novelnext Chapter 137: Where is Kito?
Chapter 137: Where is Kito?
Xin Yi stared at the feral lion, then at the bound vines, then up at the sky where she was pretty sure Mán Shū was currently sipping celestial tea and laughing at her misery.
"Argh," Xin Yi groaned, throwing her hands up in the air with a dramatic flair that made Qing Lin flinch.
"Not this again! Seriously? Is there a quota for world-ending plagues I need to fill? Can’t my life be simple for one week? Just one? I want to build toilets! I want to teach hygiene! I want to argue about whether lions should wear pants! I do not want to deal with a spreading corruption plague that turns everyone into mindless murder-beasts!"
She paced back and forth in front of the unconscious Jin Ze, kicking at a loose stone. "First, I get dragged here naked. Then, I have to manage four alphas who can’t decide if they want to mate with me or kill each other. Then, I have to civilize a tribe of lions who think bathing is a sign of weakness. And now? Now we have zombie beasts? What is next? Aliens? Space vampires? A tax audit from the Goddess herself?"
Jin Xuan, who had been standing frozen with his mouth slightly open, finally blinked. The Lion Prince looked bewildered, his golden eyes darting between his terrifying, bound brother and the tiny, furious female screaming at the sky.
"Uh?" Jin Xuan said intelligently, scratching the back of his head. His massive biceps flexed as he gestured vaguely at Jin Ze. "What are you talking about, tiny female? Plague? Corruption? My brother just.....he was hungry? And maybe a little crazy? But he is family! We can just... feed him more stew? Maybe give him a nap? He looks tired."
He took a step toward Jin Ze, looking genuinely concerned but completely missing the point. "Father, why is everyone so scared? Jin Ze just needs a good meal and a soft patch of grass. Look at him! He is not a monster, he is just... misunderstood! Like when I ate all the honey cakes and got sick! Remember that? I was very grumpy too!"
Chief Jin Hai looked like he wanted to facepalm but was too afraid to move his hands in case it triggered an attack.
"Son," the Chief rasped, his voice trembling. "He said he saw bears tearing apart their kin. Eagles drowning themselves. This is not about honey cakes."
"But the stew was very good!" Jin Xuan insisted, turning to Xin Yi with a hopeful smile. "Maybe if we make more stew, the darkness will go away? You said cooking fixes everything! You fixed Wan Ning’s attitude with stew! You fixed the hyenas with stew! Surely you can fix my brother’s apocalyptic madness with enough seasoned antelope?"
Xin Yi stopped pacing. She stared at Jin Xuan. She opened her mouth to explain the concept of a magical viral infection versus culinary therapy, but then she just closed it again. Her shoulders slumped. The fight drained out of her, replaced by exhaustion.
"You know what, Jin Xuan?" Xin Yi muttered, rubbing her temples. "Sure. Let’s go with that. Stew fixes everything. Why not? At this point, I’m convinced the entire universe runs on my ability to season meat properly."
Jin Ze, still bound in vines on the ground, watched this exchange with wide, confused eyes. He opened his mouth, perhaps to reiterate that the end of days was imminent, that the darkness was consuming the world, that they were all doomed.
But then he looked at Xin Yi’s exhausted face. He looked at Jin Xuan’s earnest, idiotic hope. He looked at the Alphas, who were currently more worried about Xin Yi’s stress levels than the impending doom.
Jin Ze sighed, a long, rattling sound deep in his chest. He decided, wisely, to say nothing. He just stayed quiet, closed his eyes, and pretended to be asleep again.
If the tiny female wanted to believe stew could stop the apocalypse, who was he to argue? He was currently tied up and had just been bonked on the head, he didn’t have the energy for philosophy.
Just as the tension began to dissipate into awkward confusion, a rustling sound came from the tall grass at the edge of the circle.
Three spotted heads popped up. Gou Sheng, Er Gou, and Da Sha. The hyena trio looked around nervously, their yellow eyes wide with concern.
"Boss?" Gou Sheng whispered, crawling forward on his belly like a commando. "Boss look sad. Boss look angry. Does Boss want food?"
Er Gou nodded vigorously, his crooked ear flopping. "Yes! Boss need energy! Fighting big bad cat take lots of energy! We hunt for Boss! We bring best meat!"
"We find biggest antelope!" Da Sha declared, puffing out his scrawny chest. "We make Boss happy! No more yelling about space vampires!"
Xin Yi blinked, looking down at the three scavengers. "Space.....what? Never mind. Yes, okay. Food. Food is good. Food distracts me from the existential dread."
"YES!" the hyenas chorused.
"Hunt mode activated!" Gou Sheng yelped.
The three hyenas scrambled to their feet. It was a chaotic, comedic dash of limbs and tails.
"Go left! No, right! Wait, where is the antelope?" Er Gou shouted, running in a circle.
"It is over there, you idiot!" Da Sha yelled, tackling Er Gou to change his direction.
"Focus! For the Boss!" Gou Sheng commanded, tripping over his own feet but recovering with a desperate lunge.
They disappeared into the bush with a cacophony of yips, crashes, and the sound of something breaking.
Ten minutes later, they returned.
It was a spectacle.
Gou Sheng was dragging the rear legs of a massive, fully grown antelope. Er Gou was holding the front legs, his teeth clamped tight, his eyes crossed with effort. And Da Sha? Da Sha was somehow balancing the entire torso of the beast on his head, wobbling precariously as he tried to keep it from falling.
"We got it!" Gou Sheng gasped, dropping the legs and panting heavily. "Biggest one! Very fresh!"
"Very heavy!" Er Gou wheezed, spitting out some fur. "Taste like grass and freedom!"
Da Sha wobbled, tried to bow, and immediately toppled over, sending the antelope carcass rolling directly toward Jin Xuan’s feet. The Lion Prince jumped back with a squeak, nearly tripping over his own linen cloth.
"For Boss!" Da Sha cheered from the ground, giving a thumbs up despite being pinned under the dead animal.
Xin Yi burst into laughter.
"Okay," Xin Yi said, wiping a tear from her eye. "That is... impressive. Thank you, guys. Really. You’re the best security team a girl could ask for."
The hyenas preened, their tails wagging so hard they created a small breeze. "Best team!" Gou Sheng agreed proudly. "We bite ankles for Boss!"
"Exactly what I need," Xin Yi muttered, shaking her head. She turned to the gathered crowd, clapping her hands together. "Alright! Apocalypse talk is paused! Indefinitely! Right now, we are going to cook this antelope. We are going to season it with every herb we have. We are going to make enough stew to feed the entire camp, including the currently-comatose murder-brother over there."
She pointed at Jin Ze. "When he wakes up again, he eats. No arguments. If stew can fix a grumpy lioness, maybe it can fix a corrupted core. If not......well, at least we’ll be full before the world ends."
Lions started gathering wood. Wan Ning, looking sheepish, began sharpening knives. Even Chief Jin Hai looked relieved to have something concrete to do other than contemplate his son’s insanity.
Xin Yi sat cross-legged near the pot, stirring the broth with a large wooden spoon. Sha Chen was leaning against her side, still weak but awake, occasionally making snide comments about the lions’ chopping technique.
Hei Yan was guarding the perimeter, though he kept glancing back to make sure Xin Yi was okay.
Qing Lin was supervising the hyenas, mostly to ensure they didn’t try to eat the raw ingredients before they were cooked.
Jin Xuan sat nearby, poking the fire with a stick. "See?" he said happily, looking at Xin Yi. "I told you! Stew fixes everything! Brother will wake up, eat this, and be fine! Then we can have the mating ceremony!"
Xin Yi rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "One step at a time, Jin Xuan. One step at a time."
She took a sip of the broth, nodding in approval. "Needs more salt. Gou Sheng, check the storage bags for the white crystals!"
"On it, Boss!" Gou Sheng saluted, scrambling toward the supply pile.
The sun began to dip lower, casting long, golden shadows across the savanna. The laughter of the cubs returned, tentative at first, then louder as they chased each other around the cooking pots.
Then, a small voice cut through the chatter.
It was one of the lion cubs, a little female named Lila, who was playing tag near the edge of the clearing. She stopped running, tilting her head as she scanned the group of children wrestling in the grass.
"Wait..." Lila said, her voice small but carrying clearly in the sudden lull of conversation. She counted on her fingers, her brow furrowing. "One, two, three... Mao Mao, Qiu Qiu, Lila, Kito..."
She stopped counting. Her golden eyes widened in panic.
"Where is..." Lila whispered, her voice trembling. "Where is Kito?"