Chapter 571: We Are Not Vicious Villains

BUZZ.

The watch in her hand suddenly vibrated. Qiao Xixi jolted up from the animal skin mat, bringing the watch up to look at it—it was exactly twelve o’clock.

She glanced at the cubs sleeping soundly beside her, then looked at Xiaoyao, who was fast asleep next to them. She raised her foot and gave it a gentle kick.

Xiaoyao groggily rolled over. “Mmm, it’s been a long time since I slept this well.”

Qiao Xixi sat up and lifted it aside. “Stop sleeping. It’s twelve o’clock.”

Xiaoyao blearily opened its eyes. “Oh…” But as soon as the word left its mouth, its eyes shot wide open. “It’s past twelve!”

“Yeah,” Qiao Xixi said. “Yun Ji and the others aren’t back yet. I wonder if they’ve found the host.”

As they were talking, Qiao Xixi heard hurried footsteps outside the cave.

She stood up and walked out, finding a beast soldier reporting something to Sunxuan. Approaching them, she asked, “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Sunxuan turned to her and nodded. “A large number of beast soldiers from Elephant Beast City are heading up the mountain. It’s very likely that Qiao Yi and his team exposed their whereabouts. I’ll take you and the cubs away from here first.”

Qiao Xixi frowned. She knew that given Yun Ji and his team’s capabilities, they could easily evade the soldiers from Elephant Beast City; there was no way those soldiers could have discovered them on their own. Most likely, Yun Ji had already found the host and started fighting him. She had to face the host directly herself, so she indeed couldn’t afford to waste too much energy on these soldiers.

“Okay.”

With this in mind, Qiao Xixi turned back into the cave. The cubs, who had been sound asleep moments ago, had woken up when she walked out. Now, they were staring at her eagerly with their big, wide eyes.

“Soldiers from Elephant Beast City are heading this way. Let’s go, quickly,” she urged.

Qiao Xixi picked up the tiger cub, who wasn’t great at walking yet, and strapped him securely to her back. Qiao Ang and the others nimbly followed her out of the cave.

Sunxuan and his men had already split into two teams. One team stayed behind to intercept the approaching soldiers, while the rest prepared to escort Qiao Xixi’s group away.

“Let’s go,” Sunxuan said. He transformed into his beast form and instructed all the cubs to climb onto his back and hold on tight. “The terrain at the foot of the mountain is too open for hiding. We’ll detour through the mountains.”

Qiao Xixi nodded and hopped onto the back of a Wing Clan male. The group swiftly disappeared into the depths of the mountain forest.

“Xiaoyao, can you check on Yun Ji and the others right now?” Qiao Xixi asked.

“Sorry, Host. I can’t detect specific details, but I can confirm they are still in Elephant Beast City, and their vital signs are stable.”

Meanwhile, Yun Ji and his team were engaged in a fierce battle with Kunlin inside Elephant Beast City. In a clearing, Qiao Yi and the others were desperately blocking the charging beast soldiers. Behind them, Yun Ji faced off against Kunlin.

Kunlin’s hollow, emotionless pupils shot out two beams of sinister black light, constantly sweeping over Yun Ji and Qiao Yi’s team.

Yun Ji spread his wings and soared into the sky.

Seeing this, Kunlin followed suit, taking to the air. But just as he ascended into midair, a white silhouette suddenly appeared behind him and slammed fiercely into his back.

Kunlin let out a roar. A mostly full red health bar appeared above his head; the moment he was struck, a visible chunk of that red bar vanished.

Sensing the loss of his energy, Kunlin was enraged. “You have a death wish!”

He spun around to counterattack, but the moment he turned, Yun Ji was nowhere to be seen. Time and again, Kunlin could only catch glimpses of a white blur flashing past his eyes. His black light beams couldn’t lock onto his target no matter what he did.

“You people are nothing but playthings in this small world I control! Since you dare to defy me, I’ll show you who the true master is here today!”

A thick, dark cloud suddenly rolled into the sky, blanketing the entirety of Elephant Beast City.

Yun Ji looked up at the ominous clouds, his expression darkening.

Kunlin stared at him, his face twisting into a bizarre, sinister sneer. “Die.”

Fissures suddenly ripped open within the dark clouds, unleashing countless black light beams that rained down on Yun Ji and his team.

Yun Ji’s expression shifted slightly. He rapidly descended, flying to Qiao Yi’s side. “Find cover! Don’t let those beams hit you!”

But it was too late. The beams struck with blinding speed. The moment Qiao Yi and the others moved, the light hit them.

Qiao Yi felt his strength being rapidly drained away, and he stumbled to the ground, unable to maintain his balance.

Yun Ji also couldn’t dodge in time. His wings drooped weakly, almost impossible to lift.

Kunlin watched his powerless opponents, a strange laugh rumbling in his throat.

He didn’t notice at all that Yaya, who was hiding in a dark corner, had witnessed everything. Her eyes filled with terror as she gazed at Kunlin hovering in midair, her small hands tightly covering her mouth, terrified of making a single sound. She realized that this monster was terrifying—he wasn’t her father at all!

When the dark clouds dispersed and no one was paying attention to her, she turned and sprinted toward the back door.

Far away, Qiao Xixi and the others were fleeing toward the deep mountains with the cubs. But halfway there, a heavy voice boomed from the sky.

“Did you really think you could escape?”

Qiao Xixi stopped abruptly and looked up. That face had appeared in the night sky once again, its pitch-black, hollow eyes fixing on her with a physical weight.

“Damn it, Host, it’s here!” Xiaoyao cursed.

Qiao Xixi clenched her fists. Its arrival meant that Yun Ji and the others had failed to stop it.

“Xiaoyao, how are Yun Ji and the others right now?”

“Their vital signs are still there.”

Qiao Xixi let out a heavy breath. Even Yun Ji, her father, and the rest couldn’t significantly deplete its energy!

“Just how can we completely drain its energy?!”

“Bonds.”

“What?”

Qiao Xixi turned around, looking at Xiaoyao with a calm expression.

“Host, think about it carefully. How did you stop this world from following the plot they set? It was by using your own consciousness to forge bonds with them.”

Qiao Xixi’s eyes fluttered. Suddenly, after endless confusion, she felt as if she had finally caught a glimmer of light while trapped in dense fog.

“You and the cubs, you and Mo Yan’s group, you and Jin Ling’s group… you are the only variable in this world. So you mustn’t panic. Calm down and listen to the voice in your heart.”

As soon as those words fell, Qiao Xixi felt a warmth against her back.

Startled, she turned back and saw the cubs pressing tightly against her.

“Mother, we aren’t vicious villains. We’re your most beloved cubs.” Qiao Qiao’s large eyes brimmed with affection for Qiao Xixi.

“That’s right, Mother! We’re the best, most well-behaved cubs. We aren’t vicious at all!”

Qiao Lie suddenly reached out a small hand, tightly gripping Qiao Xixi’s finger. His large eyes were filled with firm conviction. “As long as Mother is here, we won’t turn into bad beasts.”

Sangqi’s small face was almost pressed against Qiao Xixi’s cheek. “Mother.”

“Mother.”

“Mama~!”