Chapter 154: I Suspect You’re Telling a Bald-Faced Lie
"Sangze?"
His black leopard ears twitched slightly, as if he were listening intently for what Qiao Xixi would say next.
But when a long moment passed and she still hadn’t spoken, he couldn’t help but turn his head, only to see her beaming face up close.
Sangze froze. His leopard ears twitched rapidly in nervousness. ’The little female... she’s so beautiful.’
"Um, I seem to have forgotten what happened in the past for... some reason. So, could you tell me about it? This is some brittle candy I made myself. It’s for you."
Sangze lowered his gaze, looking curiously at the candy in her small hand. "What’s... candy?"
"It’s something that tastes sweet. It’s really good. Want to try some?"
Sangze picked up a piece of the brittle candy and put it in his mouth. His eyes lit up.
"It’s delicious! So, this is the taste of candy."
"Female mother, want! Sangqi wants some too!"
Qiao Xixi turned and popped a piece of candy into Sangqi’s mouth.
Sangqi held it in his mouth, content. His simple, goofy look was the spitting image of Sangze.
"Qiao Lie?"
Qiao Lie shook his head. He wasn’t particularly fond of sweet things.
So, Qiao Xixi secretly slipped a piece of jerky into his hand.
"So, can you tell me now?"
After eating the brittle candy, Sangze’s gloomy mood instantly lifted.
"For some reason, you came here. Then you gave me a fruit to eat, and then... we mated. After that, you left. I found Sangqi in the woods, and once I knew he was my bloodline, I took him with me."
It was a very brief description, but Qiao Xixi understood. ’So, it was another case of the original host forcing herself on someone? Just how many males did she mess with?!’
"You never saw me again after that?"
Sangze shook his head. "No. Why did you leave back then? Was it because you hate me?"
Qiao Xixi couldn’t answer that question. After all, the original host had left no memories about this whatsoever.
But she was truly curious. ’Judging by the original host’s usual behavior, if she forced herself on Sangze, it must have been because she was drawn to his strength. But why leave after the deed was done?’
Qiao Xixi shook her head. ’Never mind. Now’s not the time to think about this.’
"Sangze, have you and Sangqi been living here all these years?"
Sangze nodded. "This is my and Sangqi’s home."
Qiao Xixi used the faint white light to scan her surroundings. It looked like a large pit. Looking up, she could see a small patch of sky, and the sides were all stone walls. Inside the pit, apart from a few scattered animal bones and some beast hides so filthy their color was unrecognizable, there was nothing.
Qiao Xixi couldn’t imagine it. The father and son had actually lived in this godforsaken place for years.
"Why don’t you go live in the Divine Leopard Tribe?"
The moment Qiao Xixi finished speaking, Sangqi quickly looked at Sangze and blurted out anxiously, "Because they misunderstood Father Beast! That’s why they kicked us out! My Father Beast is a good beastman, not a criminal!"
Sangqi was so agitated that his words came out jumbled, but Qiao Xixi still caught the key piece of information. "Your Father Beast is a criminal?"
The so-called "criminals" were beastmen who had committed offenses within the tribe. Such beastmen were often exiled.
"I gravely injured my mother."
Qiao Xixi stared at Sangze in astonishment. She found it hard to imagine someone with his temperament harming his own mother.
Sangze’s expression was pained. "So my brother and my Father Beast exiled me to this place, forbidding me from ever leaving."
Qiao Xixi didn’t know what the truth of the matter was, so she couldn’t pass judgment. She could only change the subject.
"So what do you eat, living here?"
Hearing this, Sangze looked a little lost. "Every day, a dead beast appears in the pit. We eat its meat. It’s just that Sangqi is mischievous and always likes to run off."
Qiao Xixi curiously looked up at the deep sinkhole. ’The beasts don’t just wander in and fall to their deaths, do they? Are they that stupid?’
Hearing this, Sangqi puffed out his little cheeks and said nothing. ’It was obviously Father Beast who told me my female mother was outside and that I should go look for her!’
"Well, is there anything to eat here now?"
Sangze looked around, his eyes full of confusion. "Strange. Why hasn’t any prey fallen down today?"
Sangqi kept his head down and didn’t make a sound.
When they weren’t looking, Qiao Xixi pretended to pull some jerky from her clothes.
"I have some here. If you don’t mind, have some? This is jerky. It’s a bit tough, but it tastes pretty good."
Sangqi held the jerky with his two little paws and began to gnaw on it with all his might.
Sangze also squatted on the ground, holding the jerky with both hands and gnawing away. He looked just like a big black dog, not a leopard at all.
When they had almost finished eating, Qiao Xixi took out a waterskin and let the two cubs have a drink.
The sweet water from the Spiritual Spring went down, and the cubs’ bodies felt much more comfortable.
Qiao Xixi also took a few sips from the waterskin, and the fatigue throughout her body was swept away.
Just as Qiao Xixi was about to put the waterskin away, she looked up and saw Sangze staring at her eagerly.
"What is that thing you have?"
"A beast-hide bag for holding water."
"Can I have a drink?"
Huh?
’That’s... probably not a good idea...’
But Sangze’s mismatched eyes were glistening, and Qiao Xixi had the distinct feeling that if she refused, she would be the villain.
’Oh, whatever. We’re out in the wild, no need to sweat the small stuff.’
"Go on, have a drink."
Having gotten Qiao Xixi’s permission, Sangze happily took the waterskin and started to drink.
"This water is delicious. It’s as sweet as candy."
Seeing how happy he was, Qiao Xixi seized the opportunity to ask, "Sangze, do you know how to mine for Saint Crystals?"
Sangze nodded. "I do. If you’re looking for Saint Crystals, I can help you."
Qiao Xixi felt a little embarrassed. ’This black leopard is just too nice!’
Qiao Lie watched Sangze, then silently moved to Sangqi’s side and asked in a low voice, "Your Father Beast... has he always been like this?"
Sangqi looked at Qiao Lie, thought for a moment, and understood what he meant. "He’s always like this."
Qiao Lie shot Sangqi a cool glance. He was pretty sure the cub was telling a blatant lie.
Sangze said that although the mineral vein was in the pit, he knew of a place where they could mine Saint Crystals more quickly.
"Do we have to go up?"
Sangze nodded. "I can carry you up."
"Then I’ll have to trouble you."
Qiao Xixi had originally planned to use the Long-tongued Vine, but on second thought, she decided against it. Less trouble was better. So she simply climbed onto Sangze’s back and let him carry her and the cubs out of the sinkhole.
The sinkhole was deep, and it took them a good while to climb out.
The moment they reached the top of the pit, Qiao Xixi discovered that the illusion here wasn’t dark and gloomy like the one they’d come through. Instead, it looked like an ordinary mountain forest.
"It’s up ahead."
Sangze led them through the forest and stopped before a mountain range.
"The Saint Crystals are right in this spot, but they’re buried very deep underground. It takes a long time to dig them out. And it’s very dangerous down there. A lone female like you probably can’t handle it."
"Host, Host, this is it! I can already detect the power of the Saint Crystals!"
A delighted expression appeared on Qiao Xixi’s face as she looked at the mountain range before her, completely oblivious to the darkening sky and the gradual change in Sangze’s eyes.
"Sangze, this is the place you were talking about, right?"
Qiao Xixi turned around and jumped in fright. At some point, Sangze had come up behind her, his chest nearly pressing against her back.
"So, the little female came for the Saint Crystals after all."
The night shrouded his ruggedly handsome face, leaving only his mismatched eyes gleaming with a faint, cold light in the darkness.