Hu Jiaojiao anxiously searched around and finally saw the silhouettes of several little cubs under the tree behind the wooden house.

Under the cold moonlight, the pitifully thin cubs huddled together for warmth. The sight tugged at Hu Jiaojiao’s heart.

She hurried over to them.

“Why did you run out here? Come on, follow Mommy back to the house and sleep inside.”

The cubs, startled by Hu Jiaojiao’s voice, woke up with a jolt, looking at her in terror and wariness.

Why had she come here?

They had thought that her kindness earlier, giving them food, was just a pretense. Was she here now to drag them back and beat them?

Seeing the fear in their eyes, Hu Jiaojiao suddenly remembered.

The original owner of this body had despised them because they were the offspring of the “useless” Long Mo. She hadn’t even allowed them to set foot inside the house, let alone sleep there. If they did, they would be beaten severely.

These cubs lived worse than orphans!

Feeling a pang of sympathy, Hu Jiaojiao knew they were scared of her. She softened her expression and, in a gentle tone, called out from where she stood, “Mommy just wants to bring you back inside to sleep. It’s cold out here, and you’ll get sick.”

Though beastmen were generally robust, these cubs were malnourished and much weaker than other cubs. Since it was already autumn, sleeping outside would surely make them sick.

Hu Jiaojiao wasn’t about to let that happen.

Long Yu, the eldest, stood protectively in front of his siblings, ready to defend them as if facing a great enemy. He refused her firmly, “We’ll sleep here. You leave.”

This little guy… he ate her food and now turned against her.

Hu Jiaojiao sighed helplessly and turned her gaze to Long Yu’s siblings, trying to entice them with food.

“Ling’er, come here. Come with Mommy back inside to sleep. Tomorrow morning, I’ll make more tasty food for you.”

Since she couldn’t get through to Long Yao, her target shifted to Long Ling’er.

“Really?” Remembering the delicious meat from earlier, Long Ling’er couldn’t help licking her lips.

“Of course. Mommy always keeps her word. If you listen to me, I’ll make you good food every day,” Hu Jiaojiao patiently coaxed.

Every day?

They would never have to go hungry again!

Ling’er’s dark eyes instantly sparkled with excitement.

“But… you won’t hit us, right?”

“Mama won’t hit you. I was wrong before, but I promise I’ll never hurt you again,” Hu Jiaojiao said with conviction.

“Swear it to the Beast God!” Ling’er, the cleverest of the five, knew how to bargain.

Beastmen generally feared swearing to the Beast God, as breaking such oaths would bring divine punishment.

Hu Jiaojiao understood this, but she confidently raised her right hand, holding up four fingers.

“Alright, Mommy swears to the Beast God. If I ever hurt you again, may I die a horrible death.”

Upon hearing this, the cubs’ eyes lit up.

She really swore!

Great! If she hit them, she’ll be dead!

“Big Brother, should we trust her this once?” Long Ling’er nudged Long Yu’s arm, whispering.

At worst, they’d get beaten, but if she broke her oath, she’d die. For food, Ling’er was willing to take the risk.

Long Yu glanced at his emaciated siblings and hesitantly nodded.

He then turned to Hu Jiaojiao and said, “Alright, we’ll go inside.”

Overjoyed that the cubs had agreed, Hu Jiaojiao beamed. It seemed they were willing to trust her, and she eagerly walked toward them.

As she approached, the cubs instinctively tensed, standing stiffly in place.

In the next moment, Hu Jiaojiao bent down, scooped up the coiled-up Long Yao from the grass pile, and headed toward the small wooden house.

“Let’s go, time for bed.”

Feeling the warmth of her embrace, the beast-shaped Long Yao didn’t struggle. Instead, he burrowed further into her arms, finding a comfortable position before closing his eyes to rest.

The other four cubs watched her closely, only daring to follow when they saw no sign of her turning hostile.

Since the last animal hide had been cut, the wooden house now had only a grass bed.

Hu Jiaojiao let the five cubs sleep on her old grass bed, while she went outside, gathering dry grass to make a makeshift bed at the door for the night.

The cubs were astonished, watching her sleep by the door.

Was this really the Vicious female? She even let them sleep on her bed?

“Big Brother, did she hit her head or something? She let us sleep on her bed…”

“I don’t know. Don’t trust her too easily.”

“Yeah, the evil woman’s a fox. Foxes are sly, we can’t trust her!”

“But, Third Brother, you’re a fox too…”

“She’s still bad. She deserves to die.”

The cubs, thinking Hu Jiaojiao was asleep, whispered among themselves as they huddled together.

Hu Jiaojiao, who was not yet fully asleep, heard their quiet chatter and smiled faintly with a touch of helplessness.

It was fine. She would have plenty of opportunities to build a relationship with them.

After all, now that she had her “golden finger”—the space with billions of supplies—she was confident she could win over these little cubs!

Hu Jiaojiao had already made up her mind: before the big villain returned, she would make the cubs her allies. Even if she couldn’t stop the villain’s descent into darkness, at least her death wouldn’t be too horrible.

The cubs’ soft murmuring worked like a lullaby. Exhausted from the day, Hu Jiaojiao soon drifted off to sleep.

The next morning.

Hu Jiaojiao was woken by the sounds of things being smashed outside.

As soon as she opened her eyes, she heard angry shouting coming from outside the door.

“You little brats! How dare you bully my son, Xiong Qiu, and crack his head open! Today, I’m going to teach you a lesson!”

“You parentless mongrels, thinking you can bully my son! I’ll beat you all to death, you little bastards!”

Hu Jiaojiao frowned.

Who was causing such a ruckus outside her house?

Getting up, she realized the cubs were nowhere to be seen inside. A sense of dread washed over her, and when she stepped outside, she saw Long Ling’er being violently yanked by the hair by a fat, brutish woman.

Long Yao’s tail was pinned under the woman’s foot, grinding into the ground as his beast body writhed in pain.

The other three cubs were furiously punching the woman, but their tiny fists were barely enough to tickle her. With one swat, she sent them sprawling into the dirt.

The neatly stacked firewood in the yard had been knocked over, scattered everywhere, and even the wooden fence was smashed with a huge hole.

Hu Jiaojiao’s anger flared instantly.

“You fat bitch! Stop right now! Try touching my cubs again and see what happens!”

With a cold glare, she rushed forward, grabbed the woman’s hair, and yanked it hard.

Though Hu Jiaojiao was a fox and not very strong, the sudden attack caught the woman off guard, nearly pulling her scalp off.

“Ah! It hurts! Let go, you wretch, let go of me!”

The woman’s face twisted in pain as she flailed her hands in the air, trying to scratch at Hu Jiaojiao’s face.

Standing behind her, Hu Jiaojiao easily dodged and pulled her hair even harder, forcing her toward the ground.

As she tugged, Hu Jiaojiao scolded her, “How dare you touch my cubs! I’ll beat you to death, you fat bitch. Your brat is the real bastard, your whole family is full of bastards!”