Chapter 24: The Verdant Grasslands

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Mu Qing met her clear eyes and guiltily turned her head away, snapping angrily in a show of false bravado, “Stop talking nonsense. Mia is clever, sensible, and fair-minded. She would never spout rubbish.”

“If Mother thinks she is so wonderful, then go and acknowledge her as your daughter,” Su Xiyue said coldly as she looked at her.

Mu Qing was rendered speechless, her expression turning ugly.

In her heart, she desperately wanted to say that Mia was already her daughter.

But if she said that aloud, Su Lie would be the first to make her pay.

She glared at Su Xiyue, anger overcoming her embarrassment. “Don’t change the subject. I’m asking you—did you bully Mia again today?”

Su Xiyue was so furious that she nearly laughed.

That old hag was so biased she had completely lost all sense. She believed everything Mia said without bothering to investigate.

Since she loved Mia so much, she could simply take Mia as her daughter.

“Yes, I bullied her. What are you going to do about it, Mother? Are you going to beat me like you used to?”

Su Xiyue looked at Mu Qing with a faint, mocking smile.

Yet her eyes were filled with icy light.

Mu Qing felt a chill run through her under that stare. She had wanted to strike her, but there was something strange about this troublemaker now. Especially those eyes—clear and bright, as though they could see straight through a person’s heart.

Suppressing the unease in her chest, she did not raise a hand. She merely glared at Su Xiyue and said angrily, “I’m warning you. You are not to bully Mia again. Otherwise, I will not let you off.”

With that, she turned and was about to leave.

Then her gaze fell upon the bizarre things in the baskets, and she stopped.

With a dark expression, she pointed at their contents. “What are all these things? Why did you bring this rubbish back? Why pick so many wild fruits? Can you even finish them? And you pulled up all these weeds too. Do you have nothing better to do?”

When she saw that one basket was filled entirely with various mushrooms, her expression changed. She stared at Su Xiyue in disbelief and snapped, “You idiot! Don’t you know mushrooms are poisonous? And you brought back so many of them? Throw them away at once…”

As she spoke, she reached out to dump the mushrooms.

Su Xiyue’s expression instantly darkened. She stepped forward and stopped her, saying coldly, “Stop. Who gave you permission to touch my things?”

Her voice was icy, carrying a trace of restrained anger.

She could not even be bothered to explain that the mushrooms were not poisonous. There was no point—Mu Qing would not believe her anyway.

Mu Qing’s outstretched hand froze. She looked up and glared furiously at Su Xiyue. “How dare you speak to me like that?”

Then she noticed the grass skirt Su Xiyue was wearing, along with its tattered condition. Pointing at her nose, she launched into a furious tirade. “Just look at yourself! What do you think you look like? A few leaves hanging off your body, with your backside exposed. You are a complete disgrace! Where is your hide skirt? Go and change it at once!”

Her long, pointed fingernails nearly jabbed Su Xiyue in the face. Her expression was savage, making her look every inch the old witch.

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Su Xiyue tilted her head aside and dodged her, her expression growing even colder. “My affairs are none of your concern.”

She could not be bothered to explain that the saber-toothed tiger had torn her hide skirt to pieces.

Every extra word would be a waste of time.

Mu Qing was practically beside herself with rage. Pointing at Su Xiyue, she trembled with fury. “You… you filthy female…”

Su Xiyue’s expression darkened at once, becoming utterly cold and devoid of emotion.

How dare this woman call her own daughter filthy?

She looked at Mu Qing with an icy gaze and enunciated each word. “I’ll say it again. My affairs are none of your concern, and you have no right to interfere.”

If this old woman were not the original owner’s mother, Su Xiyue would have struck her long ago.

Under Su Xiyue’s freezing stare, Mu Qing inexplicably felt a little afraid.

But the moment she thought of the rumors circulating through the tribe and Mia’s tearful complaints, her anger flared again.

She glared at Su Xiyue and shouted, “I have no right to interfere? If your father hadn’t indulged you, someone like you would have been driven out of the tribe long ago! Do you think I want to bother with you? I’m doing it for your own good!”

“For my own good?”

Su Xiyue laughed in anger. Looking at Mu Qing, she said sarcastically, “Your idea of doing what is best for me is to listen to Mia’s one-sided story and come here to interrogate me?”

She gave a cold snort. “Yes, I know I’m useless. I’ve embarrassed you and made you lose face. But ask yourself honestly—have you ever been a good mother? Have you ever treated me properly?”

Her words left Mu Qing’s face shifting between pale and livid, ugly beyond measure.

She looked at Su Xiyue, her lips moving as she tried to explain, but she soon realized there was nothing she could say.

Because Su Xiyue was telling the truth.

She had indeed never treated her properly. Deep down, she hated her and wished she had never had this daughter. She had also believed Mia’s one-sided story without question.

And yet, even so, she did not think she had done anything wrong.

She was Su Xiyue’s mother. Naturally, she had the right to discipline her.

Mu Qing glanced at the grass skirt, then at Su Xiyue’s much more delicate-looking face. Suppressing the strange feeling in her heart, she said sternly, “I don’t care what your reason is. Change out of that at once. What kind of appearance is this?”

Without waiting for Su Xiyue to respond, she turned and walked away on her own.

She had only just reached the mouth of the cave when Su Xiyue called after her in a languid voice, “I washed all my hides and hide skirts this morning. They’re drying in the square. If you think I’m making a disgrace of myself dressed like this, go and bring them back for me. You know which ones they are.”

A ready-made errand runner was still an errand runner. There was no reason not to make use of her.

Mu Qing’s expression turned ugly. She gave a cold snort but said nothing, walking away with stiff steps.

Su Xiyue watched her retreating back, her face filled with icy disdain.

That old hag was far worse than Su Lie and his son, Su Mu.

Although Su Lie and Su Mu both disliked the original owner and were frustrated by her uselessness, they still cared about her deep down and would protect her.

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Mu Qing, however, genuinely wished she had never had her.

Instead, she adored Mia and sent her every good thing she obtained.

Su Xiyue began to wonder whether Mia might secretly be this old hag’s daughter by another beastman.

The thought startled her. The more she considered it, the more likely it seemed.

Otherwise, what mother would protect someone else while bullying her own daughter?

It made no sense at all.

Su Xiyue frowned. She remembered that Mia had a younger sister named Miyao, whose father was Qing Yan, a peak fourth-tier beastman from the Wolf Tribe.

As for her mother, no one knew. All they had heard was that she had died very early.

“System, are Mia and Mu Qing related?”

She asked inwardly.

The system did not conceal the truth and soon replied, “Mia was born to Mu Qing and Qing Yan, a beastman of the Wolf Tribe. They also had another daughter named Miyao, Mia’s younger sister. Both of Qing Yan’s daughters were born to your mother. The two of them have been secretly involved for nearly twenty years.”

The system paused, then continued, “In addition, Mu Qing had two sons with a beastman from the Leopard Tribe. Their names are Ling Yu and Ling Yun. She also has a lover in the Mad Lion Tribe, with whom she had two sons. The elder is Lei Shi, and the younger is Lei Nuo.”

“She has another lover in the Snake Tribe as well. They had a son and a daughter, named Han Lin and Mei Xin. All of those children live with their respective fathers.”

After hearing this, Su Xiyue was completely stunned.

That old hag had truly spread her affections everywhere—and she was remarkably fertile.

Besides Su Xiyue and Su Mu, she had secretly borne eight other children.

No wonder she favored Mia so much. It turned out Mia was her own flesh and blood.

So was Miyao.

Su Xiyue suddenly felt a little sorry for Su Lie. He had an entire verdant pasture growing over his head.

“Does my cheap father know?”

She could not help asking inwardly.

The system replied, “He doesn’t. Other than your mother, those eight children, and her lovers, no one knows.”

“Though now you know as well,” the system added.

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