One after another, women arrived at her home carrying gifts and offering congratulations. At first, Su Qinglan assumed they had simply come to see the cubs. However, she soon noticed something unusual.

Many of the females were pregnant.

The moment she realized this, she froze.

Those cubs had not existed before.

Half a month ago, many of these same females had visited her seeking treatment. At the time, they had struggled to conceive for years. Some had already lost hope entirely and resigned themselves to a childless future.

Yet now they stood before her with a pregnant glow.

The sight nearly brought tears to Su Qinglan’s eyes.

The females themselves were even more emotional. Many repeatedly thanked her, some with tears glistening in their eyes. Without her treatment, they might never have experienced the joy of becoming mothers.

The atmosphere inside the house became exceptionally warm.

Looking at all the smiling faces and healthy cubs, Su Qinglan felt a deep sense of accomplishment that was difficult to describe. It was a feeling unlike anything she had experienced before.

As news continued to spread, her reputation within Dragon Beast City rose to even greater heights. More and more people acknowledged her medical abilities, and many females had already begun privately referring to her as the finest healer in the entire city.

If she had not still been recovering from childbirth, there would probably have been a long line of patients waiting outside her home every day.

Of course, not everything during the week had been good news.

One matter continued to linger in Su Qinglan’s mind.

That female Yue Lian. Because of her, she fell into the trap of Rong Yanchen. Ever since that incident, the couple had completely disappeared.

They had vanished without leaving behind the slightest trace.

Su Qinglan had immediately informed City Lord Mo Qingli, and the guards of Dragon Beast City had conducted an extensive investigation. Yet despite searching throughout the city and beyond its borders, they discovered absolutely nothing.

It was as though the couple had never existed in Dragon Beast City at all.

The deeper the investigation went, the stranger the situation became. Even now, nobody knew where they had gone or what their true purpose had been. And how can they harm someone from their own city?

The mystery remained completely unsolved.

As Su Qinglan thought about it, a slight frown appeared on her face.

For some reason, she could not shake the feeling that the matter was far from over.

Perhaps one day, when no one expected it, they would suddenly appear before her once again.

More importantly, she still could not understand how they had been willing to betray their own city and people for the sake of an outsider.

The bond and loyalty shared by those who belonged to the same city were supposed to be absolute.

Betrayal of one’s city was considered an unforgivable crime, and if their actions were exposed, the punishment awaiting them would be anything but lenient.

***

While the rest of the house remained lively with visiting guests and the constant bustle of caring for newborn cubs, one particular room remained unusually quiet.

Inside, Xuan Long sat cross-legged upon a cushion, his tall figure perfectly still as he focused on the white egg resting carefully in his lap.

During the past week, this had become part of his daily routine. Whenever he found a moment of free time, he would retreat to the room and sit beside the egg, slowly nurturing it with his spiritual energy.

Although the little fellow still showed no signs of hatching, Xuan Long could clearly feel the life force within growing stronger with each passing day.

The connection between them had become increasingly distinct, and every time he poured energy into the egg, he could sense a faint response from the life sleeping inside.

As he quietly examined the smooth shell, the peaceful atmosphere was suddenly shattered.

The door burst open with a loud bang.

An Mo strode into the room with such force that even the wooden frame rattled slightly.

Xuan Long slowly lifted his head and looked at him.

An Mo stared back.

For several moments, neither spoke.

The silence stretched between them until An Mo finally narrowed his eyes and looked at Xuan Long as though staring at an especially hopeless fool.

A frown immediately appeared on Xuan Long’s face.

Somehow, he had a very bad feeling about this.

"You blockhead."

An Mo spoke first.

"Did you even notice anything?"

Xuan Long blinked once.

"...Notice what?"

The moment those words left his mouth, An Mo looked as though his blood pressure had risen to dangerous levels.

For the past three days, he had completely disappeared without warning. Nobody knew where he had gone, and nobody had questioned him either. After all, An Mo frequently vanished whenever some strange idea entered his head.

Yet the moment he returned, he had rushed directly into Xuan Long’s room and was now staring at him as though he had committed an unforgivable crime.

Xuan Long simply looked back at him, his expression calm and completely puzzled.

An Mo gritted his teeth before suddenly pulling several old scrolls from his storage ring and throwing them onto Xuan Long’s lap.

The scrolls landed beside the egg.

"What is this?" Xuan Long asked.

"Read it."

An Mo snorted.

"You don’t know anything. You don’t investigate anything. You don’t even bother looking outside. After all this time, you still haven’t guessed a single thing."

Xuan Long’s forehead twitched slightly.

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

Without hesitation, An Mo pointed directly at the white egg.

"It isn’t from the Teng Clan."

The room instantly became quiet.

Xuan Long looked at An Mo. Then he looked at the egg. Then he calmly looked back.

"So?"

An Mo nearly choked.

"So?"

His voice rose several levels.

"That’s all you have to say?"

He pointed at the egg again, looking as though he wanted to shake some sense into Xuan Long.

"Can’t you see it? It doesn’t have the bloodline aura of the Teng Serpent Clan. The scent is different. The appearance is different. Even the egg itself looks completely different."

Xuan Long listened quietly before giving a simple answer.

"It is still my egg."

An Mo froze.

"It is my cub," Xuan Long continued calmly. "And Lanlan’s cub. What does it matter whether it inherited the Teng Serpent bloodline or not? It is still our child."

For several long seconds, An Mo could only stare at him. At that moment, he genuinely felt the urge to hit someone.

Taking several deep breaths to calm himself, he finally forced himself to sit down.

"I’m not saying it isn’t your cub!" he shouted.

"I’m saying it doesn’t seem to have inherited the Teng Serpent bloodline at all!"