Chapter 516: Take Her Away
Qiao Xixi gritted her teeth, shoved Kunlin away, then turned and leaped into the river.
"Cubs, come to Mother! Quick!"
Sangqi had been in the water, but his eyes were fixed on the shore. The moment he saw Kunlin lunge at Qiao Xixi, he wanted to rush out of the water. Thankfully, Qiao Xixi acted fast and shoved Kunlin away.
The cubs all swam quickly toward Qiao Xixi.
The dark red in the depths of Kunlin’s eyes grew stronger. He followed Qiao Xixi, plunging headfirst into the water.
"Quick, let’s swim to the other side of the river."
Qiao Xixi shielded the cubs, ushering them to swim ahead.
"Xixi, don’t go!"
Kunlin suddenly dove deep, grabbing Qiao Xixi’s foot and yanking her down into the water.
Qiao Xixi struggled to break free, but Kunlin’s grip was like an iron clamp.
Qiao Lie and the others looked back and panicked when they couldn’t see Qiao Xixi.
A fluorescent light flashed at Xiya’s fingertips. She pointed, and the water before her automatically parted.
"Qiaoqiao, all of you, get over here to me."
Xiya used her Water Avoidance ability to protect her younger siblings.
"He must have dragged Mother underwater. We have to go save her."
Xiya nodded and led them as they dove underwater.
She took out an illuminating sea pearl. A glance underwater confirmed her fears: Qiao Xixi was being held down by Kunlin.
"Mother!"
Xiya led Sangqi and the others in a charge. Qiao Lie and Qiao Ang shifted into their beast forms; one coiled around Kunlin’s neck while the other tore at the hand holding Qiao Xixi. Sangqi rammed straight into Kunlin’s shoulder.
The intense pain in his hand infuriated Kunlin, and his eyes turned completely scarlet.
His eyes were now a deep, dark red. With a surge of strength, he swung at Qiao Ang, who was biting him.
Qiao Xixi’s pupils shrank. She took out the Jue Pearl, and her legs transformed into a fish tail, which she then slammed heavily against Kunlin’s hand.
The force of the tail slap made Kunlin release his grip, and Qiao Xixi seized the opportunity to grab Qiao Ang and Sangqi.
"Qiao Lie, get over here!"
Qiao Lie released Kunlin and started swimming toward Qiao Xixi, but Kunlin suddenly snatched him.
"Qiao Lie!"
Qiao Xixi shoved Sangqi and Qiao Ang over to Xiya.
"Xiya, take your younger siblings and get to the shore first."
"Okay, Mother."
Qiao Xixi swam rapidly toward Kunlin. Seeing her approach, he seized her by the shoulder.
Seeing Qiao Xixi captured, Qiao Lie flicked his forked tongue in fury.
"Mother..."
He opened his mouth and sank his fangs into the back of Kunlin’s hand.
"AHH!"
Crying out in pain, Kunlin violently flung him away.
Qiao Xixi slapped Kunlin’s stomach hard with her tail. Breaking free, she turned and swam toward Qiao Lie.
"Go, get to the shore, quickly."
Qiao Lie nodded and swam rapidly for the shore.
A black-red mist poured ceaselessly from Kunlin’s body. His deep, dark eyes flickered with an eerie red light as he lunged forward again, grabbing Qiao Xixi’s tail.
Seeing her chance, Qiao Xixi formed a hand seal.
"Water."
The surrounding river water suddenly began to churn, forming a massive whirlpool that sucked Kunlin in.
Kunlin tried to escape, but the whirlpool’s pull was immense. With Qiao Xixi blocking him, he was unable to reach the shore.
Seeing Kunlin was trapped, Qiao Xixi shook off his hand. She began to circle him, her hands and hips moving gracefully as she performed the purification dance.
"AHH!"
As Qiao Xixi danced, the veins on Kunlin’s body bulged, and he let out a pained, agonized howl.
Great billows of the black-red mist surged out from his body.
Qiao Xixi closed her eyes, her movements never faltering.
After climbing ashore, the cubs looked out at the river. From the bank, all they could see was a large whirlpool in the center of the water.
"I’ll go get help."
Qiao Ang turned and ran back toward the tribe.
Xiya frowned. "I’ll go warn people away from the river so they don’t get hurt by the monster."
The little tiger cub, held in Qiao Qiao’s arms, watched the black-red aura surging from the whirlpool. She squirmed excitedly, trying to get down.
"An’an, you can’t go! It’s too dangerous."
"AWOO~! Mama!"
Underwater, the pained expression on Kunlin’s face intensified, and the black-red glow deep in his eyes began to fade.
He stared at Qiao Xixi, who was right before him. With a sudden roar, he shifted into his beast form. His sharp claws dug into Qiao Xixi’s shoulder as he shattered the whirlpool, burst from the water, and soared into the sky.
"Mother!"
The faces of the cubs on the shore fell. The Wing Clan males patrolling the sky saw Kunlin suddenly soar upwards and immediately gave chase.
"Mother!"
The cubs broke into a run, chasing in the direction Kunlin had taken Qiao Xixi.
But Kunlin was incredibly fast; they had no hope of catching up from the ground.
"DING DONG"
"Congratulations, Host, on completing the mission. You have successfully located the monster. 3,000 points will be issued shortly."
"DING DONG"
"3,000 points have been issued."
Qiao Xixi’s shoulder was clamped so tightly in Kunlin’s sharp claws that she couldn’t move an inch. Hearing the system’s voice brought her no joy.
’Didn’t you say the residual dark energy in his body wouldn’t have a major effect? How does he seem even harder to deal with than Yun Ming?’
’While I was purifying Kunlin just now, I didn’t sense Yun Ming’s presence at all. This just confirms it—Yun Ming has truly been separated from his body.’
"Hiss... Host, I think this might be what’s happening. Once the dark energy has completely fused into his very bones, he will slowly be corrupted by it, eventually becoming a half-beastman, half-monster entity. He was able to break through your purification’s suppression because his beastman form is immune to purification energy."
’Are you saying he can switch between forms at will now?’
"Er, it’s possible."
’Then what would happen if he died?’
"If his beastman consciousness perishes, the monster within his very bones will seize his body, turning him into a true and genuine monster."
"If you want to eliminate his monster form, you must first eliminate his beastman form, and only then can you purify what’s left of the monster."
’In other words, to destroy the monster inside Kunlin... Kunlin himself had to die!’
Qiao Xixi didn’t struggle. Instead, she let Kunlin fly onward with her in his grasp.
He flew at an incredible speed. To keep the pursuing Wing Clan guards from catching up, he even expended a massive amount of beast soul energy, quickly leaving them far behind.
Qiao Xixi tried to look up at Kunlin’s face, wanting to know if he was currently in his monster or beastman state, but she couldn’t see anything from her angle.
’But from the looks of it, he doesn’t seem to want me dead. I’ll just wait and see what he does.’
After flying for what felt like an eternity, Kunlin suddenly stopped before a sheer cliff.
He carried Qiao Xixi into a cave set into the cliff face.
The moment he set her down, Kunlin staggered and lunged toward her.