Chapter 573: You’d Better Not Be Hiding Anything From Me

The moment the dark clouds scattered, the bindings on Qiao Xixi vanished. Riding the wind, she flew forward and caught all the cubs in her arms.

After making sure the cubs were safe, Qiao Xixi looked back and saw that Yun Ji and the Wing Clan beast soldiers could move again. They were flying back down to the ground, bringing Sunxiao and the others with them.

Qiao Xixi landed and gently placed the cubs on the dirt.

“An’an, Qiaoqiao, wake up.”

Little Demon had appeared behind Qiao Xixi at some point. “Don’t worry, Host. They used up too much energy and just fell asleep from exhaustion.”

Qiao Xixi held the cubs close, thoroughly checking their physical condition. Only after confirming they weren’t seriously hurt did she let out a breath of relief, though her heart still fluttered with lingering fear as she hugged the sleeping tiger cub.

“Little Demon, we won, right?”

“Yes, Host, we won. This world will never be maliciously manipulated by anyone again.”

Qiao Xixi sniffled. She stood up and walked over to Jin Ling and the others to check on them.

“Jin Ling, how are you guys doing?”

She noticed that their faces were darkened; they all looked quite unwell.

“Don’t worry, Host. That thing was incredibly vicious and wanted to torture you all first, so the lightning it summoned wasn’t at full strength. Once they go back and rest for a while, their damaged beast souls will recover, and they’ll be perfectly fine.”

Qiao Xixi pursed her lips. At least their lives weren’t in danger. She turned to Yun Ji and said, “Yun Ji, let’s find a place to rest.”

Yun Ji nodded. “We’ll go to Elephant Beast City.”

“We just fought with Elephant Beast City. Will they even let us in if we go there now?”

Yun Ji nodded again. “That monster somehow found a way to mind-control the beastmen of Elephant Beast City, forcing them to obey its orders. Now that the monster is gone, those manipulated beastmen should have regained their senses.”

She wasn’t surprised in the slightest that the Mastermind could bewitch beastmen. After all, they had no prior grudges with Elephant Beast City, so there was no reason for them to be targeted out of nowhere.

“Mm.”

As they spoke, Lei Lie walked over, dragging an unconscious Kunlin by the collar.

“Holy Priest, what should we do with him?”

Yun Ji’s expression darkened slightly. “Keep a close eye on him. Bring him back to Elephant Beast City with us for now.”

“Understood.”

Qiao Yi and Sunxuan hoisted the cubs onto their backs, while Qiao Xixi sat on Yun Ji’s back. The beast soldiers carried Sunxiao and the rest as the group set off for Elephant Beast City.

To Qiao Xixi’s surprise, after Yun Ji revealed his identity, they entered Elephant Beast City without any trouble.

The beast soldiers of Elephant Beast City were incredibly respectful to Yun Ji. After entering the city, they led the group straight to a row of spacious stone houses and let them take their pick.

Qiao Xixi chose a nearby courtyard with enough stone houses to accommodate their entire large family.

“Jin Ling and the others are injured and shouldn’t be moved around too much. You all stay here in these stone houses for now. I need to make a trip to the inner city,” Yun Ji said.

Qiao Xixi nodded. “Alright, we’ll wait for you here.”

Yun Ji gave a slight nod, taking only Zhi Yan with him as he left.

Qiao Yi took the lead, carrying the cubs into the house and carefully placing them on the bed.

Qiao Xixi hurried in after him. Seeing the beads of sweat on the cubs’ faces, she couldn’t help but chuckle. “Elephant Beast City really is hot. It’s only been a short while, and the cubs are already sweating in their sleep.”

“You should get some sleep with them too,” Qiao Yi suggested.

Qiao Xixi shook her head. “I want to go check on Feiyan and the others first.” There had been too many people around earlier, so she hadn’t gotten the chance to ask about their conditions in detail. Even though she knew their lives weren’t in danger, she couldn’t help but worry.

Qiao Yi gave a soft snort, but ultimately didn’t say anything to stop her.

Feiyan and the others had already gone into their respective stone houses. When Qiao Xixi arrived, Lei Lie and the other beast soldiers were helping Feiyan repair his damaged beast soul.

“You have a good foundation, so you’re recovering quickly. It’s much easier than when we helped the Holy Priest back then,” Lei Lie said. “Get a good rest over the next few days. Don’t use your beast soul energy lightly, or you’ll risk injuring it again.”

Feiyan was just about to reply when he caught sight of Qiao Xixi walking in. He immediately changed his tune and smiled, “I think I’m pretty much fine now. Thanks a lot.”

Lei Lie glanced back at Qiao Xixi, gave her a nod, and walked out.

Qiao Xixi took a waterskin out of her spatial storage and walked over.

“Have some water first.”

Feiyan didn’t refuse. He took a large gulp right from her hands.

The sweet Spiritual Spring water slid down his throat, washing away the restless heat in his body.

“Do you feel any better?”

For once, Feiyan didn’t try to nuzzle against her. Instead, he puffed out his chest and declared, “Much better, just a bit sleepy.” With that, he took the opportunity to lie down on the bed.

Qiao Xixi had expected him to act like a rascal as usual. Surprisingly, the moment she looked over, he had already closed his eyes. Only a few seconds later, the sound of his even breathing reached her ears.

Looking at his sleeping face, her heart ached. She leaned in and gently kissed his cheek. Knowing Feiyan’s personality, if he really were fine, he definitely would have whined and played the victim in front of her. Or rather, all of her mates were exactly the same in that regard.

When nothing was wrong, they loved to complain about their imaginary aches and pains. But when they were actually injured, they always put on a brave face and toughed it out in front of her.

She knew they only did this because they were afraid of making her worry.

But the more they acted like this, the more her heart ached for them.

Feiyan was also sensitive to the heat. He had only been lying down for a little while, but a fine layer of sweat was already beading on his forehead.

Qiao Xixi took an animal skin cloth to gently wipe his brow before stepping out of the room.

Sunxiao’s room was right next door. When Qiao Xixi walked in, Lei Lie and his men had just left. They must have come in to help repair his beast soul, just as they had done for Feiyan.

Sunxiao seemed to know she was coming; he was already sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for her.

Qiao Xixi looked at him, her brows furrowed slightly. “Do you want some water?”

Sunxiao nodded.

She brought over the prepared waterskin and let him drink quite a bit from her hands.

He seemed to have been genuinely parched, drinking down the entire waterskin.

With the cool, refreshing Spiritual Spring water in his stomach, Sunxiao let out a soft breath.

Qiao Xixi moved a little closer to him. Just as she was about to speak, she felt a heavy weight on her shoulder. Startled, she turned her head and saw that Sunxiao had fallen asleep leaning against her.

“Is… is this Spiritual Spring water poisoned or something?” she muttered to herself. Why had they fallen asleep so quickly after drinking it?

Before she even finished her sentence, a round, smooth head poked in through the window.

“Spiritual Spring water naturally has powerful restorative properties! That’s water from the very eye of the Spring of Life. Plus, they’re suffering from internal injuries, so using it yields even better healing results,” Little Demon piped up.

“Why are you always popping up out of nowhere?”

Little Demon grinned widely and bounded through the window into the room.

“You should go give some more to each of your beast husbands later. They’ll recover much faster that way.”

Qiao Xixi nodded, carefully helping Sunxiao lie down properly on the bed.

Just as she was about to leave the room, she suddenly remembered something. She crouched down and looked at Little Demon. “Now that that thing has been destroyed, why do you still look like this? Can’t you go back to your original form?”

Little Demon rolled its perfectly round eyes and replied shamelessly, “Isn’t it good that I look like this? This way, whenever my Host misses me, you can kiss me and hug me.”

Qiao Xixi looked at its eyes, which were blinking far too forcefully, and her eye twitched. “You had better not be hiding anything from me.”

Hearing this, a fleeting look of guilt flashed through Little Demon’s eyes.