Sunxiao flicked his long tail with force.
A solid black Mutated Snake Beast was flung out of the water.
Its body wasn’t as large as Sunxiao’s, but its serpentine form was exceptionally long.
Sunxiao’s movent was too wide, and it threw Qiao Lie, who hadn’t been holding on tightly, into midair.
"Qiao Lie!"
Qiao Xixi’s pupils trembled. She reached out to grab him, but she was still holding Qiao Qiao and Qiao Ang in her arms. Any larger movent and she would fall into the water herself.
Qiao Lie’s small face tensed. The mont he hit the water, he transford into his beast form. He struck a Six-eyed Flying Fish Beast with his serpentine tail, then swam back toward Sunxiao.
Qiao Xixi’s face went pale with fright. She quickly pulled him into her arms, letting him coil around her shoulders.
Sunxiao’s long tail thrashed ceaselessly in the water, but more and more Mutated Snake Beasts and Six-eyed Flying Fish Beasts were swarming them.
"It’s no good, Host! You all need to get to shore, quickly! Even more Water-dwelling Mutant Beasts are heading this way."
Qiao Xixi saw the number of wounds on Jin Ling and Sunxiao multiplying. Though none were fatal, the blood flowing from the nurous small cuts was making the Mutant Beasts increasingly excited.
"Sunxiao, Jin Ling, it’s too dangerous! Let’s get back to the shore first."
Sunxiao glanced at the dense swarm of Six-eyed Flying Fish Beasts on the opposite bank and had no choice but to turn back.
"Jin Ling, hurry."
Jin Ling let out a tiger’s roar as a flash of electricity shot from his hand, electrocuting a patch of Six-eyed Flying Fish Beasts. But as soon as one group died, another wave imdiately took its place, giving him no room to breathe. They had no choice but to retreat.
Sunxiao’s long tail slamd down hard on a Mutated Snake Beast’s head, instantly crushing it flat. The mont its corpse floated into the water, it was imdiately devoured by the Six-eyed Flying Fish Beasts.
Watching this scene, Qiao Xixi felt a chill run down her spine.
Sunxiao carried them back to the shore, lowered his body, and set them down.
Qiao Xixi placed the three cubs on the ground and turned to check Sunxiao’s injuries.
"Sunxiao, are you okay?"
Sunxiao shifted back to his human form, and Qiao Xixi could clearly see that his body was covered in tiny, dense wounds.
Seeing the worry in her eyes, Sunxiao said dismissively, "They’re just minor scratches."
For a powerful male beastman, such superficial wounds were indeed nothing serious.
But Qiao Xixi rembered Little Monster saying that the Six-eyed Flying Fish Beasts were poisonous.
"You’re not poisoned, are you?"
Sunxiao shook his head.
"I’m a snake beastman. Most poisons have no effect on ."
Despite his words, Qiao Xixi still took out so water from the Spiritual Spring to clean his wounds.
Jin Ling also returned to the shore.
Compared to Sunxiao, his condition looked much worse.
Qiao Xixi noticed that his lips were starting to look discolored.
"Jin Ling, you’ve been poisoned."
Jin Ling shifted back to his human form and sank to one knee on the ground.
Qiao Xixi rushed forward to support him.
Sunxiao also walked over and helped him sit down by the riverbank.
Jin Ling’s vision went black. He could hear Qiao Xixi’s voice and wanted to tell her not to worry, but he couldn’t get any words out.
Sunxiao placed a hand on Jin Ling’s chest, sending energy into his heart ridians.
He knew Qiao Xixi cared a lot about Jin Ling. If he died, she would surely be sad for a long ti.
He didn’t want to see her sad.
"Little Monster, is there an antidote in the mall?"
"Yes, Host. You can exchange ten points for one."
"I’ll take it. Give it to , now."
"Alright, Host! Exchanging it for you now."
Qiao Xixi got the antidote pill and quickly brought it to Jin Ling’s lips.
"Jin Ling, quick, open your mouth."
Jin Ling struggled to open his mouth and swallowed the pill.
The antidote pill worked quickly. A few minutes later, the color returned to Jin Ling’s face.
Seeing this, Sunxiao withdrew his hand and gave Qiao Xixi a surprised look.
’My little female... she’s too unusual.’
At the sa ti, his gaze deepened. An unusually beautiful female was destined to attract competition from many other males.
’I have to protect my little female, no matter what.’
"Xixi."
Qiao Xixi looked up at him.
"What is it?"
"Your secret... don’t let any other beastn find out."
Qiao Xixi froze for a mont, then understood what he ant.
"Mm, I know. I’ve only ever shown it to you guys."
Sunxiao nodded.
Jin Ling opened his eyes, his gaze now clear.
"Jin Ling, you’re awake."
"Sorry, Xixi. I made you worry."
Qiao Xixi shook her head. "I’m just glad you’re okay."
Qiao Xixi took out more Spiritual Spring water to clean his wounds.
Sunxiao stood up, scanned the surroundings, and said, "I’ll go scout the area and see if there’s another way to cross the river."
Hearing this, Qiao Xixi looked up.
"Be careful, then."
Sunxiao saw that even while tending to Jin Ling’s wounds, she still rembered to show concern for him. His cool, detached expression softened slightly.
"Mm."
"Xixi, I’m fine. Don’t worry."
Qiao Xixi saw that he was indeed out of danger and finally relaxed.
She turned to look at the river’s surface. It had returned to its forr calm, as if the scene of them being surrounded and attacked had never happened at all.
"Why are there so many Mutated Snake Beasts and Six-eyed Flying Fish Beasts in this river?"
Jin Ling was also puzzled.
"When I crossed this river before, there was nothing like this. I don’t know when they appeared."
He looked at the sky. It was about to get dark.
"We’ll have to spend the night here for now. We can figure out how to cross the river tomorrow."
Qiao Xixi nodded and followed Jin Ling to find a nearby clearing with a good field of view.
The three cubs obediently stayed by Qiao Xixi’s side, not running off.
Jin Ling gathered so firewood from the vicinity and returned.
They would be spending the night in the open without any shelter. Qiao Xixi and the cubs arranged several piles of firewood around their resting spot. Lighting them at night would help ward off attacks from wild beasts.
There was no more fruit or raw at left in her space, so Qiao Xixi could only take out so dried at and put it in a pot to make soup.
By the ti Sunxiao returned, the sky had grown completely dark. He was carrying a Black-haired Long-toothed Beast on his shoulders.
Qiao Xixi’s eyes lit up when she saw he had caught prey.
This was only the second piece of prey they had managed to catch in the past few days.
Sunxiao put the prey down and began to prepare it.
Jin Ling went over to help.
"Did you find a way to cross the river?"
Sunxiao shook his head.
"I went downstream for a while. When I made a tentative attempt to cross, those things ca after again."
Jin Ling frowned.
"It’s really strange that all these Mutant Beasts are coming this way."
Sunxiao grunted in agreent. It was indeed strange.
Mutant Beasts disliked light and mostly lived in dark places. The only reason for them to migrate here on such a large scale was that their previous habitat had beco unlivable.
Qiao Xixi stirred the at soup, her consciousness communicating with Little Monster.
"Little Monster, is there any way to cross the river?"
"Host, do you rember that Long-tongued Vine you planted in your field?"
"I rember. It seems to have grown quite large."
"Host, you can exchange for a bottle of ripening agent to make it mature quickly. Then you can use it to cross the river."
’Use the Long-tongued Vine?’
’How would I use it?’
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