Free Web NovelChapter 367: Chapter 367: Giving You a Chance to Punish Me
"Xixi, I... I didn’t..." he said, his eyes shy yet full of hidden expectation.
Qiao Xixi suddenly regretted opening her mouth.
"Yeah, I missed you. Here, take a seat. Eat some meat."
Qiao Xixi stood up and pulled Sangze over to her seat. She then ran to Qiao Yi’s side.
Sangze gazed at the deboned fish-beast meat, deeply moved. "Xixi, you’re so good to me."
The moment the words left his mouth, he eagerly devoured the meat.
Jin Ling: ...
Sunxiao: ...
Xijing silently ate his fish balls, hiding the smirk playing on his lips.
"Langqi, you should try some of this fish-beast meat. It’s delicious."
Qiao Yi opened the leaf-wrapped package in his hands. He had smelled its fragrance moments ago.
But he wasn’t fond of fish-beast meat, so his fingers went straight for the fish balls.
Watching his movement, Qiao Xixi asked with a wide smile, "What’s the matter, Langqi? Don’t you like fish-beast meat?"
Qiao Yi didn’t deny it. "Not enough meat."
"But eating fish-beast meat is supposed to make you smarter. Come on, Langqi, just try some."
Qiao Yi paused and looked sharply at Qiao Xixi. When his gaze met her still-playful eyes, he slowly looked away.
"Fine, I’ll try it."
Qiao Yi picked up a piece of the fish-beast meat and, under Qiao Xixi’s expectant gaze, lifted it to his mouth.
But just as the piece of fish-beast meat was about to reach his lips, a large hand stopped him.
In an instant, all eyes fell on Xijing.
Feiyan returned with two leaf-wrapped packages. Seeing Xijing holding back Qiao Yi’s hand, he said with displeasure, "What are you doing, Xijing? If you want some, go get your own. Are you trying to steal Langqi’s?"
"I’ll give you a portion."
Xijing, however, didn’t pull back his hand. He simply said to Qiao Yi, "Can I trade you my fish balls for that, Langqi? Is that okay?"
Just when everyone thought Qiao Yi would refuse, he placed all of his fish-beast meat in front of Xijing.
"You’re one of the young ones. Just take it. No need for a trade."
"Thank you, Langqi."
Qiao Yi then stood up.
"There’s just some stone cleanup left to do outside. The inner city is pretty much repaired. Xixi, you and the cubs should move back tomorrow."
Qiao Xixi nodded. "Great! I’ve been wanting to move back for a while."
She had gotten used to the whole big family being together. Being separated so suddenly felt a little strange.
"Right. You all go on and eat. I’m going to take a bath first."
Jin Ling and the others didn’t let Qiao Xixi stay out too late. When the time was right, Sunxiao stood up to walk her home.
Seeing that there wasn’t much else going on in the inner city, Qiao Xixi left with Sunxiao.
Qiao Xixi clung to Sunxiao’s arm as they walked unhurriedly along a small path in the clan’s territory.
As they walked, her hand started to get mischievous, tracing circles on his arm. But soon, she felt something was off.
Before Sunxiao could react, she suddenly lifted his arm. Just as she’d suspected, she found a large, noticeable bruise on his inner arm.
"What happened here?"
Sunxiao’s expression faltered for a moment before he calmly pulled her hand down, enveloping it in his own.
"I accidentally bumped it while moving stones."
Qiao Xixi stopped in her tracks and looked up at him. "Sunxiao, I’ve realized you’re getting more and more impressive."
Sunxiao’s lips curved into a faint smile. "In what way?"
Qiao Xixi snorted. "At lying! You don’t even look guilty anymore! What kind of stone could possibly leave a bruise like that on you?"
Sunxiao simply lifted her into his arms, bringing her up to his eye level.
"Yes, I was lying."
Qiao Xixi had expected him to make excuses, not to admit it so readily.
"Tonight, I’ll give you a chance to punish me."
"Really?"
"Mm."
"That’s more like it."
「That night.」
’This isn’t right!’
It wasn’t until she had exhausted all her wiles and left him completely spent that she realized something was off.
"Damn you, Sunxiao! You completely sidetracked me." ’Who ended up punishing whom?!’
She pulled his arm closer, carefully studying the bruise. ’This... why does it look like a handprint?’
’Who could possibly be powerful enough to land a slap on Sunxiao?’
’I’ll get to the bottom of this tomorrow, no matter what!’
But by the next day, Sunxiao had already denied her that chance. When she woke up, he had already returned to the inner city.
"Xixi, are you awake?"
Gu Man pushed open the door, looking at her with a knowing grin.
Remembering the noise she and Sunxiao had made last night, Qiao Xixi’s face flushed. She had tried to be quiet, but that awful Sunxiao always made her lose control and cry out.
"Bu Xi and the others made a big pot of beast-bone broth first thing this morning. They even put in the leftover fish balls from yesterday. You should get up and have some. You need to... replenish your strength."
Qiao Xixi nodded, and as she did, the blanket slipped off her, revealing the marks from their wild night.
Gu Man couldn’t help but click her tongue. "I never would have guessed. Sunxiao always seems so cold and aloof, but he can’t seem to control himself at all when he’s with you."
Qiao Xixi felt like she was going to lose her mind. She scrambled into her clothes and pushed Gu Man out of the room.
"Say one more word and I’m not leaving! I’ll just bring the cubs over to your place and eat all your meat!"
"Oh, that would be wonderful! If you stay here, your beastman husbands will send all sorts of good things over. I’d be the one profiting!"
Qiao Xixi raised both hands in surrender.
Gu Man finally stopped teasing her.
While she was eating, Bu Xi came in.
"Clan Leader, the male from Wing Beast City is here. He says he’s come to bid you farewell."
Qiao Xixi finished the last of her soup. "Alright, I’m on my way."
Kunlin was standing with his back to the stone house. When he heard a noise, he turned to see Qiao Xixi approaching.
After a few days of rest, she looked even healthier than before. Her azure eyes glittered in the golden sunlight.
The moment she drew near, Kunlin felt his heart begin to beat faster involuntarily.
The strange reaction caught him off guard.
"Are you leaving?"
Kunlin snapped back to reality and nodded. "Yes."
Qiao Xixi pulled out a small beast-hide pouch and handed it to him.
"These are for Yaya. It’s full of her favorite foods."
Kunlin was surprised. He hadn’t expected Qiao Xixi to still be thinking of Yaya.
"Thank you."
"I hope you’ll explain clearly to everyone in Wing Beast City what happened."
"Rest assured, I won’t hide a single thing."
Qiao Xixi nodded. "Safe travels."
Kunlin gave her a deep, long look, as if he wanted to say something more. But in the end, he just nodded, turned, and spread his wings, soaring into the sky.
He didn’t leave right away. Instead, he circled several times high above her. Only when her figure had disappeared back into the stone house did he finally turn toward Wing Beast City, his brow furrowed.
When Qiao Xixi returned to the stone house, Gu Man handed her some fresh fruit.
"That Black Phoenix male... the way he looks at you is strange."
Qiao Xixi frowned. "It seems normal to me. I did kill his female master with my own hands, which caused him to suffer a backlash. He’s probably murdered me in his head a dozen times by now."
Gu Man paused, stunned. ’Was that it?’ To her, the way Kunlin looked at Qiao Xixi seemed so intense and full of longing, it was practically tangible. That didn’t seem like the look of someone who wanted to kill her.
"Xixi, are you not planning on looking for any more beastman husbands?"
