Chapter 194: The Blindingly Handsome Swan
"You’re Seville?"
Manda’s pupils contracted sharply, and her mane bristled unconsciously, as if she were facing an unknown threat.
The male before her was tall and imposing, his silver-purple hair cascading down like a waterfall.
Dark gold wings were folded behind his back, and his entire being exuded a suffocating, oppressive aura.
He stood taller and straighter than any other Beastman present.
His muscles were sleek and powerful, showing absolutely no trace of his former cub self.
Jin Zhu’s gaze lingered on Seville’s adult face for a moment.
Then she glanced at Su An’an’s slightly swollen lips, and at the wing Seville had wrapped protectively around her waist.
She suddenly narrowed her eyes, a meaningful smile spreading across her face.
"Y-You... aren’t you a cub?!"
Xiong Guo stuttered and took a step back, her bear tail poofing up into a fluffy ball.
Her eyes went wide. "And your clothes! They were cub-sized just a moment ago! How did they suddenly become a perfect fit?"
Seville snorted, his beastly eyes sweeping over the crowd. His voice was deep and magnetic, a stark contrast to the adorably fierce tone he had as a cub.
"None of your damn business."
"It’s a high-tech material from the outside world. It can adapt to changes in body size."
Su An’an coughed lightly, jumping in to explain for Seville.
"You’re lying!"
Xiong Guo reached out suspiciously to tug on Seville’s cuff.
"What kind of clothes can grow and shrink on their own? Unless... it’s witchcraft!"
Seville impatiently flicked his hand, and the cuff instantly tightened.
It revealed faint, shimmering silver patterns that looked like some kind of energy circuit.
Startled, Xiong Guo snatched her paw back and muttered, ’So it really is witchcraft?’
Just then, Qiuqiu suddenly poked his head out from Su An’an’s arms, calling out in a sweet, childish voice:
"Hello, aunties!"
The entire crowd fell silent once more.
Manda’s tail froze in midair, her voice cracking as she spoke:
"And who is this?!"
"This is the cub I adopted, Qiuqiu. He was hibernating and only just woke up today."
Su An’an gently stroked Qiuqiu’s curly black hair.
She discreetly wiped away the Crystal Meat crumbs from the corner of his mouth.
"The little lizard?"
Xiong Guo’s ears shot up. She leaned in and poked Qiuqiu’s chubby cheek.
"Amazing! The cubs in our tribe can’t fully take human form until they’re at least five years old."
Manda narrowed her eyes, sizing up the chubby little guy, and asked tentatively, "A King Beast bloodline?"
Su An’an simply smiled without answering.
She was about to rip off a piece of her black combat suit’s sleeve to make clothes for Qiuqiu.
But Seville suddenly grabbed her by the wrist.
"Let me!"
Both black sleeves were ripped off, revealing his powerful, muscular arms.
In a few swift motions, Seville cut the fabric into a small piece and wrapped it around Qiuqiu’s round belly.
He even finished it off by tying a crooked bow with a blade of grass.
Qiuqiu let out an excited "AWOO!", then turned and grabbed a lock of Seville’s silver hair to stuff in his mouth. Seville pinched his cheeks and pulled him away.
"If you bite it again, I’m throwing you back in the swamp."
"By the way, is the Toad King still alive?"
Lu Ming looked toward the swamp in terror.
"The big bad toad is deader than dead!"
Qiuqiu bared his little fangs, waving his chubby paws proudly. "Qiuqiu bit him to death!"
Su An’an stifled a laugh and gently flicked his forehead.
"You little liar. Seville was clearly the one who killed it."
Hearing this, the crowd turned to look at Seville, who stood with his arms crossed.
The evening wind tousled his silver hair. His beastly eyes were half-lidded and he remained silent, as if tacitly admitting it, yet also as if he disdained to explain.
"What about the Toad King’s Crystal Meat?"
Xiong Guo asked, scratching her head cluelessly.
Seville’s beastly eyes turned cold, his gaze cutting toward her like a knife.
"I ate it. You got a problem with that?"
The air instantly froze.
A chill ran down Xiong Guo’s spine. She hurriedly rubbed her hands together and forced a laugh.
"G-Good that you ate it! Excellent! A truly... first-rate meal!"
Jin Zhu rolled her eyes, grabbed her by the arm, and dragged her back toward the group.
"Shut up and keep moving!"
Su An’an drew closer to Seville, still holding Qiuqiu.
Her lips brushed against his ear. "There’s still half of the Crystal Meat left."
She deliberately breathed a puff of warm air. "Enough for Qiuqiu to evolve again, you know!"
The tips of Seville’s ears instantly turned red.
His black and white wings spread in a half-arc with a SWISH, but they snapped shut the moment the others turned to look.
He clenched his jaw, forcing two words through his teeth: "Keep it!"
Su An’an suppressed a smile. ’Teasing this venom-tongued Swan is getting more and more fun,’ she thought.
The setting sun stretched their shadows.
Qiuqiu pawed at Seville’s long, silver-purple hair, gnawing on it until it was covered in drool, only to receive a disgusted flick on the forehead.
Up ahead, the females laughed as they tallied their spoils.
Xiong Guo’s tone-deaf rendition of a tribal ditty drifted over.
"A hundred pieces of high-Energy toad Crystal Meat!"
Lu Ming patted the bulging beast-hide pouch, a blissful smile on her face.
"If we cut off a small piece each time to go with black-spined fish and sweet tree roots, it’ll be enough to feed the cubs well!"
Manda’s lion tail swished lightly, a rare smile gracing her lips.
"We’re guaranteed to win this year’s hunting festival!"
The silhouette of the Gray Stone Tribe emerged in the twilight, but the usual plumes of cooking smoke were replaced by a dead silence.
"Huh? Why is it so quiet?"
Xiong Guo’s laughter died in her throat.
Jin Zhu and Manda’s fur bristled simultaneously as they bolted toward the tribe’s stockade like lightning.
"Manda! Jin Zhu!"
A skeletal Linda leaped down from the watchtower, her face deathly pale and her voice trembling.
"The hunting grounds have been contaminated by Mutant Beasts! The clan leader and the others are all seriously injured! We can’t hunt Nightlight Frogs anymore."
Manda looked as if she had been struck by lightning, the joy from the hunt instantly frozen.
The Green Light Frogs were the tribe’s main source of food. Now that the area was contaminated, it was a death sentence.
"Even if we make it through the acid rain season, we’ll just be waiting to die."
She muttered, her nails digging deep into her palm.
Jin Zhu firmly grasped Manda’s trembling shoulders.
"Don’t panic. The toad meat we just brought back will last us for a while. Let’s go see the clan leader first."
Manda took a deep breath, then turned to Su An’an and Seville.
"Come with us."
"Okay," Su An’an nodded.
Seville silently moved to stand protectively behind her.
His dark gold wings spread slightly, shielding her from curious gazes.
Linda stared at the adult Seville and the child, Qiuqiu, in Su An’an’s arms. Just as she was about to speak, Xiong Guo grabbed her.
"No stupid questions! Just lead the way!"
The Old Wolf Clan Leader’s hut was filled with the thick stench of blood.
The Old Wolf Clan Leader had blood-soaked herbs wrapped around his side, his right paw twisted out of shape.
More than twenty Beastman Warriors lay scattered about, and the most severely injured—a young wolf—had his entire right arm stripped to the bone.
"The Nightlight Frog nest to the north is completely gone."
The Old Wolf coughed up blood with every word. "The only Green Light Frogs left are in the spawning pool in the Tumu Tribe’s territory."
"We can’t defeat them."
A Gray Wolf Beastman growled in despair, his paw trembling beneath a poultice.
"To go to war would mean the end of our clan!"
The air in the hut seemed to congeal. The injured Beastmen hung their heads, their very breathing heavy with despair.
"We don’t have to go to war!"
Just then, Manda stepped forward.
She slammed the heavy beast-hide pouch onto a stone platform with a THUD.
The pouch fell open, revealing a mountain-like pile of Two-headed Toad Crystal Meat that shimmered silver in the firelight.
"Th-This is...?!"
A young Leopard Beastman’s eyes widened, his voice trembling.
"Crystal Meat from a Two-headed Toad?!"
The Gray Wolf’s ears shot up, and he leaped to his feet in excitement.
"Even other Mutant Beasts don’t dare approach their toxic swamp, yet you managed to hunt so much of it?!"
The entire hut instantly erupted in commotion, the Beastmen all talking at once.
"Impossible! Their venom can corrode solid rock!"
"Manda, how did you all manage it?!"
"With this much Crystal Meat, we can make it through the entire acid rain season!"
Xiong Guo flicked her tail proudly and announced in a loud voice:
"It’s all thanks to Su An’an and Seville!"