Chapter 500: Fend for Yourself
Qiao Xixi closed her eyes, silently chanting an incantation.
As she chanted, a fluorescent green glow streamed from her chest. The glow slowly coiled around a strand of her black hair, which gradually floated into mid-air. Just as it was about to fly out the window, Qiao Xixi snapped her eyes open and caught it.
"If I get this to Jin Ling and the others, they’ll be able to find Sanggu, right?"
"Yes."
Qiao Xixi quickly found a piece of beast hide to carefully wrap the lock of hair. She then went out to find Feiyan, asking him to locate a Phoenix Wing Clan male who was still in the tribe and have him deliver it to Jin Ling and his group.
"Alright, I’ll go find them now." Feiyan took the package and left the inner encampment.
He had just left when Sunxiao returned with Qiao Lie and the others, carrying their game.
"Sunxiao Father Beast is back."
Sunxiao nodded, placing the game into the pool in the courtyard to be dealt with later.
Qiao Ang puffed out his chest, twisting to show off the Long-eared Rabbit Beasts and Colorful Chicken Beasts hanging from his waist. "Mother, we’re back."
Qiao Xixi saw right through his little act. She looked at the prey on his waist with a feigned look of surprise and smiled. "Did you catch all these yourself?"
Qiao Ang lifted his small, round chin. "Yeah. It’s not that big of a deal."
Qiao Xixi wrung out a beast-hide cloth and wiped the dirt from his face. "It’s amazing! Tomorrow, Mother will make you roasted Long-eared Rabbit Beast."
"Great, great, great!"
Qiao Lie, who was hugging a deer leg and had almost reached the pool, saw Qiao Ang’s smug look. He grunted with effort and carried the deer meat back over to Qiao Xixi. He didn’t say a word, just stared at her with his lips pressed together.
Qiao Xixi smiled and walked over to him, using the cloth to wipe the bloodstains from his face. "Such a big piece of deer meat. Did our Qiao Lie catch this?"
Qiao Lie’s little face was a mask of composure. "Mhm. Father wanted to help, but it wasn’t necessary. It’s just a deer."
Looking at her little cub’s deadpan face, Qiao Xixi couldn’t resist hugging him and giving him a couple of kisses. "So wonderful! Quick, go put it down. We’ll be eating soon."
After praising the little one, Qiao Xixi turned and saw the big one standing behind her. "How was the haul today?"
Sunxiao jutted his chin toward the pool, where two large Wild Bull Beast legs lay. "Hunted two Wild Bull Beasts and one Deer Beast. The others had a good hunt, too."
There were more beastmen in the tribe now. And while that meant more hunters, it also meant far more mouths to feed. The Hunting Team would grow anxious if they skipped even a single day of hunting.
’I really need to expand the farming and livestock operations,’ Qiao Xixi thought.
Sunxiao scanned the courtyard but didn’t see Feiyan’s silhouette. "Where’s Feiyan?"
"I had him deliver something to the Phoenix Wing Clan."
She told Sunxiao about how they could find Sanggu.
Sunxiao nodded after listening.
But even after they finished dinner, Feiyan still hadn’t returned.
The few Phoenix Wing Clan males didn’t live far. At Feiyan’s speed, it was strange that he hadn’t returned by now.
Feili frowned. Although he knew nothing bad would happen inside the tribe, this was his cub, after all.
Feili stood up and said, "I’ll go take a look around the tribe. That darn kid, so unreliable when you ask him to do one thing."
"Feili Father Beast, don’t worry. Feiyan was probably just held up by something."
Feili waved his hand, signaling that they shouldn’t mind him.
Qiao Xixi and Sunxiao washed up Qiao Qiao and the others and coaxed them to sleep. Afterward, neither Feiyan nor Feili had returned.
When Qiao Xixi came out of the bathing room, she immediately saw Sunxiao waiting for her outside the door.
"What are you doing waiting out here?"
Sunxiao turned his head. His crimson eyes gazed deeply at her as he walked over and swept her up into his arms.
"You seemed distracted. I was afraid you’d fall."
Leaning in his embrace, Qiao Xixi felt an indescribable sense of comfort.
"When we were coming back from picking fruit today, a female named Shuangrong went missing. The patrol team was sent to look for her then, but I don’t know if they’ve found her yet."
Sunxiao’s steps faltered for a moment, but he didn’t stop. When they had returned to the tribe earlier, he had heard members of the Hunting Team at the main gate saying that Shuangrong still hadn’t been found.
He had asked about it, and after learning the situation, he had the Hunting Team find some Wing Clan males to help.
"We’ll ask Feiyan when he gets back."
’Feiyan has probably gone to help with this, too,’ Qiao Xixi thought.
"Mmm."
Qiao Xixi’s guess was correct. After finding the Phoenix Wing Clan and handing over the item, Feiyan had started heading back.
But halfway there, he ran into Ma Qing and asked about the search for Shuangrong.
Ma Qing looked very anxious and said the woman still hadn’t been found. They were planning to send more people to search.
Feiyan felt the mountain forest was too unsafe at night, so he went along. Worried they were short-handed, he sent someone to notify the males from the recently migrated tribes, asking them to also send a few people to help with the search.
The males of the Long-haired Ape tribe were also notified.
Huang Ying watched the Long-haired Ape males walking out, then slowly sat up in bed.
"System, are you dead?!"
"I was almost killed by you! If you have something to say, spit it out! Qiao Xixi’s system is doing a full scan for my frequency right now. If I had responded to you this afternoon, she would have found me! Once your identity is exposed, how the hell are we supposed to complete the mission?!"
Huang Ying’s face turned pale. ’She already suspects me, just as I thought. How on earth did she find out!’
"If you have something to say, say it quick. I need to go invisible now. If it attacks me, I’ll really be destroyed."
Huang Ying said urgently, "I haven’t even done anything yet! Can’t you erase her memory like you did before?"
"No way. Stop dreaming. If you can’t do this, I’ll send you back immediately."
"No, don’t! I’ll do it. I’m thinking of a way. Oh, right, a female has gone missing in the tribe. Can you find her?"
"I can’t. Do you really think I’m omnipotent?"
"Then what the hell can you do right now? You’re my System, for crying out loud! You can’t be completely useless!"
"I’m powerless to help. You’re on your own."
With that, the System went silent, no matter how much Huang Ying called for it.
Huang Ying pounded the bed in anger.
"Yuanyuan, why are you up? Can’t you sleep because Mother isn’t here?"
Yuanling entered the room carrying water, her face full of motherly love as she looked at Huang Ying sitting on the bed.
She had several beast-husbands but had never conceived a cub. Yuanyuan was her first and only young one, so she treasured her immensely.
Huang Ying suppressed her frustration, and an idea suddenly struck her.
What she’d always wanted was to stir up internal conflict in the tribe to make trouble for Qiao Xixi. Then, in the ensuing chaos, she would strike at her and her cubs.
Huang Ying looked at Yuanling, her hand silently creeping under the pillow where she had a bone knife hidden.
’If Yuanling dies, I can find a way to frame the Golden Lion Clan. Then I’ll incite the males of the Long-haired Ape tribe. I refuse to believe this tribe won’t descend into chaos!’
With this thought, Huang Ying slowly drew the bone knife and stabbed it toward Yuanling’s back.