Chapter 87 System!

The enormous bird froze, her feathers trembling with anger. She wanted to attack him, but her instincts warned her that doing so would only make matters worse. Yet how could she leave without her egg? She had guarded that precious child for so long! If those little wolves broke the shell or cooked it over a fire, she would have no one left to blame! But there were other eggs in the nest that she had to protect...

At that moment, a familiar childish voice rang out from the bushes.

"Brother!"

Little Ancestor came stumbling into the clearing with the smooth white egg clutched tightly against his chest. His little face was red from running, and tears were still hanging from his eyelashes. Behind him, A-Hui, Tie Tou, Xiao Feng, and Mu Dou scrambled through the ferns, their tiny bodies covered in dirt and leaves.

"Brother, where is Xue Yao?!" Little Ancestor cried as he rushed forward, only to stop abruptly when he saw the blood covering her body. His eyes widened, and his voice became much smaller. "Xue Yao...?"

The four pups gathered behind him, staring at the unconscious Xue Yao in disbelief. Mu Dou’s round face crumpled almost immediately, and he burst into tears. "Sister Xue Yao! Ahhhh! I told her not to fight the big bird! I told her we should run together!"

Tie Tou wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, trying to sound brave despite the trembling in his voice. "She told us to leave. She said we were getting in her way, but... but she only said that because she wanted us to escape."

Xiao Feng lowered his head, his ears drooping miserably. "She could have run away by herself. She had that talisman, but she stayed because of us."

A-Hui said nothing. He simply stared at the blood on Xue Yao’s clothes, his little fists clenched tightly at his sides.

Lie Lang looked at the five children, and his expression slowly changed. "What do you mean she could have escaped?"

Little Ancestor sniffled and hugged the egg tighter. "She had a talisman that could take her far away, but she didn’t use it because we were still there. The big bird wanted this egg, and Xue Yao told me to carry it while she distracted her. She kept fighting even though she knew she couldn’t win." His voice broke as he looked at the unconscious girl. "Brother, she saved us. If she hadn’t stayed behind, we would all be dead."

Lie Lang fell silent.

He had always known that the human was strange. She was greedy, shameless, lazy, and capable of turning the smallest opportunity into a ridiculous scheme. She complained about everything, especially him, and seemed to care more about food than cultivation. Yet the same woman had chosen to face a peak Spirit King beast rather than abandon five wolf children who were not even her responsibility.

Why?

Wasn’t she always trying to escape from the clan? Wasn’t she constantly saying that she wanted nothing to do with their affairs? Then why would she risk her life for his little brother? Lie Lang looked down at Xue Yao again, and the questions in his heart only grew heavier.

The mother bird, meanwhile, had completely lost interest in the touching family scene. Her eyes were fixed on the egg.

Screech!

Little Ancestor jumped in fright as the enormous creature suddenly cried out. He immediately hid behind Han Luo, nearly dropping the egg in the process. "Ah! Brother! She’s looking at me again! I didn’t even do anything!"

Han Luo stared at the white egg in his arms, then at the furious bird, and an unpleasant suspicion formed in his mind. "Little Ancestor... don’t tell me that egg belongs to her?"

Little Ancestor blinked innocently. "Well..."

Han Luo felt his eyelid twitch. "Little Ancestor!"

"What?!" The little wolf puffed out his cheeks indignantly. "Xue Yao found it first! We thought it was abandoned! And besides we only took one, we left the others for her."

The mother bird nearly spat blood. Abandoned?! She had merely gone out to hunt! What kind of shameless little thieves treated an unguarded nest as an invitation to rob it?!

Han Luo rubbed his forehead, suddenly feeling that he had aged several hundred years. "Young Master, do you understand that you’ve stolen the egg of a peak Spirit King mystic bird?"

Little Ancestor looked down at the egg, then at the mother bird, and finally at his unconscious friend. His expression changed, and he slowly stepped out from behind Han Luo. "Then... then she can have it back." He held the egg carefully with both hands, his voice trembling. "I don’t want it anymore. I just want Xue Yao to wake up."

The mother bird immediately became alert.

Lie Lang glanced at his brother before turning toward the injured creature. "Han Luo, take the egg."

Han Luo hesitated. "Alpha?"

"Return it to her." He commanded.

Han Luo carefully accepted the egg from Little Ancestor, then approached the enormous bird with the caution of a man carrying a lit torch into a storehouse full of explosives. "Here," he said, placing the egg on a patch of soft grass. "Your child is unharmed. Take it and leave."

The mother bird stared at him suspiciously before lowering her enormous head to inspect the shell. Only after confirming that her precious egg was intact did she release a long, trembling breath. She carefully nudged it beneath her wing, then raised her head to look at the unconscious human once more.

That human had stolen her egg. She had every reason to hate her.

Yet when she remembered the strange blue rings that had appeared around Xue Yao at the final moment, a trace of uneasiness flashed through her eyes. She had attacked with all her strength, but for those brief moments, something had resisted her beak. It was not ordinary spiritual energy, and it had not felt like any beast-taming technique she knew.

The mother bird lowered her gaze. Perhaps it was better not to provoke that human again.

She spread her damaged wings, gathered her egg beneath one of them, and slowly retreated into the forest. Before disappearing among the trees, she turned back once, her gaze lingering on Xue Yao’s motionless figure. Then she was gone.

Han Luo watched her leave and finally released the breath he had been holding. "Thank the heavens. If another fight had broken out, the entire hunting party might have been dragged into it."

Lie Lang didn’t answer. He was already rising to his feet with Xue Yao in his arms. "Han Luo, send word to the clan. Prepare the healing chamber and summon the best physicians. I want everything ready before we arrive."

"Yes, Alpha!" Han Luo immediately turned toward the hunters and began issuing orders, sending two of them ahead to deliver the message while the others prepared to escort the children back.

Little Ancestor hurried forward and grabbed the edge of Lie Lang’s robe. "Brother, is Xue Yao going to die?"

Lie Lang stopped midway.

The little wolf looked up at him with tear-filled eyes, his voice barely above a whisper. "She promised she would cook something delicious for us when we got back. She said she would make something even better than the chicken..." His lower lip trembled. "She can’t die before keeping her promise, right?"

Lie Lang stared at his little brother for a moment before lowering his gaze to the unconscious woman in his arms. He couldn’t believe she had nearly sacrificed her life to protect the only family he had left.

His grip tightened slightly. "She won’t die," he said.

Little Ancestor sniffled. "Really?"

Lie Lang looked at Xue Yao’s pale face, his expression unreadable. "I won’t allow it."

He pushed off the ground, and his figure disappeared into the forest in a streak of silver light.

Deep within the darkness, Bai Xue Yao felt as though she were floating. There was no pain. No forest. No enormous chicken trying to turn her into human paste. For a brief moment, she thought she had finally escaped the Beast World. ’Hehehe... Did I make it home?’

The thought filled her with such excitement that she immediately tried to open her eyes. She wanted to see her mother’s face, hear her father’s voice, and find out whether Bai Chen had finally stopped stealing her snacks. She would even tolerate her brothers’ endless lectures if it meant she could sit at the family dining table again.

But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t move.

’What’s going on? Don’t tell me I’ve become a ghost?!’ Xue Yao panicked, desperately struggling against the invisible force holding her down. ’No, no, no! This grandaunt refuses! I haven’t eaten all the delicacies in the Beast World! I haven’t returned home! I haven’t even beaten that unreasonable silver wolf properly with my beloved drumstick! How can I die now?!’

She struggled harder, but the darkness around her remained unchanged. ’System! System, come out! Your precious host is dying! Isn’t there some emergency rescue package? A beginner’s resurrection gift? A buy-one-get-one-free life-saving pill?!’