Lin Huahua’s whole back straightened the moment her mother said she looked different, and because she had already used up far too many lies in this world in such a short time, she truly felt that if one more person stared at her face too hard, she might just sit down on the ground and start crying from pressure.

Still, she could not cry.

She could only act confused.

So Lin Huahua blinked first, then tilted her head in that naturally soft way of hers that made her look even cuter when she was pretending not to know something, and then she asked with complete innocence, "Different? What do you mean different?" 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

The moment those words left her lips, the people around her all looked at her in that way that said they knew she was either hiding something or genuinely had no idea what her own face looked like now.

Her mother narrowed her eyes a little and touched Lin Huahua’s cheek again, then lightly turned her face toward the sun as if checking for hidden marks. "Your skin is smoother. Your face is brighter. Even your hair looks better."

One of her mother’s males, the playful river otter beastman, leaned in from the side with shameless curiosity and said, "It is true. She looks like she fell into a spring made for heaven females and crawled back out."

Another male beside her mother, a strong brindled hyena beastman with a rough voice and unexpectedly kind eyes, folded his arms and squinted at Lin Huahua for a long second before saying, "No, not just that. Her smell is cleaner too."

That immediately made Lin Huahua’s ears twitch.

Cleaner?

What kind of terrifying observation was that?

Before she could think of a better answer, she lifted both hands and touched her own face as if she could somehow prove nothing had changed by feeling her skin with her fingers. "I think you are all imagining things," she said. "I always look like this."

"You do not," her mother said at once.

"You definitely do not," Tu Xiaotao added from behind, her rabbit ears bouncing with dramatic agreement.

Mao Qingyue said nothing, but her long tail gave one small confirming sway.

Lang Yinzhi snorted and crossed her arms. "If you always looked like this, half the tribe would have already walked into a tree."

That made the river otter beastman laugh so suddenly that even Lin Huahua’s mother smiled.

Unfortunately, the person who reacted the most was her father.

The Rat King, who had still been near enough after the gathering to hear this part, turned so sharply that his rat tail lashed once behind him. At first his expression was only serious. Then it changed.

Then it changed again.

Then it became the expression of a father who suddenly remembered he had only one daughter among all his children and had maybe not looked at her properly for one whole day, which in his mind was already a grave parenting crime.

He strode over at once.

The people around him instinctively made space, and Lin Huahua could only stand there and watch him come closer with the sort of fear that came from knowing a parent was about to overreact.

And overreact he did.

"What happened to you?" the Rat King asked immediately, leaning in and inspecting her face with the intensity of someone examining battle damage. "Did you use something? Did you eat something strange? Did someone give you bad herbs? Did some male put nonsense on your skin? Did you bathe in some suspicious spring? Why is your face like this? Why does your hair look like this? Why are your eyes brighter? Why do you smell different?"

He did not even pause properly between questions.

Lin Huahua’s ears slowly flattened.

Then lifted.

Then flattened again.

Her poor little white rat tail curled so tightly behind one leg that it almost looked like it wanted to climb up and hide in her clothes.

"I..." she started.

But the Rat King kept going.

"Did you go somewhere after leaving the forest? Did someone touch you? Did one of these males take you somewhere? Did you find a strange cave? Did you rub some unknown leaf on yourself? Why did no one report this to me first? Why does everybody keep looking at me like I should already know?"

The more he spoke, the more overwhelmed Lin Huahua became.

Because the truly terrible thing was that everyone around him had started taking the questioning seriously too.

Her mother frowned properly now.

Tu Xiaotao leaned closer.

The older males exchanged looks.

Even one of the aunties nearby had fully turned her whole body toward them with a face that said yes, yes, continue, I would also like to know.

Lin Huahua felt that if this kept going, she would definitely say something stupid.

That was when Mu Qingyi stepped in.

The deer beastman did not do it rudely. He simply moved one pace closer to Lin Huahua, enough that his broad bare chest and tall body entered the center of everyone’s attention, and because Mu Qingyi carried himself with that calm steady presence of his, people naturally looked at him when he finally spoke.

"It is because of the leaves," he said gently.

The Rat King turned toward him at once. "What leaves?"

Mu Qingyi did not even blink. "I have been bringing special bathing leaves for Huahua."

That made everybody pause.

Lin Huahua looked at him too.

Tu Xiaotao’s rabbit ears tilted.

Mao Qingyue’s narrow eyes sharpened with interest.

Lang Yinzhi actually looked impressed for one second, as if even she had to respect a male who could lie that smoothly while still sounding like a responsible caretaker.

The Rat King narrowed his eyes. "Special bathing leaves?"

"Yes," Mu Qingyi replied with the same quiet steadiness. "There are some near the shaded stream behind the southern stone path. They are softening leaves. We crush them and place them in the hot water. I thought perhaps that is why."