readbooksol Chapter 279: The War God’s Star Crest
Chapter 279: The War God’s Star Crest
"An’an just ate a handful of Crystal Stones. I’m worried something’s wrong with her."
As Qiao Xixi spoke to Jin Ling, Mo Yan had already rushed out.
"An’an, don’t run off!"
The tiger cub ran with incredible speed. The rush of wind helped to slightly disperse the energy that was about to erupt from within her.
"AWOO!"
’I feel so awful!’
Seeing the tiger cub had already rushed downstairs, Jin Ling immediately shifted into his beast form and leaped after her.
Just as he was about to catch the little one, she screeched to a halt, turned, and ran towards the backyard.
Her poor father nearly smashed headfirst into a pillar.
"An’an, come back!"
Qiao Lie and the others saw the tiger cub run off and chased after her, trying to block her path. But the cub was so agile that she managed to evade all of them.
’AHHHHH! I feel like I’m going to explode from the heat!’
’I need water! I need to soak in Shuishui!’
The tiger cub charged ahead recklessly. She smashed straight through the back door with a loud BANG, leaving a huge hole as she burst outside.
"An’an!"
Jin Ling roared in desperation, chasing her out the door.
When Qiao Xixi reached the back door, there was no sign of them.
"Qiao Lie, hurry and find Grandfather Feili and the others. Tell them to come help us find An’an."
"Okay."
The tiger cub sprinted all the way to the creekside and leaped right in without a second thought.
When Jin Ling caught up, he looked, but there was no sign of the tiger cub in the water.
"An’an!"
Jin Ling was going frantic with worry. He paced anxiously along the bank, trying to catch An’an’s scent. Once he pinpointed her general location, he dove into the water and swam toward it.
The tiger cub was flailing in the water. The icy creek water slightly eased the burning heat in her body.
But soon, she grew confused. She couldn’t see her mother, father, or her brothers and sisters anymore.
The tiger cub started to panic. She opened her mouth to call for Qiao Xixi and the others, but as soon as she did, she got a mouthful of water.
"BLUB, BLUB, BLUB..."
After choking on water several times, the burning heat in her body surged back.
’It hurts. It hurts so bad!’
What the tiger cub didn’t know was that as she thrashed her limbs in the water, a black, mutated fish-beast had silently swum up behind her.
Because of the strange sensation in her body, the tiger cub didn’t notice the approaching danger.
The mutated fish-beast slowly opened its cavernous mouth, large enough to easily swallow the tiger cub whole.
The tiger cub struggled, trying to surface, but a sudden suction from behind held her body in place, preventing her from swimming up.
Meanwhile, after Qiao Lie informed Feili of the situation, Feili immediately gathered the beastmen working in the inner city and followed Qiao Xixi and the others in pursuit.
"Xixi, don’t panic just yet. Jin Ling has already gone after her. An’an is a good girl; she wouldn’t just run off for no reason."
But Qiao Xixi was indeed starting to panic. She blamed herself for being careless, never imagining the cub would eat all the Crystal Stones.
They followed the scent to the riverbank but found no sign of the father and daughter.
"They must have gone downstream. Let’s split into two teams and search up and down the river."
"Right."
At that moment, Jin Ling was also searching in the river. But the channel was wide and the water murky. On top of that, the water masked the cub’s scent, making it impossible for him to find her right away.
Trapped by the suction, the tiger cub couldn’t break free. Her body already felt like it would explode. She opened her mouth, gurgling as she swallowed several more mouthfuls of water before being sucked straight into the enormous mutated fish-beast’s mouth.
The mutated fish-beast closed its mouth in satisfaction and turned to swim towards the depths of the river.
But the moment it moved, it felt a strange disturbance in its stomach, and its pupils contracted.
As Jin Ling was searching in the river, he suddenly felt a powerful force surging from within the water.
BOOM!
A massive explosion sent ripples spreading through the water.
Jin Ling saw a brilliant golden light erupt from the river not far ahead, and a small figure was launched out of the water by the force of the explosion.
"An’an!"
"AWOO!"
The tiger cub let out a howl as she plummeted back into the river. As Jin Ling drew closer, a numbing sensation suddenly spread through his body, so intense it nearly stopped him in his tracks.
"An’an!"
Qiao Xixi and the others also heard the commotion and ran over. Seeing Jin Ling in the water, they were about to go in when they heard him shout, "Don’t come in, Xixi! There’s something wrong with the water."
Qiao Xixi, who had run to the riverbank, quickly stopped in her tracks and also held back Mo Yan and the others.
Jin Ling quickly released the energy of his beast soul, forcibly suppressing the numbing sensation.
Once he could move again, he quickly swam over and scooped the tiger cub out of the water.
By this time, the tiger cub had fainted, but a star-shaped pattern on her forehead was faintly visible.
When Jin Ling came ashore carrying the tiger cub in his mouth, Qiao Xixi and the others were already waiting on the bank.
With red-rimmed eyes, she took the soaking wet tiger cub into her arms, her body trembling uncontrollably.
’That was absolutely terrifying.’
Qiao Xixi couldn’t help but pat her back a couple of times. "You little rascal."
Jin Ling licked the cub. Though he said nothing, his silence spoke volumes of his lingering fear.
"As long as she’s okay. Everyone, don’t panic. It’s normal for a cub her age to be a little mischievous. Let’s head back for now."
Feili looked at the tiger cub, and when he noticed the faint star pattern on her forehead, his body suddenly stiffened. However, he quickly regained his composure and dismissed the beastmen who had followed him.
Qiao Xixi sat on Jin Ling’s back, holding the tiger cub. Feeling the cub’s steady breathing, her frantic heart gradually began to calm.
"Mom, little sister will be fine. We’ll have Qiaoqiao treat her as soon as we get back," Qiao Lie said comfortingly, looking at Qiao Xixi’s worried expression.
Today, Qiao Qiao and the others had gone with Feiyan to help out, so they weren’t in the inner city.
"Yes, I’m okay, and An’an will be okay too." Qiao Xixi stroked Qiao Lie’s little head. He and the others had also worked so hard to find their sister, and Qiao Xixi didn’t want her own emotions to affect the cubs.
Back in the inner city, Feili didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he followed Qiao Xixi and the others into the stone house.
’Feili must have something to say,’ Qiao Xixi guessed.
"Father Beast Feili, is there something you wanted to tell us?"
Feili nodded, his wide palm gently stroking the star pattern on the tiger cub’s forehead.
"Xixi, your and Jin Ling’s cub is no ordinary child. Do you see the star pattern on her forehead?"
Jin Ling hadn’t noticed it before. Now, seeing the star pattern, his expression changed drastically.
"This is... the star pattern of the Beast War God."
"Jin Ling, since you recognize it, I’ll be blunt. Before this cub comes of age, you must keep this star pattern hidden. If the other Beast Cities, or even the Beast King City, find out about it, you all... will be in grave danger."
’Jin Wei and his followers might have known all along,’ Qiao Xixi thought, her brow furrowing.
"Okay, we understand."
Having said his piece, Feili turned and left the stone house.
The cub lay sprawled on the bed, completely unaware that her little adventure had terrified them all.
Qiao Xixi was just about to get a cloth to dry her off when she turned and heard Jin Ling let out a soft cry.