Chapter 501: She Is Already Dead
"Mistress."
Huang Ying was startled and quickly hid the bone knife in her hand.
The one who walked in was another of Yuanling’s mates.
Yuanling turned around in confusion, completely unaware that she had just had a brush with death. "What’s wrong?"
"Shuangrong, the female who went gathering with you today, still hasn’t come back. The tribe sent someone to question the females who went out with her. You should go take a look. They’ll probably just ask a few questions. It’ll be fine."
Yuanling nodded. "Alright, I’ll go take a look. You get Yuanyuan to sleep."
The male nodded and walked over to the bed. "Yuanyuan, it’s time to sleep. Your mother will be back in a little while."
The male wasn’t as gentle as Yuanling. He pressed on Huang Ying’s shoulder, forcing her to lie down on the bed. Then he sat on the edge, his eyes fixed on her, making it clear he wouldn’t look away until she closed them.
"Don’t look at me!" Huang Ying cried out in annoyance.
A trace of impatience flashed in the gray fox male’s eyes. He didn’t like this cub his mistress had given birth to at all. Not only was she ugly, but her personality was also detestable.
"I’ll stop looking at you when you close your eyes. If you don’t go to sleep peacefully, I’ll keep staring."
Huang Ying clenched her fists, but after a moment, she could only release them in frustration and shut her eyes.
She had planned to feign sleep and wait for Yuanling to return, but unexpectedly, drowsiness washed over her the moment she closed her eyes. Soon, she was dead to the world.
...
In the inner city, Qiao Xixi was also in bed with her cubs.
Qiao Xixi gently shifted her cubs, who were all snuggled up against her, and checked that they were tucked in. Just as she was about to fall asleep, Sprite’s excited voice rang out in her mind.
"DING!"
"Host, I found it! That bastard has shown up!"
Qiao Xixi was suddenly wide awake. "You found her?"
"Found her! The search places her right here in the tribe. Host, it has to be that Long-haired Ape cub. I’d bet my life on it."
Qiao Xixi wasn’t surprised by this answer in the slightest.
"Let me ask you something. If I go and kill her right now, she’ll be completely erased from this world, right?"
"That’s right, Host."
"Then would her system give up on its mission? After one Huang Ying is gone, will there just be a second one? It’s like you—when you brought me here, if I had failed the mission, wouldn’t you have just found someone else?"
Sprite was silent for a moment. "Yes. We systems have mission quotas. If we can’t meet them, we get punished too. So, just like you said, Host, if this Huang Ying is gone, a Red Firefly or a Green Firefly could very well appear."
"Then what do I have to do to eliminate this problem for good?"
"To eliminate the threat completely would be pretty troublesome... However, I can attack its system and knock it offline directly. But that requires perfect timing—I have to do it while it’s active. If it isn’t online for long enough, the power of my attack will be diminished."
"Under what circumstances is it difficult to force a system offline once it’s active?"
Sprite let out a soft hiss, as if calculating something. "The moment that best guarantees its online time is when the system is teleporting its host back to their original world at the host’s request. During that process, it absolutely cannot be forced offline. It’s a rule."
Qiao Xixi frowned. "You said at the host’s *request*, not because the host failed the mission."
"Correct. The procedures for those two scenarios are completely different. The time required and the amount of system energy consumed are not the same at all. In the first scenario, my chances of a successful attack are very high."
Qiao Xixi began to scheme. ’The prerequisite is that Huang Ying has to ask her system to send her back. So, under what circumstances would she ask her system to send her away... *before* I kill her?’
Qiao Xixi’s eyes narrowed, any trace of drowsiness now completely gone.
"For Huang Ying to be able to transmigrate into that cub’s body, does that mean the original Long-haired Ape cub was already dead?"
"Yes. That Long-haired Ape cub was born with physical defects. Haven’t you noticed she looks a little strange?"
’Although Long-haired Ape beastmen aren’t considered good-looking, Yuanyuan’s appearance really doesn’t resemble Yuanling’s much. Her eyes are set wider apart and her nose is flatter, making her look like a monkey that’s only halfway through evolving.’
"Alright, I get it."
That night, Qiao Xixi’s mind raced with plans, and she didn’t drift into a groggy sleep until the early hours of the morning.
Meanwhile, Feiyan and the beastmen of the patrol team searched until the early morning but still couldn’t find Shuangrong.
"It’s strange. Her scent was clearly in this area. How could we have turned this place upside down and still not found her?"
Feiyan held up a torch, its light illuminating the confused expressions on everyone’s faces.
They had been paying attention to the scents in the area during their search and hadn’t detected any wild animals about. That made it unlikely that Shuangrong had been dragged off by a beast.
"Be more thorough. Check every nook and cranny. Maybe she fell into one of those places."
"Right."
As dawn broke, the patrol teams searching in the mountain forest began to trickle back to the tribe.
Only Shuangrong’s family persisted, continuing their search in the forest.
Feiyan dispatched a fresh group of beastmen to help before returning to the inner city.
Qiao Xixi was just coming downstairs with her cubs when she saw Feiyan return, his face etched with fatigue.
"Papa, did you just get back?" Qiao Qiao asked worriedly when she saw Feiyan.
Feiyan scooped her into his arms. Looking at his little cub’s concerned face, he felt his exhaustion melt away.
"Yeah, I just got back. You’re up so early. Did you sleep well?"
Qiao Qiao squirmed out of his arms. "I slept great! I’m going to wash my face. Papa Sunxiao’s breakfast is almost ready."
After washing her little tiger cub’s face, Qiao Xixi sat her down on a chair, handed her a piece of fruit to nibble on, then picked up a cup and poured some water for Feiyan.
After downing the cup of Spiritual Spring water, Feiyan was instantly revitalized.
"You must be exhausted after being up all night. Go get some sleep after breakfast."
Feiyan pulled her down onto a chair beside him, then leaned against her as if he had no bones.
"I’m not tired, but I wouldn’t mind closing my eyes for a bit."
Qiao Xixi indulged his playful clinginess, her soft fingertips gently massaging his brow.
Feiyan’s ears twitched in contentment, the fine, soft fur brushing against Qiao Xixi’s face and making her rub her nose.
"Were you looking for Shuangrong last night?"
"Yeah, but we still haven’t found her. It’s really strange."
Qiao Xixi’s fingertips stilled. "You didn’t find anything?"
"Nothing. It’s like she vanished into thin air. I sent another group out to search after I got back."
Qiao Xixi fell silent.
’Sprite, can you find Shuangrong?’
’I’m sorry, Host. I can no longer find her.’
Qiao Xixi’s heart skipped a beat. ’What do you mean?’
’Because she’s already dead. I cannot locate someone with no life signs.’