Chapter 149: Because, You’re Weak
"Open the door! Beastkin inside, open up!"
The black bear male pounded impatiently on the wooden door, but there was no sound from within.
Soon, his shouting attracted other males from the patrol.
"Bai Que said the outsiders living here just arrived a few days ago. They must be in there. Break it down."
After speaking, the black bear male quickly backed up a few steps, preparing to ram the door.
However, just as he took a running start and was about to crash into it, the courtyard gate suddenly swung open, and a white cat female walked out.
"Can I help you?"
The black bear male couldn’t stop in time and charged right into the courtyard, crashing into a wall.
The white cat female’s mouth hung open in surprise. "What on earth are you doing?"
The other patrol males stared warily at the white cat female, moving closer to sniff her scent.
"What were you just doing? Why did it take you so long to open the door?"
The white cat female yawned. "I was sleeping. Did something happen?"
"We’re hunting the beastkin who harmed the tribe’s cubs. If you see an unfamiliar female Wandering Beast with three Wandering Beast cubs and a Golden Tiger Beast, report it to the patrol immediately."
"Alright."
With that said, the patrol turned and left.
Watching them disappear into the distance, Qiao Xixi returned to the courtyard, closed the gate, and took out a piece of animal hide to wipe the pale yellow mud from her face.
Beastkin primarily identified each other by scent. Although they also relied on appearance, they trusted scent far more. That’s why she had altered her own scent and made some minor changes to her face, making it difficult for them to recognize her.
After closing the gate, Qiao Xixi went to the backyard and called Jin Ling and the others back into the house.
"Let’s not go out for the next few days. If we absolutely have to, we must use scent-concealing powder to mask our scents."
"Mm."
「Meanwhile, in the Hopeless Abyss.」
The party from the Divine Leopard Tribe made their way deeper into the abyss.
Their leader was a Golden Lion male. His amber eyes swept coolly over Sunxiao and Feiyan, who were trailing behind him.
He had been aware all along that Sunxiao and Feiyan were following his group. But since they hadn’t made any unusual moves, he hadn’t confronted them.
But now, what they were about to do could not be known to outsiders. He could no longer allow them to follow.
Tulun approached Sunxiao and his companion.
"You’ve been following our group for a while. What do you want?"
Feiyan answered without batting an eye, "A few days ago, a companion of mine was killed by a magical beast in the Hopeless Abyss. We came in to hunt them."
Tulun frowned. "What tribe are you from?"
"Why all the questions? Are you planning to join us in hunting magical beasts?"
Tulun’s gaze darkened as he studied Feiyan. This snow fox male appeared nonchalant, but his words left no openings.
"The magical beasts are mostly in that forest over there. If you’re looking for them, go that way. As for the path ahead, that is not a place for you."
With that, Tulun left two male beastkin to stand guard while he led the rest of his party toward the other forest.
Sunxiao glanced in the direction Tulun had left, then turned and headed in the direction the lion had pointed.
Feiyan looked confused, but with the two males watching, he had no choice but to follow Sunxiao.
Only after they were a safe distance away did Feiyan ask, "He told us not to go that way, which means there’s definitely something strange in that direction. Why are you just obediently coming over here?"
Sunxiao pointed expressionlessly toward the woods ahead. "We can circle around through here."
Feiyan was a bit surprised. "How do you know that?"
Sunxiao didn’t answer him, simply walking straight ahead.
As they passed through the dense mountain forest, Feiyan felt the surrounding light grow dimmer, and a thick black fog began to drift before them.
Feiyan was shocked. "What is this?"
"The Black Miasma Forest."
The farther they went, the thicker the black fog became, and an uncomfortable feeling washed over Feiyan.
"This black fog is strange. It feels like it’s suppressing my beast soul."
Sunxiao stared into the depths of the black fog, his scarlet snake pupils growing darker.
"The mineral vein is on the other side of this fog."
Feiyan, feeling unwell, released the power of his beast soul to disperse the fog around him. As the black miasma thinned in his immediate vicinity, he finally felt some relief.
"Why aren’t you affected at all?"
Sunxiao shot him a cold glance. "Because you’re weak."
Feiyan gritted his teeth. ’You damn sneaky snake! If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be in this godforsaken place!’
He didn’t know how long they had been walking when a black river appeared before them.
The thick black fog was emanating from this very river.
"Why is the river water black?"
Feiyan took a step closer to the riverbank, but as soon as he did, black tentacles shot out of the water, trying to ensnare him.
Startled, Feiyan’s hand instantly transformed into a sharp claw, slicing through the approaching black tentacles.
The severed tentacles fell to the ground and instantly dissolved into puddles of black water.
Feiyan retreated quickly. Once he had backed up to a certain distance, he saw the tentacles retract back into the water on their own.
"You damn snake! You were just standing there without moving because you knew that disgusting thing was in the water, didn’t you?"
Sunxiao’s snake eyes were cold. "Yes."
Feiyan was so angry he nearly jumped. "You knew! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!"
Sunxiao gave him a cool look. "I forgot."
"You!"
"To reach the mineral vein, we have to cross this Black Water River."
As they were speaking, they suddenly spotted Tulun and his group not far away, also on the bank of the Black Water River.
They didn’t seem to have noticed the two of them, their attention focused on dealing with the tentacles lunging from the river.
But what struck Feiyan as odd was that after dodging the tentacles, the males with Tulun began jumping into the water one by one.
The males who jumped in dove straight under, but they would quickly resurface, as if they were searching for something in the water.
"What are they doing?"
"Looking for dark stones."
Feiyan knew what dark stones were. They were raw stones capable of suppressing a beast soul. ’Why would the males of the Divine Leopard Tribe need so many dark stones?’
"So their stated purpose for entering the Hopeless Abyss was actually a cover for finding these dark stones."
"Mm."
Once Tulun’s group had obtained the dark stones, the beastkin on the bank quickly pulled them out, and they all departed.
"What do we do now?"
Sunxiao had already shifted into his beast form. His massive snake head turned toward Feiyan.
"You stay on the bank and wait for me to come back."
Feiyan frowned. He was about to object, but Sunxiao had already slithered into the water.
The moment he entered, the pitch-black river water began to boil as countless tentacles erupted, stabbing toward Sunxiao.
"Sunxiao!"
Feiyan had just moved closer when black tentacles shot toward him, forcing him to dodge quickly.
The black water churned. With a whip of his long tail, Sunxiao snapped the tentacles one by one. But his snake pupils were gradually turning a vivid, bloody red.
The black tentacles quickly wrapped around Sunxiao, dragging him viciously under the water.
Feiyan watched from the bank, frantic with worry. When Sunxiao didn’t reappear after a long moment, he had no choice but to jump into the water himself.
The endlessly regenerating tentacles lunged toward him, but just as they were about to touch him, they all suddenly and rapidly retracted.
While Feiyan was still confused, he saw Sunxiao’s massive serpentine body surface.
Black water streamed down his serpentine body. His scarlet eyes were fixed directly on Feiyan.
"Sunxiao, are you okay?"
Sunxiao flicked his forked tongue. It then lowered, and he opened his cavernous maw to bite down on Feiyan.