Chapter 487: The Strange Third Power
Qiao Xixi wished she could grow a few more hands right now to pull every one of her cubs into her arms for a good kiss.
She first hugged Qiao Qiao, who was leading the charge, and after planting several firm kisses on her little cheek, she turned and promptly kissed Xiya’s cheek as well.
"Mama!" The tiger cub pounced, knocking Qiao Xixi straight to the ground.
Sunxiao, with his quick reflexes, stepped forward to steady her before she hit the ground.
Qiao Xixi quickly reached out to hug the tiger cub. The little one had pounced on her, and before Qiao Xixi could even give her a couple of good kisses, the cub squeezed her eyes shut, opened her little mouth, and began to wail.
Her wails made both Qiao Qiao’s and Xiya’s eyes turn red.
The cubs hadn’t seen Qiao Xixi in a long time, and they felt utterly heartbroken.
The sound of their innocent cries made Qiao Xixi’s heart clench. She felt so sorry for not being able to be with her cubs all this time.
"There, there, be good. Mama’s back now. Let’s stop crying, okay?"
Qiao Xixi felt her clothes getting soaked with tears. It took a good while of coaxing before she managed to soothe the cubs.
"Have you all had your baths? Are you getting ready to sleep?"
"We want to sleep with Mama."
"Okay, okay, of course. Mama will sleep with you tonight. But first, let Mama go check on Sangqi, alright?"
The moment Qiao Xixi mentioned Sangqi, the cubs stopped crying.
Feili sighed, his face full of apology. "I’m sorry, Xixi. I didn’t take good care of Sangqi. A couple of days ago, for some unknown reason, he suddenly fell into a deep sleep and hasn’t woken up. I had the shaman look at him, but even the shaman couldn’t figure out what’s wrong."
"Feili Father Beast, please don’t blame yourself. We rushed back in such a hurry because we were worried about Sangqi’s condition. I know the reason for his sudden problem."
Qiao Xixi got up, holding the tiger cub.
"Qiaoqiao, can you all go back to the room and wait for Mama, please? I’ll just go check on Sangqi, and then I’ll be right there with you."
"Okay."
The cubs were very understanding. Aside from the tiger cub still clinging to Qiao Xixi, none of the others made a fuss about following her.
Qiao Xixi arrived at Sangqi’s room. The little one, just like his father beast, was in a deep sleep.
"Before, I could feel the beast soul energy in Sangqi’s body draining away. But yesterday, for some reason, that seemed to stop. It’s as if a new force suddenly appeared in his body, protecting his beast soul energy."
Qiao Xixi was surprised. "A new force?"
She reached out, hovering her hand over Sangqi’s heart to feel the energies surging within his body.
To her surprise, she actually sensed three different energies within Sangqi’s body.
"This... Could this be your beast soul energy, Feili Father Beast?"
Feili shook his head. "No. When I tried to infuse my beast soul energy into him before, his body strongly rejected it. My energy couldn’t enter."
’Then where did this third energy in Sangqi’s body come from?’
’She could also sense that this third force was extremely domineering, forcefully suppressing the dark energy within Sangqi and preventing it from acting up.’
’How strange.’
"Gaga, gaga..."
The tiger cub waved her little hands, trying to grab Sangqi. Afraid she might hurt him, Qiao Xixi quickly pulled her a little further away.
Seeing this, Feili commented casually, "These past few days, besides me and the shaman, An’an has spent the most time here with Sangqi..." He trailed off, suddenly feeling that his words sounded a bit strange.
’That sudden, extra power couldn’t possibly be An’an’s, could it?’
They couldn’t figure it out right away, but the fact that Sangqi’s beast soul energy was no longer leaking was a good thing. Still, just to be safe, Qiao Xixi took out the Soul Stabilizing Pearl.
Yun Ji had split the pearl in two back then, and this half was meant for Sangqi.
Sunxiao took the half-pearl from Qiao Xixi’s hand and slowly infused it into Sangqi’s body.
Thanks to the suppression from the third force, Sangqi’s condition hadn’t changed much over the past few days.
"Feili Father Beast, you’ve worked so hard. Please, go and get some rest. I can take care of the cubs from here."
Feili was indeed exhausted from the past few days. Even though the cubs were older and didn’t require him to do everything for them personally, he still worried about them every day. Now that Qiao Xixi and the others were back, he could finally catch his breath.
"Where are Feiyan and the others? I haven’t seen them. And your father, was he rescued? Is he alright?"
"Feiyan is back as well. He just took the Phoenix Wing Clan males who escorted us here to the tribe to rest. Jin Ling and Xijing have gone to Tiger Beast City. Father is still in Beast King City; he needs to handle a few things before he can come back."
Feili frowned. He knew a lot must have happened while they were away. Otherwise, Jin Ling and Qiao Yi would have undoubtedly escorted Qiao Xixi back themselves.
"It’s late. You should all get some rest. We can talk about everything else tomorrow."
Qiao Xixi nodded, watching as Feili left the stone house.
Sunxiao took the tiger cub from Qiao Xixi’s arms.
"You’ve been traveling for two days, you must be tired. Go wash up and get some rest."
Qiao Xixi was reluctant to leave Sangqi, but she had promised Qiao Qiao and the others that she would be with them.
"Mm, I’ll go wash up first."
Qiao Xixi pulled the blanket up over Sangqi and kissed his little cheek. Then, taking the tiger cub in her arms again, she left the stone house.
When Qiao Xixi came out after washing up, she pushed open the door to her stone house to find her large bed completely covered in cubs, all sprawled out in disarray.
The moment she stepped inside, the little ones all sat up in bed and stared at her with wide, expectant eyes.
Qiao Xixi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but her heart felt warm. ’It’s so good to see my cubs.’
"Why is no one asleep?"
"We were waiting for Mama."
Smiling, Qiao Xixi closed the door and walked over to the bed.
The little ones all shifted on their own, making room for her in the very middle.
"Alright, Mama’s coming."
Qiao Xixi climbed onto the bed and lay down in the middle. The moment she was settled, the tiger cub immediately crawled over and burrowed into her embrace.
Qiao Qiao and Xiya immediately snuggled up against her too.
Seeing that there was no room left by Qiao Xixi’s arms, Qiao Ang let out a little huff and squeezed in next to her legs.
Qiao Lie watched Qiao Ang’s swift movements, his usually placid little brow furrowing for a moment. In the end, he also lay down, settling beside Qiao Xixi’s other leg.
Qiao Xixi: ...
’I’m being squeezed so tightly I can barely move.’
But she also knew that since she had just returned, the little ones were all feeling insecure. They needed to be right beside her to feel certain that she was truly back before they could finally be at ease.
"Alright, now that everyone’s settled, Mama is going to tell you a bedtime story."
"Okay~~!"
Qiao Xixi closed her eyes, gently patting the cubs with her free hands and feet while she told the story. She only stopped when she felt their breathing grow slow and steady.
She slowly opened her eyes. Feeling the cubs’ complete reliance on her, she couldn’t suppress the warm smile that bloomed in her eyes.
’Much of the time, it wasn’t the cubs who couldn’t leave her, but she, the mother, who couldn’t bear to let go.’
Qiao Xixi let out a soft sigh, closing her eyes in utter contentment.