"Sangze, I’ve had enough of you!" Yun Qi remembered the humiliation of being burned that night and threw a punch at Sangze’s face.

But suddenly, his movements slowed.

Yun Qi’s pupils shrank, and he stared at Sangze in disbelief.

At that moment, those mismatched eyes were filled with innocence.

Sangze pried Yun Qi’s hand away and, with a look of surprise, poked his sharp nose. Veins throbbed on Yun Qi’s temples in fury.

Once he confirmed that Yun Qi’s movements had indeed slowed to a crawl, Sangze was overjoyed.

’Xixi is really amazing! This potion actually works.’

Sangze happily stowed away the Dull Liquid Qiao Xixi had given him. Xixi had told him it would be dangerous to act as a decoy, but their opponents would surely try to capture him alive. This meant he would have plenty of opportunities to counterattack. That was why he carried the potion from Xixi with him every day, just in case. He just never expected it to be so effective.

’Yun Qi is a beastman with a beast soul above the tenth rank, but it looks like he won’t be that hard to deal with after all.’

Jin Che, who was in the middle of a fight with Jin Ling, quickly noticed something was wrong with Yun Qi.

"Yun Qi, what’s wrong?"

Yun Qi was trying to gather all his strength. He gritted his teeth. "He used some kind of potion on me! My movements have suddenly slowed!"

Jin Che’s expression faltered, and in that moment of distraction, Jin Ling swatted him to the ground with a single swipe of his claws.

Jin Che scrambled up in a rage. "Big Brother, since you’re not dead, you should have returned to Tiger Beast City, not helped other beastmen oppose our father!"

Jin Ling’s expression remained unchanged, but the killing intent in his eyes intensified. "The Jin Ling of Tiger Beast City died before the last winter!"

"ROAR!"

Jin Ling let out a tiger’s roar and leaped in front of Jin Che, thrusting his sharp claws toward his heart!

"Jin Che."

Yun Qi suddenly shifted into his beast form, becoming an enormous Golden Eagle Beast. Veins bulged all over his body as he strained to flap his wings with all his might. Though his movements were slow, the force they generated was immense.

A massive gust of wind blasted toward Jin Ling.

Thrown off balance, Jin Ling’s sharp claws only managed to pierce Jin Che’s shoulder.

The sudden turn of the battle made Fengxuan’s expression darken. He abruptly took out a whistle made from beast bone and blew it.

A flock of Golden Eagle Beasts suddenly appeared in the sky, diving down to attack Jin Ling and the others.

Fengxuan watched the Golden Eagle Beasts arrive, then turned and ran toward the inner city.

Meanwhile, the arriving patrol team immediately rushed forward to engage the enemy.

Seeing Jin Ling forced back, Jin Che pounced on his back with a vicious glint in his eyes.

"Big Brother, look out!"

Jin Ling turned his head to see Jin Xi rushing over, but Jin Xi couldn’t dodge in time and was bitten on the shoulder by Jin Che.

"Ngh!"

"Jin Xi!"

"Jin Xi? Weren’t you locked up by our father? Why are you here?" Jin Che’s eyes darkened. "You escaped. How dare you."

With a tiger’s roar, Jin Che lunged at Jin Xi again.

Jin Ling pulled Jin Xi behind him and resumed his fight with Jin Che.

Meanwhile, in the inner city, Sunxiao had just received news that Yun Qi and his group had made their move.

Feiyan quickly approached with the cubs. "Yun Qi isn’t easy to deal with. I’ll stay in the inner city and guard Xixi. You go out and check on the situation."

Sunxiao nodded and squeezed Qiao Xixi’s hand. "Don’t worry. I’ll be right back."

Seeing Sunxiao about to leave, Qiao Lie tried to follow on his short little legs but was held back by Sangqi.

"Qiao Lie, it’s dangerous outside. Don’t run off."

With a tense expression on his little face, Qiao Lie watched Sunxiao’s departing figure. "I... I can help Father."

Qiao Xixi was also worried about the situation outside, but she couldn’t let it show, for fear of scaring the cubs.

She took Qiao Lie’s small hand and soothed him gently. "It’s all right, Qiao Lie. Your father will definitely come back safely. Let’s go upstairs for now."

Feiyan carried Qiao Xixi in his arms, leading the cubs back to their room on the second floor.

Once Sangqi saw his younger siblings were all inside, he thoughtfully closed the door.

But the moment the door closed, a flurry of urgent footsteps sounded from outside.

"Clan Leader, bad news! Beastmen have broken into the inner city! Their beast soul ranks are very high, and we can’t hold them off much longer!"

Inside the room, Qiao Xixi’s expression grew grim. "Feiyan, go quickly! You have to stop them! Don’t let them get in here. The cubs and I will wait for you in this room."

Feiyan was hesitant. "I’ll stay here and protect you."

Qiao Xixi shook her head. "No. If they break through into the inner city, we’ll be in big trouble."

Feiyan’s brow furrowed in conflict, but he quickly made his decision. "All right, I’ll go take a look. Don’t any of you run off." Then, he looked at the cubs. "You must protect your mother."

The cubs all nodded solemnly.

Feiyan turned and left the room.

Sangqi closed the door again after Feiyan.

Qiao Xixi turned and walked to the window, quickly spotting Feiyan’s figure heading toward the main gate.

Just as Feiyan’s figure vanished from sight, a sudden POUND came from the door behind her.

A loud BANG startled Qiao Qiao, who rushed to Qiao Xixi’s side and gripped her hand tightly.

The three cubs—Qiao Lie, Qiao Ang, and Sangqi—stared grimly toward the door.

Qiao Xixi called out, "Who’s there?"

"Clan Leader, the beastmen outside might break in. You should come with us to a safer location."

Qiao Xixi steadied herself. "That’s not necessary. It’s safe here. We’re staying put."

Having been refused, the voice outside was clearly growing impatient.

"Clan Leader, we’re only thinking of your safety. Come out and go with us now."

"I said, I’m staying here and I’m not going anywhere—"

"BANG!"

Before Qiao Xixi could finish, the person outside smashed the wooden door to pieces. A pair of gleaming green eyes appeared in the ruined doorway.

The cubs stood ready, spreading out in three directions to protect Qiao Xixi and Qiao Qiao behind them.

A flicker of panic crossed Qiao Xixi’s face, but she quickly composed herself.

The beastman outside kicked the remains of the door open.

The White Tiger Beastman in the lead stared coldly at Qiao Xixi. "So you’re the current Clan Leader of the Divine Leopard Tribe."

Qiao Xixi squeezed Qiao Qiao’s hand. "I am."

The White Tiger Beastman finished speaking and stepped aside, revealing Fengxuan, who emerged from behind him.

Qiao Xixi’s gaze fell on the colorful feathers on his head. His face was quite handsome, and he should have looked like a youthful beastman from the Wing Clan. But his narrow eyes made her deeply uncomfortable; they held a cunning, calculating glint and a hint of madness that was difficult to comprehend.

His light-green eyes landed on Qiao Xixi, raking over her as if he wanted to memorize every inch of her skin. The naked assessment made Qiao Xixi frown.

"You are indeed beautiful, but you’re no Holy Female. To think that your powerful mates are all such superficial beastmen, falling at your feet just for a pretty face."

Fengxuan moved closer to Qiao Xixi. "Female, are you going to be obedient, or are you going to make us do this the hard way? I won’t go easy on you just because you’re a female."

Qiao Lie shifted into his beast form and lunged at Fengxuan, snapping his jaws.

Fengxuan sneered, pulling out a bamboo canister. He opened it and poured the liquid inside onto the floor.

A pungent odor instantly filled the room.

Qiao Lie and the other cubs froze mid-lunge, as if they had been stopped in time.

Fengxuan gave Qiao Xixi an arrogant look. "Seize her."