Clumsy Beast, Keep Your Paws Off Chapter 680: The Long Flight Home

Lan Shun chuckled helplessly, rubbing the back of his neck. "She’s always been like that since she was a cub. She’s really something else."

Slap!

Wang Mulan slapped her palm flat against the heavy wooden table, rattling the stone bowls.

"That makes it even worse! Go bring her here immediately! I’ll personally keep a strict eye on her! What if she catches a cold and gets deathly sick? Has she ever seen another female in any tribe soaking in an icy river?!"

"Every single female stays safely inside the house wrapped in furs during winter, and she actually went out swimming! That mischievous child... she hasn’t changed a single bit!"

Seeing her fiery reaction, everyone around the table couldn’t help but burst into soft laughter.

Wang Mulan was still exactly the same as she had always been. Whenever it came to her children, she worried herself to pieces over every little thing.

After calming her breathing and sitting back down, her maternal gaze shifted, wandering toward the other side of the table until it landed squarely on Yin Feng.

"Husband," she murmured, a trace of deep maternal worry clouding her face once more.

"Where are our three sons? They explicitly promised they would return to Dragon Beast City before the first frost of winter. Why haven’t they come back yet?"

The worry in her voice was palpable. Her three sons had traveled to Yin Feng’s ancestral hawk tribe nearly a year ago to undergo their traditional growth training deep in the dangerous mountains.

Now, winter had already arrived in full force, yet there was still absolutely no sign of them on the horizon.

Yin Feng reached across the table, his large, calloused hand gently closing over hers to offer comfort.

"They should be back any day now, Mulan. Don’t fret. They’re already sixteen years old; they’re not little, helpless cubs anymore. They know how to track, and they won’t lose their way."

Wang Mulan still couldn’t completely relax her tense shoulders.

"But they’re still my cubs, Yin Feng. What if something terrible happened on the mountain passes? What if they’re trapped in some cave right now, freezing because of the heavy snow? What if..."

Yin Feng smiled helplessly, his thumb gently tracing the back of her hand. "If they’re really trapped by the blizzard, I’ll personally head out into the mountains and drag them back by their scruffs myself. Alright?"

Only then did Wang Mulan finally let out a small, trembling sigh of relief, leaning back slightly.

Just then, the heavy bedroom door slowly creaked open.

A tiny, sleepy little figure walked out into the dining hall, aggressively rubbing his eyes with his fists.

Mo Xiao Li yawned widely, his messy, dark hair sticking out in every single direction like a bird’s nest. He looked completely dazed and half-asleep.

However... the exact millisecond the rich scent of the hot food hit his nose, his eyes instantly snapped wide open, turning bright and sharp.

"Food!" he gasped.

He didn’t waste another second. He immediately sprinted across the floorboards straight toward the table.

Then, stopping right at the edge, he looked up at the adults with a deeply aggrieved, pouty face.

"Hmph!" he huffed, crossing his tiny arms. "Why didn’t anyone wake me up from my nap? You’re all eating this delicious food entirely without me!"

The room instantly burst into a chorus of hearty laughter. Mo Qingli looked down at his dramatic son, shaking his head full of amusement and exasperation.

"You absolute little glutton," Mo Qingli teased gently. "You already ate a massive bowl of seasoned meat right before you fell asleep for your nap. Are you seriously hungry again already?"

Mo Xiao Li immediately leveled a fierce, pouty glare at his father. "Hmph!"

Without saying another word to defend his bottomless stomach, he nimbly sat right beside Wang Mulan. Once settled, he reached out and tightly hugged her arm, leaning his head against her arm.

"Mother, look," he whined, playing up his innocence.

"Father doesn’t even want to let me eat properly. If I don’t eat, how am I supposed to grow up big and strong?" He puffed out his tiny chest with immense, toddler pride.

"I still have to protect my elder sister in the future! So legally, I need to eat way more!"

The entire room instantly filled with laughter at his grand declaration. Even Mo Qingli couldn’t help but smile at his son’s fierce protective streak.

Wang Mulan’s heart melted completely. She reached over and gently pinched Mo Xiao Li’s chubby, soft cheek.

"Alright, alright. Our little hero definitely needs to grow big and strong to protect the family. Mother will scoop you another big bowl."

Mo Xiao Li’s eyes sparkled like stars. "Mother is the absolute best!" he cheered, happily wrapping his small arms around her neck.

Watching the lively, bickering, and loving family gathered together, everyone smiled with a deep sense of contentment.

Outside the thick stone walls, the brutal winter snowstorm continued to howl and rage against the world.

Far away from Dragon Beast City, the world had long been swallowed by an endless expanse of pristine, suffocating white.

Heavy snow blanketed the towering mountain peaks, ancient forests, and deep valleys, locking everything beneath a thick, unforgiving layer of snow.

The freezing arctic wind howled across the high peaks like the synchronized roar of countless savage beasts, making the already bitter weather even harsher with each passing hour.

Hidden securely halfway up one of those perilous mountains was a cave.

Its entrance was cleverly concealed by a natural barrier of towering rocks and frozen, thick vines. This unique geographical formation perfectly blocked most of the howling gales and heavy snowfall, turning the interior into a secure shelter from the storm.

Inside the cave, a bright, massive fire crackled warmly against the stone walls.

Five young men sat tightly around the dancing flames while several thick pieces of hunted-beast meat slowly roasted over the fire, dripping juices into the embers and releasing an absolutely irresistible aroma.

If anyone from Dragon Beast City were present right now, they would immediately recognize all five of them.

Three of the young men were sixteen-year-old Hawk Beastmen. Even more surprisingly... they were identical triplets.

The three brothers shared almost the exact same handsome face, sharp, elegant eyebrows, and piercing golden eyes.

If not for their subtly different hair colors and distinct expressions, most ordinary people would never be able to tell them apart.

They were none other than the three sons of Wang Mulan and Yin Feng: Yin Chen, Yin Shen, and Yin Lie.

It had already been a full year since they had left home to return to their father’s ancestral Hawk tribe, staying deep in the mountains to train with their relatives.

Now, just as they had promised their worried parents before leaving, they were finally making the long trek back to Dragon Beast City.

Unfortunately, none of them had expected the catastrophic winter snows to arrive so suddenly and violently.

Within a matter of only a few days, the steep mountain passes had become nearly impossible to safely cross.

Because of this, the five of them could only travel during the brief windows of daytime when the blinding snowstorm weakened slightly.

At night, they were forced to seek out secure caves to rest in, hunting whatever local game they could find along the way just to fill their bottomless stomachs.