Chapter 225: Chapter 225: Her Father is the Oldest

"Jin Ling, what’s wrong?"

Seeing Jin Ling stop so suddenly, Feiyan asked curiously.

Jin Ling frowned. "Did you guys hear a tiger cub crying out?"

Feiyan and Sunxiao exchanged a look, seeing the helplessness in each other’s eyes.

They were all worried about Xixi’s situation, but compared to them, Jin Ling had an extra layer of anxiety because of the tiger cub who was separated from him right after birth.

"Jin Ling, large Land Beasts rarely live on this island. You probably just misheard."

Jin Ling’s brow remained tightly furrowed. "You guys go find a place to rest first. I’m going to check the area."

Feiyan and the others knew Jin Ling wouldn’t be at ease until he had a look, so they let him go.

"Be careful."

After acknowledging them, Jin Ling turned and walked off in another direction.

He went around a small grove of trees and reached the other side of the island.

As soon as he got close to the beach, he saw two males trying to catch a small tiger cub.

The moment he saw the tiger cub, Jin Ling’s heart seized. Murderous intent erupted in his gilded eyes. He quickly shifted into his beast form, charged forward, and slammed into the two male beastmen. With a flick of his long tail, he swept the cub onto his back.

The two male beastmen crashed hard against the reefs, the impact making them see stars.

Jin Ling’s golden eyes were frigid. "You dare harm a cub? You’re courting death!"

"We didn’t, we swear!"

’It was clearly us who got zapped silly by that tiger cub,’ they thought. They were about to run, but who knew this male Golden Tiger Beast would suddenly charge out.

Just as Jin Ling’s paw was about to strike, he saw the tiger head mark on their arms—the symbol of Tiger Beast City. He immediately pulled his power back, merely knocking them unconscious instead.

"Awoo~ awoo~"

Jin Ling snapped back to reality. He felt movement on his back and his body instantly stiffened with tension and disbelief.

"Awoo~"

The tiger cub smelled a very familiar and pleasant scent. ’Awoo! It seems to be my father beast’s scent.’

She wobbled on her short little legs, her paws sinking into her father beast’s broad back with each step. ’Mmm, so comfy.’

"AWOO!"

But the little cub lost her footing, tumbling and falling. Before she could hit the ground, a pair of strong, large hands caught her.

The tiger cub looked up curiously and saw a pair of big eyes almost identical to her own. She tilted her head in curiosity.

’Awoo, so this is what my father beast looks like.’

"Little cub... it really is you..."

Jin Ling cradled the tiger cub carefully, afraid that if he wasn’t paying attention, she would disappear.

A slight pain pricked his fingertip. The tiger cub was playfully gnawing on her father beast’s finger.

"Y-you, you big bad Land Beast! G-give, give my sister... b-back to me!"

Xiya’s voice finally drew Jin Ling’s gaze away from the tiger cub. He looked at Xiya with some surprise, smelling the scent of Xixi’s bloodline on her.

Jin Ling’s brow twitched. ’This merfolk cub is from Xixi’s bloodline?’

"You, give my sister back to me!"

Jin Ling composed himself and looked at Xiya. "I am the tiger cub’s father beast."

Xiya’s eyes widened in astonishment. "You..." Before she could finish, she smelled the shared bloodline scent between the father and daughter. It was actually true.

"Mother beast said her beast-husband would come find her. Y-you guys really came."

Seeing that Xiya didn’t seem to be in good shape, Jin Ling asked for her permission before picking her up and letting her rest on his shoulder.

The tiger cub lay on his other shoulder, her big eyes staring at her older sister in confusion.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

The moment she saw the tiger cub naturally accepting Jin Ling, Xiya completely lowered her guard. She told him the whole story of how she met Qiao Xixi and how they ended up in this place.

Hearing about what the mother and daughters had been through, the joy of reuniting with his cub was considerably dampened for Jin Ling.

However, he didn’t show any unusual emotions in front of Xiya, lest she be affected by him.

"Your name is Xiya, right?"

"Yes."

"Xiya, you’re a very brave cub. Your mother beast will surely be happy to know you protected your little sister so well over such a long distance. And I thank you too, Xiya. Thank you for protecting my cub all this way."

Jin Ling’s deep, gentle words did much to dispel Xiya’s tension and anxiety. Her small face reddened slightly as she looked at the tiger cub and gave a silly giggle.

’Actually, I’m not that amazing.’

Following their scents, Jin Ling found Sunxiao and the others on the other side of the island.

Feiyan and Sangze had already cut down some trees and were making a raft. Qiao Lie and the others had just returned with Sunxiao from catching seafood in the ocean. Just as they were preparing to start a fire and cook, the sharp-eyed Qiao Qiao spotted Jin Ling’s return.

"Father beast Jin Ling, you’re back."

At Qiao Qiao’s shout, everyone turned to look at Jin Ling. They were all stunned to see the tiger cub and Xiya with him.

Sunxiao’s cold brow furrowed slightly, his gaze lingering on Xiya a little longer.

"Jin Ling, what’s going on?"

Jin Ling placed Xiya and the tiger cub on a fur blanket that had been spread out.

"I found my tiger cub and Xiya on the coast. Xiya... is also from Xixi’s bloodline."

Although they could all smell it, hearing Jin Ling say it out loud still made the expressions of the several males turn sour.

"How long has she been gone, and she already has another merfolk cub!?" Feiyan nearly jumped to his feet.

Sangze, however, looked at Xiya curiously. "But Feiyan, this merfolk cub seems to be a bit older than Sangqi."

Sunxiao’s serpentine pupils grew a fraction colder.

The older the cub, the earlier Qiao Xixi must have met her father beast!

Long before she pounced on them, she had already made a move on a merfolk male!

This sudden realization left the males feeling extremely displeased!

Sangze was the quickest to accept it. It was his first time seeing a merfolk cub, and he found her very cute, just that she didn’t look much like Xixi.

Feiyan couldn’t very well vent his inner frustrations in front of a cub.

"Her being the oldest can only mean one thing." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Sangze asked with a look of innocent curiosity, "What’s that?"

"Her dad is the oldest!"

Sangze had a moment of realization. "That actually makes a lot of sense."

Xiya thought that her mother beast’s beast-husbands were all very handsome, but in her heart, her own father beast was the most, most, most handsome of all. No other male could compare!

Just as Xiya was making these little comparisons in her head, someone suddenly touched her ear. She turned around, annoyed, only to see a round, fair, and tender little face. The two snowy white ears on the girl’s head twitched curiously upon seeing her.

"Why are your ears different from ours?"

Xiya sensed that Qiao Qiao meant no harm and explained in a childlike voice, "Because I’m a Sea Beast and you guys are Land Beasts. Of course we’re different."

Qiao Qiao’s eyes widened, and she exclaimed with sincere admiration, "Wow, big sister, you know so much."

Feiyan watched his own little social butterfly of a cub quickly hit it off with the new big sister she had just met, and he still felt a sour pang of jealousy.

He nudged Sunxiao and grumbled, "Congratulations. It was bad enough we couldn’t get rid of that freak Sangze, but now we’ve got some old merman who seduced Xixi. That’s one more rival for you to fight."