novelraw Chapter 134: You Better Tone It Down
Chapter 134: You Better Tone It Down
Feili stopped and turned back, patting him over the heart.
"Use your heart." He patted his face again. "And..."
Feiyan touched his face. "Use my... looks?"
Feili’s face stiffened. ’What on earth have I created?!’
He just wanted him to let go of his pride! He was so damn stubborn, it infuriated Feili just watching him!
’Whatever,’ he thought. ’Let him think what he wants.’
Feiyan touched his face, lost in thought.
In the dead of night, after tucking the cubs into their beds, Qiao Xixi was about to go to sleep herself when her door was suddenly pushed open. Before she could even react, she was swept up and carried into Sunxiao’s room.
Her body sank into the plush animal hide blankets. She didn’t move, simply gazing up at the pair of scarlet eyes above her.
Slender fingertips lifted her chin, and before she could speak, he kissed her.
His cool, refreshing scent instantly enveloped her. Qiao Xixi let out a low moan as he gently pinned her hands.
The kiss began as a dominant assault before softening into a gentle exploration. Their breathing grew ragged.
He pressed against her, his voice a seductive rasp.
"If I don’t agree, will you be angry?"
Qiao Xixi pulled a shred of reason back from the heat of the moment. She knew what Sunxiao was asking. "No."
His scarlet eyes lit up. "Hm?"
"No. I’ll always respect your and Jin Ling’s opinions. Besides, I haven’t even figured it out for myself yet... Mmph..."
He devoured the rest of her words.
Qiao Xixi clung to him, the low moans in her throat driving Sunxiao to the brink of madness. He claimed her again and again, devouring her until he felt a dual sense of satisfaction...
Qiao Xixi fell asleep sprawled on top of him.
Sunxiao held her impossibly pliant body, and the fire that had just been quenched flared up once more.
He held her tightly, giving her a deep kiss to forcibly suppress his desire. Since his own body was cool, he wrapped her snugly in the animal hide blanket before pulling her back into his arms and falling asleep.
Fully sated from the night’s activities, Sunxiao woke before dawn.
He just didn’t expect Jin Ling to be up even earlier. By the time Sunxiao rose, Jin Ling had already returned with an armful of firewood, nearly filling the entire backyard.
The great snake looked at him, seemingly in a good mood. "Didn’t sleep a wink?"
Jin Ling gave him an unreadable glance. "Couldn’t sleep."
Of course, Sunxiao knew why he couldn’t sleep. "You already can’t sleep with just me in the picture. Do you really think you’d be happy with another?"
Jin Ling continued his work, neatly stacking the firewood. "Whether or not we accept Feiyan isn’t up to us. As long as Xixi is willing, I won’t refuse. It has nothing to do with whether I’m happy."
Sunxiao scoffed and walked over to Jin Ling’s side.
The moment he drew near, Jin Ling caught the rich, sweet scent on him. A muscle in Jin Ling’s brow twitched, and his expression darkened.
"Go on, keep pretending. You’re the only one who’s suffering."
Jin Ling’s expression remained unchanged as he looked away and carried the firewood to the back of the yard.
When Qiao Xixi woke up, Sunxiao had already left with the Hunting Team. The cubs were playing in the courtyard, but there was no sign of Jin Ling.
"Qiao Lie, where’s Father Jin Ling?"
Qiao Lie looked up. "Father Jin Ling is in the backyard."
After quickly washing up, Qiao Xixi wrapped herself in a fur cloak and went to the backyard. She found Jin Ling covering a small mountain of firewood with large leaves.
"Jin Ling."
Jin Ling turned at the sound of her voice. Seeing that her nose was red from the cold, he immediately put down what he was doing, walked over, and swept her up into his arms to carry her back to her room.
"It’s getting colder outside. You should stay in the room if you don’t have anything to do."
Qiao Xixi clung to his arm, refusing to let go. "But I still have to take the Clan Leader and the others to dig for the Red Heart Fruit outside the tribe’s territory."
"Do you have to go?"
Qiao Xixi pointed to the cubs in the courtyard. "The cubs have to go."
"Is this a system quest, too?"
Qiao Xixi nodded.
"Mhm."
Jin Ling had no choice but to agree. He turned to get Qiao Xixi some breakfast, but she stopped him.
"Jin Ling."
Jin Ling looked back, confused. "What’s wrong?"
Qiao Xixi wrapped her arms around his neck and gazed up at him with wide, innocent eyes, making his throat tighten.
"Xixi, don’t look at me like that. I’m afraid I’ll lose control."
But Qiao Xixi didn’t let go. She leaned in and whispered in his ear, "If you can’t control yourself, then why try?"
Jin Ling felt every muscle in his body tense up. He held her close, burying his face in the crook of her neck for a long moment to compose himself before finally lifting his head.
"Didn’t you have enough with Sunxiao last night? I’m worried you’ll be too tired."
Strangely enough, despite how long she and Sunxiao had been at it last night, she felt fine when she woke up this morning, aside from a slight ache in certain places.
"Host, that is because you absorbed the energy from Sunxiao’s beast soul, which reactivated your body’s core essence."
Surprised, Qiao Xixi entered her personal space and discovered that nearly half of the formerly barren land had been activated.
’You mean, the more my body’s core essence is activated, the stronger my self-healing abilities will become?’
"That’s right, Host. Once your body’s core essence is fully activated, your self-healing ability will be even stronger than that of the males."
Qiao Xixi was actually starting to look forward to it.
’Does that mean she could just tumble around in the sheets with her beastmen husbands and go crazy activating her core essence?’
"Ahem, Host. The effect from a single energy source is bound to diminish over time."
Qiao Xixi didn’t quite agree. ’Diminished effects aren’t the same as no effect at all,’ she thought.
"Er... well, you’re not wrong to think that way. I guess you can try it and see next time."
That’s what Qiao Xixi was thinking, too. But it was broad daylight, so it was best to take care of important business first.
Qiao Xixi hugged Jin Ling and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "Tonight, you just wait and see how I punish you! Hmph!"
Jin Ling’s eyes darkened slightly. He helped her change into a warmer, more form-fitting fur tunic, and only then did they leave the stone house together.
Qiao Xixi had just finished breakfast when Feiyan arrived.
After his confession the day before, Qiao Xixi still felt a little awkward.
Feiyan, on the other hand, had become much more open. His gaze was now so direct and searing that the cubs had to cover their mouths to hide their giggles. Even with her thick skin, Qiao Xixi couldn’t help but feel embarrassed under the teasing gazes of Gu Man and the others.
She walked up to Feiyan and whispered, "You need to tone it down a bit."
Seeing her approach him willingly, Feiyan’s eyes crinkled at the corners. "Tone it down? But I can’t help looking at you."
Qiao Xixi shot him a playful glare before turning and walking to the front of the group.
In truth, the Red Heart Fruit grew not far from the tribe’s territory. The reason such a large patch had gone untouched was simply that the beastmen didn’t particularly like eating it and never bothered to gather it.
Plus, Red Heart Fruit grew quickly and was highly productive. The amount they could dig up would form a small mountain.
To speed up the process of digging up the Red Heart Fruit, Feiyan had Qiao Xixi give him all the locations at once so he could send out more people to harvest them.
After asking Jin Ling to watch the cubs, Qiao Xixi headed to the next location with Feiyan.
"This next patch is a little farther, but we just have to cross that small hill up ahead."
Walking in the lead, Qiao Xixi didn’t notice a pair of cold, sinister eyes in the woods, staring intently at them.