Chapter 36 - 35: Give Them a Break, Your Cubs Can’t Take It Anymore

Qingqiu, in the clan leader’s courtyard.

"Beast Father, what do you mean by that?"

"You’ve always been clever. I refuse to believe you don’t understand." Father Hu set down his cup, his gaze fixed on him. "But if you don’t, then I’ll say it again."

"Those ten cubs can only receive the best care here in the tribe. Therefore, I will not let you take them back."

"I can take care of them just as well. What right do you have to keep them from me?"

Hu Qiumu had always been calm and composed, rarely showing his emotions.

But this time, he had truly been pushed to his limit. His fists were clenched tightly, and his expression was grim.

"I’m doing this for them, and for your own good."

"That Female Master of yours has so many Beast Husbands. Who knows how her other Beast Husbands will bully them when you get back."

"Since you already have cubs, wouldn’t it be better to just raise them here in the tribe until they’re grown?"

Father Hu tried to reason with him and appeal to his emotions, doing everything he could to persuade Hu Qiumu to change his mind.

But Hu Qiumu was unmoved, his expression still grim. He cut right through Father Hu’s pretense. "Beast Father, you just want to keep them here to strengthen your own tribe’s power, don’t you?"

"Since your motives aren’t so pure, why bother dressing it up in pretty words? It’s utterly hypocritical."

Hu Qiumu’s words hit their mark. Father Hu’s eyes flickered, and his face flushed red.

Perhaps out of extreme anger and shame, he slammed the table and shot to his feet, pointing a finger at Hu Qiumu.

He berated him loudly, "What? Is there a problem with what I’m doing?"

"You are my cub! It’s only right that you contribute to the tribe!"

Hu Qiumu’s patience ran out. He stood up, his presence no less imposing than Father Hu’s. "The only reason I haven’t made a move is out of respect for you as my Beast Father. Otherwise, do you really think we’d still be talking?"

Father Hu sneered. He had long guessed that Hu Qiumu wouldn’t cooperate.

He glanced outside the door and said, "Everyone, come out."

Hu Qiumu followed his gaze and saw a dense crowd of people standing outside.

From the looks of it, the entire tribe had shown up.

Hu Qiumu cursed inwardly. ’This is bad. I was too careless this time.’

He had thought that picking up the cubs and bringing them home would be a smooth process. He never expected such a complication.

----

Niu Shou Mountain, Bianye Tribe, the small courtyard of the bamboo house.

Chu Liangyu gave the Red Sun Grass and Soul Resurrection Grass seeds she had obtained the other day to Xiong Jiaojiao. After all, everyone has their specialty.

Xiong Jiaojiao buried the seeds in the soil. Immediately, flecks of green light appeared at her fingertips. She then pushed her fingers into the earth, and in just a moment, the seeds sprouted and grew to maturity.

Unfortunately, they were still missing two or three of the other necessary herbs. Otherwise, they could have begun their Body Refining right now.

They had already prepared all the necessary equipment in the courtyard the day before.

For the past two days, they had been so busy practicing the Taiyin Fist and searching for herbs that they hadn’t even noticed Hu Qiumu had yet to return with the cubs.

The saying "time passes in peace and quiet" was perhaps the perfect description of their situation.

This idyllic scene lasted until the afternoon, when Hu Qiuliang came running toward the courtyard in a panic.

He was so anxious that he tried to leap over the fence in a single bound.

But he misjudged the jump and ended up landing face-first.

The two women tore their eyes away from the herbs and looked at Hu Qiuliang, astonishment on both their faces.

Chu Liangyu helped him up, brushing the dust off his clothes as she asked, "You seem to be in such a panic. What on earth happened?"

"It’s Beast Father! He’s hurt!"

The little cub’s eyes were filled with tears, clearly worried sick.

Chu Liangyu picked him up and immediately headed for Hu Qiumu’s residence.

"It’s okay. Beast Mother is here."

"But... Beast Father looks really badly hurt."

At first, Chu Liangyu thought the little cub was just overly worried and exaggerating.

But his injuries really were severe. In his beast form, Hu Qiumu’s back and abdomen were covered in wounds, and bloodstains had dyed his white fur red.

If one didn’t know him, they might have mistaken him for a red fox.

Fortunately, Chu Liangyu had managed to trade for three High Level Crystal Cores over the past few days, so healing him shouldn’t be a problem.

Having used a Crystal Core to save Wen Yan before, Chu Liangyu was quite familiar with the process this time. Soon, all of Hu Qiumu’s wounds had healed.

However, to Chu Liangyu’s surprise, all three Crystal Cores were completely consumed in the process.

But she didn’t feel the loss too keenly. After all, the Mermaid—her walking Healing Medicine—was about to return. Why would she need to worry about having nothing to heal wounds with?

"There. It’s done."

"Ah, really?"

Perhaps because Chu Liangyu had been so fast, it took Hu Qiuliang a long moment to react.

He hurried over to check, poking Hu Qiumu’s face with his little paws and calling out, "Beast Father, wake up!"

Perhaps because Hu Qiuliang’s calls were so sincere, Hu Qiumu actually stirred and woke up.

He looked at the cub before him, his eyes vacant for a moment before quickly regaining their clarity.

Then he immediately sat up and looked around, searching for something.

Only when he saw Chu Liangyu did he finally calm down.

Chu Liangyu immediately sensed something was wrong. Frowning, she walked over and asked, "How did you end up like this?"

"I... I’m sorry, Female Master."

Before explaining what had happened, Hu Qiumu apologized first.

Chu Liangyu said nothing, quietly waiting for him to continue.

"I went to bring the cubs back, but they wouldn’t let me. They said the cubs could only receive better care by staying there."

"It’s obviously for their own selfish reasons, yet they insist on spouting such hypocritical words."

"Then I tried to use force, but it turned out Beast Father had already set an ambush."

Hu Qiumu only mentioned "selfish reasons" without being explicit, but Chu Liangyu understood what he meant.

’Father Hu must want to keep them to build up his tribe’s strength.’

Even if Chu Liangyu wasn’t particularly concerned about the cubs, she could not tolerate someone trying to snatch away the children she had worked so hard to give birth to.

’If any tribe’s strength is to be built up, it should be her Bianye Tribe’s! What does that have to do with Father Hu?!’

Chu Liangyu’s eyes turned cold. She asked, "What do you want to do?"

"I want to bring the cubs back," Hu Qiumu replied without hesitation.

"And what if your tribesmen get hurt in the process?"

This was a very important question. Chu Liangyu had to gauge his attitude clearly.

Hu Qiumu fell silent for a moment before saying, "The cubs’ safety comes first."

’That was a very hesitant answer,’ Chu Liangyu thought. ’He still can’t bring himself to harm his own tribesmen.’

With that, Chu Liangyu had her answer and a rough idea of how to handle the situation.

"How are you feeling now?"

"I’m completely healed."

Chu Liangyu nodded, but she had no intention of going with just the two of them.

’Calculating the time,’ she thought, ’the Mermaid should be back in the next day or two.’

----

In a river somewhere, Yu He was speeding along with three little cubs when he suddenly let out an uncontrollable sneeze.

His swimming form came to a halt. He rubbed his itchy nose and muttered to himself, "Strange. Why would I suddenly sneeze like that?"

"Beast Father, can we rest for a bit? We really can’t go on anymore!"

After traveling nonstop for three days and three nights, the cubs were so tired they barely looked like fish anymore.

At the mention of this, Yu He’s mood instantly soured, and his expression turned thunderous.

"Then you can just rest here."

With that single sentence, Yu He abandoned them and swam off.

Seeing this, the little cubs panicked. Ignoring their exhaustion, they sped up and chased after him.