"Ouch, you're killing me! Grab them, don't let them get away!"
Inside Xiong Li's cave, furious shouts echoed endlessly, mixed with waves of miserable howls.
Xiong Shuai and his three companions were running around in a panic, but they just couldn't catch the two slippery eggs.
The cave entrance was blocked, so the two eggs couldn't get out either. The blue one had a small crack on top and was moving a little slower.
The smaller, silver-glowing egg kept helping the Blue Egg by fiercely striking at the filthy hands of Xiong Shuai and the others, buying time.
Xiong Li was being protected by her Beast Husbands, so she wasn't as disheveled as before. Her sharp eyes noticed this detail.
"Grab the blue egg! It's about to hatch!"
As everyone knew, a cub's shell was incredibly hard, but for a period after hatching, the cub itself was very fragile.
Xiong Li clutched her face, which was swollen from being hit by the egg, her gaze vicious. "Once you catch it, we'll skin it and rip out its tendons. I want to taste what a cub is like, too."
...
"Yu An, don't panic. There are no signs of a struggle in the cave. This wasn't the work of wild beasts."
"Perhaps some single male stole them. That happens all the time."
On the Beastman Continent, males far outnumbered females. Some Beastmen who couldn't find a female to choose them would steal other families' eggs and hatchlings.
Due to their blood ties, the cubs wouldn't be too close to that male, but after hatching, they would recognize the first Beastman they saw as family.
"I hope so."
Yu An clenched her fists tightly. "But we can't rule out another possibility. I have to find them!"
Mo Yan immediately said, "We'll split up to search. We'll regroup at the cave every so often. Da Hu will come with me. You take the puppy."
Da Hu nodded and willingly hopped into Mo Yan's arms, sensibly not wanting to be a burden to Yu An.
Yu An stroked his little head, then turned and headed in one direction.
Han Li followed behind her, desperately sniffing the air for any lingering scent of the cubs.
'He hated Beastmen who stole others' cubs more than anything. And they had stolen cubs he had spent several nights incubating! What's the difference between that and stealing my own cubs?'
'Unforgivable!'
But Xiong Li and her group had deliberately used something to mask the eggs' scent, making it impossible to track them by smell.
Yu An and Mo Yan were newcomers and completely unfamiliar with the area, so they had no idea where to even begin searching.
It was already dark when they regrouped. The two didn't dare to rest, taking lighting tools with them to search through the night.
"An'an, I found a piece of porcelain! It's a fragment from the tableware you used before!"
Lu Lu's voice sounded as a Qing Teng drilled up from the soil. The sky was just beginning to lighten. Yu An hadn't slept a wink all night, but her eyes were now frighteningly bright.
She picked up Han Li and followed the Qing Teng. Han Li didn't struggle, because he'd caught a faint, familiar scent drifting from the direction Yu An was headed.
Yu An was in a hurry and didn't notice the greedy eyes that had appeared along the path.
Han Li, nestled in Yu An's arms, let out a low growl from his throat, which temporarily intimidated the wild beasts.
'Looks like I'm about to recover my spiritual power,' Han Li mused to himself. 'It seems even stronger than before. I can intimidate beasts even before I'm fully recovered.'
What he didn't know was that just as Yu An's figure was about to disappear from sight, the beasts started drooling and followed them.
The trail went cold at the porcelain fragment. Lu Lu's superpower was depleted, and it couldn't continue the search. Yu An stared into the dense forest with its countless paths, her expression grim.
Just then, Han Li jumped down and barked at her twice.
Yu An's face lit up. "Puppy, did you smell their scent?"
Han Li nodded emphatically and then ran ahead.
Xiong Li had no idea Yu An was about to arrive. But even if she did, she wouldn't be afraid of a weak female with no Beast Husband to protect her.
At that moment, she was holding the Blue Egg. The Blue Egg, in turn, spat a bubble out of its crack, enveloping the Silver Egg.
Xiong Shuai was panting from exhaustion, but he hadn't been able to break the bubble. Suddenly, he remembered something, and his face went deathly pale.
"Fe-Female Master, this looks like the ability of the Treasure Pearl Sea Merfolk! Could this Blue Egg be a Merfolk cub?"
As soon as he said this, the other three males who were trying to break the bubble froze, their faces filled with terror.
Xiong Shuai stammered, "The Merfolk are fiercely protective of their young. Maybe... maybe we should let it go..."
"Let it go? Impossible!"
Xiong Li gave a cruel smile. "We've already done this to the little bastard. What if it goes and tells its clan on us?"
"Besides, look at that female, Yu An. She's so ugly. How could a Merfolk possibly like her, let alone mate with her?"
Something she said must have convinced Xiong Shuai. He gritted his teeth. "The Female Master is right! Hurry, the bubble is about to break! Put your backs into it!"
While they dealt with the bubble, Xiong Li clutched the Blue Egg and walked toward her only cub.
The cub gulped. "Female Mother, I want to eat too. I haven't eaten in so long, I'm craving it."
Xiong Li said lovingly, "Female Mother won't eat. It's all for you. There have been so few cubs born recently, Female Mother couldn't get her hands on any. My poor baby has been deprived."
The Blue Egg struggled with all its might but couldn't break free from Xiong Li's large hand. It could only watch as the cub opened its mouth, a foul stench washing over it.
The bubble protecting the Silver Egg also developed a crack. In that moment of despair, the Blue Egg suddenly split open completely, and a pair of icy blue eyes met the bear cub's gaze.
Those eyes were as brilliant as crystal. The bear cub was dazed for a moment, its eyes staring blankly ahead.
Xiong Li was horrified. "Cub, what's wrong with you!"
She was so focused on checking her cub that a small, blue-haired merman shot out of the eggshell, hugged the Silver Egg, curled into a ball, and rolled toward the cave entrance.
The hard bubble crashed into the stone blocking the entrance, smashing a large hole in it.
"Trying to run? You won't get away!"
Xiong Shuai roared, instantly shifting into his beast form. A massive bear paw swiped toward the two of them!
Seeing the mountain-like savage bear crashing down, the Little Merfolk instinctively squeezed his eyes shut.
"Female Mother, save me!"
The voice was childish, filled with deep terror.
"Stop—"
Just as the terrified Little Merfolk hugged the Silver Egg tightly, Yu An's voice came from not far away.
The next second, the two little ones landed in a warm embrace. The Little Merfolk couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out crying.
"WAHHHH! Female Mother... Zaizai is so scared..."
The little one was covered in dirt and dust, with some minor cuts on his body. Yu An's heart ached for him.
"Don't be scared, don't be scared. Female Mother is here. Female Mother will get revenge for you."
"Hah, revenge? You're ugly, but you sure can dream!"
The bear cub quickly returned to normal. Hearing Yu An's voice, Xiong Li emerged from the cave, surrounded by her Beast Husbands.
She eyed Yu An with malicious intent. "Where's your Beast Husband? Why isn't he with you?"
"But this is perfect. Since he's not here, I can take care of you and these two little bastards."
Yu An's face darkened. "Xiong Li, you're courting death!"
"Harming a cub is a capital offense! I won't let you get away with this!"
Xiong Li froze for a second, then burst into wild laughter. "HAHAHA! If you're dead, no one will know I harmed a cub, right? In a moment, I'll let you watch with your own eyes as my cub devours your two little bastards!"
She licked the corner of her mouth, drooling. "Cubs are a rare delicacy, you know. Very nutritious."
Yu An's breath caught in her throat. She choked out, "What did you say? You actually eat..."
Even she, someone who had transmigrated to the Beastman Continent partway through her life, knew this was a taboo!
If word got out, Xiong Li's family would be condemned by everyone, hunted like rats in the street.
But Xiong Li couldn't care less. After all, dead people can't spread secrets.