I Transmigrated as a Villainess to Raise Babies, and My Beast Husbands Are Fighting Madly Over Me!

Chapter 267: Let the Father Worry

When Qiao Xixi and the others returned to the inner city, the sight of the crumbling walls and ruins made her head throb.

The shattered wooden doors and stone walls were a stark reminder of how fierce the previous battle had been.

DING!

"Time-limited mission: The host must lead the cubs to rebuild the tribe within three months, developing it to its former scale. Mission difficulty: 5 stars."

The corner of Qiao Xixi’s eye twitched. "There are still missions now?"

"Host, I nearly crashed after being attacked earlier. I was forcefully repaired into a cub-raising system. This mission still has to be done. You also haven’t completed the previous mission to level up the cubs, so you should hurry up with that too."

Qiao Xixi didn’t mind doing missions. After all, completing them earned her points she could use to redeem items from the shop.

’Three months. I’ll have to hurry.’

They walked into the inner city. Dark red bloodstains still marked the walls and the ground, creating a rather gruesome sight.

Worried that Qiao Xixi would be distressed, Jin Ling quickened his pace. He went ahead to clear the area, and after confirming there was no danger, he found an undamaged stone house for them to rest in.

Looking at the tribe he had lived in since he was a child now in this state, Sangqi felt an indescribable ache in his heart.

"Xixi, there’s no way just the few of us are enough to repair the tribe. I’ll go see if there are any other beastmen in the tribe who can help."

Qiao Xixi nodded. "Okay."

Qiao Xixi was actually already a little tired, but seeing the state of the inner city, she couldn’t bring herself to sit still.

"Do you all want to rest?"

The cubs had slept for part of the journey, so they weren’t sleepy now.

"Mother, we’re not tired. We can help."

"Alright, then let’s move the debris into the back courtyard for now."

"Okay."

Hearing the commotion, Jin Ling walked back over. "Xixi, you can leave things here to us."

Qiao Xixi shook her head. "The tribe is so large. How long would it take just the few of you? Don’t worry, I won’t overwork myself."

Jin Ling figured she wouldn’t be able to sit still anyway, so he didn’t try to stop her.

The great battle had caused the most severe damage to the stone walls and the wooden furniture inside the houses. Fortunately, they didn’t have many material possessions to begin with, so the losses weren’t that great. It would just take some time to repair everything.

The cubs were all helping out enthusiastically. Even the little tiger cub, seeing her older siblings working, thought they were playing. Tucking her dragon horns into her chest, she crawled over on all fours, wanting to join the fun.

The fallen stones were sharp, and Qiao Xixi quickly scooped her up.

"An’an, you’re still too little to play over there. Where are your dragon horns? How about we play with your dragon horns instead?"

But the little tiger cub wouldn’t miss out on the excitement for anything. She squirmed in her arms, trying to get down.

Seeing Qiao Xixi’s predicament, Mo Yan mustered his courage, walked over, and said softly, "An’an, how about I play with you?"

The moment the little tiger cub saw Mo Yan, she happily reached her hands out to him.

Qiao Xixi, however, hesitated.

’Host, just trust the male protagonist this once. I can see he has a special connection with the tiger cub. If you let them become like family, will he still have the heart to be your enemy in the future?’

Qiao Xixi had to admit she was still wary of Mo Yan, but An’an seemed to have liked him from the very beginning.

"Auntie, if... if you don’t trust me, I can give you my dragon scale. This scale is very important to me. If I lose it, I will die."

Mo Yan moved as if to pull out the dragon scale over his heart, but a hand stopped him.

He looked up at Qiao Xixi in astonishment.

"There’s no need. I’ll trust you this once."

The shocked expression on Mo Yan’s little face slowly transformed into delight. He carefully reached out and took the little tiger cub in his arms. When he caught the milky scent on her, his eyes crinkled into a smile.

Jin Ling came out carrying a large, cracked stone. When he saw his cub playing happily with Mo Yan, his expression darkened. He dropped the stone and was about to go over, but Sunxiao held him back.

"Xixi must have her reasons for letting him stay. Rather than being constantly on guard, why not test him?"

Jin Ling’s brow furrowed even deeper. "An’an is still so little. You want to use her to test him?"

Sunxiao gave Mo Yan a cold, stern glance. "He won’t hurt An’an."

In truth, Jin Ling was also aware of Mo Yan’s situation. But she was his cub, after all. As her father, it was impossible for him to be completely at ease.

"There’s plenty of rubble over there. Let’s go," Sunxiao said faintly.

Jin Ling didn’t respond. He walked briskly to a spot near Mo Yan and the little tiger cub. He appeared to be clearing debris, but in reality, his tiger-like eyes were almost entirely fixed on the cub. If Mo Yan dared to make a single wrong move, he would tear him to shreds!

Qiao Xixi was actually watching from the side as well. She was a little puzzled when she saw Jin Ling walk over, but when she saw his on-high-alert expression, she stopped staring. ’I’ll just let her doting father worry about it.’

Qiao Xixi and the cubs first cleaned up the kitchen. For a large family like theirs, meals were a major issue; they couldn’t do without a kitchen.

After it was clean, Qiao Xixi looked at the sky.

"I’m going to start cooking. You all go help your father."

"I want to stay and help Mother."

"Me too."

"Alright. Xiya and Qiaoqiao can stay. Sangqi, you take your younger brothers upstairs to help."

"Okay."

Qiao Xixi took out the Wild Bull Beast meat from her dimensional space. Everyone was tired today, so she didn’t plan on roasting it. Instead, she would use red fruits to make a large pot of stewed Wild Bull Beast.

Qiao Qiao sat on a small wooden stool, helping to tend the fire, while Xiya helped cut the meat.

Once the pot was hot, she added some fat. When all the fat had rendered, she poured in the sliced red fruits.

"Mother, the meat is all cut."

"Great, I’ll take it from here."

Qiao Xixi poured the meat from the wooden basin into the pot. The aroma of the Wild Bull Beast meat mixed with the sautéed red fruits carried a sweet, tangy, and refreshing scent. Just smelling it was enough to make one’s mouth water.

Once the meat was seared and had changed color, Qiao Xixi took out some Spiritual Spring water from her dimensional space and added it to the pot. Then, she put the lid on and simply had to wait for it to stew.

The sky gradually darkened. Sunxiao and the others had cleared the large stones from their previous stone house and the corridors, moving them into the courtyard. Later, when Sangze had free time during the night, they would have him move all the stones outside.

Just as they were having dinner, Sangze returned.

Sangqi made room for his father and got him a bowl and chopsticks.

"Father, what’s the situation in the tribe now?"

Sangze’s mood was even lower than when he had left, but meeting everyone’s gazes, he still said, "All the able-bodied adult males in the tribe have already left. All that’s left now are a very small number of elderly males and some weak cubs."

Hearing this, Qiao Xixi frowned. "How are they doing now?"

Sangze shook his head. "Not well at all. Due to the lack of food, several cubs and elderly beastmen have already starved to death in their stone houses."

His words cast an exceptionally heavy silence over the meal.

With the able-bodied males gone, the old, weak, and infirm had no ability to hunt. They could only wait for death.

Sunxiao set down his bowl and chopsticks and stood up.