CHAPTER 234: CHAPTER 234: DANGER SND SEPARATION

Soon, the rhinoceros returned to the pond, hoping he could find the two cubs from earlier. His mate had been so anxious she nearly passed out when she found out their son hadn’t been with his father.

The rhinoceros nearly flipped the pond upside down. His intestines nearly turned green from regret. If only he had listened to a bit more information from the two cubs...

Just as he was about to collapse, he sensed a familiar breath from the distance. A spiritual beast who was much more powerful than him was heading in his direction.

Maybe the two cubs really found a helper?

He gathered himself and waited in anxiety. When he sniffed the ground, he noticed a rotten smell.

A zombie beast had passed by here. Most likely, it was chasing after the cubs. They really hadn’t lied to him. Soon, he noticed the cubs’ smell too. It was really them!

He didn’t even dare to blink as he waited for the spiritual beast to pass by. The beast’s speed was very quick.

"This fellow–"

His words were cut off as a breeze passed by his face. A golden shadow flew past him, and it almost disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The rhinoceros’ heart tightened. Golden fur and more powerful than him. There weren’t many spiritual beasts like that, so he could instantly guess who it was.

The fierce tigress. The spiritual beast they rarely dared to offend. She often terrorized them, asking for a fight with any spiritual beasts she thought to be powerful.

Until a few years ago, she calmed down and rarely wandered out of her territory. Unless it was important, no spiritual beast would come to her and volunteer themselves to get beaten...

Still, the rhinoceros didn’t hesitate to follow after her. He gritted his teeth and yelled, "Nias, wait!"

The tigress’ name was Nias. And she didn’t stop. If anything, she seemed to run faster; the rhinoceros didn’t know whether it was merely his illusion.

Helpless, he decided to just follow them. He almost couldn’t keep up with her speed, but he forced himself to persist.

Just as he guessed, they were trying to save the other cubs.

The first cub they encountered was a deer. The little one was chased by a slug zombie, which had a disgusting appearance. It looked like a lump of squirming rotten flesh.

Nias didn’t want to touch the disgusting thing, so she used her weapon to slash it a few times until they found the crystal core.

Zerra witnessed as her mother clutched the bead-like item and crushed it with her paw. When the fight started, Nias had let them stay at a safe distance. However, the fight also didn’t last long–a few minutes.

"Nias!"

Just as the fight was concluded, the rhinoceros arrived at the scene. The tiger finally glanced at him.

"I am looking for my son..." he trailed off before he approached the cubs directly.

Zerra blinked at the rhinoceros, which made the latter feel even more guilty.

"Little one, do you see my son among the cubs chased by zombie beasts?" He asked nervously.

The little fox pursed her lips and shook her head. She had a silly look on her face as she poked Cassias beside her. "I don’t remember... but my friend might remember."

The rhinoceros fell silent for a moment before he remembered the urgency of finding his cub soon. How could he not understand the cunning little fox’s motive?

As such, he turned to Cassias and cleared his throat. The eight-year-old had a serious face, a little impatient.

He had no choice but to speak directly. "Little one, do you see a rhinoceros among the cubs you found?"

Cassias stared at him.

The rhinoceros gritted his teeth and let out a sigh. "First, let me apologize to the two of you for not believing your words. I am sorry." His tone was more sincere.

The eight-year-old seemed to be in a daze. He glanced at the fox beside him with a complicated gaze. Before this, besides his dead family, no one had ever stood up for him.

A warm feeling coursed through his chest.

It was also the first time that an adult spiritual beast from this mountain had apologized to him. He was quite used to their disdainful faces, so it was also quite refreshing when someone apologized to him like that.

As such, he also didn’t mind telling the rhinoceros. "Yes."

His word was succinct, but it managed to send the rhinoceros into despair. He wanted to ask why they didn’t tell him there was also a rhinoceros cub among the cubs in danger. Then, he remembered he wasn’t the only rhinoceros with cubs.

It was quite reasonable.

"Are you going to give up so easily?" Nias scoffed. "The two cubs didn’t even give up and went to find me."

The rhinoceros was thinking about the possibility that the rhinoceros cub wasn’t his son at all, but he had no time for it. Moreover, Nias’ words ignited his anger a little.

"I will go find other spiritual beasts for help." He gritted his teeth and said. Without waiting for their response, he had already turned around and ran.

Nias and the cubs went to follow other zombie beasts based on their smell. Zerra finally realized how powerful the tiger was. Her ability to track enemies was top-notch. Within half an hour, they managed to track a few more zombie beasts chasing after other cubs.

Unfortunately, one cub had already died. They found the undigested remains in the zombie beasts’ stomach.

At the same time, the rhinoceros returned while bringing other adult spiritual beasts. They were also anxious when they realized their cubs were also missing.

Under Nias’ pointers, they finally managed to catch and kill a few more zombie beasts, saving a few more tenacious cubs who never stopped running.

Nias saved a few more cubs before she dumped them to other adult spiritual beasts to be taken to their parents. With that, she left with Zerra and Cassias.

Not long after, they heard a loud howling. A familiar sound, which came from the rhinoceros. Judging from his pained tone, they could already guess what had happened to his son.

Soon, they arrived at Cassias’ small house.

Zerra immediately became anxious. Nias had solved the zombie beasts tracking them, but Cassias’ safety wasn’t guaranteed.

As such, before Nias could throw her onto her back like always, she clutched on her mother’s front leg.

"What’s the matter?" Nias stiffened, frowning. She couldn’t shake off the sticky fox no matter how hard she tried.

Cassias pursed his lips when he saw this. Even before the night came, they already had to separate. With zombies roaming around, it was unknown how long it would take until they finally met again.

Seeing how protective Nias was toward Zerra, she might never let her go far away from her again.

"What do you want, naughty cub?" Nias narrowed her eyes.

Zerra bit her lip. She had to say it, no matter how scary her mother looked. Suddenly, she missed Nerith a bit.

"Mother, how about Kaz? It’s not safe for him to live alone here." She muttered, her eyes twinkling. "How about we bring him home? I can have someone to play with too!"

She felt sorry for him. On top of that, it had been so long since she was inside Cassias’ memory. She was worried she couldn’t help him untie the knot in his heart if they didn’t even meet.

The little cub might have been too lonely, so she had to be his friend and help him gain some more friends! Above all that, he needed to be safe first.

"Why should we bring the stinky cub? Your mother does not need another cub to feed!" Nias snorted unhappily.

"I can eat less and share half with him," She hurriedly answered.

"We have no bedding..."

"Kaz can bring it from his home! He has a space!"

No matter what Nias used to argue, she found that her little cub could answer all of that. Zerra was really persistent.

Cassias was staring at them. From initial disbelief to calmness. He believed that the tiger most likely wouldn’t take him in based on his troublesome identity.

After being speechless about her own cub, Nias gradually fell silent. She took a few deep breaths so that she wouldn’t lose her temper.

"Little cub. Before you ask your mother this, don’t you have to ask a consent from your friend too? If you decide anything by yourself, what if he doesn’t want to live with us?" Nias could only resort to this tactic.

She watched as a realization dawned on her little cub’s face. Zerra was a little troubled. Right, she hadn’t asked about what Cassias wanted yet.

Zerra turned to him with her sparkling eyes. "Kaz, how about you follow us? It will be safer for you."

Nias secretly glared at Cassias, daring him to say yes.

He opened his mouth to answer.