Su Mingxuan sighed, but his expression softened again. His heart was still filled with joy. After so many days of worry, this news felt like light shining into the tribe.
Just as he was about to tell Bai Ling to go back and rest, Bai Ling suddenly lifted her head again, her eyes wide as if she had just remembered something important.
"Tribe Leader!" she said quickly.
Su Mingxuan stopped and looked at her. "What is it?"
Bai Ling smiled brightly, her tone full of excitement again.
"I’m not the only pregnant female!" she announced.
The tribe leader blinked. "What?"
"Qinglan-jie is also carrying cubs!" Bai Ling said proudly.
Her words hit Su Mingxuan like thunder.
He froze, his eyes widening like saucers. "What did you just say?"
He turned sharply toward his daughter.
Su Qinglan stood there awkwardly. She had completely forgotten to tell her father about it. Everything had happened so quickly, she had never found the right time.
Now, seeing her father’s shocked face, she could only laugh nervously.
"Ah... I was going to tell you, Father..." she began softly.
Su Mingxuan stood frozen for a long moment, staring at his daughter as if he couldn’t believe his ears.
His mouth opened slightly, but no words came out.
He had thought Bai Ling’s pregnancy was already the best news of the season, the tribe’s hope, the Beast God’s blessing. But now... his daughter was also carrying cubs?
That meant he was going to become a grandfather.
A big, proud smile slowly spread across his face. His heart swelled so much it almost hurt.
He turned his head away for a second, rubbing his face to hide the grin, but he couldn’t. The happiness kept bursting out of him like the morning sun breaking through clouds.
He laughed loudly with a bright expression. "Good! Good! The Beast God really blessed us this time!"
The nearby beastmen looked at him, smiling at the sight of their tribe leader laughing like an excited cub.
He turned toward his daughter again, his eyes soft and shining. "You silly girl," he said, his voice trembling slightly. "You should have told me earlier! You made your old father nearly faint from surprise."
Su Qinglan scratched her cheek awkwardly. "I forgot..."
"Forgot?" he repeated, pretending to glare at her but unable to keep the smile from his face. "How can someone forget something this big?"
He sighed and shook his head, though the corners of his mouth kept twitching upward.
Inside, Su Mingxuan’s heart was dancing. His daughter was pregnant! The tribe would have cubs again and his own bloodline would continue.
The thought warmed him to the core. He imagined tiny little cubs running around the caves, soft and chubby, their tails short and fluffy. He could already hear their laughter echoing in the tribe.
He pressed his lips together to stop himself from smiling too wide, but failed again.
He was going to be a grandfather!
The word made him feel proud and strangely emotional at the same time.
But then another thought slipped into his mind. He looked at his daughter’s stomach again.
The cubs... what kind of cubs would they be?
He frowned slightly. Were they tiger cubs from Hu Yan? Or maybe fox cubs from Rong Ye? Or wolf cubs from Han Jue? Or... maybe snake cubs from Xuan Long?
He rubbed his forehead, his smile turning a little stiff.
He wanted to ask, truly he did. But the next second, he sighed and shook his head.
Forget it.
They were his grandchildren no matter what. Whether they were born with fur, scales, or tails, he would love them all.
"They should be chubby and healthy, that’s what matters," he muttered to himself with a proud nod. "Strong cubs, not picky eaters... yes, that’s what matters."
His thoughts softened again, and he couldn’t stop grinning. He wanted to pick up his daughter and spin her around like when she was little, but he stopped himself. She was pregnant, after all!
However, his joy didn’t last long before he suddenly realized something.
He looked around the clearing.
And one person... one lazy fox was missing.
Su Mingxuan’s smile froze. His eyes darkened instantly.
"Where," he said slowly in a low and dangerous voice, "is Rong Ye?"
The air went quiet.
Bai Ling blinked and looked around too. "Ah... I didn’t see him," she said softly.
Su Qinglan coughed awkwardly. "He... um... he is busy."
"Busy?" Su Mingxuan repeated, his eyebrow twitching. "I remember, I didn’t assign him any work?"
He crossed his arms and let out a sharp sigh.
"That lazy fox! He dares to run around instead of guarding my daughter?"
The tribe leader’s voice rumbled like thunder, but there was more exasperation than real anger in it.
He grumbled to himself, "When I find that boy, I’ll pluck one of his tails! He should be protecting his female, not running around without any responsibility!"
Some of the nearby beastmen tried not to laugh. Bai Ling covered her mouth, hiding her smile.
Su Qinglan’s lips twitched. "Father, don’t be angry, he is just busy."
She couldn’t possibly tell him that he was busy receiving treatment from her other beast husband.
Su Mingxuan snorted. "He should run! Let him run, I’ll chase him myself!"
Then, after a moment, he sighed deeply and shook his head again, muttering in a softer tone, "No, no... I hope he’s not the father. Let that fox grow up first. He’s not ready to raise cubs yet."
"That lazy boy needs to learn responsibility first. Then maybe, maybe, he can think about cubs."
His words were half serious, half grumbling.
If Rong Ye had been there, he would have definitely sneezed from afar... his father-in-law was surely cursing him again.
Su Mingxuan rubbed his forehead and sighed once more, but the corners of his mouth curved upward again.
No matter what, he was happy.
The tribe had new life growing. His daughter was safe. The Beast God had blessed them all.
Even if the father of his future grandchildren turned out to be a lazy fox, the thought still made him smile.
"May the Beast God bless them all," he whispered under his breath, looking up at the sky again. "And please, let my grandchildren be fat and healthy." He could raise them well all by himself.
Su Qinglan giggled softly beside him, hearing his mutter. She knew her father did not know she was carrying Hu Yan’s cubs. She had not told anyone as females always had multiple mates. So almost all of them knew about the cubs only after they were born.
She couldn’t possibly tell him that she was a hundred percent sure that it was Hu Yan’s. Where would she put her face?
That she still had not mated with others and got pregnant in one go.