Chapter 498: Can’t Kill the Wrong One
"I can’t find my mother. Can you take me to find her?"
Xiya had never met Yuanyuan before, so she answered, "Did you get separated from your mother?"
Huang Ying covered her eyes, her voice choked with sobs. "Yes, Mother told me to wait for her in the woods, but I’ve been waiting for so long and she hasn’t come back. I’m scared... SOB SOB SOB..."
Xiya frowned, a hint of pity in her eyes. "Don’t cry. Just wait here with us. Your mother will be able to follow your scent and find you."
"But... but I miss my mother so much! Please, will you take me to find her?"
Xiya was conflicted. Their mother had told them not to wander off.
Compared to Xiya, Qiao Qiao’s reaction to Yuanyuan was much colder. She pulled Xiya to her side and handed her the bamboo basket.
"We still have to pick fruit here. If you’re scared, you can wait with us. We’re not going anywhere."
Xiya was surprised by Qiao Qiao’s attitude. As far as she knew, her younger sister had always been eager to help others. Today, she seemed a bit off.
But as the older sister, she would definitely stick with her sibling.
"Right. You should stay here with us. When my mother gets back, I’m sure she’ll help you find your own mother."
Seeing that the two were unmoved, Huang Ying sneered inwardly. ’Your mother won’t be coming back anytime soon.’
"Qiaoqiao, Xiya, have you picked any fruit?"
Huang Ying froze. Her neck stiff, she slowly turned her head to look at Qiao Xixi, who was walking toward them completely unharmed.
The light brown hide clothes Qiao Xixi wore didn’t even have any noticeable wrinkles!
’How is this possible!’
’I clearly knocked her down the slope! Even if the fall didn’t kill her, there’s no way she could show up here completely unscathed!’
As if she couldn’t see Huang Ying’s shock, Qiao Xixi smiled and walked over to Qiao Qiao and Xiya, holding a handful of fruit.
Qiao Qiao’s face lit up with delight when she saw the fruit in Qiao Xixi’s hands. "Wow, Crystal Red Fruit! Mother, where did you pick these? Crystal Red Fruit is delicious!"
"Just up ahead. Come on, Mother will take you to pick some."
As she spoke, Qiao Xixi shouldered her bamboo basket and turned to Huang Ying, feigning confusion as if she had only just noticed her. "You’re Yuanyuan, right? What are you doing here? Where’s your mother?"
When Huang Ying saw Qiao Xixi looking at her, she had no choice but to quickly rein in her emotions.
"I... I got separated from my mother. C-can you take me back? I’m scared."
Although her words were pitiful, she was screaming internally.
’System! System, get out here! Tell me why! Why is she perfectly fine when I clearly pushed her down just now? What is going on?’
But no matter how she raged, the system didn’t respond at all, making Huang Ying’s expression turn ugly with anger.
"What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?"
When Huang Ying snapped back to reality, she found Qiao Xixi’s face was nearly touching hers.
She instinctively raised a hand to strike, but her eyes suddenly met Qiao Xixi’s, which held a mocking glint.
Huang Ying’s heart lurched, and she took a frightened step back.
’Could Qiao Xixi have recognized her?’
’Impossible. There’s no way Qiao Xixi could have guessed that she’d be reborn into the body of a cub!’
Huang Ying forced herself to calm down, but Qiao Xixi’s gaze was so piercing it was hard to ignore.
After taking several deep breaths, she finally managed to steady her nerves. "I... I just... I want my mother... SOB SOB SOB..."
Qiao Xixi’s lips curved into a faint smile as her cool palm slowly came to rest on the cub’s neck.
The icy touch made Huang Ying flinch. She tried to pull back, but Qiao Xixi gripped her shoulders firmly. Her hands were like cold iron pincers, pinning Huang Ying in place so she couldn’t move.
Just as Huang Ying thought Qiao Xixi had discovered her true identity and was about to kill her again, Qiao Xixi suddenly let go.
"Yuanyuan! Yuanyuan!"
Snapping out of her daze, Huang Ying thought she had never heard a more beautiful sound!
"M-Mother, I’m here."
Hearing her voice, Yuanling ran over and scooped her up.
"You little rascal, didn’t Mother tell you to wait right where you were? Why did you wander off?"
Huang Ying buried her face against Yuanling and pretended to sob. "I... I was scared, Mother... SOB SOB SOB... Let’s go home."
Yuanling’s heart ached, assuming the cub had just been frightened. She looked at Qiao Xixi gratefully.
"Thank you for looking after Yuanyuan, Clan Leader."
Qiao Xixi gave a light smile. "Yuanyuan is very cute. A... very obedient cub." After speaking, she patted Huang Ying lightly. "Don’t cause any more trouble now, okay?"
Huang Ying shuddered and clung to Yuanling even tighter.
Yuanling said her clansmen were waiting for her, so after another word of thanks, she left with Huang Ying in her arms.
"Mother, don’t you like that Long-haired Ape cub?" Xiya was naturally innocent and didn’t overthink things the way Qiao Qiao did, but she had clearly sensed something strange about her mother’s attitude toward the cub.
Qiao Xixi pinched her little cheek and said seriously, "Yes. From now on, you two stay away from her."
After she spoke, Qiao Xixi nodded toward a figure hidden in the shadows. The figure gave a nod of understanding and lowered their bow.
"Come on, let’s go pick Crystal Red Fruit."
"Okay!"
Qiao Qiao and Xiya cheered and ran ahead.
Qiao Xixi smiled and followed behind them.
’Xiaoyao, did you detect any signal fluctuations just now?’
’Host, none were detected.’
Qiao Xixi frowned at this. ’None? Are you malfunctioning?’
’She had orchestrated this whole scene today just to verify Yuanyuan’s identity. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have deliberately dangled half her body over the edge of that dirt slope.’
’In truth, she had gotten a clear look at the cub when it rushed out. After being knocked over, she had used her wind power to stabilize herself and had been hiding in the bushes below, observing the cub’s reaction.’
’Qiao Xixi was certain that was not a reaction a normal cub would have. At that moment, she had become quite sure of the other party’s identity.’
’Just now, she had deliberately appeared to provoke her. Logically, the cub should have been curious about how she could have fallen from such a height and emerged completely unharmed.’
’With no one else to ask, her only choice would be to consult her system. At such a close distance, Xiaoyao should have been able to capture the system’s signal fluctuations.’
’But now, there was nothing.’
’Could it be that after her previous failure, the system disappeared and stopped helping her?’
’Unlikely, Host. Unless she fails her mission and the system is stripped from her, they should still be bound together.’
’Then why didn’t it react?’
Xiaoyao was silent for a moment before replying, ’That damned thing has probably gotten smarter. It’s likely afraid of its presence being detected. Host, you should wait a bit longer. What if you kill the wrong one by mistake?’
’Qiao Xixi hadn’t acted against Yuanyuan directly because she wanted to be absolutely sure. But since the cub had dared to make a move on her, there was no way it could be a case of mistaken identity!’