Free Web NovelChapter 360: Chapter 360: He’s Next
The sky-shattering roars gradually fell silent.
Inside the inner city.
Sangze leaped down from a Golden Eagle Beast, dragging a barely breathing Mr. Bai with him.
Mr. Bai was like a sack of rags, dragged over to a Hua Bao male.
He lifted his dark eyes to Qiao Yi, who was throttling the Hua Bao male. "Leave him alive."
Qiao Yi paused, glanced at him, then released his grip.
The Hua Bao male collapsed to the ground, his body trembling uncontrollably.
Sangze tossed Mr. Bai in front of him and planted his foot on Mr. Bai’s neck.
"Take this back to Jin Wei. Tell him he’s next."
The moment he finished speaking, Sangze stomped down with a malevolent grin.
Mr. Bai was decapitated.
"AH!"
The Hua Bao male trembled even more violently.
Blood splattered onto Qiao Yi’s beast-hide clothes, making them drip. His brow twitched, and he shot Sangze a look of disgust.
’He was also filled with guilt. It was all his fault. He should have stayed by Xixi’s side to vet them for her, to stop her from ending up with these psychos.’
Sigh!
Trembling, the Hua Bao male picked up Mr. Bai’s head and scrambled onto the last remaining Golden Eagle Beast.
"Go! Go! Hurry up and fly!"
The terror was so palpable that the Golden Eagle Beast flapped its wings several times before it managed to take flight.
Aside from the single Golden Eagle Beast and the Hua Bao male who were allowed to escape, none of the others sent by Tiger Beast City were left alive.
Qiao Lie constricted his body tightly around a male’s neck. Only when the man stopped breathing did Qiao Lie slowly uncoil and slide off, shifting back to his human form.
He tried to stand, but he was so exhausted that his legs gave out, and he started to topple over.
Just as he was about to fall headfirst to the ground, a strong, slender arm caught him and pulled him into an embrace.
Qiao Lie managed to open his eyes, gazing up at Sunxiao’s cold, stern features. "Father-beast..."
Sunxiao’s cool fingertips brushed the blood from his face, the pads of his fingers gently sweeping over the boy’s eyelids.
"Sleep. Father-beast is here."
The words were brief and devoid of emotion, yet they gave Qiao Lie an overwhelming sense of security. His little head tilted to the side, and he instantly fell asleep on his father-beast’s broad shoulder.
Feiyan leaped down from the second floor, carrying Qiao Ang in his mouth. The snow fox’s white fur was now stained blood-red.
He gently placed the little fox from his mouth onto the ground and licked the wound on his small paw.
A slightly smaller cloud of black mist zipped behind Sangze. Before he could react, the black mist wrapped around his neck.
The corner of Sangze’s eye twitched. He slapped the black mist.
The mist instantly fell to the ground, transforming into Sangqi with his pitch-black pupils.
Sangze slapped his shoulder again, and Sangqi’s eyes gradually returned to normal.
His large eyes, filled with confusion, stared at Sangze.
"Father-beast, is the battle over?"
Sangze hauled him up from the ground, looked him over, and grunted lazily. "It’s over."
The darkness of dawn was pierced by a ray of golden light.
It illuminated the mounds of corpses piled high in the inner city, and the grim, blood-stained faces of the survivors.
Outside the inner city.
Exhausted, Qiao Xixi held the tiger cub and leaned against a large rock.
’She felt like she had summoned all the winds of an entire year.’
The golden light of dawn broke through, its pale yellow halo illuminating the entire tribe. It also lit up the faces of Jin Ling and the others, which were covered in the blood and grime of battle.
Qiao Xixi lowered her eyes, looking at the tiger cub who had fallen asleep on her. The mark on her forehead was getting brighter and brighter.
"DING DONG"
"Congratulations, Host, for completing the mission. The cubs have successfully advanced in rank. Rewards have been distributed."
Qiao Xixi’s eyes lit up.
"Sprite, is that you? Are you back?"
The system did not respond...
Qiao Xixi remembered that Sprite had said that even if it wasn’t around, the system missions would proceed as usual.
’That guy, it’s taking forever to upgrade. It’s been so long and it’s still not done!’
Despite his own injuries and exhaustion, Feili ordered the males who still had some strength left to start tending to the wounded and dealing with the dead.
Jin Ling walked up to Qiao Xixi with steady steps.
"Xixi, I’ll take you to the tribe to rest."
The inner city had just endured a battle that lasted nearly two days. It was filled with blood and bodies, and cleaning it up would take time.
Qiao Xixi nodded wearily.
Jin Ling shifted into his beast form and wanted her to sit on his back, but Qiao Xixi looked at the wounds on his body, her brows furrowed with heartache. "I can walk on my own."
"Xixi, let me carry you."
Qiao Xixi turned around and saw Gu Man approaching with several other females.
Qiao Xixi was a little surprised. "What are you all doing here?"
Seeing her exhausted face and blood-soaked clothes, Gu Man’s eyes reddened.
"We knew the tribe was in danger, but there was little we could do. So we helped the shaman tend to the wounded males and prepared some food. We came to help."
Qiao Xixi let out a soft breath. "Thank you all."
Gu Man sniffled and took the tiger cub, An’an, from her arms. "What are you thanking us for? This is our tribe, our home. Quick, get on my back. I’ll carry you to my home to rest."
Qiao Xixi looked at Jin Ling with some worry, concerned about his injuries.
Jin Ling said, "Go with Gu Man first. I just had someone check—the cubs are all fine. I’ll bring them over in a little while. I’m okay. I still have the medicine you gave me."
Only then did Qiao Xixi agree, but in the end, she didn’t let Gu Man carry her.
The males of the tribe who hadn’t participated in the battle also came out to help with the cleanup.
After Qiao Xixi followed Gu Man to her home, Gu Man immediately had her beast-mate go boil some hot water while she went to the kitchen to bring out some food.
"Xixi, hurry and eat something. You’ve barely eaten for the past two days, have you?"
Qiao Xixi was indeed hungry, but she had been starving for so long that her stomach had gone numb to the feeling.
She picked up the meat broth and took a sip. The warm liquid instantly awakened her taste buds, and the numbed feeling of hunger returned with a vengeance. She was so hungry she ate several bowls before finally putting down her bowl.
"Mistress, the hot water is ready," Gu Man’s beast-mate said as he walked in.
Gu Man nodded and told Qiao Xixi to go wash up.
Qiao Xixi glanced at the dried blood on her body and didn’t stand on ceremony. She took An’an with her to take a bath.
She stripped off her filthy beast-hide clothes, and after washing off most of the blood, she stepped into the water, holding the cub.
The moment the warm water enveloped her, she let out a comfortable sigh.
She leaned against the edge of the wooden tub, closed her eyes, and unexpectedly fell asleep right then and there.
"Xixi, Xixi."
Qiao Xixi opened her eyes to meet Gu Man’s worried gaze.
She frowned and sat up, realizing she was now in Gu Man’s room.
"You’re finally awake! You’ve slept for a whole day and night. That day, after you went in to bathe, I waited a long time but you didn’t come out. I pushed the door open and found you had fallen asleep. An’an was also snoozing on top of you. I quickly moved you to the bed."
’I really was dead to the world. I don’t remember a thing.’
"Where’s An’an? Have Xiya and the others come over?"
