The Zi'e Golden Tiger let out a low roar of pain. The contractions had been going on for an hour or two, and before this, her pain had manifested as twitching in her legs.
Hearing the roar, everyone's eyes turned to her tail.
“Plop,” a Tiger Cub the size of a small cat, wrapped in a fetal membrane, slipped out.
Chu Wannian, Tang Honggong, Qian Duoduo, and Huang Guiren all breathed a sigh of relief.
Head Seat Chu was the most anxious; he wiped the sweat from his forehead and licked his lips. Zi'e was his companion Spirit Beast; they had lived together for hundreds of years, and their bond was extremely deep.
The Zi'e Golden Tiger extended her tongue to lick away the fetal membrane from the Tiger Cub. Once the membrane was gone, the Tiger Cub began to breathe on its own, its belly rising and falling. With its eyes closed, it lifted its head. On its forehead, there was a faint purple character for 'king'.
High-level Battle Beast! To be born a high-level Battle Beast—what would it become when it grew up?
Such an adorable Battle Beast made Qian Duoduo instinctively want to go forward and hug it.
The four people in the tiger cave all wanted to cheer, but no one dared.
The Zi'e Golden Tiger lay down. Before long, another Tiger Cub was born.
Two of them!
The four of them were so happy they stood on their tiptoes.
The Zi'e Golden Tiger licked away the Tiger Cub's fetal membrane. This Tiger Cub, with its eyes still closed, crawled two feet, clearly a vigorous little fellow. The purple 'king' character on this Tiger Cub was even more distinct than on the first one.
The third, the fourth, all were high-level Battle Beasts!
The Zi'e Golden Tiger finally finished giving birth, exhausted, and lay on the dry grass for a while before lifting her head and gathering the four Tiger Cubs to her belly.
The four Tiger Cubs jostled around Zi'e Golden Tiger's belly, and the lucky ones had already found a nipple and started nursing.
Qian Duoduo patted Tiger Brother and led him out of the tiger cave.
The Spiritual Beast Scroll stated that female tigers need more rest after giving birth. Male tigers are more careless, so they should be kept away from the Tiger Cubs.
Out of the tiger cave, Chu Wannian and Tang Honggong finally let out long breaths.
Tang Honggong solemnly cupped his fist towards Chu Wannian and whispered, “Congratulations, and thank you!”
Chu Wannian pulled him further away from the tiger cave and whispered back, “Congratulations should be shared! No need for thanks.”
Tang Honggong asked, puzzled, “Shared congratulations is fine, but why no need for thanks?”
“Zi'e from this mountain is the mother, and Tiger Brother from your mountain is the father, so of course, it's shared congratulations. The Tiger Cubs they gave birth to are shared by our two mountains, so there's no need for thanks.”
Chu Wannian's face was round, and his words were equally smooth.
“Shared? Old Chu, what do you mean?” Tang Honggong's eyes widened.
“Two for your Meng Yuan Legion, and two for our Wen'an Peak.” Chu Wannian didn't beat around the bush, revealing his intention.
“That's not right, Old Chu,” Tang Honggong pulled Head Seat Chu a few more steps away. “Zi'e coming here to mate with Tiger Brother was a reward from you, Head Seat Chu, to Jin Buhuan.”
“That's right. When Jin Buhuan came to Wen'an Peak to request Zi'e, I said Zi'e could visit his Purple Gold Manor every day, staying for one hour each time, for a period of three months.”
“Then why are you going back on your word and demanding Tiger Cubs?”
“It's now over three months, and furthermore, I agreed to let Zi'e accompany Tiger Brother, but I didn't agree that all of Zi'e's offspring would go to your Meng Yuan Legion. The mother also has the right to raise her children. Moreover, only the mother can raise the children well. Palace Lord Tang, you've seen it too, the Tiger Cubs are still small; they can leave their father, but not their mother. Don't you agree?”
Chu Wannian's lips moved rapidly, every sentence logical.
Tang Honggong was amused and angered by him. “Old Chu, playing word games like this isn't good. This was a reward you promised Jin Buhuan in front of the Sect Leader.”
Chu Wannian waved to Qian Duoduo. “Bu Huan, come here and tell me if I'm playing word games. Have I said a single false word?”
“This, this, this…” Qian Duoduo never expected that Head Seat Chu would want the Tiger Cubs. Qian Duoduo absolutely didn't want to give them to him. But he indeed hadn't said anything false.
Seeing Qian Duoduo stammering for a long time without saying anything, Tang Honggong grabbed Chu Wannian. “Let's go, we'll go to the Sect Leader for judgment!”
“Go then, go. I'm not afraid even if we go to the Grand Elder—Bu Huan must come along.” Chu Wannian grabbed Qian Duoduo.
The two Palace Lords, huffing and puffing, led Qian Duoduo directly to the Purple Firmament Great Hall on Preaching Mountain.
Sect Leader Niu Jinshui saw the three of them enter the hall, arms twisted, faces angry, and laughed. “Meng Yuan Legion and Wen'an Peak, arm in arm, shoulder to shoulder, what great deed are you about to accomplish?”
“Sect Leader, please judge this matter.” Tang Honggong fired first. “Jin Buhuan rendered a great service last time, and in the Purple Firmament Great Hall, the five Palace Lords each gave Jin Buhuan a reward. Among them, Head Seat Chu of Wen'an Peak promised to let Zi'e go to Purple Gold Manor to mate with Golden Tiger. Now, he's going back on his word.”
“I am not.”
“Not yet?” Tang Honggong laughed in anger. “Just now, Zi'e gave birth to four Tiger Cubs in Purple Gold Manor. This Chu Wannian, with his thick skin, actually wants to take two of them.”
Niu Jinshui looked at Chu Wannian, smiling. “Is this true?”
Chu Wannian pulled a long face. “Sect Leader, you are the most fair. Zi'e is my companion Spirit Beast, half of my life. She's pregnant, her first pregnancy, how worried I was. If anything went wrong, half of my Wen'an Peak would collapse. Now that she has safely given birth to four Tiger Cubs, the task ahead is even heavier; they still need to be raised—”
Niu Jinshui frowned and asked, “What kind of Tiger Cubs are they?”
Chu Wannian and Tang Honggong exchanged glances. Chu Wannian stammered, “They're quite cute, adorable.”
“What level?” Niu Jinshui was not easily fooled.
“Um. I was too excited at the time, I didn't see clearly.” Chu Wannian started sweating a little under the Sect Leader's interrogation.
Seeing Chu Wannian still not answering directly, Niu Jinshui asked Qian Duoduo, “Bu Huan, you have good eyesight. What kind of Spirit Beast are these four Tiger Cubs, that they would cause the two Palace Lords to fight like this?”
Qian Duoduo didn't dare to look at Palace Lord Dajiu and Chu Wannian's faces, and lowered his head to answer, “Battle Beast, high-level.”
Niu Jinshui's body trembled, his face immediately turned red, then he quickly composed himself, and his expression returned to normal. “Oh, then they are quite cute, quite adorable…”
Tang Honggong forcefully kicked Chu Wannian from behind.
Qian Duoduo understood the meaning of that kick. Palace Lord Dajiu and Chu Wannian were afraid that if the Sect Leader knew these four Tiger Cubs were high-level Battle Beasts, and that the two mountains were fighting over them, he would confiscate all the Tiger Cubs for the sect, and then neither of them would get anything.
The Sect Leader's character was to divide everything into five parts, one for each mountain.
Palace Lord Dajiu's kick to Head Seat Chu was to make him pull the matter back.
Those four Tiger Cubs, no matter what, could not be handed over to the sect. If they were handed over to the sect, then they would be divided among five mountains, and they might not even get one.
Chu Wannian immediately understood and said with a smile, “Now Zi'e and the four Tiger Cubs, mother and children, are safe and being well cared for in Purple Gold Manor. Palace Lord Tang, Jin Buhuan, and I came up here, firstly, to report the good news to the Sect Leader and ask him not to worry, and secondly, to hold a celebratory friendly match between Wen'an Peak and Meng Yuan Legion.”
Niu Jinshui laughed aloud. He turned to Tang Honggong and asked, “Is that so? You came up to talk about this? I remember you just now saying something about going back on your word, being thick-skinned, dividing Tiger Cubs, two for each mountain?”
“Our intention is that Zi'e is the mother, Tiger Brother is the father, and these Tiger Cubs cannot be divided, so we'll hold a friendly match,” Palace Lord Dajiu quickly smoothed things over.
“Then how will this friendly match be conducted?” Niu Jinshui looked at Chu Wannian again.
Another layer of sweat appeared on Chu Wannian's round face. He pointed at Qian Duoduo, “The friendly match involves Bu Huan.”
Qian Duoduo was immediately dumbfounded. How did this get dragged into it?