Chapter 570 - 567: Never Meet

Chapter 570: Chapter 567: Never Meet

Exhaustion washed over the surviving Leopard Clan like a heavy tide. The area was silent, save for the wary footsteps of the Night Watchers and the crackling of bonfires.

Bai Wanwan slept soundly in Xin Feng’s warm embrace, while Zhu Xiu stood guard a short distance away, a statue melting into the night. His scarlet, slitted pupils glinted occasionally in the darkness.

In the latter half of the night, an agonized groan echoed from a corner of the temporary infirmary.

The beastman on duty discovered with alarm that a young Leopard Beastman, whose injuries hadn’t initially seemed the most severe, had taken a sudden turn for the worse.

His face was turning a purplish-blue, his breathing was labored, and his muscles were convulsing uncontrollably. He was on the verge of suffocating.

The poison was bizarre. The Clan Witch had used medicine to slow its effects during the day, but it had flared up unexpectedly in the middle of the night.

The Clan Witch had said that if it acted up again, there was nothing he could do.

Thinking of this, the beastman couldn’t bear to watch and turned his gaze away.

Just then, a tall figure appeared at the mouth of the cave.

The beastman immediately turned to look. He recognized this male as one of the Beast Husbands of Yan Lie’s Wife.

The Leopard Beastmen saw Zhu Xiu appear, but no one stopped him from approaching.

Zhu Xiu walked up to the poisoned Leopard Beastman. After a single glance, his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

He was all too familiar with this poison.

The mixed venom of a King Cobra, carrying a cold, sinister aura he knew so well.

He said nothing, merely gesturing for the clansmen to step back.

Then, under everyone’s astonished gazes, he leaned down, slit his own wrist with a sharp nail, and let his dark red blood seep out.

It trickled slowly into the Leopard Beastman’s mouth.

At that moment, the Leopard Beastmen mostly understood. This outsider was saving one of their own.

A miracle occurred!

The purplish-blue hue on the victim’s skin faded at a speed visible to the naked eye. His convulsing muscles gradually relaxed, and his labored, obstructed breathing became smooth.

In just a moment, he took a long, sharp breath and opened his eyes. Though weak, his life was clearly no longer in danger.

The clansmen were both shocked and overjoyed. Their gazes toward Zhu Xiu were now filled with even deeper reverence and gratitude.

Zhu Xiu, however, simply withdrew his hand, his expression impassive. The small wound on his wrist had already scabbed over.

He gave the conscious young Leopard Beastman a fleeting, unreadable glance before turning and silently returning to his quarters.

However, Bai Wanwan had been woken by the commotion.

Her sleep had been light these past few days. She rubbed her eyes and looked at Zhu Xiu, who was sitting in the shadows. "Did... did something happen just now?" she asked softly. "Did you go out?"

Zhu Xiu was silent for a moment before admitting it in a low voice, "It was nothing. One of the Leopard Clan was poisoned. I went to check on him. It’s handled. Go back to sleep."

His tone was calm, and Bai Wanwan wasn’t fully awake.

Seeing that he had returned safely, she relaxed and leaned back into Xin Feng’s arms, quickly falling asleep again.

The next morning, when Bai Wanwan learned that the near-death young Leopard Beastman from last night had made a miraculous recovery—and had vaguely mentioned that Zhu Xiu saved him with a special method—she grew suspicious.

They had discovered the poisoned beastman yesterday afternoon, and the Clan Witch had been treating him.

But Zhu Xiu had a way to save him and didn’t act, yet he went and saved the beastman in the middle of the night.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

While the clansmen began the new day’s work of clearing rubble, tending to the wounded, and preparing food, Bai Wanwan walked over to Zhu Xiu, who was inspecting the outer defenses.

"Zhu Xiu," she said, getting straight to the point. "Last night, you saved that poisoned Leopard Beastman? Are... are you hiding something from me?"

Zhu Xiu turned around. Seeing the searching look in Bai Wanwan’s eyes, he suddenly lowered his head and captured her soft lips, stealing her breath in a fiery kiss.

Bai Wanwan felt his emotions spiraling out of control.

She let him hold her and kiss her, but after a moment, she raised her hands to cup his sharp, chiseled face, forcing him to meet her gaze. Her voice was gentle yet incredibly firm. "Zhu Xiu, look at me. You’re my Beast Husband, and I’m your female. We are one. No matter what it is—good or bad, past or future—you can tell me. I don’t want you to bear everything alone."

A deeply buried emotion flickered in the depths of Zhu Xiu’s eyes.

He looked at the unconditional trust and worry in her eyes. It was as if a crack had formed in the pain he had sealed away, letting a sliver of sunlight in. The memory no longer seemed so difficult to let go of.

He sighed, pulling her tightly into his embrace. He rested his chin on the top of her head, his voice low and raspy as he spoke:

"That Leopard Beastman... was poisoned by a King Cobra. It has an aura that only our bloodline carries."

He paused, then continued, "I suspect... the snake that bit him, or one that he came into contact with, might be... related to me by blood."

’No wonder...’

Bai Wanwan’s heart sank.

She instantly understood the reason for Zhu Xiu’s strange behavior last night and his current suppressed state.

’Blood relatives... For Zhu Xiu, who had been abandoned as a child and struggled to survive alone in a cruel world, that term probably didn’t represent warmth, but rather deeper wounds and a past too painful to revisit.’

She hugged his lean, muscular waist tightly, her small hand gently stroking his back. Her voice was incredibly soft. "If you want to see them, we can go find them and get some answers. If you don’t, we’ll ignore them forever, as if they don’t exist in this world. Whatever you choose, I’m on your side."

Zhu Xiu held her even tighter. He shook his head, his voice laced with a resolute coldness and finality. "I don’t want to see them. Let’s never see them."

Hearing his words, Bai Wanwan felt a sharp, stinging pain prick at her heart.

’She couldn’t imagine what kind of cruel, terrible things Zhu Xiu must have experienced growing up alone to make him so averse and cold toward the idea of "blood ties," even hateful.’

She didn’t press for details. Instead, she squeezed his large, cool hand tighter, pressed her cheek against his solid chest, and listened to his somewhat erratic heartbeat. Word by word, with absolute clarity and solemnity, she said:

"Okay, then we won’t see them. From now on, me, the cubs, Xin Feng, Yan Lie, Hua Han, Yin Ze, Jin Yi, and Chou Rong... we are your forever family. We will never abandon you."

Her voice wasn’t loud, but it was like the warmest sunlight, gradually dispelling the cold and loneliness that clung to Zhu Xiu.

He closed his eyes and buried his face deep in the fragrant crook of her neck. His Adam’s apple bobbed, and all he could manage was a nearly inaudible "Mm," thick with suppressed emotion.

"Come on, Xin Feng is almost done with the food. Let’s go back and eat."

A bright smile blossomed on Bai Wanwan’s face, instantly scattering all the gloom and causing the shadows in Zhu Xiu’s heart to vanish in that very moment.