bookandnovel Chapter 332: As Long as I’m Alive, What Do These Wounds Matter?
Chapter 332: As Long as I’m Alive, What Do These Wounds Matter?
In that instant, Feiyan felt an overwhelming murderous aura rush toward him, so shocking it froze him to the spot, completely unable to move!
Feili also shot to his feet, assuming an attack stance.
Qiao Yi grabbed Feiyan’s hand and flung him forward. A cold wind gusted past, lifting the brim of his hood and revealing the furious blue eyes beneath.
Feiyan quickly wrenched his hand free, grabbed the wind-blown strip of beast hide, and turned to run.
The moment the beast hide strip was pulled away, Qiao Yi’s hood was also yanked off.
Qiao Yi spun around, snatching the hood and quickly pulling it back on.
Feiyan seemed to forget about running, frozen in place and completely stunned.
"Feiyan, Langqi, are you two all right?"
Sensing that the atmosphere was off, Qiao Xixi quickly got up and ran over.
Qiao Yi had already retracted the aura he had accidentally let slip. Feiyan also came to his senses, looking at Qiao Yi with lingering fear.
"Langqi, does this count as my win?"
Qiao Yi was straightforward. "You won."
"Then, from now on, will you be willing to teach me, Langqi?"
Qiao Yi raised an eyebrow. ’I thought this brat would gloat and show off in front of me after winning.’
"You want me to teach you, too? Just now, I was the one who lost."
Feiyan said seriously, "Yes, you lost just now, but that doesn’t mean you’re not capable."
Qiao Yi’s eyes widened. ’What an idiot. My wonderful Xixi, how did she fall for such a silly fox? *He’s* the one who’s no good!’
Seeing the two of them exchanging words, Qiao Xixi quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
’I was afraid I’d made a terrible suggestion,’ she thought. ’If Langqi had gotten truly angry, Feiyan would have been beaten to a pulp.’
"I... I want Langqi to teach me too! Langqi can teach today, and Grandfather Feili can teach tomorrow."
Feili’s tense nerves instantly relaxed. He put on the same kind of haughty expression as Feiyan.
"Hmph, you all should just stick with Grandfather Feili. He can’t teach you."
Qiao Yi shot Feili a glare. "It’s only because I’m busy. Otherwise, I wouldn’t let you have it so easy."
"See, cubs? Come on, come on, Grandfather Feili will take you to train. I guarantee when you grow up, you’ll be stronger than your fathers."
The cubs happily followed Feili to his training grounds.
The little tiger cub wanted to go too, but Jin Ling picked her up. "You haven’t even learned to walk yet, and you already want to train with your big brothers and sisters?"
The tiger cub’s little hands kept flailing at Jin Ling’s face. "RAWR! GAGA! Jiejie, go!"
"Mother, Yaya wants to go too."
Qiao Xixi hadn’t noticed when little Yaya had run to her side.
’This cub really is a bit of a headache.’
"Yaya, do you want to go train with Sister Xiya and the others?"
Yaya blinked her small eyes. "Twain? What’s dat? Will it make Yaya pwetty?"
Qiao Xixi frowned and shook her head. "I don’t think so."
"Then Yaya no want twain. Want fwowers, pwetty fwowers."
Qiao Xixi found it amusing to see that Yaya had tied her own sparse hair into several little tufts, sticking fresh flowers she’d found somewhere into them.
’Such a vain little cub.’
Qiao Xixi’s gaze shifted, and she saw the tiger cub in Jin Ling’s arms. Something had displeased her, and she was angrily pulling her father’s hair.
Qiao Xixi quickly walked over and tapped her little hand.
"You’re going to pull all your father’s hair out."
"Want, gaga, go!"
Having been scolded, the tiger cub let go, but her defiant attitude didn’t diminish.
"If you go now, you won’t be training, you’ll just be causing trouble."
The tiger cub understood Qiao Xixi’s refusal, puffed out her little cheeks angrily, and slumped onto Jin Ling’s shoulder.
Qiao Xixi felt a bit bad and gently squeezed her little hand. "How about Mother and Father take you to the creek to catch fish-beasts?"
"Huh?"
The cub immediately sat up straight, her eyes shining.
It just so happened that yesterday, Qiao Qiao and the others had mentioned it had been a long time since they’d eaten fish-beast meat. She didn’t have much to do today, so it was a good time to go to the creek and see if there were any.
Yaya looked at Qiao Xixi, then at Jin Ling, and finally, her gaze settled on the tiger cub.
She was a little puzzled. ’Why are they smiling so happily? Mother seems to really like An’an. What do I have to do to make Mother like me that much too?’
"Yaya, do you want to go?"
Yaya nodded. "Go. Want to be with Mother."
"Then let’s go."
Qiao Xixi looked at Feiyan and Qiao Yi. "Langqi, Feiyan, you two continue training. We’re heading to the creek."
Qiao Yi nodded. "Go on, be careful." His gaze shifted to Jin Ling. "Protect Xixi and the cubs."
"Mm."
Only after Qiao Xixi and the others were far away did Qiao Yi withdraw his gaze and look at Feiyan.
"Want to go?"
Feiyan snapped out of his daze and shook his head. "No, I’m not going. Starting today, I will train properly with Langqi."
Qiao Yi gave a faint grunt of acknowledgment.
Feiyan glanced at him quickly, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke. "Langqi... how did you get so many scars on your body?"
He had never understood why Qiao Yi wrapped himself up so tightly in beast hides in such hot weather. He knew he had some scars, but he never expected... them to be so horrifying...
Qiao Yi looked away, his voice calm. "As long as you can stay alive, what do a few scars matter?"
’All these years, I’ve endured countless times, all for the sake of finding Xixi. Now, half of my wish has been fulfilled. As for the other half...’
Qiao Yi looked at Feiyan. ’Before I leave, I must ensure they are strong enough to keep Xixi and the cubs safe. Otherwise, hmph, I wouldn’t mind finding a few more powerful mates for Xixi.’
Qiao Xixi had no idea that Qiao Yi was genuinely considering finding her more mates.
Jin Ling transformed into his beast form and carried them to the creekside.
At the creek, many males were with their females catching fish-beasts, while others were washing beast-hide clothes.
Everyone greeted Qiao Xixi enthusiastically when they saw her.
"Clan Leader, are you here to enjoy the creek too?"
"Yes, it’s hot, so I brought the cubs out to play and catch some fish-beasts."
The male who had asked the question blushed as he looked at Qiao Xixi’s smiling eyes. "If the Clan Leader wants fish-beasts, I can help."
Before Qiao Xixi could reply, Jin Ling refused.
"No need."
"Xixi, let’s go up ahead where there are fewer people."
Qiao Xixi hummed in agreement. After saying goodbye to the others, she followed Jin Ling to a spot upstream.
Arriving here, she couldn’t help but think of their time in the Silver Tribe, when their stone house was also very close to the water.
"I wonder if the fish here are as big as the ones in the Silver Tribe," Qiao Xixi said, lifting the two little ones off Jin Ling’s back.
Jin Ling shifted back to his human form. "I brought An’an and the others to catch some before. We were able to get quite a few. You wait on the bank, I’ll go in and take a look."
Jin Ling pulled off his top and jumped into the water.
Seeing her father get in the water, the tiger cub excitedly squirmed out of Qiao Xixi’s arms and dove headfirst into the water.
"An’an!"