Chapter 519: Xixi, You Lied to Me
Just as his claws were about to touch Qiao Xixi, she formed a hand seal, and a powerful gust of wind swept out, knocking Kunlin back.
As the distance between them grew, Qiao Xixi had the wind carry her, flying swiftly toward the mountain forest.
Watching Qiao Xixi’s figure about to vanish into the forest, Kunlin grew so enraged that the black and red glow in his eyes nearly spilled out.
"Xixi, you lied to me!"
Qiao Xixi flew into the mountain forest, carried by the wind, but she didn’t stop. Instead, she continued on in the direction of Tiger Beast City.
Soon, the gates of Tiger Beast City came into view.
Beastmen stood guard outside the city gates. She took out a powder to conceal her aura and sprinkled it on herself before landing and walking briskly to the gate.
The moment she drew near, the Tiger Beast City guards stopped her.
Qiao Xixi looked up, her expression soft and pitifully wronged.
"I... I’m a female from a small tribe. Our tribe was attacked by Mutant Beasts, and I managed to escape and find my way here. I hope Tiger Beast City will take me in."
As she spoke, she took out a sufficient quantity of Crystal Stones and offered them to the guard with both hands.
She was already beautiful and appeared so soft and weak that it was hard for the guards not to feel pity. Furthermore, as a lone female, she would almost never be refused entry, be it by a Beast City or a tribe.
"Come with me."
Qiao Xixi’s eyes lit up, and a grateful smile spread across her face. "Does this mean I can stay? That’s wonderful! Thank you so much."
The guard froze when she smiled, staring at her in a daze.
"So, do I need to get registered now?" Qiao Xixi reminded him gently when he didn’t respond.
The guard snapped back to reality and scratched his head in embarrassment. "Right. Just come this way to get your mark."
With that, the guard led her toward the city gate. As she stepped through, Qiao Xixi glanced sideways at the dark figure hidden in the nearby forest.
The guard led her to a stone house.
After the guard explained why they were there, the male sitting inside the house looked Qiao Xixi up and down, his gaze lingering on her long hair for a few extra moments.
"Have you had cubs before?"
Qiao Xixi nodded. "It’s just that I haven’t seen them since I escaped."
The moose beastman nodded. He had only asked to determine if Qiao Xixi was fertile; a Beast City wouldn’t support an infertile female for nothing.
"Don’t be afraid. Tiger Beast City is very safe." With that, the moose beastman stood up, grabbed a pinch of red powder from a beast-hide pouch, and smeared it on Qiao Xixi’s forehead.
This was proof of acceptance into Tiger Beast City, and the red powder carried a scent unique to the city’s beastmen.
They typically used this scent to tell whether someone was one of their own.
However, the scent would fade over time, so many beastmen would reapply it as a mark of their identity.
Once she was marked, the guard led Qiao Xixi to a stone house in a relatively quiet part of the city.
"You can stay here for now. You can collect your daily food ration from the stone house we passed earlier. Of course, if you have Crystal Stones of your own, you can also trade for things."
Qiao Xixi nodded. "Alright, I understand. Thank you."
Before leaving, the guard couldn’t resist stealing a few more glances at her. Only after she had gone inside and closed the door did he reluctantly turn to leave.
Qiao Xixi noticed the way the guard looked at her. ’In this world, it’s easy for females to attract unmated males. It’s not strange that he would notice an apparently unattached female like me.’
The stone house she was assigned looked decent enough. It had a table, chairs, and a bed. As for other living supplies, she had plenty in her storage space. It was a good place to lie low for a while.
However, the place looked like it hadn’t been occupied in a long time, as it was covered in a thick layer of dust.
Qiao Xixi took the wooden bucket from outside, fetched some water from a nearby source, and gave the house a quick cleaning. Once it was tidy, she went back inside and shut the door.
Qiao Xixi took some Spiritual Spring water, dried meat, and fruit from her storage space to fill her stomach. While she ate, she checked the locations of Jin Ling and Xijing.
She was a little confused to find their locators showing them in the mountain forest behind Tiger Beast City.
’I remember their locators showing them inside the city before,’ she mused. ’How did they end up outside?’
Still, they weren’t far. She would definitely go look for them.
With that in mind, Qiao Xixi pulled her focus away from her storage space.
Until she got the formula for the forbidden medicine, Qiao Xixi couldn’t let Kunlin find her.
Her original plan had been to stick with Kunlin and trick some useful information out of him. But since they were passing through Tiger Beast City, she figured she might as well come here directly to solve two problems at once: obtaining the formula for the forbidden medicine and purifying the stolen sliver of dark power.
As for Kunlin, he certainly wouldn’t give up just because she’d run away. She was sure he would find a way into Tiger Beast City to capture her.
So, she couldn’t let him catch her before she accomplished her goals.
Qiao Xixi took the powder, opened the door, and sprinkled it around her stone house. Beastmen had an incredibly keen sense of smell. Kunlin wouldn’t be able to search every single house to find her; he would surely rely on his nose to pick up a familiar scent.
Now that she had completely masked her aura, it would be even more difficult for him to find her.
After doing all this, Qiao Xixi didn’t immediately return to the house. Instead, she headed out onto the main street of Tiger Beast City.
Tiger Beast City was quite large. After asking a few passersby for directions, she found the road that led to the royal city.
The road was lined with beastmen who had set up stalls to trade their wares. Qiao Xixi walked along at a leisurely pace, stepping forward to trade some Crystal Stones whenever she saw something she might need.
The market street wasn’t very long, and Qiao Xixi soon reached the end of it.
She turned onto a smaller, winding path. After walking for a long time, she looked up and saw the royal city looming in the distance.
’Jin Wei and his group live in there.’
However, Qiao Xixi hadn’t gone much further before she was stopped by patrolling beastman soldiers.
"Who are you? What are you doing over here?"
Even though she was a female, the beastman soldier’s eyes were filled with wariness as he looked at Qiao Xixi.
Qiao Xixi feigned fright and took a step back. "I’m a female who just migrated to Tiger Beast City," she said innocently. "I was just wandering the streets and somehow ended up here. Am I not allowed in this area?"
The beastman soldier glanced at the items she was carrying and didn’t seem too suspicious of her story.
"A vicious beast has been trying to break into the royal city recently. We’re currently searching for it after it escaped. It’s too dangerous for a lone female to be out here. You should head back."
Qiao Xixi quickly processed the information in his words.
"A vicious beast... What kind of beast is it? I think I just saw someone acting suspiciously and heading that way."
The soldier’s expression changed. "Which way?" he asked urgently. "Was it a merman?"