I Transmigrated as a Villainess to Raise Babies, and My Beast Husbands Are Fighting Madly Over Me!-Chapter 104: His Only Good-Looking Face Is About to Be Gone
"Xixi?"
Sunxiao’s voice was low and hoarse with emotion.
But Qiao Xixi pinched the inside of his arm, right where his beast soul stars were.
"How did you lose so many?"
Sunxiao opened his eyes with a sigh of resignation. ’She’s gotten so clever,’ he thought. ’She even knows how to trick me into revealing my weakness now.’ He hadn’t wanted her to know, afraid she would worry.
"You’re down to an 8-star beast soul."
When Sunxiao had returned tonight, she’d sensed that something was very wrong with his expression, which was why she had barely tried to joke with him during dinner.
Then, when he had entered the room without a word just now, she knew there was definitely a problem!
Usually, when she bathed, he could barely restrain himself from waiting right outside the door for her to come out. But tonight, he hadn’t even glanced at her.
"You were still at eight and a half stars just last night."
He had only gone out hunting today, and yet he’d dropped a whole half-star!
Sunxiao sat up and pulled her onto his lap, kissing the spot between her eyebrows.
"Don’t frown."
"What on earth happened in the mountains today?"
"We ran into a Mutated Beast Group in the mountains."
The color drained from Qiao Xixi’s face, and her grip on his hand tightened.
Sensing her tension, Sunxiao gently stroked her back. "But the ones we encountered this time didn’t have any beast soul stars, so they were much easier to handle."
It was true that a small group would have been easy to handle. But the sheer number they faced today had been massive, so massive that he had consumed a huge amount of beast soul energy, causing him to drop half a star at once.
Qiao Xixi was worried he would collapse from exhaustion again like last time. She quickly pulled an Orange-grade Crystal Stone from her storage space. "Is this enough?"
But Sunxiao pushed the Crystal Stone back. "No need. You should keep it for now."
Qiao Xixi, however, forcefully stuffed the Crystal Stone into his hand. "You’re my mate. If you can’t maintain your strength, how will you protect me and the cubs? I got a lot of these in Demon Beast City, enough for both you and Qiao Lie."
She had been saving those Crystal Stones specifically to replenish Sunxiao and Qiao Lie’s energy. Qiao Lie was in good condition right now and didn’t need one yet. But Sunxiao’s beast soul energy was immense, and so was its consumption rate. He had to recharge.
Sunxiao didn’t refuse again, clenching the Crystal Stone in his hand.
Seeing that he had listened, Qiao Xixi slid off his lap. Sunxiao reached out to grab her, but his vision suddenly went black.
"Sunxiao! Sunxiao!"
"Father! Father!"
「A few moments later.」
Jin Ling placed his palm over the energy zone on Sunxiao’s chest, confirming that he had collapsed from extreme physical depletion and exhaustion.
"Don’t worry. He’ll be fine after some sleep."
Qiao Xixi knew Sunxiao would recover, but her heart still felt heavy with anxiety.
"I’m staying with Father tonight," Qiao Lie said, his small face tense as he climbed onto Sunxiao’s bed.
Qiao Xixi didn’t object. "Okay. Then Mother will stay with you both tonight."
Seeing their insistence, Jin Ling didn’t argue. "Just call me if you need anything."
Qiao Xixi nodded. "Okay. You should get some sleep."
After Qiao Xixi and Jin Ling carried Qiao Qiao and Qiao Ang back to their room, she returned to Sunxiao’s stone house. She found Qiao Lie lying quietly beside Sunxiao, his small hand tightly gripping one of Sunxiao’s long fingers.
Qiao Xixi’s heart melted. She could feel the panic and unease in Qiao Lie’s heart.
She got onto the bed and gathered Qiao Lie into her arms from behind, patting his back gently. "Don’t be scared. Father will be all right."
Feeling his mother’s comfort, Qiao Lie’s big eyes reddened. He turned and buried himself in her embrace, his voice choked with sobs. "I... I can’t be... scared. Father said I have to become a brave, strong male so I can protect the people I want to protect."
Qiao Xixi held him tighter, continuously soothing his small, trembling body. Qiao Lie was always too reserved with his emotions. Crying was a good thing; once his uneasy feelings were released, the little guy wouldn’t be in so much pain.
Watching the little cub who had cried himself to sleep in her arms, Qiao Xixi kissed his cheek. She reached over him to gently take Sunxiao’s hand, then closed her eyes.
The night grew deeper and more silent. In the tribe, nearly all the beastmen had fallen into a deep sleep.
But Feili and Feiyan couldn’t sleep a wink.
"Where did you encounter the Mutated Beast Group today?"
"In the same mountain forest where we usually do most of our hunting. Because of the Mutant Beasts’ appearance, the Hunting Team’s haul today was much smaller than usual."
Feili’s brow furrowed even deeper. The cold wave would arrive in less than half a month. Although their region wouldn’t be covered in snow, the damp, cold weather would make it difficult to hunt for sufficient prey.
To ensure the tribe’s females and cubs made it through the cold wave safely, they had to stockpile more food.
"Tomorrow, expand the Hunting Team and avoid those Mutant Beasts. Hunt in the forests farther out. As long as the Mutant Beasts don’t attack you first, do not engage them. Focus everything on the hunt. Once we have stockpiled enough food, we’ll figure out a way to drive them off."
Feiyan’s expression grew grim. He felt there was something strange about the appearance of these Mutant Beasts. If they couldn’t find the reason, he feared even more would be drawn to this area.
But his father was right about one thing: right now, their priority had to be stockpiling food.
Feiyan returned to his stone house and lay down. He had sustained many injuries during the fight with the Mutant Beasts today. None were serious, so he couldn’t be bothered to go to the healer for treatment, but they still ached.
He closed his eyes, and for some reason, the image of Qiao Xixi worrying over her mate surfaced in his mind.
Feiyan frowned in irritation. ’When we males are out facing danger, shouldn’t the females care about us? Isn’t that normal?’
He rolled over. ’But... in the past, his own mother had rarely shown any concern for his father. She just constantly demanded that his father provide her with more of whatever she wanted. Even when his father appeared before her covered in wounds, she never cared.’
’It wasn’t just his mother; many other females were the same way.’
’Thinking about it that way, Qiao Xixi really did seem different...’
The fox, his mind a chaotic mess, finally closed his eyes and drifted off just as dawn was breaking.
The door to the room was pushed open gently, and two small heads peeked inside.
"Father seems to be still asleep."
Qiao Qiao wrinkled her little nose in disdain. "Father is such a lazybones."
The two cubs stealthily pushed the door open and tiptoed inside.
Qiao Qiao came to the bedside and saw the bruises on her father’s handsome face. Her own little face scrunched up.
"Brother, Father’s hurt."
Qiao Ang leaned in, his small face close. "It’s over. The only thing he had going for him, his face, is ruined."
Feiyan, who was already awake: "..."
Qiao Qiao sighed like a world-weary adult. "He’s not as strong as Qiao Lie’s father, and now his face isn’t as handsome as Father Jin Ling’s. He’s got no chance at all. Forget it, forget it. He really makes a cub worry."
Qiao Qiao’s small hand gripped Feiyan’s tightly. The next moment, Feiyan felt a continuous stream of warmth flow into his body. The stinging pain from his wounds vanished in an instant.
When Qiao Qiao saw the bruises on Feiyan’s face visibly disappear, she let go of his hand and turned to leave. But the moment she did, her small hand was suddenly caught by a much larger one.
