I Transmigrated as a Villainess to Raise Babies, and My Beast Husbands Are Fighting Madly Over Me!

Chapter 309: Strange Wandering Beast

Sangze stood behind Sunxiao, his gaze fixed pleadingly on Qiao Xixi.

Resting her chin on Sunxiao’s shoulder, Qiao Xixi secretly reached out, took Sangze’s hand, and gave him a little wink.

Squeezing her soft little hand, Sangze instantly broke into a silly grin.

’He’s so easy to please.’

Qiao Xixi wasn’t comfortable letting Sunxiao lead the team to transport the Salt Crystals alone, so in the end, she decided to have Sangze go with him.

"Since it’s such a hassle to make the trip, we should take more back this time."

Qiao Xixi stuffed all the raw materials she could into her dimensional space. The rest would have to be transported back by Sunxiao and his team.

As they had planned, Qiao Xixi was going to teleport back to the tribe with Xijing and Xiya first today.

Sangze held Qiao Xixi’s hand, unwilling to let go. "Xixi, don’t worry. With Sunxiao around, we’ll definitely make it back safely."

Qiao Xixi chuckled. "You have a lot of faith in Sunxiao’s strength, don’t you?"

"Of course! He’s absorbed the souls of two tier-10 beasts. How could he not be powerful?"

Sunxiao’s serpentine eyes swept over, and Sangze flinched.

’Why is he glaring at me? I was obviously complimenting him!’

"Well, you all have to be careful on the way. I’ll be keeping an eye on your location."

Sunxiao nodded. He was reluctant to see her go, but since these were things Qiao Xixi wanted, he was determined to deliver them to her safely.

Before she left, Qiao Xixi, still worried, stuffed a tube of Recovery Glue into Sangze’s hands.

"If you run into danger, fight if you can win, and run if you can’t. The supplies are important, but not as important as you guys. Got it?"

Was there anything more heartwarming for the beastmen than these gentle words of concern from Qiao Xixi?

Even Ximing, who was listening from the side, had a look of envy in his eyes. ’Sister-in-law is so wonderful. Even among the merman clan, males outnumber females, and it’s rare for a female to care so much about her mates.’

After giving her final instructions and watching Ximing and the others get back to work, Qiao Xixi turned and went into the house with Xijing.

Xijing had been curious why Qiao Xixi was returning to the tribe separately from Sunxiao and the others. He’d assumed she was just unwilling to wait for the Seven-color Crystal Stones to be mined.

"Xijing, hold Xiya."

Xijing was confused but obediently did as he was told.

Qiao Xixi took out an Instant Teleportation Card. After casting one last, longing glance at Sunxiao and Sangze outside, she silently recited the command in her mind.

"Teleport!"

Xijing gasped, instinctively pulling Qiao Xixi and Xiya close. A deafening roar of wind filled his ears, but just as quickly, he felt solid ground beneath his unmoored feet. Then, he heard Qiao Xixi’s voice.

"We’re here."

Qiao Xixi’s feet settled on the ground. She gently patted Xijing, signaling for him to relax.

Xijing was stunned. "Xixi, where did you say we are?"

"The Black Panther Tribe. We’re back at the Black Panther Tribe."

"What?"

No matter how composed Xijing was, he was too shocked to speak.

"Father Beast, this is one of Female Mother’s special powers, you know. You can’t tell anyone."

Xijing recomposed himself, becoming even more aware of how extraordinary Qiao Xixi was. "Yes. I will never tell anyone."

Qiao Xixi looked around and saw that they had teleported to a remote corner of the Black Panther Tribe’s territory.

"Let’s head back to the inner city first. I miss the cubs so much. And Jin Ling and Feiyan... I wonder how they’re doing."

Even with the Instant Teleportation Card, their round trip had taken nearly a month. The Tree-horned Deer Beast cub she had delivered must have grown a lot by now.

Qiao Xixi had wandered around the tribe plenty of times, so she knew they’d teleported behind the enclosures for the wild beasts. To get back, they had to go through the woods behind the pens and then walk around them.

"Come on, let’s go home."

Qiao Xixi led Xijing and Xiya by the hand into the woods. They hadn’t gone far when they spotted a tall figure squatting under a large tree up ahead. His back was to them, and they couldn’t see what he was doing.

Thinking he was a beastman guarding the pens, Qiao Xixi called out, "What are you doing here?"

Hearing Qiao Xixi’s voice, the figure froze but didn’t turn around.

Confused by his lack of response, Qiao Xixi was about to step forward when Xijing stopped her.

"Xixi, don’t go."

Qiao Xixi stopped, her eyes still on the beastman ahead. She also sensed something was off; a normal tribesman wouldn’t just ignore a call like that.

"Who are you? What are you doing in the Black Panther Tribe?!"

Xijing had already assumed a battle-ready stance, wary of a sudden attack.

Just then, the male beastman slowly stood up. Still not turning around, he spoke in a low, gravelly voice, "I’m a new Wandering Beast."

"When did you arrive? Why won’t you turn around?"

Just as Xijing was about to strike, the male beastman suddenly turned around.

Qiao Xixi froze when she saw what he looked like.

He wore a dark, black beast-hide robe that enveloped him from head to toe. He even had a heavy, black hood pulled up, nearly obscuring his eyes and mouth.

The only parts of him showing—his nose and the lower half of his face—were covered in old scars. Even without seeing his full face, it was a terrifying sight.

Xiya was so frightened she squeezed Qiao Xixi’s hand. The man was incredibly tall and had such a face... never mind a small cub, even Qiao Xixi was startled.

"My appearance is hideous. I was afraid of frightening you."

’He certainly is frightening.’

"What’s your name? Are you living in the Black Panther Tribe now? Who allowed you to stay?"

The male’s eyes, hidden beneath the shadow of his hood, rested heavily on Qiao Xixi. After a long moment, he said, "I don’t have a name. Lord Jin Ling let me stay. I live in a stone house not far from here. My apologies for frightening you. I’ll leave now."

As soon as the words were out, the man quickly turned, leaped into a tree, and vanished into the forest in the blink of an eye.

"Hey, wait..."

"Xixi, I’ll go after him."

With that, Xijing leaped into the trees, following the man’s path.

"I’ll wait for you in the inner city! If you get lost, just ask for directions...!"

Before Qiao Xixi could finish, Xijing’s figure had also disappeared from sight.

This forest wasn’t entirely safe, so Qiao Xixi quickly led Xiya out of the woods.

"Clan Leader, what brings you over here?"

Just as she and Xiya stepped out of the woods, they ran into Ma Qing leading a patrol.

"Ma Qing."

Aside from Jin Ling and the others, none of the beastmen in the tribe knew Qiao Xixi had been gone for some time; they all thought she had been staying in the inner city all along.

"Why is your patrol out this way? Isn’t this area supposed to be guarded?"

Ma Qing looked a bit surprised. ’Didn’t Jin Ling and the others tell the Clan Leader about this?’

"You don’t know, Clan Leader? A Wandering Beast of unknown origin showed up in the tribe’s territory. He’s been stealing prey from our pens. It’s happened several times, but we haven’t been able to catch him. Lord Feiyan was worried something might happen, so he had us increase our patrols."

Hearing this, the color drained from Qiao Xixi’s face. "What did you say? A Wandering Beast who’s been stealing?"