The silver fur grew more and more, eventually covering its entire body, the little lion cub···
No! Now it should be the Little Silver Wolf cub obediently lying on the Beast Skin, Ji Nuan and Grandma Shaman stared at each other, their faces full of disbelief.
The Watson Tribe had never seen such a situation in all its years of inheritance.
Ji Nuan gently touched the cub’s silvery white fur, murmuring, "Wasn’t the Little Cub a golden lion cub? How did it suddenly become a silver wolf cub?"
The quiet shaman examined the cub’s body and found nothing abnormal.
Suddenly, Ji Nuan paused her hand stroking the cub’s fur, looked somewhat stiffly at Grandma Shaman and said, "Could this Little Silver Wolf be Brother Xiu Yan? Isn’t Aunt Ge Rou from the Golden Lion Clan?"
Although her bold thought startled her, Ji Nuan inexplicably felt she had stumbled upon the truth.
She got up and walked outside: "I’m going to call the clan leader and Uncle Xiu Li’s family."
···
"What did you say?" Ge Rou instantly jumped up from her Beast Skin, grabbed Ji Nuan’s hand, and her body trembled with excitement.
Ji Nuan nodded and said, "You heard correctly. The lion cub has become a Little Silver Wolf. I thought since you, Aunt Rou, belong to the Golden Lion Clan and Brother Xiu Yan was once a Silver Wolf Orc, you could identify him."
Ge Rou wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and dragged Ji Nuan out: "Let’s go now, if my baby Xiu Yan is truly···"
Upon gathering with Chief Ge Xing, they all reunited in Grandma Shaman’s cave.
The Silver Wolf cub on the Beast Skin was fast asleep, its small belly rising and falling with each breath. It looked innocent and lovable, completely without the coldness a transformed Orc might exhibit, a fluffy little bundle. Its tiny nose occasionally twitched, which only added to its cuteness.
As soon as Xiu Li and Ge Xing entered the cave, they confirmed the identity of the Little Silver Wolf. The scent on the cub was undoubtedly Xiu Yan’s.
Ge Rou tiptoed to the Little Silver Wolf, carefully picked up the cub not to wake him.
She wrapped the cub tightly in the Beast Skin she brought and returned home accompanied by her eldest son Xiu Ming.
Ji Nuan watched Ge Rou’s disappearing figure, reluctant to part with her. Having been each other’s companionship for so long, Ji Nuan considered the cub her only family in this world.
Now that little cub turned out to be Xiu Yan, and furthermore, she would no longer live with him, Ji Nuan felt a sense of bitterness and sadness, a blockage in her heart.
After Ge Rou had gone, Xiu Li pressed Grandma Shaman with a resounding voice, "Shaman, what’s going on with our Xiu Yan cub?"
Ge Xing felt equally amazed, "Exactly, there has never been an Orc with two different beast forms in the tribe."
Confused, the grandma shaman shook her head: "This situation has never occurred before, I don’t know what’s happening."
Ji Nuan turned to Grandma Shaman: "Will Brother Xiu Yan still turn into a Golden Lion Orc? If the transformation is unstable and not controlled by Brother Xiu Yan, it’ll be troublesome in the future."
The others nodded solemnly in agreement.
Ji Nuan sighed, and passed the herbal medicine wrapped in Beast Skin to Xiu Li: "Uncle Xiu Li, this herbal medicine was just prepared by Grandma Shaman for Brother Xiu Yan. Extract a bit from it every day and make a potion. Brother Xiu Yan’s body will get better."
Nodding and taking the herbs from Ji Nuan’s hand, Xiu li’s usually sharp wolf eyes flashed with a rare softness, "Thank you, Shan Zaizai. If you hadn’t adopted Xiu Yan when he had transformed into a little lion, I fear we would have already lost him."
Ji Nuan smiled and shook her head: "Don’t say that, Uncle. Brother Xiu Yan has helped me a lot too. I’ve just done a little bit."
Giving a firm, understanding nod to Ge Xing and Grandma Shaman, Xiu Li quickly left with the herbs. His normally stern demeanor betrayed rare emotions given the unexpected turn. His cub, believed to be dead, was miraculously alive.
"Well, it’s no use for us to make random guesses here now. We’ll know more after observing in the future. You guys should leave too, and I’ll rest," said Grandma Shaman, waving her hand in fatigue.
Ge Xing nodded, bid goodbye, and left.
Ji Nuan helped Grandma Shaman lie down on the Beast Skin. She carefully urged the beast-man standing guard outside the cave to take good care, then trudged back to her own cave with her weary body.
It was the same as when she left in the morning; nothing in the cave had changed. The Beast Skins on the bed still held the cub’s grass nest. There were two large leaves, slick from Giggle Beast oil, next to it.
Ji Nuan stood beside the bed, lost in thought for a while, sighed and moved the little grass nest from the bed and put it in the corner of the cave.
Making up her bed swiftly, she lay down and let out a sigh of relief. It was so comfortable. Today’s consecutive running was so exhausting.
From now on, if she sees those Snake Orcs, she will stay as far away as possible. Never again will she get involved with them; they’ve stinted her heart.
With these nostalgic and fearful thoughts, Ji Nuan fell asleep that night.