Chapter 153: Don’t Let Him Disgrace Me
A sharp pain shot through the back of Sangze’s hand. He glanced down to see a small, crimson snake viciously biting him.
"A Sky-Swallowing Python cub?"
Qiao Lie didn’t let go, his crimson snake eyes just glared coldly at him.
"Sunxiao’s cub." Sangze suddenly sneered, flipping his hand over and snatching Qiao Lie into his grasp.
Qiao Lie struggled, twisting his serpentine body, but he couldn’t break free from the power of Sangze’s grip.
"Let go of little brother Qiao Lie!"
Sangqi gritted his teeth and shuffled over, patting Sangze with his small leopard paws.
Sangze glanced down and picked Sangqi up.
"Cub, you’re actually defending other beastmen? Didn’t you hate them the most? Hmm? And how are you able to speak so clearly? Stick out your tongue."
Sangqi, face stern, stuck out his tongue.
Seeing his whole tongue, Sangze’s eyes darkened. "What happened?"
"It was Mama and my sister who healed me. So you absolutely, absolutely cannot hurt them!"
"Oh?"
Sangze glanced at the small female in his arms and suddenly let go.
Qiao Xixi tumbled from his embrace, falling heavily to the ground. He also carelessly tossed Qiao Lie aside.
"Hiss... I can’t kill her. How boring."
After speaking, he got up, walked to a darker corner, sat down, and closed his eyes.
But soon, he opened his eyes again and looked at Sangqi. "Don’t let that idiot do something stupid. He’d be a disgrace to me."
Sangqi gritted his teeth without a word, struggled to climb down to the ground, and shuffled over to Qiao Xixi.
"Mama, Mama."
Qiao Lie also shifted back to his human form and ran over. "Mama, Mama, please wake up."
Qiao Xixi heard the cubs calling her. ’I want to tell them I’m okay, that they shouldn’t be afraid,’ she thought, ’but no matter how hard I try, I can’t open my eyes.’
A sliver of white light pierced the thick darkness, plunging into a bottomless pit and illuminating a corner so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.
Qiao Xixi’s eyelashes trembled. She slowly opened her eyes and looked down to see Qiao Lie and Sangqi snuggled up in her arms, asleep.
She reached out and touched the cubs’ little faces. After confirming they were all right, she looked up.
But the moment she raised her head, she was met with a handsome, incredibly innocent-looking face.
His long black hair was slightly curly. His features, taken individually, weren’t particularly perfect, but together they were indescribably handsome. This was especially true of his heterochromatic eyes—one black, one green—which added an exotic flair.
His skin was a healthy Hei Zong color. His build was tall and slender, yet powerful. Driven by curiosity, his face was practically touching Qiao Xixi’s.
Qiao Xixi had no choice but to lean back.
Sangze stared at her for a moment, then suddenly furrowed his brow, his eyes filled with anger.
"It’s you, you bad female."
Qiao Xixi was dumbfounded. ’What did I do? What?! How did I become a "bad female"?!’
"Why did you abandon Sangqi back then?"
Qiao Xixi froze. ’He’s Sangqi’s father?’
’Help me!’
’There’s nothing about this in the original owner’s memories!’
"I... um, I got lost. By the time I tried to come back, I couldn’t find the way."
Sangze gazed at her, as if trying to determine if she was lying. "Really?"
Qiao Xixi nodded hurriedly. "Really! You have to believe me!"
Sangze suddenly smiled, revealing two deep dimples. His smile was so disarmingly sweet and simple.
"Then I believe you."
’He... just believed me?’
Qiao Xixi wasn’t the only one dumbfounded; so was Qiao Lie, who had already taken a defensive stance.
He knew perfectly well that this black panther male had wanted to kill his mama last night. That’s why he had been on guard the moment he woke up, to prevent the male from harming her.
But strangely, not only did he not harm Mama, he even seemed a bit dim-witted, just like Feiyan.
"Mama, Mama."
Sangqi woke up too, pawing at Qiao Xixi and calling out to her.
Qiao Xixi came to her senses, picked him up, and whispered, "Sangqi, he’s your father, right?"
Sangqi nodded. "Mama, the daytime father won’t hurt you."
Qiao Xixi found that strange. ’What does he mean, he won’t hurt me during the day? Does that mean he will at night?’
’Whatever. First, I need to figure out where we are.’
"Xiaoyao, Xiaoyao, quick, help me check on Qiao Qiao and the others."
"Don’t worry, Host. Jin Ling and the others have already found the cub Qiao Qiao. They’re still in the Hopeless Abyss and seem to be heading toward the mineral vein. Sunxiao is also still looking for the vein."
"Are they all okay?"
"For now, they’re fine, Host."
’As long as they’re okay.’
Qiao Xixi stood up, holding Sangqi. She needed to find the mineral vein too, so she could meet up with Jin Ling and the others.
But just as she stood up, Sangze grabbed her arm.
"You’re leaving again?" His deep voice was filled with helplessness.
Qiao Xixi paused. Meeting his heterochromatic eyes, she really felt like a scumbag of a woman abandoning her husband and child!
"I need to find the mineral vein."
"But this is the mineral vein."
Qiao Xixi was stunned. "This is the mineral vein?"
Sangze nodded. "The vein is right under your feet."
Qiao Xixi immediately called for Xiaoyao. "Xiaoyao, is he telling the truth?"
"Huh? Host, let me run a scan."
The dial tone in her ear had just faded when she heard Xiaoyao say excitedly, "Yes, Host! The mineral vein is right under your feet!"
Qiao Xixi was thrilled. With the vein right here, finding the Saint Crystal should be much easier. "Quick, tell me, where is the Saint Crystal?"
"It’s in the mineral vein."
"Be more specific!"
"Host, I really can’t be more specific than that. You have to dig down. I can only give you a general location."
Qiao Xixi immediately opened the coordinates Xiaoyao sent. After seeing them clearly, she was dumbfounded again.
This was the mineral vein, all right, but it was buried deep underground. Very deep!
"What do these little red dots on the map mean?"
"Host, you’ve played treasure-hunting games, right? What treasure trove doesn’t have a monster guarding it?"
Qiao Xixi: ...
"Are you saying the places marked in red are all monsters?"
"Uh, that’s not the wrong way to look at it. Basically, they’re potential dangers."
Qiao Xixi almost laughed in exasperation as she looked at the red dots. ’There are more of them than freckles!’
"Do you want to mine?" Sangze had appeared behind her at some point. His warm breath tickled her neck, making her flinch and quickly take a step forward to put some distance between them.
"Yeah, I’m here to mine."
"Huh? You’re here to mine? You didn’t come looking for me and Sangqi?"
Qiao Xixi: ...
"No... I..."
Sangze’s eyes fell in disappointment. He dejectedly turned, walked to a dark corner, and squatted down, his back to Qiao Xixi, unconsciously drawing circles on the ground with his finger.
Qiao Xixi: ...
’Why do I feel like the big one is harder to handle than the little one?!’
"Oh, right, Sangqi, how did we get here?" She clearly remembered being entangled by that strange tree yesterday.
Sangqi pointed to Sangze, who was sulking gloomily by himself in the corner. "Mama, Father saved us. He brought us here."
’Ah, he’s my savior. I guess I really can’t be too mean to him, then.’