Chapter 247: Chapter 247: They All Have 1 Thing in Common

In the inner city of the Divine Leopard Tribe.

Qingli pushed open the door to the room and walked in, carrying a bowl of meat.

Sanggu lay on the bed, looking as if he had lost a great deal of weight. His numb eyes shifted, slowly turning to look at Qingli.

On the day of the great battle between the Divine Leopard Tribe and Tiger Beast City, the beastmen from Tiger Beast City had actually found them. But Jin Wei, disgusted that Sanggu was now a cripple with no use, had simply ignored him.

Jin Wei didn’t know that his actions were more agonizing for Sanggu than death itself.

For so many years, he had strived to make the Divine Leopard Tribe strong and prosperous, hoping to one day become the lord of a city himself. To end up like this... ’He might as well be dead!’

"Old Clan Leader! Old Clan Leader!"

A flurry of hurried footsteps sounded from outside, and the door was pushed open by a Hua Bao male.

"Old Clan Leader, people from Tiger Beast City are here again."

Sanggu sighed weakly. "What are they here for this time?"

"The beastmen from Tiger Beast City are offering excellent terms to recruit powerful beastmen and females from our tribe to go to Tiger Beast City."

"What did you say?!"

Sanggu was so shocked he tried to sit up, but with his beast bones shattered, he only managed to lift his chest slightly before collapsing back onto the bed.

"Old Clan Leader, what do we do? The Divine Leopard Tribe... it’s really over!"

Sanggu’s eyes flew wide. With a PTHOO, he spat out a mouthful of blood. His entire body went limp on the bed, as if his beast soul had been ripped out, with only a single echo remaining in his mind.

’The Divine Leopard Tribe is finished! Finished!’

Beastmen naturally gravitated toward safer places with more abundant resources and vaster territories. It wasn’t that the Divine Leopard Tribe was bad, but compared to Tiger Beast City, it was on a completely different level.

So, upon learning they could go to Tiger Beast City unconditionally—and that those with a high enough beast soul level would even receive Crystal Stones and Salt Crystals—more than half of the beastmen were tempted.

They immediately packed their belongings, ready to set off for Tiger Beast City.

The Hua Bao male carried Sanggu on his back out of the inner city. Watching the departing beastmen, he was grief-stricken.

"It’s them! It’s all their fault! They’re the ones who brought the Divine Leopard Tribe to this!"

Qingli felt a storm of conflicting emotions, but she still gathered everything they could carry. "We should leave this place too."

Sanggu looked at Qingli in shock. Qingli sighed helplessly. "Let’s go."

In just two short days, the Divine Leopard Tribe was nearly empty.

At this moment, several fox males stood outside the Divine Leopard Tribe’s grounds, which were so empty of beastmen it was practically a ghost town. They were too shocked to speak.

"Isn’t the Divine Leopard Tribe supposed to be a large tribe? How can there not be a single beastman around in broad daylight?"

Seeing a beastman walking out from the Divine Leopard Tribe, one of the fox males immediately went forward to stop him.

"Hua Bao warrior, I’d like to ask, why does the Divine Leopard Tribe seem so empty? Where are all the beastmen?"

The Hua Bao male looked them over curiously before replying, "This must be your first time here. A couple of days ago, most of the beastmen in the tribe migrated to Tiger Beast City."

The fox male was stunned. "Why? Did the Divine Leopard Tribe become uninhabitable?"

The Hua Bao male shook his head. "I can’t explain the specific reason, but this is a great opportunity to go to Tiger Beast City. If you want to go, you should hurry."

"Alright."

After the Hua Bao male left, the fox males still walked into the Divine Leopard Tribe.

"A large tribe really is different. It’s much bigger than our tribe. Look at these stone houses, they look so sturdy. It would be great if we could settle down here."

"Yeah, a miasma suddenly appeared back at our tribe, and the Clan Leader said it’s no longer suitable to live there. We originally came looking for the Young Clan Leader, but who knew the Divine Leopard Tribe would end up like this, and the Young Clan Leader is gone too..."

"What do we do now? What are we going to tell the Clan Leader when we go back?"

"One of us will stay here to keep an eye on things. The rest of you, come back to the tribe with me to report to the Clan Leader."

"Mm."

...

Meanwhile, Qiao Xixi, who was at the salt fields, was unaware of what had happened to the Divine Leopard Tribe.

By the time they returned to the wooden cabin in the forest, the sky had already brightened.

Sangze felt incredibly guilty, knowing that his capture had forced Qiao Xixi to come and rescue him.

"Xixi, it’s all my fault. I was captured by that Phoenix Beast male because I’m too weak."

Yesterday, after parting ways with Feiyan, he had indeed been on his way to find Qiao Xixi. But halfway there, he ran into Fenglin. Fenglin was a high-level beastman, and Sangze was no match for him, so he was captured.

Sangze felt terrible. He knew that if it had been nighttime, this never would have happened.

"Sangze, don’t blame yourself. You’re not the one at fault here."

Sangze clenched his fists. Looking at Qiao Xixi’s gentle expression as she comforted him, he secretly made a resolution to raise his beast soul level, no matter what.

’But for some reason, his level just hasn’t increased these past few years. Could it be because of his nighttime self?’

"Mother."

Seeing Qiao Xixi return, the cubs all gathered around her, chattering as they asked how she was.

Qiao Xixi soothed them one by one. "Mother is fine. You don’t need to worry."

Following behind them, the dejected Sangze suddenly felt a small hand take his. "Father, are you okay?"

Sangze looked up and squeezed the cub’s hand back. "Father’s fine. I’m sorry to have worried you."

Sangze crouched down, looked at Sangqi, and suddenly asked, "Sangqi, do you think your father is useless right now? I feel like... I’m really so much weaker than him..."

"Of course not, Father. You’re both different."

Sangqi hugged Sangze and said seriously, "You’re wonderful too, Father. You look for me every day, make me hide clothes, lull me to sleep, and play with me." Then, he leaned in and whispered in Sangze’s ear, "You’re very gentle, Father. He’s fierce."

Sangze froze for a moment. He wasn’t a fool; how could he not see that Sangqi was earnestly trying to comfort him?

He smiled. "I think he’s fierce too. Just like your Father Feiyan says, he’s very... perverted."

"What are you two talking about?" Feiyan leaned in curiously.

Sangqi looked up and said, "Father Feiyan, we’re talking about the difference between Father during the day and at night."

Feiyan’s foxy eyes lit up. "Oh, the difference is huge! But no matter how different they are, they have one thing in common."

The father and son looked at Feiyan curiously and asked in unison, "What’s that?"

Feiyan pointed to his head with a completely serious expression. "This part. They’ve both got problems up here."

Sangze: ...

Sangqi: ...

’Father Feiyan, I don’t think you’re very smart either...’

"Xixi! Xixi?"

Just as they were talking, a tall, slender figure hurried over. As he was about to reach Qiao Xixi, he suddenly tripped on a rock and went stumbling toward her.

Startled, Qiao Xixi instinctively reached out to catch him.

But just as he was about to fall on Qiao Xixi, a tall figure cut in, steadying him with a pair of powerful arms.

Xijing’s body froze. The merman was rooted to the spot.