Chapter 514: Chapter 513: Beaten into Bloom

Isn’t it normal to run into a pack of wolves in the wild?

Sweet Ring darted out from Jing Lin’s arms, hissing softly. "Little Linzi, what do you think Flying Wolves are afraid of?"

Jing Lin reached out to pull her back, but her speaking drew everyone’s attention. He could only whisper, "Fire, I guess? Aside from Wild Beasts with the Fire Ability, pretty much all of them are afraid of fire."

Wild Beasts living in the forest rarely possess the Fire Ability. After all, if a fire were to ignite dead branches during one of their fights, the entire forest could be reduced to ashes.

Sweet Ring nodded knowingly. "These Flying Wolf Wild Beasts should be resting at night, but instead, they want to make Beastman cubs their dinner. Isn’t this just the strong preying on the weak, the many ganging up on the few?

It’s so unfair. I’ll just use Heavenly Fire to give them a little scare..."

As she finished speaking, a fist-sized ball of fire suddenly appeared at the mouth of the cave. The flame swayed, and though it wasn’t large, the wave of heat it gave off calmed the terrified cubs inside. Outside, the Flying Wolves’ faces filled with dread, and they began to back away slowly.

Heavenly Fire grinned, revealing a row of teeth in a smile that was exceptionally sinister and terrifying.

The Flying Wolves tucked their tails between their legs. If not for the fear that Heavenly Fire would give chase, they would have already turned and fled.

Heavenly Fire suddenly lunged forward, frightening the Flying Wolves into scattering with miserable howls. In just two or three seconds, not a single trace of them remained outside the cave. They sure scared easily!

Heavenly Fire hadn’t even had a chance to warm up. It huffed indignantly and resumed its post as the guardian at the cave’s entrance.

Jing Lin looked at Sweet Ring with adoration. "Lady Ji Nuan, you’re incredible! That fire isn’t a superpower, is it? It seems like it can understand what people say and follow orders."

The other cubs snapped out of their daze. Staring at the white snake before him, they were filled with curiosity and admiration. "Jing Lin, is that Lady Ji Nuan?"

Jing Lin didn’t spare the others a single glance. His eyes remained fixed on Sweet Ring, unsure of how to introduce her.

Sweet Ring raised her head slightly and huffed. "Hiss... To be precise, I am the Water Monster Lord of Luoyue Lake. I was awakened from a thousand-year slumber yesterday by Little Qizi’s summons.

This Little Qizi and Little Linzi are gold and silver twins, an auspicious sign. So how did they end up being falsely labeled as stars of disaster by all of you?

Don’t you even think? If you all hadn’t come chasing after us, would we have been discovered by the Winged Tiger Beastman and captured?

Thanks to Little Linzi, you escaped a perilous situation unscathed. He is clearly a lucky star! If not for him, you’d all be a meal in the bellies of those Flying Wolves right now."

The cubs’ heads spun as they listened to her. ’Wait, is that what really happened?’

"Besides, if even one of you had a Fire Ability, you wouldn’t have been so terrified by a pack of Flying Wolves! Don’t blame others for your own incompetence. That’s what cowards do—people who are afraid to take responsibility..."

The cubs hung their heads, wishing they could crawl into a hole in the ground and disappear.

"We’re sorry, Jing Lin. We misunderstood you..." This bunch of cubs, at least, knew how to admit when they were wrong.

Jing Lin was both stunned and incredulous to be apologized to again. Though he didn’t let it show on his face, his eyes, fixed on Sweet Ring, overflowed with gratitude and joy.

’So my brother and I aren’t disaster stars after all. That must be why we met the Water Monster Lord.’

He seized the opportunity to say, "You could say we’re the reason you’re all still alive. A life-saving debt must be repaid in full!"

"I... I’ll give up another share of my rations! From now on, you’re my leader!"

The other cubs chimed in one by one. They were still shaken, the fear from moments ago fresh in their minds. That had been truly terrifying. One cub had even been so scared he’d wet himself.

Jing Lin magnanimously accepted their gratitude.

With Heavenly Fire guarding the cave entrance, the exhausted and hungry cubs huddled together and drifted off to sleep.

When the sky began to lighten at dawn, they woke up one after another, ate some wild fruit, and continued their flight home.

Sweet Ring knew she was a jinx, but she’d discovered that speaking in opposites also made things come true!

And so, she muttered under her breath, "Oh, I hope we don’t get found by the adults from the Winged Lion Tribe. Those poor cubs would get their bottoms spanked raw..."

Jing Lin found this funny, but before he could say a word, one of the cubs shouted with glee, "I see the adults from our tribe!"

The cubs cheered, flapping their wings with all their might while howling and shouting.

It was indeed their adults, come to find them. They sidled up, tearfully nuzzling their Fathers’ legs and recounting the hardships of their journey, only to be picked up and given a sound thrashing.

"What do your Father and Mother always tell you? Don’t go playing outside the tribe without an adult escort..."

"It serves you right for getting caught! Why didn’t they just take you back to be slaves?"

The cubs wailed as they were spanked, promising through snot and tears that they’d never do it again.

Jing Qi was a slow flyer, but he had gritted his teeth and kept up with the party tracking the cubs’ scent. When he saw his younger brother safe and sound, with a small, round, silver-white head peeking out from his chest, he breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Little Lin, are you all right?" he asked, flying closer. He wanted nothing more than to check Jing Lin from head to toe to be sure.

"I’m fine, big brother. Lady Ji Nuan healed me," Jing Lin said with a vague smile, knowing this wasn’t the place to talk. He flapped his wings and did a little spin for Jing Qi to see.

Jing Qi knew exactly what his brother’s condition had been like before. Seeing him now, he was so overjoyed that he began to fly in happy circles around Jing Lin.

’This is wonderful! Ever since we met the Water Monster Lord, things have just been getting better and better!’

On the way back, Jing Lin briefly explained to Jing Qi what had happened.

Jing Qi was terrified in retrospect. He whispered, "Lady Ji Nuan, Little Lin, please don’t leave the tribe to look for me next time. I’m with the hunting party; nothing will happen to me."

"Got it," Sweet Ring nodded, though it was hard to say how much of that she’d actually taken to heart.

Thanks to the Time Law Storage Talismans, Jing Qi and Jing Lin could easily keep up with the adults, following them from a comfortable distance.

When they arrived back at the tribe, Sweet Ring gave Jing Lin a poke. He immediately understood and, his face flushing slightly, called out, "Uh, Mu Hui, what about those two shares of supplies you promised me?"

The cubs all looked up at their fathers.

"What are you looking at me for? Those are your rations; you can do what you want with them. But if you give your food away and don’t have enough to eat this winter, don’t you dare say it’s because your Father didn’t work hard enough..."

Even if the cubs wanted to go back on their word, the brothers Jing Qi and Jing Lin now had powerful backing. They had no choice but to bite the bullet and fulfill their promise.

Trip by trip, they delivered the goods to Jing Qi and Jing Lin, and the cave quickly became crowded. The two winged lion cubs were overjoyed. Their food for the rainy season and the coldest season was now accounted for. They could make it through another year!

As soon as everyone was gone, Sweet Ring swept her tail across the supplies. Everything it touched vanished, transferred directly into her Storage Ring.

"Little Qi, Little Lin, I’ll keep these safe for you for now!"