Free Web NovelChapter 384: Chapter 384: Collective Frenzy
Qiao Xixi snapped back to reality and subconsciously tried to pull her hand back.
’I’m absolutely not going to admit I was just gawking at his body. Otherwise, who knows how smug this damned fox would get!’
Qiao Xixi played dumb, blinking her eyes. "What could I be thinking about? What we’re going to eat later, of course. Now, hurry up and get dressed."
But the moment the words left her mouth, Feiyan swept her into his arms, his lips crashing down on hers with frantic urgency.
"Ngh!"
Qiao Xixi didn’t mind being intimate with her mates. In fact, she usually enjoyed it. But this just wasn’t the right place for it. A beastman’s hearing was incredibly sharp, and she had no desire to put on a live show for a bunch of strangers.
But Feiyan’s kiss was feverish and impatient, as if he couldn’t wait another second.
Qiao Xixi tried to push him away, but he was surprisingly strong.
"Feiyan, not now... Don’t..."
Qiao Xixi managed to turn her head away, but before she could finish her sentence, Feiyan’s lips came crashing down again, forcefully silencing her.
The atmosphere inside the shelter grew hotter. A thin film of moisture began to cloud Qiao Xixi’s vision, but she was still clear-headed enough to know that something was wrong. This wasn’t normal for Feiyan.
None of her mates, not even the wildest of them, Sangze, would ever force himself on her if he sensed she was truly unwilling.
But Feiyan was acting as if he couldn’t hear her at all, driven by nothing but raw instinct.
"Feiyan, snap out of it!"
Hearing the commotion, Jin Ling and Sunxiao rushed in. The first thing they saw was Feiyan holding Qiao Xixi, kissing her frenziedly. But from the look on her face, she was clearly not enjoying it.
Jin Ling’s golden eyes darkened.
A bone-chilling aura emanated from Sunxiao as he strode forward and yanked Feiyan off Qiao Xixi.
The moment Feiyan was pulled away, Jin Ling quickly swept Qiao Xixi into his arms.
"Xixi, are you okay?"
Qiao Xixi shook her head. "I’m fine. Go check on Feiyan. Something’s wrong with him."
Once Feiyan was pulled away, Qiao Xixi could see that his light brown eyes had turned crimson. The instant he was separated from her, he swung an agitated fist at Sunxiao.
Sunxiao’s serpentine eyes narrowed into slits. With a single, powerful motion, he threw Feiyan out of the shelter.
The cold rain lashed down on him, and some of Feiyan’s senses returned. The crimson in his eyes receded slightly.
He scrambled to his feet and shook his head. "Xixi..."
Watching him, the gazes of Sunxiao and the others grew even colder.
Qiao Xixi leaned against Jin Ling’s chest, watching Feiyan with concern. "What’s wrong with him?"
Sangze instantly transformed into a black mist that enveloped Feiyan completely.
"The stupid fox is in heat."
The moment his eyes landed on Qiao Xixi, they turned crimson once more.
Sangze scoffed, sweeping him away into the forest.
"Where is Sangze taking Feiyan?"
"To cool him off."
The expression on the usually gentle Jin Ling’s face was now darker than the storm clouds overhead.
A male in heat was practically mindless. They would never allow Feiyan to touch Qiao Xixi in this state.
Qiao Xixi frowned, mentally calculating. ’This shouldn’t be Feiyan’s mating season...’
Suddenly, a potent female scent drifted through the air, causing Jin Ling and the others to tense up.
Sunxiao and Xijing instinctively drew closer to Qiao Xixi.
Qiao Xixi could also clearly feel that something was wrong with Jin Ling as he held her.
"Jin Ling, what’s wrong with all of you?"
Jin Ling took a deep breath, trying to suppress the agitation in his body. But as he inhaled, the unfamiliar scent shot up his nostrils, and his arms around Qiao Xixi tightened.
"Jin Ling?"
Qiao Xixi turned and cupped his face, her voice filled with confusion.
The moment her cool, soft hands touched him, Jin Ling’s liquid-gold eyes quickly flushed with a faint crimson. He pulled her into a tight embrace, burying his face in her neck and inhaling deeply.
Xixi’s scent helped him slightly suppress the agitation rising within him.
Qiao Xixi looked up, stunned. She saw Sunxiao and Xijing staring at her, their eyes fixed on her. ’That look in their eyes... it’s like they want to eat me alive...’
Qiao Xixi was dumbfounded. ’They’re... all in heat???’
’But the timing is all wrong!’
Jin Ling held Qiao Xixi, breathing in her faint, clean scent to push back the impulse that was assaulting his reason.
"Xixi, there’s a female in heat nearby. We’re being affected by the scent she’s giving off."
The crimson in Sunxiao’s eyes deepened. "It’s a Sacred Female."
In the world of beastmen, a female in heat emits a potent scent to attract males. This mating pheromone severely affects any nearby males, causing them to instinctively go into heat as well, overcome with a desperate urge to mate.
That’s why Feiyan had suddenly lost control.
"So... can you... can you suppress the agitation?"
Xijing forced himself to tear his gaze away from Qiao Xixi. Even mermen were affected by a female’s mating scent, and he was afraid that if he looked at her for a second longer, he might do something to hurt her.
"We can manage. Xixi, stay inside the shelter. Don’t come out for any reason."
Jin Ling also reluctantly released her. If he touched her for even a second longer, he felt like he would go crazy.
Qiao Xixi didn’t dare test them. Males who had lost control to their heat were terrifyingly feral.
The three males turned and left the shelter, but they didn’t dare go too far. Since the scent was strong enough to affect them, it meant all the other males in the area were affected, too.
Sure enough, not long after they left, Qiao Xixi heard a series of sounds from outside that made her blush and her heart pound.
Jin Ling and the others spread out in different directions around the shelter, each one emanating a powerful territorial scent. The other males who had been driven into a frenzy by the pheromones could only stand at a distance, staring longingly, not daring to approach.
But the sounds that carried on the wind were a form of exquisite torture for them as well.
Qiao Xixi was puzzled. ’Why would a Sacred Female be in a godforsaken place like this?’
「In a clearing forcibly hacked out of the woods, a massive shelter stood at its center.」
Inside this shelter, Yu Ye was also being affected by the female’s scent, his entire body seething with agitation.
"Go! Find that Sacred Female in heat for Yu Ye, and while you’re at it, grab a few other females and bring them here."
The Green Bird Beast acknowledged the order and quickly headed toward the area where other beastmen were gathered to take shelter from the rain.
The moment they drew near, they were hit by the potent female scent and immediately located the source: the female in heat.
"We’ll go after the Sacred Female. The rest of you, go find other females. One Sacred Female won’t be enough for Yu Ye."
"Understood."
The male Green Bird Beasts split into two groups.
Qiao Xixi was looking through the Collection Book, searching for an herb that could suppress the agitation in Jin Ling and the others, when she heard the sound of urgent footsteps outside.
