Chapter – 23
The Youngest Brother Knows Best How to Charm
Having said that, she took advantage of the night and dashed wildly into the forest. Behind her, Mo Li’s shouts echoed: “Li Qingqing has run away!”
The panicked cries shattered the tranquility of the tribal night.
Many beastmen who were in the midst of mating stopped one after another. Quite a few male beastmen cursed: “Damn it, if she ran, she ran. What’s all the yelling about?”
Li Yue had just finished handling tribal affairs and had gone to sleep when the commotion outside reached her. “What’s going on out there?”
Zi Su, the female responsible for her daily care, came in and replied, “Chieftain… it’s…”
Seeing her hesitate, Li Yue guessed it probably had something to do with Li Qingqing.
“What trouble has Li Qingqing stirred up now?” She felt a headache coming on, wondering what sin she had committed in her previous life to be burdened with such a daughter who seemed to seek revenge in this one.
“Miss Qingqing… she ran away.”
Upon hearing this, Li Yue nearly choked on her breath.
Zi Su hurried forward to pat her back and soothe her. “Chieftain, your health is what matters most. Anger harms the body.”
Once she caught her breath, Li Yue ordered, “Find her! Dig three feet into the ground if you must, but bring her back to me!”
Li Qingqing ran alone in the darkness, not daring to light a torch for fear of being discovered.
She had a vague feeling that more and more people were coming after her; she could hear footsteps from all directions.
“What’s with everyone not making babies tonight and all coming to catch me?” Just as she was grumbling, she failed to watch her step and fell flat on her face.
Like a deflated ball, she lay down right where she had fallen. “Too bad there aren’t even any stars tonight. It’ll probably rain tomorrow.”
“Li Qingqing, you’re something else. The entire tribe is looking for you, and you still have the mind to think about stargazing.”
It was Feng Hao’s voice. She sat up and sure enough, saw Feng Hao standing ahead, with Chi Lin beside him.
Seeing Chi Lin, Li Qingqing seemed to have grasped a lifeline. She scrambled over urgently and said, “My father has the plague, he’s dying.”
Chi Lin frowned. Before he could speak, Feng Hao cut in, “What plague? Your father is famously frail. Why do you care now?”
“No, I saw him vomit blood with my own eyes.”
“Vomiting blood doesn’t necessarily mean plague…” Feng Hao didn’t finish his sentence as Chi Lin pulled at him.
“What can be done to save Uncle?”
“The Xuanming Forest. I need spirit stones. My异能 (yì néng – superpower/ability) level is too low; I can’t save him at all.”
“Are you insane? You’re still under house arrest, you ran out, and now you want to go to the Xuanming Forest? Even if your mother is the chieftain, you can’t do this!” Feng Hao’s tone was sharp.
Chi Lin said regretfully, “The spirit stones I brought back last time are all used up.”
Feng Hao remembered the time when Chi Lin and Li Qingqing returned from outside together. “So, you two went to the Xuanming Forest last time.”
Feng Hao spoke very loudly. Li Qingqing, already irritated, was pushed over the edge. “Please, could you keep your voice down?”
Feng Hao wanted to retort, but suddenly a fourth voice came from not far away in the forest. “I think someone’s talking over there!”
The sound of footsteps grew closer, but Li Qingqing’s legs suddenly went weak, devoid of any strength. If she got caught now, her father would surely die…
Feng Hao directly hoisted Li Qingqing onto his shoulder. “Chi Lin, you hold them off first. We’ll meet up at the Xuanming Forest.”
Without waiting for Chi Lin’s response, Feng Hao, carrying Li Qingqing, weaved through the trees.
His movements were agile; he ran through the forest full of deadwood and fallen leaves without making a sound.
Soon, the conversation from where Chi Lin was reached their ears.
“Chi Lin, why is it you here?”
“If it’s not me, then who did you hope it would be?”
Hearing his nonchalant tone, the person instantly became angry. “What are you putting on airs for? A damn fox acting so arrogantly in our tribe. If I find out you’re covering for Li Qingqing, I won’t let you off.”
“Xiao Ya, finding the person is the priority now,” Mo Li reminded.
Chi Lin wasn’t familiar with Mo Li and didn’t know why he was defusing the situation for him now.
“Hmph, search over there!”
Seeing that the direction Xiao Ya pointed was opposite to where the two had escaped, Chi Lin finally breathed a sigh of relief.
As Mo Li passed by him, their eyes briefly met, and Chi Lin cast him a grateful look.
By now, Feng Hao and Li Qingqing were already outside the tribe.
Finding the speed still insufficient, he immediately transformed into his beast form, picked up Li Qingqing with his mouth, and tossed her onto his back.
“Hold on tight!” he said, starting to gallop at full speed.
Li Qingqing quickly grabbed the fur on his neck.
The speed was too fast; the resulting wind nearly threw her off several times. She had no choice but to wrap her arms around his neck.
“Feng Hao, aren’t you the one who hates me the most? Why are you helping me?” The sound of her voice was swallowed by the wind; even to her own ears, only the howling wind remained.
Feng Hao didn’t know how, but he could hear her clearly. “Who said I’m helping you? Chi Chenyan is a good beastman. I don’t want to watch him die, that’s all.”
Li Qingqing didn’t catch his words clearly. “Ah? What did you say? I didn’t hear.”
Feng Hao impatiently raised his voice. “I said don’t flatter yourself. I do what I want, it’s not because I want to help you.”
His words made Li Qingqing a little angry. What did he mean by her flattering herself?
She raised her hand, wanting to give his rear a hard slap, but was afraid it might actually please him. She could only swallow her indignation and put her hand down.
Time passed quickly on this journey. The sky gradually brightened.
Li Qingqing could vaguely make out the surrounding environment.
But the speed was too great; the places they passed seemed to be on fast-forward, only allowing her to vaguely discern that their colors were probably green.
By the time half the sun had peeked over the horizon, the two finally reached the outskirts of the Xuanming Forest.
Li Qingqing jumped off the wolf’s back, and Feng Hao also transformed back into his beastman form.
She lifted her foot to step into the Xuanming Forest but was pulled back by Feng Hao. “Aren’t we going to wait for Chi Lin?”
“What if we end up waiting for the other tribespeople too? Coming to the Xuanming Forest privately is a serious crime. What if…”
Before she could finish her next sentence, she felt Feng Hao release her hand.
She turned her head to look at him. Feng Hao was gazing in another direction.
Li Qingqing followed his line of sight and saw two silver tigers and a red fox running towards her.
The dust they kicked up drifted over to her and got into her eyes.
By the time they reached her, they had already transformed into their beastman forms.
“Went to find these guys, it took some time,” Chi Lin said, his chest still heaving.
Ling Mo frowned at Li Qingqing, who was rubbing her eyes. “No need to be so moved.”
“Sand got in my eye.”
Feng Hao thought she was just embarrassed. “It’s fine, we understand.”
Bai Yuan saw that her eye was rubbed red and swollen. He walked over, cupped her face with one hand, and used the other to gently hold open her eye.
Sure enough, there was a small grain of sand under the eyelid. “There really is sand.”
As he spoke, he blew softly into Li Qingqing’s eye a few times, and the sand was blown away.
Li Qingqing felt much better. At this moment, Bai Yuan hadn’t let go yet. When Li Qingqing met his gaze, she felt her heart skip a beat.
Truly, the youngest brother knows best how to charm….
