Chapter 505: Something’s Wrong with Them
A loud BANG startled the cubs, who had just returned to the inner city.
That morning, they had gone to the training grounds with Sunxiao. Qiao Xixi had promised she would come find them soon.
But they waited at the training grounds for a long time, and she never showed up. Worried about Qiao Xixi, Sunxiao brought the cubs to the inner city gate. Once they were safely inside, he left to go find her.
But just as the cubs stepped inside, they heard a muffled thud from upstairs.
Qiao Lie and the others looked upstairs warily.
Today, Sunxiao and Feiyan were both out. Guarding Sangze and his son inside the inner city were two White Tiger Males.
The White Tiger Males would have surely gone to investigate such a loud noise upstairs, but the cubs couldn’t hear a sound from them. It was too strange.
What the cubs didn’t know was that the two White Tiger Males had indeed turned around warily the moment they heard the noise. But as soon as they moved, a powerful hand grabbed them, and their two large heads were forcefully knocked together.
The world went black for the two White Tiger Males, and in the next moment, they lost consciousness completely.
Qiao Lie and Qiao Ang quickly stood in front of Qiao Qiao and the others. Xiya held the tiger cub tightly, while Qiao Qiao forced herself to stay calm, her eyes wide.
"What was that noise upstairs?"
Qiao Lie said with a grim expression, "Let’s back up toward the entrance. If something happens, we can run immediately."
"Okay."
The cubs quickly retreated toward the entrance.
The guards stationed outside the door heard the commotion and came inside.
"What’s wrong? What happened?"
Qiao Qiao pursed her lips. "We just heard a strange noise from upstairs."
A guard glanced upstairs. "You all should leave this area first. We’ll go up and take a look."
"Okay. Father Sangze and Brother Sangqi are still up there."
The guard nodded. "We will protect them."
After speaking, several guards started warily up the stairs.
But just as they reached the landing, they saw two figures coming down from above.
The guards were a bit surprised.
"Lord Sangze, you’re awake."
Hearing the voices, the cubs stopped and turned around curiously. Sure enough, they saw Sangze and Sangqi walking down the stairs.
"Father Sangze, Brother Sangqi, you’re awake!"
As Qiao Ang started to walk over, Qiao Lie suddenly grabbed him.
Qiao Ang looked at him, confused. "Qiao Lie, why are you stopping me?"
Qiao Lie frowned, his crimson eyes fixed on the father and son. "Don’t go over yet. Don’t you think Father Sangze and his son seem a little strange?"
Hearing this, Qiao Ang looked closely at Sangze’s and Sangqi’s faces.
’Brother Sangqi is usually a bit reserved. His gaze is gentle, and there’s often a hint of nervousness in it.’
’But whenever he sees us, he always breaks into a smile right away. He really loves being with us.’
’But right now, his face is blank, and his pupils seem to have a strange glow. He’s completely different from his usual self.’
’Then there’s Sangze. He’s usually gentle and serene, which is just like Sangqi. Occasionally, he’ll have this wild, untamed aura about him. But neither of those is anything like this eerie, expressionless state he’s in now.’
’Especially his mismatched eyes—they’re giving off a deep, cold light.’
"Something’s wrong with them."
Qiao Qiao had also noticed the problem.
"We have to tell Father Sunxiao and Mother about what’s happening with Father Sangze and Sangqi right away."
Since the two of them hadn’t made any aggressive moves, the guards were momentarily unsure whether to stop them.
"Lord Sangze, where are you going?"
Sangze didn’t respond, simply continuing toward the inner city’s exit with Sangqi.
They were about to reach Qiao Lie and the other cubs.
When the tiger cub saw Sangqi, she suddenly struggled out of Xiya’s arms and crawled toward him.
"An’an, don’t go over there!"
Xiya, terrified, quickly tried to grab her, but the little tiger cub was fast. In the blink of an eye, she had crawled right up to Sangqi.
"Gaga~~ Gaga goo~~ Uppy~"
The tiger cub crawled to Sangqi’s feet and hugged his leg.
Sangqi faltered. He tried to keep walking, but the tiger cub was too heavy, momentarily blocking his path.
"Gaga want uppy~~"
Sangqi slowly lowered his head to look at the little tiger cub.
Qiao Lie and the others were so nervous that the hair on their arms stood on end.
But Xiya didn’t dare to forcibly pull the tiger cub away, afraid that any sudden movement might provoke Sangqi.
"Gaga... awoo... woo..."
Seeing that Sangqi still hadn’t picked her up, the tiger cub felt wronged. She looked up at him with wide, pitiful, molten-gold eyes.
"An’an, Brother Sangqi might be busy right now. How about I hold you, okay?"
The tiger cub looked back at Xiya, seemingly unable to understand what her big sister was saying.
Meanwhile, Sangze had already walked out of the inner city on his own.
"Guards, quickly, follow Father Sangze!"
The guards also realized something was wrong and quickly had two of their men follow him.
But to their surprise, as soon as Sangze was outside the inner city, he suddenly shifted into his beast form and took off at a run.
The guards were startled and quickly shifted into their beast forms to give chase.
But at their speed, they couldn’t possibly catch up to Sangze. In an instant, he had left them far behind.
Back in the inner city, black smoke suddenly began to seep from Sangqi’s body. He writhed as if in great pain.
"Brother Sangqi, wake up!"
Sangqi’s pupils dilated and contracted, and his expression twisted into a ferocious snarl.
"What on earth is wrong with Brother Sangqi?"
"All of you, back up! Don’t come any closer."
Worried that Sangqi might suddenly lose control, the guards had Qiao Lie and the others retreat to a safe distance while they tried to get the tiger cub away from him.
The tiger cub watched the black smoke swirling out of Sangqi and curiously reached out a tiny paw to bat at it.
"Awooo..."
More and more black smoke poured out of Sangqi. The little tiger cub, seeming to get angry that she couldn’t bat the smoke away, began flailing her little paws, hitting at it with more force.
"An’an, be gentle! Don’t hurt Brother Sangqi."
Watching the tiger cub laboriously swatting at Sangqi with her tiny paws, Qiao Qiao and the others felt their hearts leap into their throats.
"Awoo!"
As the tiger cub raised her paw again, a golden light swirled in her palm. When this paw slapped against Sangqi’s body, the black smoke coiling around him suddenly recoiled as if terrified, rapidly shrinking back into his body.
Sangqi’s body went rigid, and he fell backward like a board.
A guard, quick of eye and hand, lunged forward and caught him before he hit the ground.
"Brother Sangqi!"
Qiao Qiao and the others ran to Sangqi’s side, only to find he had already closed his eyes.
"How is Brother Sangqi?"
The guard checked him over. "He seems to have fallen unconscious again. Don’t worry, we’ll take him back to his room first."
Xiya took the opportunity to go forward and pick the tiger cub up off Sangqi.
This time, the little tiger cub didn’t struggle. Instead, she let out a sleepy yawn, snuggled obediently against Xiya, and closed her eyes.