Jin Ling was quite surprised to see Qiao Xixi walking toward him.
"Can I ask you something? I'll make it worth your while."
Jin Ling came back to his senses. 'She has something to ask me and is offering roasted meat as payment. Reasonable.'
"Go ahead and ask."
"Do you know how long it takes to get to the nearest tribe from here?"
"You have to cross three snowy mountains and a frozen river to reach the Black Stone Tribe."
"And do you know the way?"
Jin Ling frowned. "I do."
'He knows! This makes things much easier!'
Qiao Xixi moved a step closer to him.
Jin Ling looked at her small face, so grimy he could barely make out her original features, and inexplicably recalled her fair, rounded shoulders.
A sharp, unusual pain stabbed at his heart again. Jin Ling leaned back, quickly putting distance between them.
"What are you planning?"
A smile spread across Qiao Xixi's face.
As Jin Ling glanced over, he was momentarily stunned. When she smiled, her eyes shone like stars.
"I want to make a deal with you."
"What?"
"I'll heal your injuries, and you'll escort me and my three children to the Black Stone Tribe."
Jin Ling paused, then started to laugh.
The firelight flickered across his face, making his handsome features even more distinct.
'He's really handsome when he laughs,' Qiao Xixi thought, 'but the sarcasm in his eyes is a bit jarring.'
"What, you don't believe me?"
Jin Ling was indeed mocking her for overestimating herself, but it was mostly a bitter laugh at his own situation.
His heart ailment was incurable. In the past, the tribe's shamanic medicine could suppress it, but lately, the attacks had become more and more frequent.
The shaman had said that when the attacks reached a frequency of once every half a day, his time would be up.
Now, the attacks were already happening once a day.
His end was near.
How could a female Wandering Beast possibly cure him?
"You can't cure me."
"How will you know if you don't try?"
If she had any other choice, Qiao Xixi would never have proposed this deal to Jin Ling.
The risks for her were greater, but she had no choice now. Lost in a vast sea of snow, she had to take this gamble.
"Besides, staying here just means waiting to die. You might as well trust me this once."
Perhaps it was the sheer sincerity in Qiao Xixi's eyes, but Jin Ling found himself nodding as if bewitched.
"Fine."
"Once I've made my preparations, I'll be able to heal you."
Qiao Xixi wasn't foolish enough to take out the medicine directly. She understood the principle that possessing a treasure could invite disaster.
Jin Ling remained noncommittal, but a flicker of hope inexplicably rose in his heart.
After saying her piece, Qiao Xixi got up and returned to her cubs' side to get them to sleep.
When Jin Ling woke up, he could no longer sense Qiao Xixi and her children's presence.
He opened his eyes, his gaze sweeping around the cave. His gilded pupils instantly darkened, and a look of profound self-mockery appeared in their depths.
The cave was now empty. Everything was gone, even his half of the food.
They had left, and they'd taken his prey with them!
He never should have chosen to trust that female Wandering Beast in the first place.
Jin Ling closed his eyes, hiding the gloom within them.
When he learned his heart ailment was incurable, he had already considered his end—it would be nothing more than finding a deserted place to die quietly.
He had long since made peace with it. Yet, when he heard that female say she could heal him last night, he had foolishly held onto hope.
When a male lost his ability to fight, the fate of being abandoned was unchangeable.
He had understood that long ago. Why did he allow himself to harbor such fantasies again?
A dark melancholy enveloped Jin Ling.
"You're awake. The meat is freshly roasted. Hurry and eat."
Jin Ling's eyes flew open, and he stared at Qiao Xixi in shock.
She approached with the light behind her, but it couldn't hide the smile in her eyes. It was as if the Beast God had suddenly descended, leaving him in disbelief.
"You…"
Qiao Xixi was a little puzzled by his reaction.
"What's wrong? Is your wound bothering you? I'm already preparing your medicine. It'll be ready soon, just wait."
Jin Ling's gaze remained fixed on Qiao Xixi.
Qiao Xixi's face flushed. 'Being stared at by such a handsome man is so embarrassing!'
But she quickly remembered the grime on her face and calmed down. Even if females were scarce in this beast world, a five-star beast soul male like him surely wouldn't lack the admiration of beautiful females.
'He couldn't possibly be having any ideas about a face so dirty you can't even see its original features.'
'He probably thought I'd already run off, didn't he?'
The more Qiao Xixi thought about it, the more likely that seemed.
"Don't worry. Since I've promised to heal you, I won't go back on my word."
"I got up early and took the cubs outside to build a snow cave. I want to roast all the meat to make it more convenient for the road. Cooked meat doesn't have a bloody scent, so it's less likely to attract wild beasts. I haven't cooked your share of the meat yet. If you're not okay with it…"
Jin Ling snapped back to reality, a strange warmth surging in his heart and spreading through his entire body.
"I'm okay with it."
"Huh?"
Jin Ling's eyes were locked on her.
"The prey. You can do whatever you want with it."
"Oh, then I'll roast it all together in a bit. You eat first. I'm going to prepare your medicine."
"Okay."
Qiao Xixi put down the meat and turned to leave the cave.
Jin Ling looked at the roasted meat, an unusual light gleaming in his gilded eyes.
Qiao Xixi had indeed built a simple igloo outside the cave first thing in the morning.
The three little ones were inside the igloo, guarding the meat on the roasting rack.
They weren't as afraid of the fire as they were yesterday. The bold Qiao Lie was even able to roast meat himself.
Qiao Xixi crushed some non-poisonous leaves she had gathered that morning with a piece of ice to extract their juice. Then, she took a pill from her space and dissolved it in the liquid.
"You guys watch the meat. Mom will be right back."
Qiao Qiao watched Qiao Xixi enter the cave again, holding the leaves, and blinked her beautiful azure eyes.
"Brother, do you think that stupid female likes that big male? If she has other cubs with him later, does that mean she won't want us anymore?"
Qiao Ang, who was immersed in the aroma of roasting meat, was so angered by Qiao Qiao's words that his little braid practically stood on end.
"Then I'll throw that big male into a snowdrift tonight."
Qiao Lie calmly flipped the roasting meat. "He'll die on his own."
Qiao Qiao and Qiao Ang looked on with blank faces.
"But he's a powerful five-star beast soul. How could he die?"
Qiao Lie placed the cooked meat onto a leaf, his crimson, snake-like pupils holding a maturity that didn't match his age.
"This morning, I smelled the aura of death on him."
When they carried the big male back yesterday, Qiao Lie hadn't smelled the aura of death on him.
But this morning, he suddenly gave off a sour, foul odor. He had smelled this same scent on dying beastmen before, so he concluded that Jin Ling was close to death.
Walking back into the cave, Qiao Xixi had no idea her own cubs were already contemplating where to bury Jin Ling.
She brought the juice with the dissolved medicine over to Jin Ling.
"Here. Drink this and you'll get better."
Jin Ling saw that the juice was thick and could only detect a faint grassy smell. He had no idea what it was.
He drank the juice in one gulp.
The moment the medicine entered his mouth, a cool energy rushed to the crown of his head before spreading through his limbs and torso.
Suddenly, an unbearable, sharp pain stabbed at his heart.
"ARGH!"