Chapter 504: The Grave Threat Eliminated
River water surged into Qiao Xixi’s mouth and nose.
A Big Fish Beast swam over and grabbed Huang Ying’s leg, forcefully dragging her toward the depths of the river.
Snapping back to her senses, Qiao Xixi immediately held her breath and retrieved the Jue Pearl from her space. After she integrated its power into her body, her legs slowly transformed into a large fishtail.
Instead of letting go of Huang Ying’s hand, she gripped it tightly and continued to pull her deeper into the river.
Realizing Qiao Xixi’s intentions, Huang Ying struggled in terror to break free from her grasp.
But she had exhausted her strength moments ago and now had no energy left to resist.
On the riverbank, Yuyu and Mo Yan, who had been hiding in the shadows, were frantic when they saw Qiao Xixi fall into the water.
"The Clan Leader fell in! I have to go save the Clan Leader."
Yuyu was about to take flight when Yuanling and her beastmen mates rushed over.
"Yuyu, have you two seen Yuanyuan?" Yuanling asked anxiously the moment she saw them.
Yuyu glanced at Mo Yan. The two of them had been following Qiao Xixi’s plan. They had deliberately walked past Yuanling’s stone house and revealed that Qiao Xixi was alone by the river, all to lure Huang Ying to the riverbank.
Although they didn’t know the full story about Huang Ying, they had just witnessed Yuanyuan’s vicious attack on Qiao Xixi with their own eyes.
But clearly, Qiao Xixi didn’t want Yuanling and the others to know about this.
After a moment of silence, Mo Yan said, "We just saw Yuanyuan run into the water to play, but then she got into trouble. The Clan Leader happened to be nearby. When she saw what was happening, she jumped in to save her. By the time we got here, we saw both the Clan Leader and Yuanyuan being swept away by the current. We were just about to go in after them."
Yuanling and her mates were terrified. The two among them who were strong swimmers immediately dove into the water to search for them.
Yuyu paid them no more mind and turned to Mo Yan. "I’ll search along the river. You go get help."
Mo Yan nodded.
"Okay."
In the water, as Qiao Xixi pulled Huang Ying down, she encountered a surging undercurrent in the riverbed.
She tried to swerve away with a flick of her tail, but it was too late. The powerful undercurrent sucked her in. After a dizzying, world-spinning tumble, they were spat out somewhere else.
Huang Ying’s body was also pulled into the swirling undercurrent.
As Huang Ying was sucked away by the whirlpool, she stared with wide, dazed eyes.
At that moment, she was suddenly filled with regret. She regretted not returning after Qiao Xixi had killed her before. Perhaps if she had gone back then, she could have negotiated terms with her system and moved on to another world to complete tasks for rewards.
But now, regret was useless.
All her resentment and hatred melted into the cold river water, dissipating forever.
’Little Demon, quick, check if Huang Ying has any vital signs.’
"Host, she’s dead."
"Are you sure? There’s no chance she’ll be resurrected this time, right?"
The system’s voice held a trace of smugness. "Rest assured, Host. Absolutely impossible. I just disabled her system."
Hearing the system say this, Qiao Xixi finally relaxed completely. She stopped fighting the river and let the current carry her downstream. Once the water calmed, she began to swim toward the surface.
SPLASH!
Qiao Xixi broke through the water, swam to the bank, and changed back into her human form.
Reaching the shore, she was so tired she plopped onto the ground, panting softly.
’Finally got rid of that major threat.’
After resting for a while, she looked around.
The riverbank was surrounded by dense forest. She must have been washed downstream.
She mentally opened her map to check her location.
’Just as I thought, I’m downstream. And pretty far, at that.’
Qiao Xixi took some Spiritual Spring water from her space to drink, then ate some jerky and fruit to replenish her energy before getting up to head back.
’Yuyu and Mo Yan are still on the riverbank. They must have been scared to death when they saw me fall in. Sunxiao and the others will definitely be worried sick, too.’
Qiao Xixi was right. As Mo Yan was returning to the tribe to get help from the patrol beastmen, he ran into Sunxiao coming his way on the path.
Seeing the look on Mo Yan’s face, Sunxiao immediately stopped him.
"What’s wrong?"
Mo Yan was still a little afraid of Sunxiao’s crimson eyes. "It’s the Clan Leader. The Clan Leader and Yuanyuan fell into the water together. I was just about to find the patrol team to help with the rescue."
His crimson, serpentine pupils darkened. Without another word, he strode quickly toward the river.
When Sunxiao arrived at the riverbank, Yuanling and the others had already gone downstream along the river to search.
Standing by the river, he could only see a bamboo basket of white fruit still sitting on a large rock in the water.
Sunxiao clenched his fists. He took a deep breath to calm himself, then quickly opened the map to check Qiao Xixi’s location. He found her position appeared downstream, and she was moving toward the tribe.
’Xixi was washed downstream.’
Without any delay, Sunxiao immediately changed into his beast form, entered the river, and swam rapidly downstream.
Downstream, in order to get back to the tribe before dark, Qiao Xixi had her system plan a shorter path for her, but this route led through the mountain forest.
"Won’t the forest be dangerous?"
"Host, with your current strength, even if you encounter a fierce beast, dealing with it shouldn’t be a big problem."
Heh.
"You flatter me."
"Hehe, it’s just the truth."
Qiao Xixi really didn’t want to spend the night outside. If she followed the river, she wouldn’t make it back before dark.
After some consideration, she turned and headed toward the forest.
To get home as soon as possible and not worry her family, Qiao Xixi changed into her beast form and ran swiftly through the forest.
The forest was quiet, so quiet that the only sounds were the crunching of dry branches under her feet and her own quickening breaths.
Qiao Xixi had gotten used to the cubs chattering around her these past few days, and she felt uneasy in such a silent environment.
"Host, be careful. A large wild beast has been detected ahead."
Hearing this, Qiao Xixi couldn’t help but slow her pace.
"Can you detect how far away it is?"
"It’s right ahead!"
"What?"
Qiao Xixi stopped abruptly. A foul, rank smell floated in the air. She glanced around, then turned and leaped onto a large tree behind her.
The moment she landed, a gray-white Unicorne Bull Beast with a sharp horn on its head charged out of the woods to the spot where she had just been standing.
Qiao Xixi’s sudden disappearance seemed to anger the Unicorne Bull Beast. It raised its head and looked at her.
Their eyes met. The Unicorne Bull Beast suddenly turned and charged the tree she was in.
The Unicorne Bull Beast was much larger than a Wild Bull Beast. With a loud BOOM from its impact, the tree under Qiao Xixi’s feet trembled.
’This Unicorne Bull Beast is incredibly strong.’
Qiao Xixi changed back to her human form and made a hand seal.
"Wind."
A gust of wind swept past, momentarily blinding the Unicorne Bull Beast. The instant its vision was obscured, Qiao Xixi leaped down from the tree.
But just as she was about to run, the Unicorne Bull Beast suddenly charged in her direction.