Shen Yue watched this scene, took a deep breath, and decided it was time to show her authority.
She walked up to the group of little cubs.
"Whoever wants to fight, come on, go fight the Ancient Bear Father!"
The little ones immediately looked at the tall and imposing Si Muye standing there and timidly fell silent.
Si Muye: "..."
’I can’t shake the feeling that Shen Yue is using me to intimidate these newly hatched cubs.’
When Shen Yue saw they had quieted down, she thought it was a pretty good move.
She looked at the Little White Tiger and the little fox and said:
"You two insist on arguing about who’s the older brother and who’s the younger brother. Fine, let’s settle it with rock-paper-scissors!"
Mu Silin: "..."
’What a... great idea.’
How were two fluffy cubs who hadn’t even transformed yet supposed to play rock-paper-scissors without any hands?
The Little White Tiger and the little fox on the ground looked down at their paws, their expressions completely bewildered.
"But female mother, we have paws, not little hands..."
"Yeah, we can’t use little hands."
This was exactly what Shen Yue had been waiting for.
"Then transform! Whoever can transform can naturally make a fist for rock and a sign for scissors. The one who can’t transform loses and has to be the younger brother."
Being able to transform right after hatching was a sign of powerful spiritual power, making one more suitable to be the older brother. After all, when it truly mattered, the older brother should be able to protect the younger one.
After all, in this Beast World of survival of the fittest, might makes right.
This was true not just in the Beast World, but in any world: those with greater power naturally shouldered greater responsibilities.
Hearing this, the two little ones glanced at each other and immediately mustered all their strength to transform.
The little fox strained for a long while. His dark cyan pupils were turning red from the effort, but he still didn’t succeed.
The Little White Tiger watched, then copied him, holding his breath and concentrating his spiritual power.
’POOF!’
A chubby, milky-white toddler instantly appeared, sitting bare-butted on the ground.
A pair of fluffy little tiger ears twitched. He blinked his large, translucent amber eyes, which were full of life and spirit. He was simply gorgeous.
Shen Yue’s eyes lit up.
Beside her, Si Muye stared at the little tiger in astonishment. ’A Yue’s litter is simply heaven-defying! For two of them to be able to transform right after hatching is just astounding!’
The little tiger sat on the ground, clapping his little hands excitedly.
"Yay, I won! I’m Wubao! I’m the older brother!"
The little fox next to him immediately sat down, displeased. His fox ears drooped, and his tail curled up.
"Fine, you’re the older brother. I’ll be the younger brother. This baby won’t argue with you! Hmph!"
Shen Yue felt that although the little fox was argumentative, he was a good sport who knew when to accept a loss.
Unlike other children who would immediately sit on the ground, crying and throwing a tantrum after losing.
Moreover, his graceful and dignified manner in defeat truly impressed her. It seemed to be an innate, noble aura.
Her expression changed, and she smiled sweetly at the two little ones.
"Alright, now that we’ve determined the winner and loser, come here. Let your female mother give Wubao and Liu Bao a hug!"
When the two little ones heard this, their anger instantly dissipated.
They happily ran up to her.
Shen Yue hugged one with each arm, patting the little tiger’s plump, fair bottom, then ruffling the little fox’s head.
"Okay, so it’s settled. Now that your female mother has hugged you, you two have to make up, okay? No more arguing or fighting. Wubao, since you succeeded in becoming the older brother, you have to protect your younger brother, understand?"
Although Wubao’s little face was full of pride and his amber eyes shone with a tiger’s might, he still tilted his little chin up and nodded.
"Wubao understands. Wubao is the big brother now. A good big brother doesn’t squabble with his little brother! I’ll protect the little fox."
Hearing this, the little fox’s eyes narrowed into slits as he enjoyed Shen Yue’s caress. He said haughtily,
"Liu Bao will be obedient too. I won’t argue with him!"
A warmth spread through Shen Yue’s heart. Although she suddenly had so many children they were underfoot everywhere, her heart was filled with joy. The feeling was indescribable—a mix of deep emotion and pure happiness.
And though these little ones each had their own personalities, they were all well-behaved. As long as she guided and disciplined them, they would surely grow up to shine brightly in their own ways.
Just then, Dabao and Er Bao wrapped their arms around her, hugging her tightly and snuggling close.
"Female mother, Dabao will be good too! I’ll protect all my younger brothers in the future!"
"Er Bao too."
The Little Blood Wolf had been sitting off to the side, proud and aloof. Though his dark golden pupils seemed wild and rebellious, his eyes still betrayed a child’s longing for his mother.
He turned his head, starting to feel wronged.
’Female mother is playing favorites. She hasn’t hugged me even once since I hatched...’
’And if I don’t say anything, she won’t take the initiative to hug me.’
Shen Yue noticed his mixed expression of rebelliousness and grievance and chuckled inwardly.
"Si Bao, come here quickly. Your female mother almost forgot, I haven’t even hugged Si Bao since he hatched. Come on, I’ll make up for it now with a nice, long hug."
The little one’s eyes immediately misted over.
’Hmph. She finally remembered me.’
’So unfair.’
His heart was unwilling, but his feet were willing as he walked over. Shen Yue scooped him into her arms and took a big sniff of his fluffy little body.
"Ooh~ Our Si Bao isn’t just brightly and beautifully colored, he smells so good too! Your female mother likes it so much~"
Hearing this, the Little Blood Wolf instantly narrowed his dark golden eyes in triumph. ’So now she knows I smell good. Hmph, what took her so long?’
He joyfully leaned against Shen Yue’s chest and sniffed.
’Wow! So this is how good female mother smells.’
’No wonder these stinky treasures all love being hugged by female mother.’
’From now on, I’m going to make female mother hug me every day. Hmph, I won’t let them have her.’
Shen Yue felt Si Bao nuzzle against her, his usually rebellious eyes squinting in pleasure, and she couldn’t help but want to laugh.
"Come on, Dabao, Er Bao, Wubao, Liu Bao, you guys smell him too. Doesn’t Si Bao smell really nice?"
The little ones immediately leaned in to sniff. Dabao was very cooperative:
"Whoa!! Si Bao smells sooo good!"
Er Bao: "He does. Si Bao smells nice. But... Er Bao smells nice too."
The little tiger, Wubao: "He smells a little nice, I guess. Wubao smells nicer."
The little fox, Liu Bao: "Not as nice as me."
Shen Yue: "..."
’Alright, alright, alright. Just like that, the little ones’ personalities are more or less all revealed.’
She looked at the Little Flood Dragon, who had been standing off to the side like a block of ice from the very beginning. Although his dark red, vertical pupils glanced at her from time to time, he showed no sign of approaching, his demeanor as cold as frost.
Her heart ached for him. She couldn’t help but be curious about this Little Flood Dragon’s father—just what kind of biological father would produce such a cold baby?
She felt a pang of sympathy for him. The little guy had transformed immediately after hatching, worried he might scare her. He had maintained his human form for this long without ever changing back to his true form.
Logically speaking, even for the most powerful bloodline, transforming right after hatching was already a heaven-defying feat. But a child was still a child. How could his spiritual power possibly last for so long? Even Wubao the Little White Tiger had already reverted to his true form.
But the Little Flood Dragon was forcing himself to maintain his human form, which was extremely draining on both his spiritual power and stamina.
Seeing this, she reached out her hand.
"Sanbao, come here. Your female mother wants to hug the soft and squishy Sanbao too."