Clumsy Beast, Keep Your Paws Off-Chapter 428: My Six Month Old Baby Already Has a Beast Mark!

Hu Yan stepped closer, his heavy footsteps echoing in the cave. He squinted his eyes, looking at the tiny human baby in Xuan Long’s arms. As he reached out a large, calloused hand to touch the baby’s arm, his eyes suddenly bulged.

There, etched clearly onto Xiao San’s small, pale shoulder, was a single beast strip.

Hu Yan gasped, his face turning pale with shock. He looked up at Xuan Long, his voice trembling. "Xuan Long... is this real? Look at his shoulder! He already has a strip!"

In the beast world, these marks represented a warrior’s rank and power. Most talented cubs did not earn their first strip until they were at least ten years old.

But Xiao San was a six month old infant. This was unheard of. It was like seeing a newborn pick up a heavy hunting spear.

"Is it safe?" Hu Yan asked, his concern growing.

"How can a baby hold so much energy? Is it because of your special tribe? Are all your people this terrifyingly powerful from birth?"

Xuan Long looked down at his son, his expression calm but his eyes shining with a rare intensity.

"Our tribe has always been strong, but Xiao San is special. He has almost surpassed me too. Do not worry, his body is strong enough to hold it."

Hu Yan was filled with awe. He looked at Xiao San, who was currently trying to count his fingers, and then he looked down at his own two cubs.

Xiao Yi and Xiao Er were currently rolling in a patch of dirt they had dragged into the cave, biting each other’s tails and growling over a piece of dry grass. They were covered in mud, messy, and completely oblivious to the rank their brother had just achieved.

Hu Yan let out a heavy, tired sigh. He felt a sudden weight on his shoulders.

"Look at them," Hu Yan muttered, pointing at the muddy tiger cubs. "Xiao San is already a ranked warrior and a human baby. And my sons... they spend all day rolling in the mud like little pigs. They do not have a single care in the world."

He remembered that morning when Xiao Yi had jumped on his face to wake him up, putting his smelly little tiger butt right on Hu Yan’s nose. The contrast was too much.

"I really need to work harder on them," Hu Yan grumbled, rubbing his temples. "If I do not start training them now, they will be teenagers before they even figure out which end of the prey to bite. How can there be such a big difference in one family?"

Su Qinglan laughed and patted Hu Yan’s arm. "Do not be so hard on them, Hu Yan. Tigers grow differently than snakes. They will have their turn."

But Hu Yan was not convinced. He picked up Xiao Yi by the scruff of his neck, looking the muddy cub in the eye. "No more rolling in the dirt. Starting tomorrow, we practice pouncing!"

Xiao Yi just blinked at him and let out a tiny, bored yawn.

The tiger cubs, Xiao Yi and Xiao Er, did not seem bothered by Hu Yan’s lecture at all. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

They looked at their hairless brother, then at their own beautiful, muddy fur, and came to a silent agreement.

Why would we want to be smooth and pink? We are perfect. They completely ignored their father’s Tiger Training threats and went back to wrestling in the dirt, having zero intention of transforming anytime soon.

While the tigers were busy being messy, Xiao San went back to Su Qinglan. He looked at her with his big, intelligent green eyes and, to everyone’s shock, his tiny lips moved.

"Mother..." he whispered, his voice soft but surprisingly clear for a baby. "I have been waiting... to become human. So I can talk to you."

Su Qinglan’s heart practically exploded with joy. "You can talk! My baby can talk!"

Xiao San nodded solemnly, then shot a sideways glance at Xuan Long. "Father is unreliable," the baby complained, his little brow furrowing. "He always tells you wrong things when I hiss. No more middle man."

He let out a tiny, dramatic sigh, sounding far too mature for his one year old appearance.

He reached out and rubbed Su Qinglan’s cheeks with his chubby hands, finally able to express his love without just flicking a tongue at her.

Xuan Long stood there, stunned. His own son had just called him unreliable and a scummy middle man in front of his female. He did not know whether to be proud of the boy’s intelligence or offended by the insult.

The tiger cubs, seeing that the hairless brother was hogging all the attention and talking in a fancy way, immediately got jealous. They did not have words, but they had weight and very plump bodies.

Thump! Thump!

With a coordinated leap, both Xiao Yi and Xiao Er launched their muddy bodies directly into Su Qinglan’s lap.

"Oh!" Su Qinglan gasped as two heavy piles of fur slammed into her.

Instantly, her clean white animal skin dress was covered in brown, muddy paw prints. The tiger cubs wiggled their way into her arms, pushing Xiao San to the side and licking her chin with their rough tongues, demanding their share of the cuddles.

Su Qinglan did not mind the mess at all. She wrapped her arms around all three of them, one smooth baby and two muddy tigers.

"Oh, my babies! My sweet, wonderful babies!" she laughed, kissing the tigers’ messy heads and Xiao San’s soft forehead.

Hu Yan looked at the lively scene in front of him and let out another sigh, though this time it was filled with warmth and happiness.

His sons were noisy and chaotic, constantly causing trouble, while the little snake cub was clearly a tiny genius who never missed a chance to tease or insult his own father.

Even so, Hu Yan knew that these three mischievous children were the most precious treasures in their family.

Shaking his head with a helpless smile, he picked up a cloth. "Alright, that is enough playing for now," he said firmly.

"We are going to the mermaid feast, and dirty cubs are not allowed. Come here, everyone... it is time to get cleaned up for dinner."