Bai Yue was having a wonderful dream.
She was back in her modern apartnt, sleeping on her expensive mory-foam mattress, completely undisturbed by the chaotic politics of the Beast Realm.
But slowly, a strange, prickling sensation crept up the back of her neck.
It was that very specific, deeply unsettling feeling of being intensely watched.
Bai Yue groaned, slowly fluttering her eyes open, blinking against the morning sunlight streaming through the cracks of her hut. She rubbed her eyes and rolled over.
Hovering exactly five inches from her face was a pair of glowing, unblinking golden eyes.
"AHHHH!" Bai Yue squealed, scrambling backward so fast she tangled herself in her fur blanket and completely rolled off the sleeping mat.
Thump!
Cāng Jì instantly recoiled, his majestic robes swishing as he aggressively turned his back to her.
He crossed his arms tightly over his chest, lifting his chin and acting completely, utterly unfazed, as if he hadn’t just been caught looming over a sleeping woman like a creeping ghost.
"Curse you, sparkles!" Bai Yue gasped, clutching her hamring heart from the floor.
"What is wrong with you?! Why are you staring at while I sleep?!"
"I was doing no such thing!" Cāng Jì scoffed loudly, the tips of his pointed ears turning a distinct shade of pink. "I was rely..... inspecting the structural integrity of your primitive mud-dwelling! It is vastly inferior to draconic architecture! I was calculating how quickly it would collapse in a light breeze!"
"You were breathing on my forehead!"
Before Cāng Jì could shout another denial, the hide curtain of the hut was practically ripped off its hinges.
A tidal wave of fur and chaos spilled into the small room. Yòu Lín, Ruì Xuě, and the panther triplets, Miao Miao, A-Li, and Xiao Hei, all tumbled inside in a giant, giggling pile.
"Mama’s awake!" Yòu Lín cheered, imdiately untangling himself from the panther cubs to launch himself at Bai Yue’s legs.
Bai Yue caught the fox kit, hugging him tight, before looking up at the extrely grumpy dragon.
"Wait," Bai Yue frowned, untangling herself from her blanket. "Why are all the cubs in my hut? Where is Han Shān? Where is Zhāo Yàn and Mo Xiao?"
Cāng Jì let out a dramatic sigh. "The freezing feline, the angry raccoon, and the defective tiger all vanished before dawn. They packed supplies and left the territory."
"Left?" Bai Yue blinked in shock. Where on earth would Han Shān be taking Hóng Yè and Shěn so early? And why didn’t he say anything?
"And as for the other two," Cāng Jì continued, glaring at the cubs currently using his expensive silk robes as a tug-of-war rope. "The Fox Lord and the Panther Alpha were summoned to an ergency eting by the wolf elders. And they had the absolute, unbelievable audacity to leave these... these tiny naces with !"
Bai Yue stared at him. The mighty, terrifying Prince of the Dragon Peaks... was babysitting?
A snicker escaped her lips.
Cāng Jì bristled instantly. "Do not laugh at my suffering! I am an apex predator, not a nursery maid!"
"Then why are you still here?" Bai Yue teased, resting her chin on her hand as she watched A-Li try to climb the dragon’s leg. "You have your Lumina-stone. You could have flown away days ago. Why aren’t you returning to the mountains?"
Cāng Jì froze. His golden eyes darted everywhere except her face. He puffed out his chest and scoffed loudly.
"That is none of your business! Hahaha! The whims of a dragon are mysterious and complex! I simply..... desire to observe the lowland ecosystem!"
Bai Yue looked at the flustered, arrogant, ridiculously powerful man who was currently letting a panther cub chew on his boot. Her heart softened.
"Hmm," Bai Yue smiled warmly. "You’re so cute."
Cāng Jì’s brain entirely short-circuited.
His jaw dropped, a violent, fiery blush exploding across his face all the way to his collarbone. "I AM TERRIFYING!" he squeaked, his voice cracking horribly.
Bai Yue just giggled as Ruì Xuě waddled over, tugging on her skirt. She scooped the snow leopard cub up, placing him gently on her lap.
As she looked at Ruì Xuě’s big, solemn purple eyes, a sudden jolt of panic hit her.
Wait, Bai Yue thought, doing the ntal math. Yesterday I had nine days left. That ans......oh no. I only have EIGHT days left!
Eight days to make this traumatized, serious little cub smile a genuine, happy smile.
"Okay," Bai Yue muttered with sudden determination. "Desperate tis call for desperate asures."
She wiggled her fingers nacingly. "Here cos the tickle monster!"
Without warning, Bai Yue unleashed a flurry of gentle tickles onto Ruì Xuě’s tummy and sides. "Tickle, tickle, tickle!"
Ruì Xuě didn’t laugh. He didn’t even squirm.
The snow leopard cub sat perfectly still, blinking slowly at her with an entirely deadpan expression.
He looked from her wiggling fingers, up to her desperate face, and then turned his head to look at Cāng Jì.
"Is the cursed female possessed?" Ruì Xuě asked seriously.
Cāng Jì burst out laughing. "Yes, little leopard! She has completely lost her mind!"
"I will use a stick to beat you!" Bai Yue threatened the dragon, her cheeks burning in embarrassnt as she stopped tickling the completely unfazed cub.
She let out a heavy sigh. Children. They were going to be the absolute death of her. Literally, if the Goddess had her way.
"Alright, who wants so fresh frost-berries?" Bai Yue asked, dusting off her skirt.
"! ! I want berries, cursed female!" Miao Miao cheered, jumping up and down.
Bai Yue sighed again. It was going to take a long ti to break that habit. "Coming right up, Miao Miao. And maybe Uncle Cāng Jì can help wash them, since he loves the lowland ecosystem so much."
Miao Miao stopped jumping. The little panther cub tilted her head, her bright eyes darting between Bai Yue and the still-chuckling dragon.
"I think Uncle Cāng Jì likes you!" Miao Miao announced with the booming, utterly reckless volu that only a toddler possessed.
The entire hut went dead silent.
Cāng Jì choked on his own breath. "W-What are you saying?!"
"It’s true!" Miao Miao pointed a tiny, accusatory finger at the dragon.
"When we ca in, he was watching the cursed female sleep! Papa says boys only stare at sleeping females when they want to mate with them!"
"Absolutely not!" Cāng Jì shrieked.
"I was ensuring she did not stop breathing in her sleep!"
"Yessss," Xiao Hei and A-Li chid in together, nodding sagely. "Uncle Dragon likes Mama!"
"Hmm?" Yòu Lín tilted his head, his large fox ears twitching in confusion.
He looked up at Cāng Jì. "Whyyyy? Are you going to be my new papa too?"
"I AM NO ONE’S PAPA!" Cāng Jì roared, covering his burning face with both hands. "I AM A SOLITARY CREATURE OF THE SKY! I DO NOT SPY ON FEMALES!"
Before Bai Yue could even begin to process the absolute cody of the most powerful being on the continent getting thoroughly roasted by a group of toddlers, the atmosphere in the hut shifted.
WHOOSH.
A massive gust of wind hit the village.
It was so strong that the heavy beams of Bai Yue’s hut groaned in protest. The hide curtain whipped violently into the air.
Outside, the trees violently bent backward, their leaves rustling in a deafening crescendo.
Cāng Jì dropped his hands from his face.
The fiery blush on his cheeks instantly vanished, draining away to leave him pale and absolutely terrified.
He stumbled backward, his golden eyes blown wide.
"Uh oh..." Cāng Jì whispered, his voice trembling.
"Why? What?" Bai Yue asked, jumping to her feet and instinctively pulling the cubs behind her legs. "What is it? A storm?"
The answer ca not as thunder, but as a roar.
ROOOOAAAAARRRRR!
It was a sound that shattered the heavens.
It was infinitely louder and more terrifying than Cāng Jì’s roar. It shook the very dirt beneath their feet, vibrating deep within Bai Yue’s bones. The pressure of the sound made the cubs whimper and cover their ears.
Bai Yue looked out the door.
The sky above the Thousand Fang Tribe was suddenly plunged into shadow, blocked out by a creature so massive it defied comprehension.
"Ehhh???" Bai Yue gasped.
Cāng Jì swallowed hard, visibly shaking as he stared up at the sky.
"That’s..." Cāng Jì muttered, looking as if he were about to be sick. "...That’s my older sister."
"EHHH?!!!"
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