Chapter 496: Could It Be Her?
Yuanyuan’s sudden wailing silenced everything around them, leaving only the sound of her sharp cries.
The male Long-haired Ape finally realized his cub’s story didn’t add up.
He walked up to Qiao Xixi with an apologetic expression. "I’m sorry, Clan Leader. It was my fault for not getting the facts straight and causing a misunderstanding."
Qiao Xixi said, "I’m not the one you should be apologizing to."
After she spoke, the male Long-haired Ape went over to the Golden Lion cubs to apologize.
The Golden Lion cubs, in turn, looked a little embarrassed.
"Actually... we were wrong too. We shouldn’t have gotten physical, but... but we really don’t want to play with her."
After the male Long-haired Ape apologized, the matter was considered settled.
Qiao Xixi told everyone to disperse. In the future, if there were problems, they could come to her for a resolution, but they were absolutely forbidden from resorting to violence and injuring others.
The male Long-haired Ape also left with his mate and Yuanyuan.
Qiao Xixi frowned as she watched Yuanyuan’s retreating back. She felt there was something not quite right about that cub.
"Still thinking about what just happened?"
Qiao Xixi snapped back to reality and headed toward the vegetable garden with Sunxiao and the others.
When the shaman and Qiao Qiao had both confirmed that Yuanyuan’s injuries were just scrapes, her mind immediately went to that earthen slope in the clan’s territory.
During the clan’s internal reconstruction, they had already overhauled all the paths within the territory. The large, sharp stones on the paths had long since been cleared away.
Even if one fell repeatedly, it would be difficult to get covered in bloody scrapes. Only that earthen slope could have done it.
"Yeah, I feel like there’s something strange about that cub." ’Why would she intentionally hurt herself? Was it to make herself look more pitiful and gain more sympathy?’
Qiao Xixi just couldn’t figure it out.
"Don’t overthink it. She’s just a cub. If it really becomes a problem, we’ll just kick them out."
Qiao Xixi nodded. The matter was resolved for now. The Long-haired Ape clan hadn’t committed any major offense, and rashly driving them out would cause panic among the other beastmen who had migrated here. So, her only option was to have Yuyu and the others keep a closer eye on them.
Meanwhile, Yuanling and her family carried Yuanyuan back to their stone house. Yuanyuan had cried the entire way and had already cried herself to sleep by the time they got home.
Yuanling’s heart ached as she laid her on the bed, then turned to look at her beastman husband, Shi Gu.
"Yuanyuan is still little. She might not remember things clearly. I’ll ask her properly what happened after she wakes up."
Shi Gu nodded. Although he was eager to know the truth, his heart also ached for his little girl. "Yes, find out what happened. Let her sleep for now."
Yuanling nodded, tucked Yuanyuan in, then got up and left.
As soon as the door closed, Yuanyuan opened her eyes. But her gaze held none of the clarity and innocence of a cub—only endless, venomous hatred.
’I was so close! I could have incited a conflict between the Golden Lion clan and the Long-haired Ape clan! Then, once they believed me and blamed it on Qiao Xixi’s favoritism, the whole clan would have descended into chaos! I was so close, and that bitch Qiao Xixi ruined it again! You’re a system, can’t you just kill her directly?!’
The moment she finished speaking, a cold, mechanical voice sounded in her mind.
"No matter how much you hate her, this is your last chance. And another thing, don’t contact me unless it’s necessary. Qiao Xixi’s system has upgraded again. Its search function is incredibly powerful now. If it detects me, you’ll be exposed. And when you’re discovered, you’ll die even faster!"
Yuanyuan—no, Huang Ying—heard this, and the venomous hatred in her eyes deepened.
’Qiao Xixi had killed her so many times before. When she was down to her last life, she had planned to play dead to trick Qiao Xixi, but she never expected her to burn her body to a crisp!’
’She was furious! Without that body, she could never be reborn into it again.’
’But she still had one life left. To avoid being killed by Qiao Xixi for good, she could only beg her system to let her be reborn into another body.’
’She just never imagined the system would be so useless as to reincarnate her into the body of a cub.’
’A cub from a small, displaced clan, no less!’
’But luckily, this body’s father-beast was the clan leader. So she did everything she could to coax him into bringing his people here, successfully joining the clan.’
’But this body was still too young, which severely limited her actions. On top of that, Yuanling watched her like a hawk. It was only yesterday that she’d finally had a chance to sneak out and create this conflict.’
’But she never thought it would be foiled so quickly!’
Yuanyuan pounded the bed in frustration, but she refused to be discouraged. ’Even if I ultimately fail, I will never let Qiao Xixi off easy!’
"ACHOO!"
Qiao Xixi sneezed and rubbed her nose.
"Someone must be talking about me."
She had just muttered this when Xiao Yao’s slightly puzzled voice sounded in her mind.
"Huh? That’s strange. Why am I detecting a signal fluctuation?"
"What kind of signal fluctuation?"
"Hiss... Host, this is a signal unique to systems like us. After the last system vanished, I’ve been the only source of such signals. But I think I just detected a faint trace of one. Let me search again."
This made Qiao Xixi’s heart leap into her throat. "You mean, if you can find that signal again, does that mean another system has arrived?"
"Yes, that’s right."
"Search carefully. If I remember correctly, Huang Ying still has one more chance to be reborn."
’Actually, this had been weighing on her mind. But back then, she had already burned Huang Ying’s corpse and done everything she could. Since Huang Ying never reappeared, she had temporarily put the matter aside.’
’But Xiao Yao’s sudden alert immediately made her think of Huang Ying. After all, knowing her personality, she would never be willing to give up her last chance. Even if her mission failed, she wouldn’t die in her original world, so why wouldn’t she risk it all for one last shot?’
"Don’t worry, Host. I’ve been concerned about this too. I’ve been scanning constantly during this time but found nothing. It was just now that I suddenly detected a slight anomaly."
"Don’t miss anything."
"Okay."
The thought of Huang Ying left Qiao Xixi feeling unsettled. She also inexplicably recalled the look she had seen in the Long-haired Ape cub’s eyes.
’Could it be? Did Huang Ying transmigrate into a cub?’
’When it came to transmigration, any identity was possible. Her suspicion was completely reasonable.’
Thinking of this, Qiao Xixi immediately summoned Yuyu.
"Yuyu, I need you to do something for me."
Yuyu walked up to Qiao Xixi curiously. "What do you need me to do, Clan Leader?"
Qiao Xixi leaned in and whispered something in his ear.
After listening, Yuyu frowned in confusion but still nodded obediently.
"I understand, Clan Leader. I’ll get it done right away."
Yuyu responded and turned to leave.
The look in Qiao Xixi’s eyes darkened. ’Whether it’s her or not, a little test will reveal the truth.’