Beast World: A Fragile Beauty Blessed with Many Children-Chapter 277 - 276: What Kind of Elder

There was plenty of fruit in the mountain hollow, and everyone gathered it happily. They couldn’t wipe the joyful smiles of a good harvest from their faces.

The two cubs were also incredibly busy. Xu Ye was in charge of flying into the trees to gather fruit, while Xuyou directed him from below, conveniently storing whatever her brother collected in her space.

Of course, she was also constantly munching on all sorts of fruit, and her happy little chirps were especially lovely to hear.

On the way back, Si Shuo rode on the Snow Leopard’s back. She loved to stroke his ears, but Zhi Le was ticklish. His ears played hide-and-seek with her hand, twitching nimbly away.

When she couldn’t catch them, Si Shuo resorted to nibbling on one. The warm puff of her breath made the Snow Leopard shiver with excitement, a purr rumbling uncontrollably in his throat.

’Next month, Zhi Le and Wei Ce are going hunting, Gong You is heading to the coast to trade for sea salt, and Yin Jiang has to lead a team to transport supplies,’ she thought. ’Only Ji Liang, Xu Chi, and Xiao Cheng will be left at home.’

Si Shuo was already starting to miss them. "Zhi Le, you know how to write now. When you go hunting, you have to make time to write to me every day."

"Okay!" Zhi Le nodded. He knew she was thinking about the spring hunt. Compared to his last departure—when he’d been fraught with anxiety, wracking his brain to mobilize all his connections to protect her—he felt much more at ease this time. "Kitty, how about I have Zhi Qi stay behind? That way, when the little Snow Leopard cubs are born, a part of me will still be here to watch over them."

Si Shuo pressed her lips together in a smile. "It’s fine. Looking after one cub is the same as looking after a whole litter. Little Ye and Youyou can even help watch their younger siblings."

"Zhi Le, you have me and the cubs now, so you have to take good care of yourself. It’s fine for us to get stronger, but the most important thing is that you stay safe, understand?"

The Clone Ability was his trump card, but if the clone was separated from him for too long or over too great a distance, there was a risk they would permanently split into two separate individuals.

Zhi Le smiled and nodded. "I know, kitty. Don’t worry. The last time I was so badly injured—a wound that struck at my very core—it was because I was still holding on to a sliver of hope about family, which gave others an opening to exploit."

"That won’t happen again! I’m a Snow Leopard; who can escape faster than me? I’m looking forward to coming back to see our cubs!"

When they returned, they found several new tents pitched next to their own.

Xiao Cheng came up to greet them, whispering in Si Shuo’s ear, "Sister, can you guess who that is?"

Si Shuo pinched his ear. "Don’t play games with me!" ’This fox just loves to keep people in suspense.’

Xiao Cheng laughed, hugging her and giving her a quick kiss. He jutted his chin toward Wei Ce and whispered, "They’re Black Wolf Beastmen. In the Guangshou City family rankings, they hover around fourteenth or fifteenth place. They’ve never broken into the top thirteen."

’The Black Wolf Clan?’ Si Shuo blinked. She glanced at Wei Ce’s grim face, then at the tearful female standing outside the neighboring tent, and swallowed hard. "It couldn’t be *that* Black Wolf Clan, could it?"

"There’s only one Black Wolf Clan in Guangshou City," Xiao Cheng confirmed with a nod. "Wei Ce’s Mother is a Female Saint, so naturally, she would be among those invited."

The harvest season for these mountain goods only lasted about ten days. The Iron eating Beast Clan had a limited population, making it impossible for them to gather everything in such a short period. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Therefore, the Gathering Festival hosted by the Iron eating Beast Clan was deliberately scheduled during this ten-day window when the goods were at peak ripeness. Beastmen who participated would turn over half of their haul to the Iron eating Beast Clan as a fee, and they could take the other half home.

This was essentially the Iron eating Beast Clan’s way of hiring temporary workers, a strategy that also reduced the chances of Beastmen from Guangshou City growing covetous of their territory.

As long as the Beastmen felt they were getting a good deal, they wouldn’t risk offending the Iron eating Beast Clan by gathering to protest or cause trouble.

With the long rainy and cold seasons just two months away, the Beastmen already felt the urgency to gather supplies to survive the harsh weather. Any Beastman who met the requirements to join the Gathering Festival wouldn’t pass up the chance. No one turns their nose up at free supplies.

The Black Wolf Clan’s influence in Guangshou City was mediocre at best, so they certainly weren’t in a position to turn away resources over a personal grudge.

Si Shuo frowned slightly. ’What’s the deal with Wei Ce’s Mother and her tear-filled eyes?’

She stepped forward, took Wei Ce’s hand, and said with a light smile, "It’s almost noon. Why don’t you go see if the cubs are bothering your Father? Take some food with you so he doesn’t have to run back and forth."

"Your Father is the Clan Leader, so he’s surely busy. You can help him out a little, and it’s a good chance for the cubs to meet some of their clan members..."

Wei Ce grunted in affirmation, grabbed some fruit and roasted meat that the other husbands had prepared, and went to find his Father and the cubs.

Yichu pursed her lips, her expression souring as she watched her son’s retreating back. She then turned her gaze to Si Shuo, critically sizing her up.

Si Shuo lazily raised her eyes and stared right back, giving Yichu a head-to-toe inspection of her own before shaking her head with a tut.

"You—what is the meaning of this? You’re Wei Ce’s female; you should be calling me Mother. Is that any way to treat an elder?" Yichu’s face went pale with rage as she demanded in a shrill voice.

She was a delicate-looking woman, dressed in a light purple cotton dress that revealed her slender arms and legs. A circlet of matching purple flower vines adorned her head. It was an ethereal sort of beauty that made one want to protect her. Among the females of the Beast World, her looks were well above average, perhaps even top-tier. Though she was over thirty, her skin remained fair, smooth, and youthful. The only thing was the constant melancholy etched between her brows, like some tragic heroine, which added a certain alluring quality.

But compared to Si Shuo—who was vibrant, full of life, and shone as brightly as the sun—all of Yichu’s carefully cultivated aesthetics were reduced to dust.

And who doesn’t love a little sunshine?

Si Shuo just laughed. "What kind of elder are you to me? Did you ever hold me when I was a child? Did you ever feed me a single bite of rice?"

"You were just looking at me that way a moment ago. I’m not some pushover made of clay. I just copied you and gave you the same look back. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?"

She then crossed her arms and gave an exaggerated imitation of Yichu’s judgmental once-over.

’Ever since she’d heard Yichu’s story, Si Shuo had been thoroughly disgusted by her. Especially the part where Yichu had actually complained that Wei Ce had ’stolen’ the superior aptitude meant for her favorite son!’

’Is that something a mother should ever say?’

Yichu had had things go her way for so many years that she’d never been treated this way before. She trembled with rage. "So this is what happens! Without a Mother to vet his choices, look at the kind of female Wei Ce has found for himself—savage and ill-mannered!"

Si Shuo chuckled. "Whatever the case, I’d say my place in Wei Ce’s heart is leagues higher than yours."

"At least I didn’t abandon my husband and son. I know how to cherish every single one of my Beast Husbands. And I certainly didn’t blame a child I disliked for my own womb’s failure to produce a cub with better aptitude."

"Oh, and I *definitely* wouldn’t dislike someone while shamelessly using their power to bolster my own status."

"You—what nonsense are you spouting? I never said I didn’t want them! It was—it was Wei Ce’s Father who wronged me! He changed his Beast Mark and offered it to another female!"

"He was the one who snatched Wei Ce away from me later on! Did they tell you something?" Yichu asked, her voice full of heartbreak.

Si Shuo laughed in exasperation. ’Always someone else’s fault, yet she’s the one who benefits. Such a hypocrite. A textbook ’white lotus.’’