He didn't believe Qiao Xixi, but he couldn't struggle free.
'But I'm full today,' he thought. 'When that stupid female hands me over to the stupid white bears, I'll find a chance to escape.'
Seeing he had stopped moving, Qiao Xixi turned to the family of white bears.
"How about I have Qiao Lie apologize and compensate you with a fish-beast?"
The White Bear Beastman family exchanged glances, wondering why Qiao Xixi had such a sudden change of heart.
But they were willing to accept the terms. After all, finding food on the ice plains wasn't easy, even for them.
"Fine."
Seeing they had agreed, Qiao Xixi gently patted Qiao Lie's shoulder.
"Qiao Lie, apologize to them."
Qiao Lie's little face tightened as he said coldly, "He stole my food before and never apologized."
Hearing this, the white bear cub became indignant.
"You're the one who stole from me first!"
Qiao Xixi looked at the little cub's tightly clenched fists and guessed he wasn't lying.
She turned to the white bear cub.
"Tell me, have you ever stolen food from Qiao Lie before?"
The white bear cub huffed. "That was only because he stole from me first!"
Qiao Xixi's expression hardened. She looked at the female White Bear Beastman.
"You heard him. Your cub stole from mine as well. We are willing to apologize, but you must also apologize to my cub."
The male White Bear Beastman let out a cold snort.
"Qiao Lie almost choked our cub to death, and you want us to apologize? Dream on. Hand Qiao Lie over to us, or this isn't over."
As soon as the male White Bear Beastman finished speaking, a paw larger than her own head shot out to grab Qiao Lie.
Qiao Xixi's heart leaped in alarm. She clutched Qiao Lie and quickly backed away.
"You, a grown male, are bullying a cub and a female? Aren't you afraid of punishment from the Beast God?"
Even among Wandering Beasts, females were far more precious than males and could not be bullied at will.
Qiao Lie was astonished that Qiao Xixi was actually defending him.
The male White Bear Beastman hesitated for a moment after hearing Qiao Xixi's words. He did fear the Beast God's punishment.
Seeing his hesitation, Qiao Xixi pressed on. "As I said, we are willing to apologize for what happened today, but your cub must also apologize to Qiao Lie for his past actions."
The male White Bear Beastman turned to the female, letting her make the decision.
Compared to giving Qiao Lie a beating, the female White Bear Beastman was more interested in the food. After all, it was only going to get colder, and they had to prepare an ample supply.
"Alright," she said, grabbing the white bear cub. "Apologize to that snake cub."
The white bear cub looked resentful but obediently said, "Sorry."
Qiao Xixi then looked at Qiao Lie.
Qiao Lie's sharp little eyebrows furrowed deeply.
Qiao Xixi patted Qiao Lie. "Qiao Lie, he's acknowledged his mistake. Now it's your turn."
Qiao Lie glared at Qiao Xixi and said stiffly, "Sorry."
An apology to avoid a beating; Qiao Lie didn't think it was a bad deal.
DING DONG.
"Congratulations, Host, for completing the task: 'Make the cub Qiao Lie apologize.' The system will now grant the Host a reward: Fire Starter. Please accept."
Qiao Xixi saw a lighter materialize in the void-like space.
'A fire starter… I do need one, but I need food more right now!'
'Still, it's better than nothing.' With a thought, she temporarily stored the fire starter in the system's void.
After Qiao Xixi gave one of the fish-beasts to the White Bear Beastman family, they left.
As soon as Qiao Xixi returned to the ice cave, Qiao Ang shot her a disdainful look.
"You stupid female, giving them a fish-beast for free. Don't you know how hard it is to find food? Go ahead and starve tomorrow, then."
Qiao Qiao twitched her two fluffy ears and gave Qiao Xixi a very forced smile. Clearly, she felt the same way as Qiao Ang.
Qiao Xixi felt she needed to make things clear to them.
"When you do something wrong, you must apologize and accept the consequences. I'll find more food tomorrow; I won't let you go hungry."
Qiao Lie stood off to the side, watching Qiao Xixi without a word before walking over to lie down beside Qiao Ang and Qiao Qiao.
The three well-fed cubs huddled together on the ground and closed their eyes, clearly paying no mind to Qiao Xixi's words.
Qiao Xixi wiped her face, telling herself that raising brats was no easy task.
'One step at a time. One step at a time!'
Her mouth watered as she looked at the last remaining fish-beast on the ground. She picked up a nearby ice knife and sliced off a small piece of meat.
She disliked eating raw food, but this godforsaken place had no firewood, making the fire starter useless. To avoid starving, she had no choice but to make do.
Thankfully, she didn't mind sashimi. After eating a palm-sized piece of the fish-beast's meat, she put the rest away. 'I'll have to catch more tomorrow.'
She glanced at the three cubs huddled together on the ground, then took an animal hide from her bed and draped it over them.
Qiao Xixi glanced at the darkening sky outside, lay down on the ice bed, and slowly closed her eyes.
In the middle of her sleep, Qiao Xixi was startled awake by a violent shaking.
It was not yet dawn, but on the ice plains, with their towering icebergs and white snow, visibility was never truly low, even at night.
She got out of bed. Feeling the tremors underfoot, she rushed outside the cave to see what was happening.
Her face went pale at the sight. It was misty outside, but she could clearly see the white expanse before her shaking.
The section of ice containing their cave had cracked and was now an ice floe, drifting away from the mountainside.
If they didn't get off it immediately, they would be trapped on the ice floe, adrift to who knows where.
And the water was full of wild predators that fed on beastmen!
With no time to think, Qiao Xixi spun around and ran back into the ice cave to wake the cubs.
"Qiao Lie! All of you, wake up! The ice under the cave has broken off from the mountain! We have to get out of here, now!"
The cubs jolted awake, and Qiao Ang was the first to realize what was happening.
He scrambled to his feet and immediately dashed for the remaining fish-beast, clutching it to his chest.
Qiao Xixi didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
She quickly rolled up the animal hides in the cave—the entirety of their family's possessions.
"Quick, follow me!"
The young cubs transformed into their beast forms: Qiao Lie became a crimson python, while Qiao Ang and Qiao Qiao turned into two pure-white snow foxes.
Qiao Xixi also transformed, becoming a Silver Frost White Wolf, and led the cubs in a dash toward the distant mountainside.
But the giant ice floe had already broken away from the mountainside, and a considerable gap had opened between them.
The cubs were still small; there was no way they could leap across such a distance.
Qiao Qiao huddled fearfully against her brother. She was still too young, and the danger made her feel like crying.
Qiao Xixi took a few quick steps back, then charged forward and leaped to the other side in a single bound.
Watching Qiao Xixi leave so decisively, the three cubs' eyes reddened with despair, even though they had always known she never liked them.
They had been abandoned.