Chapter 62: Chapter 62: Snatching the Children

Xiao Yu felt like he’d only been out playing for a short while, but when he returned, his Beast Father was a completely different person.

Before, he’d kept his distance from Female Mother, but now he seemed desperate to cling to her every second.

Oh, and Female Mother was clearly annoyed by it.

"It’s getting late. Xiao Yu and I need to rest."

Swatting away Lan Ying’s face as he leaned in again, Yu An said sternly, "Go find your own place to stay."

"Why?" Lan Ying touched the cheek she had just slapped, his expression pitiful. "I want to sleep with you. Female Master, we’re a married couple."

"Besides, weren’t you the one who told me to watch you and never leave your side? I have to obey my Female Master’s orders."

Yu An sneered. "Then I order you to let me out."

Lan Ying’s expression didn’t falter. "I can’t do that."

Yu An was speechless.

Done wasting her breath on him, she warned him not to come any closer, then took Xiao Yu to rest.

’By my count, I’ve been missing for a full day and night. I wonder if Mo Yan and Ao Wu will be able to find me here.’

’I don’t want to have a complete falling out and fight Lan Ying. My Level 3 superpower against a male with Heavenly Level Spiritual Power... The odds of winning are slim, especially underwater.’

’Lan Ying is so unpredictable. Luckily, we have a contract, which makes him at least a little hesitant.’

’But I can’t rule out the possibility that he’d do something desperate, like using Xiao Yu to threaten me. After all, in a sense, Xiao Yu is Lan Yin’s child.’

Yu An’s arm around Xiao Yu tightened. After a moment of thought, a slender vine slipped from her hand, dropped to the ground, and burrowed into the soil.

Lan Ying had been resting with his eyes closed. But just as Lu Lu’s offshoot was about to sneak away, his eyes snapped open, and his hand shot out, snatching up Lu Lu.

He examined it with great interest. "Where did this little bug come from? It’s so ugly."

Lu Lu’s temper flared instantly. "An’an, let my main body out! I’m going to fight him for three hundred rounds!"

"Little bug my foot! He’s the little bug! And an ugly one at that!"

It took all of Yu An’s coaxing to calm it down. She glanced at Lan Ying, who was grinning devilishly at her, and the sight made her head ache.

’Worst case, Xiao Yu and I can just hide in my space. No matter how powerful Lan Ying is, he won’t be able to do anything to me then.’

While she plotted her escape, Mo Yan and the other two were going frantic.

The three of them alone couldn’t possibly search the entire lake quickly. Fortunately, members of the Giant Stone Tribe and Qingyan Tribe arrived just in time. Red Fox even went to recruit wild beasts for help. For a moment, an uncanny harmony existed between the Beastmen and the beasts. United in their search for Yu An, the two sides coexisted peacefully, even cooperating.

"Nothing. I haven’t found Boss Yu over here."

"Nothing here, either."

"Keep searching over there! Widen the search area..."

The cubs, of course, couldn’t join the search. Feng Xuan had entrusted Da Hu and Xiao Hu to Bai Rong’s care. The two little ones stood on the shore, gazing out, hoping their Female Mother would appear at any moment.

"Brother," Xiao Hu tugged on the hem of Da Hu’s shirt, his voice trembling with anxiety. "When is Female Mother coming back?"

"She’ll be back soon," Da Hu said. He was just as scared, but as the older brother, he had to be strong. "Just take a nap. When you wake up, Female Mother will be here."

Xiao Hu, who was usually dozing off all day, shook his head, wide awake for once. "I can’t sleep. I’ll wait until Female Mother comes back." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

’He used to be able to fall asleep anywhere, anytime, because he always felt safe with Female Mother nearby.’

Watching the two well-behaved Zaizai, Zhu Qingqing’s heart ached.

’If it weren’t for me, Boss Yu wouldn’t be in danger. Why did I have to lose weight? If I were still fat like before, the drug Lord Han gave me wouldn’t have worked. The dosage would have been too low...’

"Don’t get lost in those thoughts," Bai Rong said, patting her shoulder and pulling her back to the present. "Even if it wasn’t you, the villains would have just found someone else to get to Boss Yu."

"Boss Yu is very strong; she can protect herself. The most important thing right now is to keep Da Hu and Xiao Hu safe, so the mastermind behind this can’t use them to threaten her."

Zhu Qingqing wiped away her tears and nodded firmly. "Right. I understand!"

Behind a nearby tree, Kong Qingqing watched with a resentful expression. She shoved one of her Beast Husbands. "Go. You all lure away Zhu Qingqing and that meddling white-cat female. I’ll grab the two little brats."

’Zhu Qingqing might be strong, but there’s no way she can beat my five Beast Husbands. As for Bai Rong, she’s not even worth considering.’

Her Beast Husband looked troubled. "Female Master, members of both tribes are nearby. Shouldn’t we wait for a better opportunity to strike?"

"Go now," Kong Qingqing snapped. "All the Beastmen are in the water. This is the perfect time!"

’But there are still some Beastmen on the shore, taking a breather...’

The Beast Husband glanced at Kong Qingqing’s face and decided not to say that out loud. Steeling himself, he went.

’Oh well. Housekeeper Han did say he’d give us a large mansion in Han Ling City after this was done. And we wouldn’t have to pay that exorbitant annual residence fee like the other Beastmen.’

The moment the five of them appeared, Zhu Qingqing was instantly on alert. "Those are Kong Qingqing’s Beast Husbands! What are they doing here?"

"I don’t know," Bai Rong frowned. "Come on, let’s get the Zaizai away from them."

The five men shifted into their beast forms and closed in fast. They unleashed their spiritual power to suppress the two females while lunging with sharp, vicious claws.

Females generally don’t have very high Combat Power. Seeing how bad the situation was, Bai Rong immediately yelled for the Beastmen on the shore to help.

"Help! Someone, help! They’re trying to take the children!"

Zhu Qingqing shoved Da Hu into Bai Rong’s arms, shifted into her beast form with a furious roar, and slammed a massive paw toward the five males.

Other Beastmen on the shore started to move, but a group of Beastmen in black emerged from nowhere, blocking their path. They had no choice but to deal with them first.

Kong Qingqing’s heart, which had been in her throat, finally settled. She seized the opportunity to dash out and, along with one of her Beast Husbands, tried to snatch the Zaizai from Bai Rong’s arms.

"Get away from them!"

Bai Rong’s eyes turned red. Her beast ears and tail popped out in her fury as she let out a low, guttural roar.

Kong Qingqing paid no attention to her threat, reaching out to grab the children by force.

Bai Rong couldn’t dodge in time and took a heavy blow to her back!

"Auntie!"

Da Hu and Xiao Hu caught the scent of blood and cried out in alarm.

"Don’t be scared," Bai Rong said through gritted teeth. "Auntie’s okay."

’And I won’t let anything happen to you!’

Somewhere deep beneath the water, Yu An’s eyes snapped open.

A sudden panic seized her heart, a feeling that something terrible was about to happen.

Her sudden movement woke Xiao Yu, who rubbed his eyes and asked, "Female Mother, what’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"

Yu An was about to answer when she noticed Lan Ying was gone. The idea of escaping instantly sparked in her mind. "Xiao Yu, I’m going to put you in my space. Be good and stay inside, and we’ll go home, okay?"

"What about Beast Father? Isn’t he coming home with us?"

"Your Beast Father has something he needs to do. We’ll go on ahead."

"Female Mother, I don’t want to go in the space. I’ll swim home with you."

Xiao Yu said earnestly, "Beast Father told me there are lots of beasts underwater, and they all listen to the Merfolk. I can protect you."

Yu An considered for a moment. "Alright. Stay close to me."

’If we run into danger, we can both just enter the space.’

Just as the two of them swam out, Lan Ying, who was in another location suppressing Lan Yin’s soul, opened his eyes.

"Trying to run?"

A smirk played on his lips. "This is my territory, after all."

’Even with a Merfolk cub, they won’t escape the palm of my hand!’