Chapter 520 - 521: He Found Her
Qiao Xixi’s blue eyes flickered. "I don’t know either. Are the dangerous beasts you’re trying to catch merfolk?"
"That’s right." After speaking, the beast-soldier paid Qiao Xixi no more mind and turned to his companion behind him. "You go check over there."
"Yes, sir."
Qiao Xixi watched them leave and didn’t continue forward.
’Merfolk are sea-dwelling beasts. They would never leave the ocean unless it became truly impossible for them to survive there.’
’Situations like Xijing’s are exceedingly rare. The beastman those soldiers want to catch is probably Xijing.’
’But seeing as Xijing’s location tracker shows he’s outside the city now, I don’t have to worry about the soldiers inside the city catching him.’
Qiao Xixi returned to her stone house before dark. She shut the flimsy wooden door from the inside and propped a wooden stick against it.
Once she was sure the door was securely barred, she took a beast-pelt blanket from her spatial storage, spread it on the bed, and lay down.
Qiao Xixi closed her eyes, but her mind didn’t rest. ’If Jin Ling and the others’ location trackers still show them outside Beast City tomorrow, I’ll go out and find them.’
As drowsiness washed over her, the night had already deepened.
Just as Qiao Xixi was about to drift off to sleep, she felt a powerful pressure surging through the air, instantly dispelling all her drowsiness.
She snapped her eyes open and saw a dark figure slowly flit past the window.
The windows of the stone houses here were set quite high, even higher than the doors, so she couldn’t see what the figure looked like.
Qiao Xixi silently sat up in bed, tightening her grip on the bone knife in her hand.
She walked to the door and peered through a tiny crack. Her heart leaped.
A black figure was standing not far from her stone house, but his gaze wasn’t fixed on her home. Instead, he was observing the aura of the house across from hers.
Qiao Xixi had noticed when she went out today that the person living across from her was a young female from the Wolf Clan, whose age and build were somewhat similar to her own.
’Her aura might be similar to mine, which is why Kunlin came to investigate.’
Qiao Xixi clenched her fists. ’I knew Kunlin would come looking for me, but I never thought he’d be this fast!’
Kunlin circled the opposite stone house several times, seemingly trying to confirm whether the aura belonged to Qiao Xixi.
Qiao Xixi saw him suddenly stop. ’He must have realized the person inside isn’t me.’ But just as she thought Kunlin would leave, he abruptly turned and looked toward her stone house.
Qiao Xixi’s heart leaped into her throat.
In the darkness, she saw Kunlin slowly walking toward her stone house.
Although she had made all sorts of preparations to conceal her aura, she couldn’t guarantee they were foolproof.
Just as Kunlin was about to reach the stone house, another figure arrived at her door a step ahead of him.
Seeing someone approach, Kunlin’s figure quickly vanished into the darkness.
"Miss, I’m the beast-soldier who brought you into the city today. My name is Langzhu. I brought you some food. Can you open the door?"
Ordinarily, Qiao Xixi would never have opened the door, but this time, she opened it without hesitation. She stood behind the door and urged Langzhu to come inside in a low voice.
The moment he was inside, Qiao Xixi shut the door.
Langzhu hadn’t expected Qiao Xixi to let him in so readily, and joy instantly spread across his face.
"I saw today that you look a bit thin and was worried you didn’t have enough to eat. This is some of the beast meat from my ration. I saved some for you."
Langzhu shyly placed a piece of beast meat wrapped in leaves on the table.
Qiao Xixi glanced at him and nodded gratefully, but her senses were still focused on the slightest sound from outside.
Soon, she heard faint footsteps. The dark figure flashed past the crack in the door, and the intangible, oppressive feeling in the air vanished.
The tight furrow in Qiao Xixi’s brow relaxed slightly.
’Kunlin is gone.’
"What’s your name?"
Qiao Xixi turned around and almost bumped into Langzhu.
She looked up at him. He had somehow moved to stand right behind her, and the distance between them was very small.
Qiao Xixi quickly took a step back, picked up the leaf-wrapped package from the table, and placed it back in his hands.
"Thank you for your kindness, but I’ve already eaten. If you don’t have anything else, you should head back. I need to rest."
Langzhu was unwilling to leave just like that. "Miss, I really like you. Can I be your beast-husband? I promise I’ll protect you."
Qiao Xixi once again refused him decisively. She explained that she had just been separated from her cubs and had lost many of her clansmen. She was heartbroken and in no mood to form a pact with any male right now.
Seeing her sorrowful expression, Langzhu didn’t want to pressure her. "Keep the meat for yourself. I... I’ll come see you another day. Don’t be too sad."
Qiao Xixi nodded absentmindedly. After Langzhu left, she once again barred the door securely.
This was destined to be a restless night.
On the back mountain of Tiger Beast City, Jin Ling and Xijing stood side-by-side in the shadows of the dim forest, their gazes locked on a stone mountain not far ahead.
A few days ago, they had received the strand of hair from Qiao Xixi, delivered by the Phoenix Wing Clan, to search for Sanggu.
Initially, they followed the strand of hair and searched around the city, only to find that the places they went were all spots where Sanggu had previously stayed.
Finally, the strand of hair led them here, where it just kept circling over the stone of the mountain.
They spent three days searching the stone mountain for anything unusual, but no matter how they looked, they found nothing.
With no other choice, they could only stake out the area for now. If there was truly something wrong with this place, it was impossible that no one would ever show up.
But despite their stakeout, they hadn’t seen a single beastman approach.
"I’ll keep watch tonight. You get some rest."
After saying this, Jin Ling climbed up a tall tree ahead.
Xijing glanced at Jin Ling, then also found a hidden spot to rest and recover his energy.
Before sleeping, Xijing subconsciously opened his spatial tracker and immediately locked onto Qiao Xixi’s location. The sight made him sit bolt upright on his branch.
Xijing repeatedly checked the coordinates, speechless with shock when he realized Qiao Xixi was right inside Tiger Beast City.
He wouldn’t have been so shocked if Qiao Xixi’s coordinates had appeared alongside Sunxiao and the others.
But since she had appeared alone, something was very likely wrong.
Xijing immediately leaped down from the tree and went to where Jin Ling was.
"Jin Ling, Xixi is in Tiger Beast City."
Jin Ling paused. "Did Feiyan and the others come with her?"
"No, Xixi appeared in Tiger Beast City by herself."
Hearing this, Jin Ling also quickly opened his tracker to confirm. He was equally shocked to see that Qiao Xixi was really in Tiger Beast City, but an instant later, his brow furrowed with worry.
Just as he was about to speak, someone suddenly appeared on the stone mountain not far away.