Chapter 182: Are You Secretly Monitoring Me?
Across from Sangze stood Sunxiao, his eyes colder than a winter’s night.
Sangze’s expression was lazy, his wicked gaze sweeping over Sunxiao. "Big snake, I never thought you’d agree to let the little female have other beast husbands. That doesn’t fit your twisted personality. You should have... made them disappear forever."
Sunxiao’s snake-like eyes remained icy. "Right now, what I want more is to make *you* disappear."
His long, crimson hair flared with a startling halo in the dark night. In the next instant, the two figures—one in red, one in black—began to fight in the courtyard.
Both males were venting their frustration and pent-up anger over the little female not being with them.
Qiao Xixi drowsily heard the commotion outside. She wearily pried her eyes open and glanced toward the window.
"What’s wrong? Is something happening?"
Feiyan planted a satisfied kiss on her lips, then deftly closed the window and returned to the bed. "It’s nothing, it’s nothing. Just a couple of rat-beasts fighting over food."
"Oh." Qiao Xixi didn’t think much of it, closed her eyes, and fell back asleep.
"Host, Host, wake up! Wake up!"
Qiao Xixi was jolted awake by the voice in her head. She rolled over and opened her eyes.
’What’s wrong?’
"Quick, come into the space and look! Hurry, hurry, hurry!"
The imp’s chirping voice woke her completely. She entered the space with her consciousness and asked curiously, "What is it?"
"Host, look! Another part of your body’s origin has been lit up."
"Huh?"
Qiao Xixi’s eyes widened. She saw that another part of the previously dim wasteland had been illuminated.
"See? I told you. As long as you properly absorb the energy from your beast husbands, you can quickly activate your body’s origin."
Qiao Xixi looked at the remaining wasteland. "Then I’ll just have to sleep with them more."
"The activation speed from those you’ve already ’harvested’ from will be much, much slower. So, Host, it’s best if you can absorb new energy. Once the entire origin is activated, you’ll be able to increase your combat power!"
Qiao Xixi gazed at the wasteland, which was still the size of a small field. "You mean, here?"
"That’s right."
Qiao Xixi gazed thoughtfully at that small field. "I understand."
Qiao Xixi opened the seeds page in the shop. Now that she had more land, she had to make good use of it, or it would go to waste.
’What’s this Pulan Grass? Its uses... Anti-inflammatory and antibacterial, mostly used to regulate intestinal flora imbalances and kill viruses? A packet of these seeds actually costs 100 points? Why is it so expensive?’
She saw that even the most expensive of the other seeds didn’t exceed 20 points.
"Host, Pulan Grass is extremely effective and can treat many illnesses, which is why the price is higher. Why don’t you try planting some? If you water it with Spiritual Spring water, it will mature in just three days."
’If we get sick, can’t we just have Qiaoqiao heal us with her ability?’
"Host, the cub Qiao Qiao’s ability is only 3-star. There are many illnesses she might not be able to treat. It’s never a bad idea to have some medicinal herbs on hand."
Qiao Xixi thought about it and felt the imp had a point, so she exchanged 100 points for the seeds. She now had 2,400 points left.
After planting the Pulan Grass seeds, Qiao Xixi got out of bed.
It was strange. Even though she and Feiyan had gone so wild last night, besides a slight ache in her lower back, she felt fine today. ’Could this also be related to her body’s origin being activated?’
"That’s right, Host. The more your body’s origin is activated, the better your physical condition will become. In many cases, you’ll be able to self-repair quickly."
Qiao Xixi’s expression darkened. "Tell me, are you secretly monitoring me sometimes?"
The imp cried foul. "I swear~! Absolutely not! I have professional ethics, you know!"
Qiao Xixi couldn’t be bothered to bicker with it. Just as she finished dressing, Feiyan pushed open the door and walked in.
"Why aren’t you sleeping in a little longer?"
"I’m not tired anymore. Where are the cubs?"
"They’re all playing in the courtyard. Sunxiao went to the inner city."
Qiao Xixi was a little puzzled. "What’s Sunxiao doing in the inner city?"
Feiyan snorted. "Those old geezers in the Divine Leopard Tribe won’t agree to you becoming the Clan Leader, so Sunxiao went to check on it."
Qiao Xixi wasn’t too surprised by this. It was never easy for such a large tribe to change leaders.
"We should go over and see in a bit."
Feiyan clenched his fists. "Yeah. If they don’t submit, we’ll beat them until they do."
As they were about to leave, Qiao Xixi looked at the cubs, conflicted. She didn’t feel safe leaving them at home, but she was afraid that if she brought them along, trouble would arise and she wouldn’t be able to look after them.
"Mother, you and Father Feiyan can go. I can take good care of my younger brother and sister," Sangqi said, stepping forward and patting his little chest in assurance.
Qiao Ang added, "That’s right, Mother. We can take care of ourselves."
After weighing her options, Qiao Xixi decided to leave the cubs at home. She gave them some Dull Liquid and Bubble Fruit and told them to be careful.
In the inner city, Sunxiao sat expressionlessly on a stone stool, his crimson, snake-like eyes sweeping over the fuming old geezers.
"I disagree! How can a female Wandering Beast become the Clan Leader of the Divine Leopard Tribe? This is an absolute joke!"
"That’s right. There are indeed precedents of females serving as clan leaders in major tribes, but they were sacred females—females of extremely high birth, not some Wandering Beast."
Sangze’s face flushed with anger. "I am currently the first in line to succeed the Clan Leader. I am willing to give the position to Xixi, and none of you can stop me."
The Golden Lion male in the lead snorted. "The tribe has rules. A change in the Clan Leader must be approved by the elders. If we don’t agree, it’s not happening."
In contrast to the frosty-faced Sunxiao, Jin Ling kept a constant smile on his face.
"The tribe has another rule as well. The elders’ words only count if you can defeat us."
A few of the elders shot up, slamming the table in anger, but their imposing manner deflated the moment they saw Sunxiao’s cold, serpentine eyes.
"Unless you can get the tribe’s beastmen to agree, she’ll never win their loyalty, even if she becomes the Clan Leader."
With that, the elders left in a huff.
Meanwhile, Qiao Xixi and Feiyan were walking down the street, about to take a shortcut to the inner city.
But as they were passing a stone house, they heard the sound of sorrowful crying from within.
"My lady, please don’t be so sad. We’ll definitely have other cubs in the future."
"But... we’ve been mated for so many years... I finally managed to conceive this cub, and now he’s... he’s gone, just like that... WAHHH..."
"Sigh... I’ll go and lay the cub to rest first."
The door of the stone house opened, and a male with two deer antlers on his head walked out. His expression was bitter as he clutched a bundle of animal hide. Looking closely, one could see a small cub inside, its face ashen, looking as if it had almost stopped breathing.
The Deer Beast male turned and headed toward the back mountain, holding the little cub.
Qiao Xixi stopped in her tracks and grabbed Feiyan’s arm.
"Let’s not go to the inner city just yet. Let’s follow him and see."