A light-green, round, chubby bird fluttered two wings that were far too small for his body and hopped into the room. He had only one leg, which made his hopping walk appear exceptionally lively. The two tufts of feathers on his cheeks were a light rouge-red, and the crest on his head was a gradient of the same red, bobbing up and down with the air currents as he jumped.

The lights in the room were off. The chubby little bird kept his bright, black-bean eyes wide open and let out a crisp chirp. If one listened closely, they could faintly hear him cry the words “Bi Fang.”

Bi Fang had grown even fatter recently. His underdeveloped wings could no longer support his increasingly round body, so he could only hop around on the carpet, loudly calling for the Yazi behind him to turn on the lights.

Long Ya entered behind him at a leisurely pace, his silver-gray fur gleaming brightly in the darkness.

“Hurry up and turn on the lights!” Bi Fang urged him while hopping up and down on the carpet, trying several times to jump directly onto Long Ya’s head to reach the light switch.

Long Ya pressed him down unceremoniously with a paw. Lowering his body slightly, his silver-white pupils narrowed into thin slits as he stared warily ahead. “Who is there?”

Rong Fu had been lying on the sofa pretending to be asleep when, completely unexpected, two cubs burst through the door. He had originally suppressed his aura and remained still to see what they wanted to do. He hadn’t expected the latter cub to be so sharp as to detect his deliberately concealed presence.

Rong Fu stood up, releasing his aura without hesitation to intimidate the intruder.

The fur on Long Ya’s neck puffed out instantly. He lowered his body and bared his sharp canine teeth in an offensive stance. Realizing what was happening, Bi Fang let out a clear, sharp cry, his black-bean eyes filled with wariness.

“You little brats, how dare you break into your grandfather’s territory!”

Rong Fu let out a tiger’s roar and suddenly reverted to his original form. He was a white tiger with black stripes, bearing a pair of wings on his back. With a single flap of his wings, he whipped up a fierce gale. The fluffy, single-legged Bi Fang couldn’t keep his footing and was blown rolling backward.

Bai Ze, who was still coming in from behind, caught him in his mouth in the nick of time. Hiding behind Long Ya, Bai Ze poked his head out to look, and his voice immediately grew heavy. “Qiong Qi!”

The Classic of Mountains and Seas: Classic of the Regions Within the Seas: North records: There is a beast that resembles a tiger, with hedgehog-like hair and wings. It is named Qiong Qi.

Qiong Qi was a notorious ferocious beast of legend, known for his brutal nature. During the era when the ancient demon tribe ruled supreme, he frequently fed on humans. Even among the various demons, he was a terrifying existence that struck fear into all.

However, they had no idea why Qiong Qi would appear here, and moreover, his divine power showed absolutely no signs of decline.

Ya’zi’s voice was grim. His claws extended and gripped the floor tightly as he spoke to Bai Ze behind him without turning his head: “I’ll hold him off. Go notify the others to leave first.”

If this were during his peak strength, he would never fear Qiong Qi. Most ancient demonic beasts possessed formidable strength and were exceptionally brutal. But now, their divine powers had waned, and they couldn’t even maintain their complete forms. They were absolutely no match for a Qiong Qi in his peak state.

Bai Ze also knew the urgency of the situation. He softly warned Long Ya to be careful, then arched his back and tiptoed backward with caution.

Seeing that they still dared to try and leave, Rong Fu let out another long roar, opening his mouth to reveal a maw of sharp teeth. “None of you are leaving!”

This was a gift he had prepared for his dear son. Since these brats dared to barge in so casually, he would definitely teach them a lesson.

Rong Fu bent his hind legs, spread his wings, and leaped toward the ceiling, intending to strike Bai Ze and Bi Fang—who were hiding behind Long Ya—from mid-air.

Bai Ze and Bi Fang’s fur puffed out in unison. Bi Fang shrieked and spat out a burst of crimson flame from his wide-open mouth, while Bai Ze lowered his head, preparing to fight back with the underdeveloped sharp horn on his forehead—

“What are you guys doing? Why didn’t you turn on the lights? And did you leave the window open when you went out? Why is the wind so strong…”

Carrying two cubs in his arms as he entered the door, Rong Sui squinted his eyes against the onslaught of the wild wind and fumbled along the wall to switch on the light.

The ceiling lights in the living room flickered on all at once, casting a bright, piercing glow. Mid-air, Rong Fu froze in his tracks. Upon seeing his suddenly appearing son, he went completely blank. Stiffening his wings, he fell straight from the ceiling onto the floor with a heavy thud.

Rong Fu covered his head with his wings, thinking to himself: It’s over, my boy saw me.

Rong Sui looked in bewilderment at the two opposing sides. The winged tiger lying on the ground looked oddly familiar to him. After a brief pause, he asked, “What are you doing? Having a group brawl?”

“Qiong Qi.” Yin Zhuzhi narrowed his eyes, leaped down from Rong Sui’s arms, and stood side-by-side with Long Ya in a defensive stance. “Bi Fang, take the Teacher, Bai Ze, and Hun Dun and leave first.”

Hearing his dear son’s name, Rong Fu’s ears twitched. He peeked stealthily through the gaps of his wings. Once he spotted the little cub in Rong Sui’s arms, he immediately stood up in a fit of rage and bellowed at Rong Sui, “My boy, why are you holding Hun Dun?!”

Rong Sui: “???”

The tiger’s voice sounded incredibly familiar. He narrowed his eyes and sized up the creature. The more he looked, the more he felt he had seen this tiger before. Aside from lacking wings, this large white tiger looked exactly like the one that had escorted him home.

“Dad?” With a twitch of his brow, Rong Sui called out hesitantly.

Rong Fu instantly retracted his overwhelming pressure. With a soft “ao,” he collapsed flat onto the ground. The two large wings that had just been flapping with formidable force now drooped limply behind him. He simply didn’t dare to acknowledge that call of “Dad.”

Seeing his guilt-ridden, cowardly demeanor—which was identical to how his father looked whenever he did something wrong—Rong Sui became even more certain. Ignoring the cubs’ attempts to stop him, he stepped forward and walked a couple of circles around the large tiger.

Rong Fu felt highly anxious under his gaze. He simply closed his eyes and stretched out his legs, attempting to play dead.

“You’re still pretending,” Rong Sui scoffed coldly, reaching out to pinch the tiger’s round ear. “Are you my dad or not?”

With his ear pinched, Rong Fu’s other ear flattened into a submissive “airplane ear” shape. He carefully retracted his sharp claws and used his soft paw pads to gently push Rong Sui’s hand away.

How can a son pinch his father’s ears!

Even if this father did something wrong, it’s still unacceptable! Besides, there are so many brats watching. How embarrassing!

Unable to push Rong Sui’s hand away, Rong Fu let out a muffled rumble from his throat. He simply rolled over onto his side, exposing his fluffy white belly, and affectionately licked Rong Sui’s hand to curry favor.

Sensing that the danger had passed, Bi Fang, unable to resist being cheeky, tried to get revenge for earlier by mocking him: “Such a huge tiger, yet still acting cute. You old rascal!”

Rong Fu stiffened. He bared his teeth and growled threateningly at him. Bi Fang was so startled that he stumbled and sat flat on his bottom, completely turning into a round green dumpling.

“Not only did you lie to your son, but you also bully cubs.”

Rong Sui let go of his ear and sat cross-legged in front of Rong Fu, commenting with a face of cold indifference, “How come I never knew my dad was so capable before?”

Rong Fu: “……”

Realizing his son was angry, Rong Fu sat up sheepishly. The massive tiger was two heads taller than the seated Rong Sui, yet he still nudged him with his large, fluffy head. “My dear boy.”

Rong Sui snorted, refusing his attempts to act cute. “Have you figured out how you’re going to explain this to me?”

Rong Fu scratched his head with a paw in embarrassment.

The living room had been left in a complete mess by the demonic wind. The carpet was torn by sharp claws, and the sheer curtains were whipped into a tangled knot. Rong Sui silently cleaned up the room, while Rong Fu followed closely behind him with a guilty face, followed by a trail of cubs at his rear.

Only after Rong Sui had methodically finished cleaning did he sit down again to look at his old father.

Sitting opposite him, Rong Fu rubbed his paws together nervously and coughed a few times. Seeing the group of cubs crowding tightly around his dear son with no intention of leaving, he could only glare at them with suppressed fury.

“Actually… I picked you up from the mountains.”

Rong Fu spoke in a muffled voice, recalling the time he had first found his dear boy. Back then, he had just awakened and was incredibly weak, so he was wandering around the mountains looking for food. That was when he encountered the abandoned Rong Sui beneath a tree.

“You were left under a tree back then. Seeing you crying so pitifully, I brought you back.” Rong Fu hung his head, not daring to look at Rong Sui.

“Pfft! Lies,” Bi Fang chimed in. “I bet you clearly intended to take him back to your cave to eat him.”

Qiong Qi’s love for eating humans was famous.

At Bi Fang’s words, the other cubs nodded in unison in agreement. Yin Zhuzhi even added, “Qiong Qi is a ferocious beast. He aligns with evil and detests good. He would never adopt a child out of a sudden moment of kindness.”

Having his true intentions exposed, Rong Fu flew into a rage, wanting to settle scores with the little brats.

Rong Sui merely stared at him silently. Instantly, the older man deflated like a punctured toy tiger. He scratched his head in frustration and simply gave up trying to hide it. “Even if I originally planned to bring him back as food, didn’t I end up not eating him?!”

After saying this, he sneaked a glance at Rong Sui. “My boy, you can’t hold a grudge against me.”

Looking at his pitiful old father, Rong Sui nodded.

Only then did Rong Fu continue: “I brought you back to my cave. Originally, I wanted to eat you to fill my stomach, but just as I was about to bite down, you weren’t scared at all. You even lunged forward and hugged me…”

The feeling back then was very strange. A tiny human infant not only showed no fear toward him but even reached out to grab his ear. Those fingers were so soft; they would surely taste tender and delicious. Yet, for some reason, a strange chord was struck in Rong Fu, and he suddenly lost his appetite.

Having lost his appetite, a sullen Rong Fu lay down beside the human infant. The infant had no idea he had just escaped from the tiger’s jaws. He simply rolled and rolled until he ended up under the tiger’s belly, falling fast asleep.

Looking at the soundly sleeping human infant, Rong Fu was suddenly reminded of the mountains of corpses on the battlefields of old. He thought about how times had changed and how both warring factions from the ancient war had vanished. His rough, iron-like heart felt a rare touch of melancholy and tenderness. In a moment of impulse, he decided to raise the human infant he had originally brought back as food.

Later on, as Rong Sui gradually grew up, Rong Fu frequently went down the mountain and learned about modern human society. Realizing that the present was different from the past, he concealed his identity, took the name Rong Fu, and settled down in Wulong Village. In the blink of an eye, over twenty years had passed.

Rong Sui had never expected that his existence was merely due to a sudden whim that spared him from being his father’s dinner. He sat dazed for a long time.

Rong Fu mumbled under his breath, “That’s why I didn’t dare to tell you.”

If his dear boy found out, what if he refused to be close to him anymore? This was the precious son he had painstakingly raised with his own two hands!

_

Author’s Note:

Rong Sui: So I was actually just a spared emergency food ration??

The Old Father: (Shrinks into a ball, not daring to speak.)