Chapter 434: You’ve really hidden it well

In the living room.

Nix, who was chatting with Vangar, noticed Vincent and Jasper stepping out of the levitating elevator and immediately spotted the grass nest cradled in Vincent’s arms. There were two reddish objects inside, looking suspiciously like eggs from the Fire Bird clan.

"Vincent, what are you holding?" Nix trotted over, brimming with curiosity.

Once he got a clear look at the egg cubs resting in the grass nest, his eyes widened in sheer disbelief. "Are those egg cubs from your Fire Bird clan? Vincent, why did you steal unhatched eggs from your own tribe?"

Nix had never expected Vincent to do something like this. He really hadn’t pegged Vincent as that kind of beastman. Since Rory wasn’t due to give birth for another half a month or so, naive Nix didn’t even entertain the thought that these two egg cubs had just been laid by Rory.

Nix’s outburst brought Vangar over from the sofa, his curiosity piqued. "What egg cubs?" He looked down at the grass nest in Vincent’s arms.

Vincent cast a speechless, exasperated look at Nix before explaining, "I didn’t steal these from the Fire Bird clan. These are my egg cubs with Rory."

"Impossible!" Nix rejected the idea on the spot. "Lian said Rory still has another half a month before she gives birth to the egg cubs."

Vangar turned to Vincent, his expression instantly darkening with gravity. "What actually happened?" He could sense both the female master’s and Vincent’s bloodline aura coming from these two egg cubs. Nix’s rank was lower, so he hadn’t picked up on it, which was why he hadn’t believed Vincent’s words.

Vincent said, "It was Wen. He has a unique method for forming a mate bond. During the bonding process, Rory and the cubs absorbed plenty of his elemental energy. Rory advanced her ability rank, and the cubs came out early."

"What?" Nix was completely floored. "The merman race actually has such a cheat-like bonding method too?" He had assumed only the Firebird and Dragon clans possessed such techniques. The Beast God was far too biased—it was bad enough that the Firebird and Dragon clans had special bonding methods, but the merman race had one too?

Since even the merman race had one, why couldn’t his Liger clan have one? Would it have hurt to include the Ligers?

"Wen formed a mate bond with Rory? And he helped her raise her rank?" Vangar’s face turned thoroughly grim. "That fish hidden himself way too deep, hasn’t he?"

"Hidden deep? How so?" Nix looked at Vangar.

Vangar, dark-faced, didn’t answer him.

Nix pursed his lips. "I’m going to go check on Rory." With that, he made a move toward the levitating elevator. Even though hearing that Rory’s rank had advanced meant her body was completely fine and hadn’t suffered at all from giving birth, she had still just laid the eggs, and he wanted to see her.

"Rory is already resting," Vincent stopped Nix. "Even though her rank advanced, she did just give birth to the cubs. You are not allowed to go up and disturb her rest tonight."

Nix pursed his lips. "Fine." He would just go see Rory tomorrow, then.

"Then I’ll go find Wen," Nix continued. "I’m going to ask him if there’s a way to send elemental energy to Rory without forming a mate bond." He could give his own energy to Rory too. With that, Nix turned on his heel and headed straight toward Wen’s room.

Jasper watched Nix walk away and said, "I’m going back to rest first." He needed to work even harder to break through to rank eleven as soon as possible. Otherwise, he wouldn’t even be allowed to know certain secrets in this household.

After the two of them left, Vangar looked at Vincent and asked, "How many ranks did Wen boost Rory by? You’re so composed—did you know his true identity all along?"

Nix was naive; when he heard Vincent say that Wen had used a special bonding method to help Rory advance her rank, he had probably assumed she had only gone up by a single level.

So he hadn’t thought much of it.

Vangar, however, knew for a fact that this was definitely not a matter of just a single rank. Triggering the birth of the cubs early by supplying them with enough energy in an instant was simply beyond what a one-level jump could achieve.

"Rory said she’s currently rank ten," Vincent answered. "As for Wen’s true identity, I only figured it out a moment before you did."

"He really knows how to put on an act." Vangar’s face darkened as he turned on his heel and left.

Ever since he first came to Rory’s side, Wen’s presence had been exceedingly faint. He had assumed the fish was naturally timid and preferred keeping a low profile, which was why he barely noticed him. As it turned out, that fish had been putting on a deliberate front all along.

Vincent looked down at the grass nest in his arms. The two egg cubs lay quietly inside, snuggled up against each other. They looked beyond adorable.

Vincent reached out and nudged them gently, whispering in a low voice, "You two better behave and break out of your shells soon. Don’t make me hatch you for too long."

The moment he finished speaking, both egg cubs in the nest gave a simultaneous wiggle—whether in agreement or protest, it was hard to tell.

Vincent quickly carried them back to his room.

Meanwhile.

Nix stood on the sandy shore inside Wen’s room, looking left and right. No wonder Wen hadn’t moved into the big lake on the east side of the castle this time. He had actually used so many spatial stones to convert his room directly into an ocean.

Nix shouted toward the water, "Wen, come out! I have something to talk to you about."

He had genuinely believed that out of everyone in this house, Wen was the sweetest and most innocent. Who could have guessed the guy was hiding so much under the surface? Secretly forming a mate bond with Rory and stashing away a technique that could boost her rank.

Splash!

A wave crashed over, and Wen’s figure appeared on the water. Walking across the surface of the sea step by step, he came up to Nix and asked with a smile, "Nix, what do you need me for?"

Pure expression, sweet demeanor—not a single flaw could be spotted.

Nix sized him up from head to toe, then whispered in his ear, "I really didn’t see it coming. You hid yourself so deeply."

"What do you mean?" Wen looked at Nix, seemingly perplexed.

Nix said, "You had a way to boost Rory’s rank, so why have I never heard you mention it before?"

Wen looked at him and let out a small chuckle. "You never asked me either."

Nix: "..." He actually had no way to refute that.

"Did you come looking for me just to ask about this?" Wen pressed, watching him.

"Of course not," Nix lowered his voice. "I wanted to ask if you have any other methods to boost Rory’s rank. Using my elemental energy would be fine too." He wanted to help Rory raise her rank as well. If he did, Rory would definitely adore him even more.

Wen looked at him and shook his head. "That method only works during the very first bonding process. Once the mate bond is formed, it’s useless."

"Is that so?" Nix was filled with regret. "Is there really no other way?"

Wen shook his head. "None."

"In that case, I won’t disturb you any longer." Having failed to get the method he wanted, Nix let out a disappointed sigh. "Get some rest early. I’m heading back to rest too."

Seeing his dejected look, Wen thought for a moment before speaking up. "Nix, the Female Master likes you a lot. Even if you don’t help her advance her rank, she loves you just the same."

"Of course I know that," Nix pursed his lips, his tone unable to conceal his disappointment. "It’s precisely because Rory loves me so much that I want to do more things for her."