Cradling her cub, Qiao Xixi carefully made her way around a tall coconut tree up ahead. Behind it, she saw a little female cub in a fish-skin skirt, bossily pinning a seal cub to the ground with one foot.

The seal cub seemed to be clutching a fish-like beast, squirming nonstop as it tried to break free from the little female’s hold.

"Let me go, you vicious fish beast!"

"Hmph! If you don’t hand over that fish beast, you’re not going anywhere."

The little female cub forcefully snatched the fish beast away, and the seal cub scrambled up from the ground and rammed into her.

"Ah!"

The little female cub fell to the ground, and the fish beast she was holding went flying.

Furious, she pounced right on the seal cub, and the two of them started to brawl.

In the end, the seal cub was no match for her and ran off, fuming.

He didn’t forget to shout a threat as he left. "Xiya, you just wait! I’ll make you regret this!"

Xiya lifted her chin and shook her little fist. "You think I’m scared of you? If you’ve got the guts, come and fight me right now!"

"Hmph!" The seal cub scurried away like a coward.

Watching the little female cub, Qiao Xixi couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Hearing the noise, Xiya glared over warily. "Which piece of small fry is hiding over there? Show yourself!"

’My, this little cub is quite the handful.’

Qiao Xixi walked out, holding her little tiger cub.

Once she got closer, Qiao Xixi could finally see the little female cub clearly. She had big eyes, and her blue pupils looked a lot like her own. A mane of long, wavy hair fell freely over her shoulders, accentuating her delicate little face. And that pert little nose... huh? ’That looks a lot like mine, too. It couldn’t be...’

Qiao Xixi moved a bit closer to Xiya and took a deep sniff. It seemed she couldn’t detect the scent of her own bloodline on the girl.

Qiao Xixi let out a breath of relief. ’That scared me to death! I thought the original owner of this body had gone and had another cub somewhere!’

’Good thing it’s not her.’

"Were you spying on me just now?"

Xiya boldly sized up the female Land Beast before her. ’Hmm, she’s very pretty, and her voice is nice to listen to.’

However, she hated all Land Beasts. So she puffed out her small chest and lifted her little chin, trying to look more intimidating. What she didn’t realize was that, in Qiao Xixi’s eyes, the attempt was just adorable.

It was a lot like... the proud, aloof look Qiao Ang and the others had when she first arrived.

Still, the cub’s behavior had been wrong. Qiao Xixi wasn’t in the habit of disciplining other people’s children, but seeing such a pretty little female, she couldn’t resist saying something.

"I was just passing by. I saw you were pretty and couldn’t help but look a little longer. Is that a crime?"

Xiya froze. A hint of shyness suddenly appeared on her fierce little face, and she finally couldn’t stop a small laugh from escaping. "Honestly, what are you even saying~"

The words were barely out of her mouth when she realized something was off. She quickly composed her face into a stern expression. "I’ve never seen you before. Why are you on this island?"

Qiao Xixi answered with complete honesty, "I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again, I was here. Could you tell me what this place is?"

Xiya watched her warily, clutching the fish beast and taking two steps back. "No. You need to leave this place. Now."

With that, the little cub turned and left.

"I don’t mean any harm! I’m not a bad beast."

"All of you Land Beasts are bad! All of you are big, bad beasts!" Xiya shouted as she ran off, not forgetting to roll her eyes at Qiao Xixi.

Qiao Xixi watched helplessly as she disappeared. Jin Ling and the others wouldn’t be arriving anytime soon, so she had to find a place to stay first.

After a moment of thought, she returned to the spot where she had first appeared. It was backed by a large boulder, which formed a natural barrier.

Qiao Xixi took a Vine Orchid fruit from her storage space, buried it in the sand, and watered it with some Spiritual Spring water. Slender vines quickly sprouted from the sand, growing to encircle her.

Qiao Xixi took out a beast-hide blanket and spread it on the ground, then gently laid down the cub from her arms, who was still fast asleep.

A gentle smile graced Qiao Xixi’s face as she looked at her sweetly sleeping cub.

Before going to sleep, she checked her spatial tracker again. She could see the dots representing Sunxiao and the others moving steadily; they must have reached the Hopeless Abyss by now.

She estimated the distance between them. If all went well, it shouldn’t be long before they were reunited.

Qiao Xixi closed her eyes, ready to sleep, when she thought she heard the sound of lapping waves. ’Don’t tell me some monster is coming out of the water?’

A sense of unease washed over Qiao Xixi, her sleepiness vanishing in an instant. She quickly picked up her cub and peeked outside through the gaps in the vines.

She was still some distance from the ocean, so she couldn’t see very clearly.

To be safe, she decided to wait and observe. But before long, she thought she heard a cry for help.

The voice was exquisite, full of allure.

An impulse suddenly struck Qiao Xixi—she had to go see what it was. And so, she did.

She stepped out of her shelter and walked to the shore. There, in the faint moonlight, she saw an azure-blue merman lying on the sand.

His long, aqua-blue hair clung to his somewhat pale skin. In the moonlight, his features were so perfect he looked like a sculpture. His eyes, however, were covered by a layer of white Jue Sha.

Hearing the sound, he tilted his head in Qiao Xixi’s direction. "Who’s there? Can you help me?"

’Heavens, what a pleasant voice.’

Qiao Xixi nodded almost without a second thought. A moment later, she felt something was off, but she didn’t dwell on it. Instead, her eyes remained fixed in a captivated gaze upon the handsome merman before her.

His massive fishtail shimmered under the moonlight with a cool, pale blue luster. It was an unreal beauty.

"What happened to you? Is there anything I can do to help?"

The handsome merman extended a long, slender, pearly-white hand toward her. "I’m so cold. Come over here... and hold me, won’t you?"

"Okay..."

Qiao Xixi walked toward him, step by step. Just as she reached out to embrace the handsome merman, the cub in her arms suddenly let out a "MEOW," startling Qiao Xixi and causing her to freeze on the spot.

"MEOW!"

The fiercely cute sound carried a strange power, as if it could shatter any invisible barrier.

Qiao Xixi snapped back to her senses.

"What is it, little one?"

The little tiger cub opened its eyes and continued to meow. Qiao Xixi thought it was hungry.

"Is your tummy rumbling? Don’t worry, Mama will feed you right now."

Qiao Xixi cooed softly, then jerked her head up to look at the ocean. She was just in time to see a flash of a blue fishtail disappear into the dark water. She was dumbfounded.

"That’s strange... Why am I all the way out here?"

Qiao Xixi tapped her head, feeling as if something had just happened without her knowledge.

She looked around, but there was nothing to see and only the sound of the waves to hear. A wave of retroactive fear washed over her. If her cub hadn’t cried out, she would have walked right into the sea!

Qiao Xixi clutched her cub and headed back, failing to notice that as she turned to leave, a merman was slowly surfacing from the waves.