Clumsy Beast, Keep Your Paws Off-Chapter 326: Shi Feng meets Xuan Long

Shi Feng walked out of the Tribe Leader’s house as if he were in a dream. His mind was spinning with the image of the tiny horns on the snake cub’s head.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the tall figure approaching the tree house.

Suddenly, Shi Feng collided with someone.

He stiffened immediately, his warrior instincts flaring up. He looked up and found himself staring into a pair of emerald eyes so deep and calm they looked like forest pools.

For a second, Shi Feng’s heart skipped a beat. The man in front of him was breathtakingly handsome, with a cold, elegant aura that made the surrounding air feel chilly.

The man was Xuan Long. He looked at the Lion King with a slight expression of confusion.

He couldn’t understand how a powerful beastman like Shi Feng could be so distracted that he would walk right into someone.

Shi Feng quickly regained his composure. "My apologies," he said, his voice a bit rough. "I was lost in thought."

Xuan Long didn’t say anything. He simply gave a small, polite nod and brushed past Shi Feng to go inside the house.

He didn’t care much about the stranger; he was only there to pick up his mate and his new hatchling.

He wasn’t even aware that the man he had just bumped into was a King, or that he was looking at his greatest rival for Su Qinglan’s heart.

Xuan Long rarely spent time in the tribe and knew very little about the visitors.

Shi Feng stood frozen on the steps, watching the man’s back as he walked away. The realization hit him like a lightning bolt.

That is Xuan Long, he thought.

His hands clenched into tight fists at his sides. The resemblance between the man and the hatchling was undeniable, but it was more than that.

The aura coming off Xuan Long was ancient and heavy. The uncanny similarities to the legends he once heard were just too much to ignore.

"How could it be possible?" Shi Feng whispered to himself.

He felt a surge of complicated emotions...shock, fear, and a strange kind of excitement.

He had come here thinking he was the strongest male in the forest, but now he had met a man who didn’t even seem to belong to the world of ordinary beasts.

With a dazed mind, Shi Feng forced his legs to move. He walked away from the house, but his thoughts remained on those emerald eyes.

Then suddenly he began to run. He sprinted through the tribe and back to his treehouse, his heart thumping against his ribs like a drum.

The moment he burst through the door, he ignored everything else and began to rummage through his most private belongings.

Finally, at the very bottom of a heavy stone chest, he found it.

It was an exquisite box made of a dark, ancient wood that never rotted. The lid was covered in intricate, carved designs of a long, coiling creature...a dragon.

This box was the greatest treasure of the Lion Tribe, passed down from generation to generation for hundreds of years.

Along with the box came a legend of deep gratitude and a debt that the Lions owed to a higher power.

Shi Feng knew this item didn’t even belong to their world. With trembling fingers, he clicked the latch and opened it.

Inside lay a green jade pendant. The jade was cool and glowing, carved into the shape of a snake with two distinct horns on its head.

Shi Feng’s breath hitched. The design was almost exactly the same as the little cub he had just held in his arms.

The bumps on Xiao San’s head weren’t birthmarks; they were the marks of a high being.

"How could it be possible?" he whispered into the empty room. "Why is he here, living in a small fox tribe? And most importantly... why is he my love rival?"

He clutched the beautiful box to his chest, his knuckles turning white. Usually, if a beastman wanted a female, he would challenge the other husbands to a fair fight.

But as Shi Feng looked at the jade dragon, a cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"Can I even fight him?" he whispered to the shadows. "Can I challenge him?"

The answer made his blood run cold. To challenge a being like that would be an insult to his own ancestors. His tribe had survived ancient disasters only because of the protection of that man.

Shi Feng stared at the green jade pendant, his mind racing through the ancient stories told by the elders.

According to the legend, a high and powerful being had saved the Lion Tribe from a great disaster centuries ago.

Out of gratitude, the Lions had served him, and in return, he had stayed for a period of time in their tribe. And at that time the being had carved this very box and pendant for his unborn son.

But then, a sudden catastrophe occurred, and the high being had to leave, leaving the treasure behind.

​"If that man is truly from that lineage," Shi Feng whispered, his voice trembling, "then challenging him is not just a fight. It is an insult to my ancestors who worshipped his bloodline."

​He sat on the edge of his bed, the cool jade pressing against his palm. He was torn. On one hand, Su Qinglan was the only female who had ever made his heart beat this way.

He wanted her more than anything he had ever desired in his life. But on the other hand, how could he raise a hand against the descendant of his tribe’s savior?

​His eyes fell back on the pendant. The dragon carved into the jade looked exactly like the cub, Xiao San.

​"Should I return it to him?" he wondered. "Is he the true owner, the unborn son the legend spoke of?"

​Shi Feng frowned. The story said the high being left in a hurry and forgot this precious item.

If Xuan Long was the son, he might not even know this box exists. Or perhaps Xuan Long was the "high being" himself, living a quiet life in hiding? Or he was just from the same lineage with no relation to that man. The mystery was too deep.

​Shi Feng clutched the box tightly. He didn’t know what to do. If he gave the box back, he would be admitting that Xuan Long was his superior. If he kept it, he was hiding a sacred relic from its rightful owner.

​"But I cannot give up on her," Shi Feng muttered, his golden eyes flashing with a sudden, stubborn light.

"Even if he is a legend, she is the female I have chosen. I must find out if he even knows who he is."

​He decided he wouldn’t return the box just yet. He needed to observe Xuan Long more closely. He needed to see if he was related to that high being or not.

He couldn’t casually hand this item to just anyone; it would be disrespectful.

​Shi Feng carefully hid the box back in the stone chest. He stood up and straightened his clothes, his resolve hardening. He would go through with the merger.

He would stay in the Fox Tribe. And he would find a way to stand beside Su Qinglan, even if it meant facing a living god every single day.