Chapter 494: Who Is Lying?
Qiao Qiao, who had already walked outside the house, had no idea about any of this.
After leaving the stone house, she didn’t wander off. Instead, she waited for Yuyu not far from the door.
Right after Qiao Qiao left the inner city, Qiao Xixi started getting the tiger cub ready while waiting for Xiya to prepare a Salt Crystal Water bath.
While she was waiting, a sudden pang shot through Qiao Xixi’s chest, causing her hands, which were holding the tiger cub, to freeze for a moment.
The tiger cub was in the middle of getting dressed. When her mother’s hands suddenly stopped, she nudged her curiously with her big head.
That snapped Qiao Xixi back to her senses, and she quickly finished dressing the cub.
"Mother, I’m done soaking," Xiya’s voice came from outside.
Qiao Xixi carried the tiger cub out. Xiya was already dressed and waiting outside.
Qiao Xixi walked over and saw that Xiya’s skin was noticeably smoother and more supple than before the bath. She nodded in satisfaction. "Feeling more comfortable?"
Xiya nodded. "Mhm, much more comfortable. Mother, didn’t you want to go to the vegetable garden? Let’s hurry."
"Okay."
When they went downstairs, Sunxiao and Qiao Lie were already waiting for them.
Sunxiao took the tiger cub from Qiao Xixi’s arms and said, "I’ve already had someone watch Sangze and the others. Let’s go."
"Mhm."
"What’s the plan for the vegetable garden?"
Sunxiao finished speaking, but for a long time, there was no response from Qiao Xixi.
"Xixi?"
"What?"
Sunxiao’s grip on Qiao Xixi’s hand tightened slightly. "What are you thinking about?"
Qiao Xixi didn’t hide it and answered honestly, "Ever since I came out just now, I’ve had this inexplicable feeling of panic..."
She didn’t know why. She had quickly consulted her little demon to check on everyone and confirmed that Jin Ling, Feiyan, and the others were all fine.
’Could something have happened to my father and Yun Ji?’
"Don’t overthink it. Everything’s fine."
Qiao Xixi nodded. ’Yun Ji is still the Holy Priest, and my father’s beast soul energy is so powerful. It’s true that ordinary people can’t harm them.’
’I hope I’m just overthinking things.’
Just as they were about to head toward the vegetable garden, a beastman from the patrol team ran over.
"Clan Leader? There you are! Some beastmen in the tribe have started fighting. We need you to go take a look."
Qiao Xixi’s brow twitched. ’So that feeling of panic was because of a conflict in the tribe?’
"What’s the situation? Tell me on the way."
"Yes. It’s the beastmen from the two small tribes that migrated here a while ago."
The patrol beastman explained that the conflict was between the Golden Lion Tribe and the Long-haired Ape Tribe, who had migrated here while she was away.
When these two tribes arrived, both had a sufficient number of females and adult males.
Feili felt that letting them stay would strengthen the tribe, so he allowed them to settle here.
After they settled in, they did indeed provide the tribe with prey, and everyone was generally well-behaved. Things had been peaceful.
But today, a fight suddenly broke out in the tribe.
"They said that a few Golden Lion cubs severely injured the cub of the White-haired Ape Tribe’s leader yesterday. The leader of the White-haired Ape Tribe got furious and led his White-haired Ape males to cause trouble for the Golden Lion Tribe."
"Fortunately, Yuyu notified us in time, so the patrol team arrived before they could start fighting."
"Right now, both sides are in a standoff, and neither is willing to back down."
Qiao Xixi frowned slightly upon hearing this. "Did the Golden Lion cubs really attack someone?"
The patrol beastman shook his head. "The Long-haired Ape males say they did, but the Golden Lion Tribe insists it was just cubs playing around, not a malicious assault."
Qiao Xixi gave a slight nod and couldn’t help but quicken her pace.
When they arrived, the two groups were at daggers drawn. If the patrol males hadn’t been holding them back, a fight would have already broken out.
Someone shouted, "The Clan Leader is here!"
Everyone’s gaze fell on Qiao Xixi.
The patrol beastmen cleared a path for Qiao Xixi.
Sunxiao walked beside Qiao Xixi. As they neared the beastmen, he deliberately released his powerful beast soul energy, instantly shocking them into looking at Qiao Xixi with newfound respect.
"Clan Leader, you’re here."
A patrol beastman stepped forward and explained the situation to Qiao Xixi again.
"Right now, the Golden Lions deny their cubs hurt anyone, but the White-haired Apes are adamant that their cub was beaten by the Golden Lions."
Qiao Xixi nodded, her gaze sweeping over the faces of the Golden Lion and White-haired Ape males.
Neither group had met Qiao Xixi before, but when they arrived, Feili had told them who the tribe’s Clan Leader was, so they didn’t dare show any disrespect.
"Clan Leader, please seek justice for our White-haired Ape cub." Yuanyuan’s father, who was also the former leader of the White-haired Ape Tribe, walked up to Qiao Xixi, crossed his hands over his chest, and bowed to her in salute.
He had just finished speaking when a male from the Golden Lion Tribe also stepped forward. Both men declared they were telling the truth.
Qiao Xixi held up a hand, signaling for them to be patient.
"Where are the cubs? I want to hear what they have to say."
Since Qiao Xixi had spoken, no one dared to disobey. They sent someone back to bring over all the cubs involved.
Back outside the stone house, Qiao Qiao had finally met up with Yuyu.
"Qiaoqiao, I saw the Clan Leader heading that way. Do you want to go over?"
When Qiao Qiao heard that Qiao Xixi was up ahead, she agreed without a second thought.
"Okay, let’s go too."
They had just left when a beastman found Yuanling and told her to bring Yuanyuan over.
Soon, all the cubs involved were brought before Qiao Xixi.
"Go on, tell the Clan Leader exactly what happened."
The few Golden Lion cubs were quite brave. They weren’t scared of Qiao Xixi at all; in fact, they thought she seemed even gentler than their own mothers.
Qiao Xixi noted that they were about the same age as Qiao Qiao and the others, so not very old.
"Clan Leader, we didn’t bully that White-haired Ape cub. She started it! We were playing in the tribe when she came over and wanted to play with us."
"But the Golden Lion cubs didn’t want to play with Yuanyuan, so they ignored her. She kept following them, though, and eventually, they got annoyed and gave her a little push to make her go away. Who knew she’d get so angry and pounce on them to start a fight."
"So you’re saying you did get physical with the White-haired Ape cub?"
The oldest Golden Lion cub bit his lip and said, "We didn’t gang up on her. We just wanted her to leave because she kept pestering us. And when the scuffle happened, it was just my younger brother who wrestled with her. The rest of us didn’t do anything."
"They... hit Yuanyuan!"
The Golden Lion cub had barely finished speaking when a childish, somewhat shrill voice suddenly rang out.
Qiao Xixi turned to see Yuanling walking over, holding Yuanyuan in her arms.
Yuanyuan, nestled in Yuanling’s arms, was angrily pointing at the Golden Lion cubs.
Qiao Xixi looked at Yuanyuan. "Can you tell the Clan Leader who hit you?"
Yuanyuan pointed a finger, encompassing all the Golden Lion cubs. "Them! All of them hit me!"
Qiao Xixi frowned slightly. ’Their stories are completely different. Who’s telling the truth?’