“Besides, I’ve never seen a three-year-old beastling speak as fluently and cleverly as you do… Could it be that you’ve already gained spiritual awareness beyond your years?”
Hu Lingxuan’s right arm shifted, transforming into a massive, powerful tiger’s claw. He looked down at her, a faint smirk playing on his lips.
From the very beginning, he had sensed there was something off about this little morseland now he knew for certain his suspicions were right.
Among their kind, no three-year-old could take human form, nor even speak clearly in the tongue of beasts. Yet the words she had just spoken were far beyond the capacity of any toddler.
“Spit it out. Who exactly are you?”
His golden eyes turned cold, and the enormous claw rested lightly across her throat.
Su Mingyue could not help but swallow hard. “Fine! I’ll tell you everything!”
“Do you remember when you were little, you snuck up the mountain alone and fell off a cliff? You were trapped there for days without food or water… until a small white snake brought you a dead mouse to eat. That was the only thing that kept you alive, wasn’t it?”
The claw hovering over Su Mingyue’s neck paused slightly.
That incident had truly happened during his childhoodbut he had never spoken of it to anyone, not even his closest older brother.
How could she possibly know?
“I… I am that very white snake. But I was born flawed and weak among my people. I entered the world in snake form, yet by the time I was one month old, I turned into a human child and could never shift back into my beast form again. So my clan cast me out… I had nowhere to go and survived alone in the forest ever since. A few days ago, I thought I was going to starve to death… and that’s how I stumbled into the Tiger Clan’s territory… and then met you.”
Su Mingyue thought to herself that all those novels she had read in her past life were finally paying offshe was spinning lies as smoothly as if they were truth.
Still, what she said about Hu Lingxuan’s childhood was not entirely made up.
The novel had indeed mentioned in passing that Hu Lingxuan had once gotten lost in the mountains as a boy and survived only thanks to a small white snake. Later, when the Tiger Clan finally took their revenge against the Wolf Clan and rose once more to rule the continent, every tribe that had submitted to the wolves faced severe punishment.
Hu Lingxuan, the Third Young Master, became known across the lands as ruthless, bloodthirsty, and utterly mercilessso much so that every beast trembled at his name.
Yet when the Snake Clan’s chief faced him in battle, Hu Lingxuan did not strike the killing blow. He had even said aloud, “I owe the Snake Clan a debt from my childhood. Today, I repay it.”
That brief detail had stuck in her mind after staying awake all night recalling the story, and now it was proving useful.
“I dared not speak much beforeafraid that if I offended you, I would be eaten… So… I’m sorry.”
“Somehow, I still feel you’re making this up,” Hu Lingxuan said. Even though the secret was known only to him and that little white snake, he could not shake the feeling that this soft, round little creature looked less like a serpent and more like a cunning little fox, plotting every word carefully.
“H-how could I dare lie to you? You are the King of this forestI would never dare trick you!”
Su Mingyue felt tears welling up in her eyes. If her earlier fear had been partly feigned, what she felt now was completely genuine.
She remembered clearly: after the male lead Hu Lingze met the heroine, the two brothers fought side by side to avenge their clan and reclaim their place as rulers of the continent. Hu Lingze was the face of their triumph, handling all matters of honor and glory in the light of day.
But every cruel, ruthless, and shadowy act of vengeance was carried out by Hu Lingxuan.
Though he still looked young and even had a trace of baby fat on his face… he was definitely not someone to be crossed.
“Very well. Let’s assume for now you are telling the truth.” Hu Lingxuan changed his claw back into a human hand. Though doubts lingered in his heart, if she really was that little white snake, then he truly did owe her his life.
“I’ll let this go for the time being. In any case, the Great Gathering of All Beasts is only a few days away. The chief of the Snake Clan will come to our territory with his heir. If you really are that little white snake, you will see your own kin then… and that will be a good thing for you.”
Su Mingyue: …
Seeing the way her expression shifted from shock to unease and back again, Hu Lingxuan found it rather amusing.
He reached down and scooped her up in one swift motion. “You’re so tiny, yet heavier than you look. If all snakes in your clan weighed this much, they’d be considered dangerously overweight. No wonder you can’t shift backyou must be too fat to manage it.”
Su Mingyue: !!!
When Hu Lingxuan carried her back to the central palace, they could hear servants whispering from a distance.
“Miss Bai spent the whole day searching for the Fourth Young Lady and still couldn’t find her. I heard she even twisted her ankle… Now Her Majesty is applying medicine to it.”
“Her Majesty may be fond of that Fourth Young Lady, but she’s not truly one of us. If she’s gone, she’s gone. Miss Bai is far more favored in the end.”
“That’s right. The Chief hasn’t said a word about it anyway… Our people are very particular about blood and kin. Even if she happened to help us once, it was nothing but luck. She’s not a Tiger after all…”
Su Mingyue felt Hu Lingxuan’s arm around her waist tighten just a little.
She rested her head against his shoulder and pretended to have fallen asleep. But just then, a cold voice whispered right next to her ear: “If you dare drool all over my clothes, I’ll skin your snake hide, pluck out your gallbladder, and roast it for a snack!”
Gulp!
Su Mingyue immediately sucked her saliva back in!
“Auntie, I am so terribly sorry… I lost the little one who saved our clan. I know I shouldn’t have come back, but I was afraid you would worry, so I rushed here to tell you first before going out to search again… Night is falling, and the deeper parts of the Beast Continent are full of dangerous beasts… I must go and look for her some more…”
Bai Xichen spoke with a trembling voice, rising as if to leave.
Hu Zhiyue did not stop her. Instead, she turned and said calmly, “You speak the truthyou have indeed let me down. I publicly welcomed Little Four as my fourth child before the whole clan, and you allowed her to vanish under your watch. Xichen, you have lived in this palace for many years, and I have treated you as one of my own. But you are not truly my child.”
Bai Xichen froze. Only moments ago, her aunt had been so gentle while tending to her injurywhy had her tone changed so sharply the moment the servants left?
She was still trying to adjust and find something to say, but Hu Zhiyue gave her no chance.
“I did not scold you in front of others to spare your dignity. But it is your responsibility that she went missing while in your care. Your parents have served our clan faithfully, so I shall overlook this matter for their sake. But starting tomorrow, you will move out of the central palace. Do not return until Little Four is found safe and sound.”
Hu Zhiyue was truly angry. As Queen of the Tiger Clan, she rarely lost her temper anymore, but this time her patience had run out.
Though Little Four was not her own flesh and blood, she had grown deeply fond of the child in just one night. And given how her arrival had helped the clan avoid a disaster they had not seen in a hundred years, Hu Zhiyue believed this little one was a blessing sent by the heavens.
She had already decided to cherish and protect her as her own. She had trusted Bai Xichen enough to let her take the child outand in just half a day, the girl was gone.
The moment she learned the news, she had sent Hu Lingye and Hu Lingze with their men to search. As long as Little Four was still within their territory, she was confident her sons would find her.
But if they could not… then Bai Xichen would never be welcome here again.
“Auntie… I…”
“I may have called your mother my sister in the past, but that was long ago. Now, Miss Baigo back and wait. See if news of Little Four reaches you.”
The unspoken message was clear: if no news came, there would be no need for her to return at all.
Standing just outside the door, Hu Lingxuan gave the little bundle in his arms a firm pat on the rear. “Well, looks like Mother is truly furious.”
Su Mingyue rubbed her bottom, eyes wide and indignant. “What nonsense are you talking about? That wasn’t anger!”
Hu Lingxuan: “?”
“That was… wise judgment, commanding dignity, swift resolve, and a noble, majestic bearing! She is simply…”
“Speak plainly, not in flowery words…”
“…Having a mother figure is the best feeling in the world!”