After Giving Birth, All My Beast Ex-Husbands Suddenly Want Me Back

Chapter 174: Hide and seek

This extra Chapter is for Otaku_13! Thank you for your support <3

When they arrived at the stone house, Drago found it completely deserted.

"Not a single beastman in sight?" His expression darkened. "Are you sure you didn’t get the wrong place?"

"No," Lina said quickly, a hint of calculation in her tone. "They probably left suddenly. Why don’t we chase after them?"

She tilted her head slightly, as if making a casual suggestion.

"They can’t have gone far yet. And since we can fly, we’ll definitely be faster than them."

From what her mates had told her, that group consisted of both flying and land-based beastmen. The ones on land would be traveling on foot—and with a female and children in tow, they couldn’t possibly move very fast.

If they set off now, they might still catch up.

Drago had already taken an interest in recruiting them. With his help, her chances would increase significantly.

"Search the stone house," he ordered.

Several subordinates immediately went inside to investigate.

"City Lord, the scent inside has faded quite a bit. They likely left yesterday."

"There are traces of many different races—dragon clan, phoenix clan, spirit cat clan..."

They reported their findings one by one.

Drago stroked his chin thoughtfully.

So many different races gathered together... Why would they all be in such a small, insignificant tribe? Was there something unusual about them?

He couldn’t piece it together for now—but his curiosity was piqued.

With that many individuals, tracking them wouldn’t be difficult.

"Let’s go after them," he decided.

And so, he led Lina and the others in pursuit of Nina’s group.

Meanwhile, Peppy waited for quite some time, expecting news from Lina.

When none came, she grew impatient and went to find her.

Only to discover that Lina and her party had already left.

Rage flared instantly in her chest.

She cursed Lina viciously under her breath before, with no other choice, returning to her own stone house.

***

Nina and her group traveled for another full day.

By dusk, they found a large cave and settled in for the night.

Ridan and the others got a fire going and began preparing dinner, while Sal lingered close to Nina, clinging to her with barely concealed affection.

The little ones played nearby, their laughter echoing lightly through the cave.

Before long, their game shifted into hide-and-seek.

They all remembered Nina’s rule:

They could only play within the area guarded by Viann and the others.

Ming and the other "grandfathers," along with Rosen, crouched beside a basin of water, keeping Mimi company as she splashed happily.

This round, Didi was the seeker.

The other little ones scattered in all directions to hide.

Yinny darted toward a hollow tree and squeezed inside, holding his breath.

Linny and Momo preferred higher hiding spots—but they had agreed not to go too high. So they settled for low branches and dense shrubs.

This time, however, Momo spotted something unusual—a dark mushroom growing near the ground.

With a flick of his small body, he coiled himself beneath it, tucking himself neatly out of sight.

Didi will never find me here, he thought smugly.

Shushu ran about in small, hurried circles, unable to decide where to hide.

His bright eyes darted around—then suddenly lit up.

A small hole in the ground.

With a quick glance around, he scrambled inside, wriggling deep into the hollow. Then, using his little paws, he pushed loose dirt over the entrance, sealing himself in.

Now Didi will definitely never find me.

A pleased little grin spread across his face in the darkness.

I’m going to win the candy for sure.

To make sure Didi wouldn’t find him, Shushu instinctively activated his ability the moment the game began.

Once Didi finished counting, he set off to search for his brothers.

He quickly picked up Yinny’s scent and decided to find him first. Though he initially followed the wrong direction twice—confused by lingering traces from earlier—he soon located Yinny tucked inside a tree hollow.

Yinny puffed out his cheeks in mild frustration but obediently followed along to help search for the others.

I’m terrible at this game... he thought. Unlike them, I leave a scent too easily.

Before long, Didi discovered Linny as well—hidden beneath a thick cluster of leaves, completely buried from sight.

He knew Linny and Momo loved hiding in bushes, so he had focused his search on those spots.

They often played near the yard, and those same hiding places had become familiar.

But this time, no matter how hard he searched, Didi couldn’t find Momo or Shushu.

He circled the area again and again, growing more confused.

Where did they go?

The sky gradually dimmed.

Still, nothing.

Even with Yinny and Linny helping, they couldn’t find them.

Meanwhile, Momo remained coiled beneath the black mushroom, watching as his brothers passed by again and again without noticing him.

He nearly burst with laughter.

They can’t find me at all. I’m definitely going to win!

As for Shushu—curled up inside his little burrow, he grew bored.

And before long... he fell asleep.

At last, unable to find them, Didi reluctantly gave up.

Running through the clearing, he called out loudly,

"Come out, everyone! I give up!"

Hearing this, Momo immediately darted out from beneath the mushroom.

Didi stared at him in shock.

"Momo, you hid so well!"

Together, they began searching for Shushu.

But no matter how long they looked, there was no sign of him.

Even when Nina called them in for dinner, Shushu was nowhere to be seen.

Didi’s heart began to race.

Where did Shushu go?

Why isn’t he coming out even after I surrendered?

He knew that if Shushu had heard him, he would’ve come out.

The fact that he didn’t made Didi’s chest tighten with fear.

Yinny tried to reassure him.

"Don’t worry, Didi. Let’s go find Mom. She’ll definitely be able to find him."

Didi nodded quickly and rushed off.

He ran straight to Nina, his voice trembling. "Mom, we were playing hide-and-seek... but we can’t find Shushu."

"It’s alright," Nina said gently. "Let me see where he is."

She opened the system map, but the moment her eyes landed on it, her brows knit tightly.

Shushu’s marker... was gone.

"How is this possible?" Her heart skipped.

The locator she had designed for the children was tailored to their beast forms—secure, durable, nearly impossible to remove or destroy.

Even if it was damaged, the system should immediately detect it and retrieve the location.

There was no reason for the signal to simply vanish.

She quickly asked, "Little Bun, why has Shushu’s signal disappeared?"

Little Bun immediately ran a scan.

[Host, the system shows that Shushu’s locator signal has been blocked.]

"Blocked?" Nina’s frustration spiked. "Your signal can be interfered with?"

Her voice tightened.

"Can we still find him now?"

[Not for now. Under normal circumstances, the signal shouldn’t be blockable. It’s likely that Shushu encountered some kind of special energy that’s interfering with reception. This is an oversight on our part—I’ll report it to the main system immediately.]

Little Bun sounded apologetic.

[The probability of this happening is extremely low, but we’ll make improvements right away.]

Nina let out a quiet breath.

If even Little Bun couldn’t locate him, then she would have to rely on herself.

She immediately instructed Odian and the others to begin a full ground search.

Night fell quickly.

They searched everywhere—turning over every possible hiding place—but found nothing.

What confused them most was this:

Shushu’s scent was still nearby.

He hadn’t gone far.

And yet... they simply couldn’t find him.

"How is this possible?" Nina’s voice trembled slightly. "How could Shushu just disappear?"

Panic tightened around her chest.

Fear crept in—what if he was truly lost?

Guilt followed close behind.

She should have been watching them.

Didi and the others stood frozen, their eyes brimming with tears.

They had lost their little brother.

From now on... they would never play hide-and-seek again.

Seeing their fear, Nina quickly pulled them into her arms.

"It’s alright," she said softly, holding them close. "Shushu is just very good at hiding. If we search more carefully, we’ll find him soon."

She knew she couldn’t panic.

If she lost her composure, the children would only become more frightened.

The little ones looked up at her.

Really?

Nina nodded gently.

"Mom’s right," Mimi suddenly chimed in.

"You forgot? Shushu is the best at hide-and-seek. Even when we were still in Mom’s belly, he could hide us all the time."

"This time, he must’ve hidden himself the same way."

Nina froze for a moment, startled.

So that was why Little Bun hadn’t been able to detect him before?

Was it... Shushu’s doing?

Did he truly have such a unique ability?

Mimi’s words brought her a fragile thread of comfort.

Maybe Shushu really had used some special power again—something that blocked the locator signal.

Didi and the others nodded as well, their fear easing just a little.

Shushu is the best at hiding...

Dinner had long gone cold.

But no one had the appetite to eat.

All they wanted... was to find Shushu.

The night deepened.

Still, there was no sign of him.

The children’s spirits sank once more.

Nina held them close, soothing them over and over until, one by one, they succumbed to exhaustion and fell asleep in her arms.

Meanwhile—

Shushu slept soundly in his hidden burrow, completely unaware that the outside world had been thrown into chaos searching for him.