He stayed in the castle for another week to observe her closely, and only moved out after confirming everything was fine.
...
An Jin woke to the morning glow the next day. The warm, golden sunlight shone gently on her pale, weak face. Ugh, a bit bright. She weakly raised an arm to shield her half-lidded eyes.
"Jin’er..." Hearing the movent, Mi Yin’s low voice called out from beside her.
She tilted her head and looked over.
"..." She tried to open her chapped, pale lips, but her hoarse throat could only manage a few syllables.
As if reading her mind, Ling Hong quickly poured her so warm water, brought it to her lips, and helped her drink.
An Jin felt like a dying fish revived by a long-awaited downpour. She was finally alive again. "Ah, that was horrible..." Her voice was still hoarse. She shifted her body and found it a bit sore, but the worst part was having no strength.
"Where are the cubs?"
She looked from side to side, her expression a mixture of a new mother’s joy and helplessness.
"Right here~" Xi happily held them out for her to see.
The three little ones weren’t as ugly as they were last night. Their once-red, thin skin had beco much paler and smoother, not as wrinkled as before. It even seed like they had grown a light layer of snow-white fuzz.
A strange feeling welled up in her heart. She pulled the swaddled bundles into her arms and couldn’t resist stroking them.
"Are these... little wolf cubs?"
Ling Hong nodded, his joy and pride unconcealed, but then he shook his head uncertainly. "They should be, but... maybe... they aren’t?"
He looked conflicted.
An Jin was amused by his strange wording, but after taking a closer look at the three cubs, she finally noticed their differences.
One was probably a little wolf cub. Its round, lake-green eyes stared at her curiously. In the middle of its head was a faint... hmm, a lightning-bolt-shaped mark? It was hard to see clearly, but it also resembled a wolf totem.
"Awoo~" The little lightning-bolt wolf cub snuggled affectionately into her embrace, its short legs kicking shakily.
’I like Mommy’s scent and warmth.’ It instinctively wanted to get closer.
But having just been born, it had no strength at all and nearly fell. Luckily, the very tip of its tiny claw managed to hook onto her clothes.
An Jin quickly used her arm to nudge it back up.
Mi Yin watched with a blank expression, his snake tail tightening slightly. The complexity of his emotions was beyond words.
The second one also seed to be a small wolf. It had her eyes—a deep amber color, with corners that tilted slightly upward, making it look very lively and clever.
It had no mark between its brows, but on its back were two short, fleshy little wings. The fuzz hadn’t grown in yet, making them look pink and cute.
Right then, the second-born was struggling to kick the eldest off so it could have two spots all to itself.
An Jin couldn’t help but laugh as she soothed the two little ones. "I can’t believe they’re so lively just a day after being born..."
"If they were ordinary cubs, they probably wouldn’t even have their eyes open yet," Ling Hong said proudly.
Both wolf cubs were quite a handful, just like he was as a child. Ling Hong took the two little wolves out of An Jin’s arms.
"Huh, this little one is so quiet. Is it hungry?" An Jin stroked the last little cub.
This little cub’s features... didn’t seem to be wolf-like. An Jin was inexplicably reminded of Chi Li’s small beast form; she felt there was a strange similarity between the two.
The third-born was also tiny, covered in snow-white fuzz, with a pair of pinkish wings on its back. It was also much smaller and thinner than the first two.
Its round, sowhat timid beast eyes were a shimring, mysterious shade of pale purple.
An Jin let out a soft "Huh?" ’Those eyes... why do they look so familiar?’
They actually reminded her of the completely unrelated Ze Sheng.
Of course, she had seen plenty of other Beastn with purple eyes. It was probably just a coincidence.
"Awoo, awoo~"
Before long, the three little ones started to cry out. Ling Hong placed them on the soft, carpeted floor.
As if by so supernatural impulse, An Jin understood what they ant. Or perhaps the desire in their three pairs of round eyes was just too obvious.
"I think... they’re hungry," she said hesitantly. ’By all logic, shouldn’t I be... breastfeeding them now??’
Mi Yin didn’t understand the conflict in her eyes. He went to the kitchen, brought back a few pieces of at, cut them into strips, and placed them on a porcelain plate in front of the cubs. "If they’re hungry, they should learn to hunt. Let them eat at directly; they’ll grow faster."
"Awoo..." The three little ones took a few wobbly steps, licked their tiny, rice-grain-sized teeth that had just barely erged, and sniffed at the raw at with their little pink noses. They gnawed a couple of tis but couldn’t bite off a single piece.
An Jin’s lips twitched. ’...’ ’That’s... not how you feed them, is it?’
Mi Yin looked disgusted. ’They can’t even eat? So useless. Snakelets can hunt for themselves an hour after birth.’
—
Author’s Note: The next few Chapters will be about raising the cubs and moving the plot along, raising three cute and handso little boys.
A little hint: this book is about to enter its later stages, and there will be a major "battle royale" plotline.
A battle royale, a truly terrifying battle royale (emphasis on this). It will completely subvert the previous tone. Mwah mwah... I don’t know if you’ll like it. So nervous, so nervous, still so nervous (っ﹏-).｡o
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