Chapter 45: Father

After the Mi Lu Te clan finally settled into Rabbit Clan, Su Yan was ushered through a long round of introductions by the old clan leader himself. One by one, she met Zulu’s entire web of relatives—every aunt, every uncle, every cousin and in-law who could possibly claim a tie to him.

Her three little cubs made out even better.

Elders crowded around them with warm laughter and bright eyes, pressing gifts into tiny paws and muttering blessings as though generosity were a ritual. By the time it was over, the babies had practically struck it rich.

Especially the two little females. They were doted on so shamelessly it was almost comical.

Rabbit Clan females, Su Yan learned, were born with two wombs. One pregnancy could carry two litters at once, and their fertility was usually mid-grade or higher—almost never low-grade. That alone made Rabbit Clan females prized among beastman clans.

Su Yan rubbed her belly. Over the last two days it had rounded more and more, heavy and tight beneath her palm. She would give birth soon.

Zulu began going to the Beast Forest more and more often, bringing back rare herbs and precious treasures like offerings. Each time he returned, he looked as though he’d wrestled the wilderness itself—hair wind-tossed, scent of damp earth and crushed leaves clinging to him—yet his hands were always careful when he passed his finds to her.

The closer she came to delivery, the more the child demanded. It felt as if the baby were pulling from her bones.

Even Su Yan could tell she was dwindling. She had always been slender, but now she was nearly paper-thin—nothing left but a belly that seemed too large for her frame.

And Zulu’s trips into the Beast Forest grew longer.

Still, every time he returned, he brought something back for the child in her womb—something he swore would help.

On the day labor truly began, Su Yan’s appetite vanished. Hunger simply switched off. Even water made her throat rebel.

Outside the birthing room, Zulu paced like a caged beast, face tight with fear, as if sheer will could pull her pain away. He looked ready to storm in and deliver in her place.

Su Yan gritted through a contraction and listened to the steady rhythm of movement inside her. With Little Mei’s time report from the System, she knew she still had more than four hours.

She called weakly for Zulu to go handle other things first.

Zulu refused. He stayed planted outside the door.

“Zulu—Zulu—”

The old clan leader came hurrying over, breath short, his robe askew.

Zulu turned sharply. “What is it?”

“Your second brother…” The old clan leader’s voice shook. “He left early yesterday morning and still hasn’t come back.”

Zulu’s eyes hardened. “Where did he go?”

“He went to the Greenwood Plains Beast Forest. We heard devil beasts were roaming, so he took men to hunt.”

Zulu’s gaze flicked toward the birthing room, as if the wooden door could answer him.

The old clan leader stepped closer, urgency pressing into every word. “I’ll stay here and keep watch. I’ll pray to the Beast God to bless your daughter-in-law and let her deliver safely.”

Zulu hesitated, jaw working. Then he nodded once, sharp as a cut. He leaned toward the door and called inside, voice strained, “Second Brother is missing. I’m going to find him. I’ll be back before dark.”

Su Yan forced her eyes open and looked toward the window. The light was already slanting, but it would still be three or four hours before nightfall. “Go,” she said, breath catching. “Be careful.”

“…All right.”

Zulu stared at the door as though he could carve the image of her into his mind, then finally left.

Near dusk, Jun Sen was carried back by the clan, half-soaked in blood.

The old clan leader checked him first, hands shaking as he peeled back cloth. A beast’s tusks had torn through Jun Sen’s shoulder, the wound jagged and brutal, but his breathing was steady. His life wasn’t in danger.

“Where’s Zulu?” the old clan leader demanded.

The clansmen exchanged looks.

Jun Sen’s face was pale from blood loss, his mouth trembling as though the words tasted like ash.

The old clan leader’s heart lurched. “Speak! What happened to Zulu?”

Jun Sen swallowed hard. “He… he died saving me. A devil beast… ate him.”

The moment the words left his mouth, Jun Sen’s eyes rolled back. He collapsed into unconsciousness.

The old clan leader stumbled backward, nearly falling. Someone caught him before he hit the ground.

“How could that be?” he rasped, voice cracking. “Zulu killed so many devil beasts—how could he be eaten?”

“Clan Chief,” someone urged, “we should send people to search.”

“Go!” the old clan leader barked. Grief and fury braided into his shout. “Notify the whole clan. Anyone who can move goes to search!”

Inside the birthing room, Su Yan suddenly cried out, a sharp sound ripped from her throat.

The old clan leader turned toward it, guilt flooding his expression.

He shouldn’t have let Zulu go.

But if Zulu hadn’t gone… Jun Sen would have died.

Both were his sons. How was he supposed to choose?

Night deepened, and Su Yan’s labor slid into its final stage, relentless and close.

The old clan leader found the tribal shaman. “Has Zulu returned?”

The tribal shaman had just finished bandaging Jun Sen and already knew the truth. But Su Yan could not be told—not now. If she panicked and her labor turned difficult, it would be catastrophic.

The old clan leader had already given the order: Su Yan must survive the delivery.

If it came to it, save the mother.

“Not yet,” the tribal shaman answered.

In his heart, he ached. There would be no body. There would be nothing to bring back.

Su Yan checked the time in the System. Ten minutes remained.

She opened the System Map, searching within a hundred meters, pulse hammering.

Zulu cared too much about this child to miss its birth. He had to be nearby.

But when the map flared to life, she saw Jun Sen instead—pale and weak on a bed, his shoulder wrapped in blood-soaked cloth.

Voices carried through the night air, muffled and jagged.

“…Third Brother died saving me,” Jun Sen said hoarsely. “From now on, his children are my children. I’ll raise them as my own.”

“It’s good that you can think that way,” the clan chief’s wife said, grief thick in every syllable.

Su Yan’s breath caught.

Zulu… dead?

No. Impossible.

He was strong. His talent was exceptional. He couldn’t be gone.

“I never expected we’d run into a devil beast with Profound-rank strength,” Jun Sen continued, voice breaking. “It was too strong—we were no match. If Third Brother had abandoned me, he could’ve escaped. I was the one who dragged him down…”

He began to cry again.

Su Yan’s heart sank, heavy and cold.

A Profound-rank devil beast.

At the same rank, devil beasts were usually stronger than beastmen—because when they devoured beastmen, they could steal talents. Not just one, either.

A devil beast that reached Profound rank… how many had it devoured along the way? How many talents did it carry?

“Push,” the tribal shaman urged suddenly. “One more—almost there!”

Su Yan sucked in a trembling breath. Whatever happened outside, the child had to be born.

Just then, a shout exploded beyond the door—“The devil beasts are here!”

The tribal shaman’s face changed. He grabbed a beastman blanket and threw it over Su Yan. “To the underground passage—now!”

But the child was already crowning. Su Yan was one push away. “W-wait—!”

Outside, the devil beasts didn’t even bother attacking the rabbit beastmen. They charged straight for the birthing room. Every beastman in their path was brushed aside, too slow to stop them.

Someone burst into the room, eyes wild. “Run! They’re coming for the child!”

On the System Map, a pack of devil beasts surged forward like a storm of fangs and claws. Su Yan’s face went white. A hot rush spilled between her legs.

Then her vision blackened, and the world snapped away as she fell into the feigned-death state that followed birth.

[Congratulations, Host, on giving birth to your fifth offspring. Sex: female. Beast form: Ghost Chariot Phoenix Bird. Talent: fire-type Earth-rank talent; upgraded to quasi-Heaven-rank rule talent by the Golden Marrow Pill.

Father: Ghost Chariot Phoenix Bird. Rewards: 50,000 points, one Childbearing Gift Pack, and one Talent Scroll for the Mother Host.]

Su Yan barely believed what she was hearing. [Fifty thousand?]

Little Mei’s voice sounded, oddly gentle for once. [Yes. The Childbearing System has grown to 47%.]

Su Yan opened her status panel and stared.

51,887.

She blinked hard. Rubbed her eyes. Looked again.

It was real.

[This is insane…] she thought, dazed and thrilled. [One baby—fifty thousand points.]

Giddy heat rose in her chest. [I’m going to give him two more litters.]

[Host, are you going to the East District?]

[The East District?]

[Yes. The male who fathered this child has already taken the child and left for the East District of the Beast World Continent.]

Su Yan jolted.

[Then that fake Zulu didn’t die?]

She snapped her gaze to the Father field.

[Ghost Chariot Phoenix Bird?]

Little Mei’s voice returned, cool as ever. [Host, would you like to spend 500 points to exchange for Zulu’s whereabouts?]