Su Qinglan realized that the giant lion in front of her had turned into a literal statue. He wasn’t moving, wasn’t speaking, and was just blocking the path with a look of pure shock on his face.
She had come here with Hu Yan, but he had been pulled away by some fox beastmen who were confused about how to finish the internal carving of the tree houses.
Hu Yan didn’t want to leave her alone, but Su Qinglan pointed out that the area was crowded with their own tribe members.
"What could happen to me? I’ll just go inside where the females are huddled. You come find me when you’re done," she had coaxed him.
Hu Yan eventually let her go, but she never expected to run into a "silly lion" like this one.
Since he wouldn’t move, she just thought he was a bit slow in the head.
She stepped around his massive frame and kept walking toward the tree house where the females were. She completely ignored him, focused on her mission to get those system rewards.
Behind her, Shi Kuang stood with a giant question mark over his head. He watched her walk away, his jaw still hanging open.
One second she was there, and the next, she was gone.
"Where did the female go?" he suddenly shouted, his voice echoing like a confused cub.
"I’ve never seen eyes that beautiful! I want to see her again!"
He started sniffing the air, captivated by her fragrant scent, which was a mix of sweet flowers and rain.
He began tracking her toward the female quarters. However, when he reached the door, he stopped. Even a hot-headed lion like him knew it wasn’t good to barge into a room full of females he wasn’t related to or mated with.
If they called him a "hooligan," his entire alpha-male aura would be ruined forever. He decided to stay outside and peek through the cracks in the fence like a peeping tom.
Su Qinglan looked back and saw the "silly lion" peeking at her. He immediately ducked his head when their eyes met.
She couldn’t help but feel a bit confused. Hu Yan had described lions as terrifying, bloodthirsty predators, but all she saw was a clumsy big cat who couldn’t even walk straight.
Almost all the other lions had shifted to human form to work, so this guy was the only one still in beast form, making him look even more ridiculous.
She sighed, dismissed him from her mind, and stepped into the tree house.
The female lions inside were huddled together around the fire bowl, looking tense and suspicious of the stranger.
Su Qinglan took off her leafy hat and raincoat, leaving them outside the gate so the water wouldn’t drip on the floor.
Shi Kuang, peeking from the shadows, felt his heart break into a million pieces.
Now that the raincoat was off, he could see her properly. She had long, wavy hair the color of a sunset cascading down her back.
Almost all the lionesses he knew were skinny and looked like they would break, but this female was plump, soft, and healthy. Her cheeks were flushed pink from the cold, and she looked like a goddess.
Then his eyes traveled lower. He saw her prominent baby bump.
She’s mated? She’s pregnant?!
Shi Kuang felt like the world was turning black. His first love had lasted exactly three minutes before his heart was shattered.
Su Qinglan ignored the peeping lion and looked at the terrified lionesses.
"Don’t worry," she said in a soothing voice. "I am the witch doctor of the Fox Tribe. I’m here to check on you and help you heal."
The lionesses breathed a sigh of relief when they realized she was a female, but they were shocked to hear she was a witch doctor. They had never seen a female in that role before.
"Please," an older lioness said, tears in her eyes. "Look at this little girl. She won’t wake up."
A girl, no more than fourteen, lay unconscious in the corner. Her body was burning with a high fever, and her skin was wrinkled from being in the water for so long.
She was just a child.
Su Qinglan immediately went to her side. She placed her hands on the girl, sending a gentle wave of her plant-type energy into the small body to warm her up and stabilize her.
"I need to boil some herbs," Su Qinglan said, looking around. "Is there a beast husband nearby who can help with the fire and water?"
A female immediately stood up and said, "My beast husband is just outside. I will call him."
She said this before going out and calling her beast husband.
Soon, a lion beastman immediately came inside to help, and the female explained everything to him.
He looked at Su Qinglan with a complicated, respectful gaze. She didn’t beat around the bush, ordering him to fetch a stone bowl and fresh water.
"If you don’t have it, just ask any fox beastman. They will have plenty of it."
Soon, the beastman returned with a stone bowl filled with water and even a wooden spatula to stir the ingredients. Many of them had seen Su Qinglan coming here, and they knew she must need these things.
So they generously gave them without any hesitation at all.
Su Qinglan threw her medicinal herbs into the water and told him, "Stir this until it reduces. Then we will feed it to her."
Outside, Shi Kuang was watching all of this with a stunned expression. He saw another male being allowed inside to help, and he felt a surge of jealousy.
If he can go in, I can go in too, right?
But then he looked at his muddy paws and remembered he was still in his beast form.
No, if I go in now, she’ll remember me as the "stupid lion who called her a tree."
He started whining softly to himself.
Maybe I should go back, change into my human form, and pretend we’re meeting for the first time! Yes! I’ll act like a cool, powerful warrior!
He scurried away into the rain to find a place to transform, determined to reset his first impression.