I Transmigrated as a Villainess to Raise Babies, and My Beast Husbands Are Fighting Madly Over Me!

Chapter 290: He Disappeared

"Aren’t you going to take a look, beautiful Clan Leader?"

At the sound of the voice, Qiao Xixi turned to find Bulin standing right behind her, barely a hand’s breadth away.

The moment he drew near, the tiger cub sleeping soundly in Qiao Xixi’s arms snapped its eyes open. Its wide, wary gaze fixed on Bulin, and it bared its fangs.

When Bulin saw the tiger cub, a flash of surprise crossed his brown eyes, but his expression quickly returned to normal.

"What a beautiful cub."

The moment she’d sensed his approach, Qiao Xixi had already taken a few steps forward, putting distance between them.

"I see many of your goods are from the sea. When did you go to the coast?"

Bulin raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Has the Clan Leader been to the coast?"

"I have. I thought it was very beautiful, so I’m curious if we went to the same place."

Bulin took another step forward, as if to reach out and play with the tiger cub. But before his hand could touch it, the cub slapped the back of it with its paw.

"Ugh! Ah!"

The sharp pain of a breaking bone shot up his arm. Bulin cried out, utterly shocked.

"Captain, what’s wrong?"

Cold sweat beaded on Bulin’s forehead. He took several deep breaths, then said through gritted teeth, "It’s nothing. This cub is just surprisingly strong."

Qiao Xixi stroked the tiger cub’s head, her expression unreadable. "Of course. Her father has a high-level beast soul, so naturally, she wouldn’t be weak."

Bulin’s gaze swept over to Jin Ling in the crowd. Even with so many tall beastmen standing around him, Jin Ling was impossible to miss.

"I was being presumptuous."

By the time Jin Ling returned with Xiya and the others, Bulin had already gone back into the crowd.

"How did it go? Did you get what you wanted?"

Jin Ling’s liquid-gold eyes quickly scanned the area before he nodded. "We got a few things. Let’s head back first."

"Okay."

Qiao Xixi and the others left the crowd.

Just as their figures were about to disappear into the throng, Bulin suddenly looked up at their retreating backs, a dark look in his eyes.

Back in the inner city, Qiao Xixi had Qiao Qiao take their purchases to share with the boys. Once Qiao Qiao was gone, she picked up Xiya and asked, "Xiya, how about it? Did anything else have your father’s scent?"

Xiya’s large eyes were full of disappointment as she shook her head. "No, I didn’t find anything else. Mother, why hasn’t Father come yet? Does he not want me anymore?"

"Of course not. Your father cares about you the most. He was probably just delayed by something. Don’t be afraid."

Xiya nodded, but she remained dejected. Qiao Xixi held and comforted her until she drifted off to sleep, only then stepping outside with Jin Ling.

"So? Do you feel like something’s wrong?"

Jin Ling shook his head. "I can’t see anything unusual for now, but we can’t let our guard down."

Beastmen have powerful instincts. Jin Ling could sense something was off about this Bulin, yet everything he did seemed so normal that they couldn’t find any fault with him and his group for the moment.

The very reason Qiao Xixi had let them into the tribe was to probe them. If they were indeed enemies, it was better to let them in and keep them under watch than to shut them out and force them to find another way in.

"I’ll tell Sangze to personally keep an eye on them tonight."

Sangze came and went like a shadow, so he was the best one for the job.

"Alright."

That night, after Qiao Xixi put the cubs to bed, a few of the males gathered on the veranda.

In the darkness, their collected gazes were heavy with pressure.

Jin Ling told them everything that had happened during the day.

Sangze crossed his legs and scoffed. "Is there nowhere else to go in this world of beasts? Every last one of them is staring at my little female. I really just... want to kill them all."

"We don’t know what they’re after yet. You should go keep an eye on them in a bit."

"Mm."

Sangze got up lazily. His body shifted, and in his beast form, he leaped down from the veranda. His figure quickly vanished into the darkness.

Sunxiao’s serpentine pupils were cold as his long fingers casually toyed with the Coral Horned Beast in his hand.

He could indeed feel Xijing’s scent on it.

"We need to send some beastmen to the islands to check on the situation."

It wasn’t that he cared whether Xijing lived or died; what he cared about was the Salt Crystal.

"Mm, there are quite a few Wing Clan members in the tribe. I’ll talk to Father first thing tomorrow and have him pick a few strong ones to go."

And so, the matter was settled.

"A Golden Eagle Beast attacked Qiaoqiao today."

Feiyan’s expression was grim. When he heard about it, he had taken the patrol team to give chase, but they were Land Beasts, after all, so they were at a disadvantage and couldn’t catch up.

"I’ve already sent them to patrol the surrounding mountains. The beastmen from Tiger Beast City must still be hiding there."

"That’s why we need more Crystal Stones."

Thinking of the previous great battle, Feiyan’s expression grew even grimmer.

"This won’t do. I’m going to find Father right now."

Once Feiyan left, the two remaining males looked at each other, speechless.

Because Xiya had been in low spirits, Qiao Xixi slept with her that night.

Feeling the cub’s steady breaths, Qiao Xixi also closed her eyes.

Just as Qiao Xixi drifted into dreamland, she felt her body sink into icy seawater.

Qiao Xixi’s brows furrowed tightly. She struggled to open her eyes, but what greeted her was a darkness so thick she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face.

"Xixi, Xixi..."

’Who... who’s calling me?’

The darkness before her slowly receded. A faint halo of light appeared, illuminating the figure ahead.

"Xixi..."

Xijing was tied to a stone pillar. His face was covered in blood, and there wasn’t a single patch of unscathed flesh on his body.

Shocked, Qiao Xixi reached out, but her fingertips passed right through his body.

"Xixi, take care of Xiya. Thank you..."

The halo of light around Xijing’s body faded bit by bit, dissolving into the seawater.

"No, don’t!"

Qiao Xixi’s eyes flew open. It was still pitch-dark. Xiya was sleeping peacefully in her arms, and it wasn’t dawn yet.

She carefully got up, took a beast-hide cloth to wipe the cold sweat from her face, her brow remaining tightly furrowed.

’Little Sprite, help me check on Xijing’s situation.’

"Hang on, Host. Let me check."

After a long moment, the Little Sprite replied, puzzled, "That’s strange. I can’t detect his location. Could it be because he’s in the deep sea?"

’You can’t find him?’

"That’s right, I can’t find him."

’What about the salt fields? Can you see what’s happening at the salt fields?’

"That... HISS... Oh my god, Host! There are bodies everywhere!"

Qiao Xixi’s expression shifted. ’What does that mean? Be clear.’

"It looks like there was a huge battle near the salt fields! The ground is covered with the bodies of beastmen and merfolk, Host!"

Qiao Xixi’s heart leaped into her throat. ’What about the other merfolk? You can’t find a single one? Any one of them will do.’

The Little Sprite searched for a long time, but the answer was always the same: no. It couldn’t find a single trace of any merfolk.

’It can’t even find a single living merperson. What on earth happened to Xijing and his people?’