I waste it on you?"
Stinky Bear’s eyes looked ready to pop from their sockets as he struggled to threaten her.
"If you watch me die and do nothing, the chieftain will never let you go! Just wait to be exiled from the tribe!"
Su An’an tilted her head, her smile growing even colder.
"Fine by me, as long as you can make it back alive to tattle."
Stinky Bear froze, then turned to Manda, his voice laced with a final, desperate madness.
"Manda! Don’t you want to take back the chieftain’s position? I can help you! Just make her save me."
"In your dreams!"
Seville’s Wings suddenly unfurled, instantly shielding Su An’an. "No one gets to order her around!"
Su An’an gently placed a hand on his shoulder.
The warmth from her palm made Seville’s muscles tense, but he ultimately made no further move, merely staring daggers at Manda.
Manda’s lion ears twitched slightly, her expression unreadable.
Xiong Guo clenched her fists, her knuckles turning white. The other females exchanged uncertain glances.
No matter how hateful Stinky Bear was, he was still a Warrior of the tribe.
To watch him die and do nothing would violate the tribe’s rules.
"Anan, how about...?"
Manda finally spoke, her voice low. Her Lion Tail slapped anxiously against the ground.
Seville let out a cold laugh, his Wings still half-wrapped around Su An’an like an impenetrable barrier.
Su An’an lowered her gaze, her fingertips gently stroking the Ice Crystal as she spoke in an indifferent tone.
"My ability is limited. If I save him, the next time one of you is injured..."
Before she could finish her sentence.
SHLICK!
The muffled thud of a Bone Spear piercing flesh suddenly exploded through the air!
Blood spattered as Jin Zhu’s face twisted into a vicious grin amidst the bloody mist.
"What’s all the dithering about?"
She twisted her wrist, viciously churning the spearhead inside Stinky Bear’s chest cavity.
"Is a piece of trash like him worthy of wasting your power?"
Su An’an’s pupils contracted sharply.
Stinky Bear, who had been begging for his life just a second ago, was now a corpse at Jin Zhu’s feet.
Jin Zhu shook the blood from her Bone Spear. Her downy black gorilla-like body stood like an iron tower in the morning light.
Droplets of blood splashed into the mud, making a faint SIZZLE, like the swallowed screams of the swamp’s victims.
Her face was still as delicate as a porcelain doll’s, but the splattered bloodstains only made her eyes look colder.
Her eyelashes didn’t even tremble, and there was even the faintest hint of a smile on her lips.
CRACK!
The Bone Spear snapped in two in her grasp. She casually tossed the remains into the swamp.
"It got dirty."
Just those three words plunged the entire female cave team into a dead silence.
Su An’an’s breath hitched.
This "King Kong Barbie," who was usually quiet and always followed behind Manda.
Now seemed like a savage beast that had torn off its disguise, revealing its sharp fangs.
"You were too impulsive!"
Manda’s Lion Tail whipped about irritably, carving cracks into the ground.
She was clearly displeased with Jin Zhu’s unauthorized action.
Jin Zhu flicked the blood from her hand, her tone icy.
"Food, the competition—both are more important than him."
Xiong Guo kicked the bone whistle from Stinky Bear’s clenched hand.
"This bastard was obviously here to ruin our hunt. What’s the use in keeping him alive?"
The other females chimed in with agreement:
"Good riddance!"
"Should’ve dealt with him ages ago!"
Manda’s tail went rigid for a moment. She finally sighed and said in a low voice:
"Bury it deep."
Xiong Guo and Jin Zhu worked together to kick Stinky Bear’s body into the Poisonous Swamp.
The gurgling, bubbling mud devoured the corpse and returned to a calm state in the blink of an eye.
"This female is interesting!"
Seville stared at Jin Zhu’s profile and suddenly let out a low chuckle.
"When Stinky Bear was begging for help, she watched coldly from the sidelines the entire time, but she struck the very instant Manda wavered."
He turned his head to look at Su An’an, a slight smile on his lips. "Timing, ruthlessness, decisiveness—she’s got it all."
Su An’an raised an eyebrow, exchanging a look of tacit understanding with him.
’She’s chieftain material.’
Jin Zhu suddenly whipped her head around. Her gaze swept over Su An’an and Seville, and she cracked a smile.
"Next time someone gives you trouble..."
She paused, then added meaningfully, "Just tell me."
Seville scoffed, his Wings spreading slightly, casting a sharp shadow in the sunlight.
"What a coincidence. I was about to say the same thing."
’I really want to kiss Seville’s cute little face,’ Su An’an thought, a smile playing on her lips.
Manda’s Lion Tail tensed. Her gaze swept across the three of them before she finally gave a low command:
"Continue the hunt!"
The sun sank in the west, and a faint toxic mist spread across the swamp.
After more than three straight hours of slaughter, the remains of Two-headed Toads were piled up like a mountain.
Su An’an’s fingertips trembled slightly from constantly forming Ice Crystals.
Jin Zhu’s black downy fur was caked with mud.
Even a veteran like Xiong Guo had trembling arms, barely able to hold her Stone Blade.
Manda shook the slime from her Lion Tail and said in a low voice:
"That’s enough for today."
The females immediately cheered.
"The cubs will get to eat their fill tonight!"
"I’m going to make a thick soup with the Crystal Meat!"
Su An’an let out a long sigh of relief. Just as she was about to sit down and rest, she caught sight of Seville’s Wings out of the corner of her eye.
The edges of those wings, which were always spread so sharply, were now showing festering purple blotches.
Her heart clenched, and she immediately grabbed his wing bone.
"Don’t move!"
Ice Crystals spread from her palm, rapidly neutralizing the toxin.
"When were you injured?!"
Seville looked down at her, his amber pupils narrowing slightly.
"During my twenty-seventh dive. A toad counterattacked just before it died."
He said it matter-of-factly, as if discussing the weather.
"The toad’s corrosive toxin causes bone-deep pain! Why didn’t you tell me?!"
Su An’an gripped Seville’s wing tightly, her fingertips trembling with anger.
Seville’s amber eyes flickered with a cold glance, his tone indifferent.
"It’s just a minor injury."
"A minor injury?!"
Su An’an suddenly yanked the festering edge of his wing, and dark purple, toxic blood immediately oozed out.
HISS!
Seville’s muscles tensed abruptly, and his teeth ground together, but he still forced himself not to make a sound.
Su An’an sneered.
"I thought you said it didn’t hurt?"
A dark fire churned in the depths of Seville’s eyes. Just as he was about to speak...
GROOAAR!!!
BOOM!
A two-meter-tall black shadow burst through the toxic mist, its six cloudy compound eyes locking onto the group.
The swamp churned. The remains of the slaughtered Two-headed Toads rose and fell in the mud, transformed into the king’s wrath.
"Look out!"
Seville’s pupils contracted. His Wings snapped open, the scarred membranes wrapping tightly around Su An’an.
SPLAT!
Corrosive slime slammed viciously onto his back. The impact sent his small body staggering, but he held his ground and refused to retreat.
An ice-blue halo instantly formed at Su An’an’s fingertips as she pressed her hand against his scorched Wings.
But in the instant the healing light flared!
WHOOSH!
The Toad King’s scarlet tongue shot through the air, so fast it was just a blur!
Before Su An’an could even cry out, she was being dragged toward the depths of the swamp!
"Anan!!"
Seville’s roar tore through the toxic mist.
Without hesitation, without a second thought, his small body shot forward like an arrow released from a bow.
Dragging his festering Wings, he plunged into the deadly mud!