As soon as they stepped out of the garden, they saw a group of people approaching.
"Manman, why don't you stay at the mansion? We can't bear to see you leave~"
"Yes, yes! We still have so many fun things we haven't shown you yet."
Yan Xi also didn't want her daughter who had just returned to stay elsewhere: "Why don't you move in? The room is already prepared."
Yun Manman, held in her arms, looked up at the fear and reluctance in her eyes, and raised her head to lick her cheek.
"But I promised Uncle Shou Ren I'd go back tonight, and I have to guide the General's mental power tomorrow morning. Didn't Brother Yan Ye say the General was on his way?"
Yan Xi knew that Yun Manman was still adjusting to their relationship, and pushing too hard would only make her uncomfortable, so she eventually agreed.
After all, the Singing Snake Mansion was very safe. Tomorrow she'd send those rascals to pick up Manman.
Yun Manman looked ahead and saw Yan Ye approaching with Lu Qi behind him. She happily waved her paw.
"Qi... General Lu Qi!"
Hearing their precious one's enthusiastic and happy voice, all the Cloud Beast Beastmen present looked at the newcomers with displeasure.
The expressions on the faces of Yun Rong, Yan Shuang, and Yan Xi, who knew about Lu Qi's previous engagement to Yun Manman and its cancellation, were even more colorful, alternating between gloomy and bright.
Initially, the engagement with Lu Qi was actually meant for Yan Xi's cub.
However, Yan Xi's cub later went missing, and after searching for a long time without finding her, the engagement was repeatedly postponed.
Yun Rong had also mentioned this to His Majesty, but His Majesty's opinion was that other young members of the Yunzheng Clan would also be acceptable.
Moreover, since Lu Qi had always been indifferent to this engagement, Yun Rong had just left it alone.
Now that Yan Xi's cub had been found, the Yunzheng Clan was reluctant to let her go.
Their cub who had just returned! Such an adorable cub! Such a small cub!
Even if the Beast God came, they wouldn't want to hand her over.
Conveniently, His Majesty had recently said to cancel the engagement, and Yun Rong, remembering this, was thoroughly relieved.
Although Lu Qiqi was indeed a good child, their Manman was so cute!
In the end, they couldn't bear to hand her over to another rascal so quickly.
Lu Qi looked up and met the strange gazes of the Cloud Beast Beastmen, causing him to hesitate in his steps.
Come on, he just canceled an engagement, it shouldn't be this bad, right?
They all looked like they wanted to pounce on him and tear him apart.
The female beastmen in the Yunzheng Clan weren't interested in him either.
But his little cat was still in Aunt Yan Xi's arms. He walked towards Yan Xi, enduring a string of gazes that seemed to burn through his scales, intending to take Yun Manman.
Unexpectedly, Yan Xi took a step back, smiling as she said, "Since the General no longer has an engagement with our family, why is he still so intimate with our female beastmen?"
Lu Qi's mind was full of question marks. It's not like he wanted to be close to Aunt Yan Xi, right?
At this moment, Yan Ye introduced from the side: "This is our sister we just recognized, Yun Manman, Aunt Yan Xi's own cub."
His voice was clearly holding back laughter.
Yan Ye thought: That's right, even a blind person could see you have feelings for my sister.
The Yan cat just didn't want his sister to be with this annoying big snake.
What's wrong with that?
Lu Qi then looked at Yun Manman, seeing her nod as well.
Suddenly, a huge bolt of lightning appeared in the sky, as if to split the sky open. A pale light enveloped everyone under the eaves, followed immediately by an ear-splitting thunderclap.
Lu Qi's mind went blank, as if stunned by the thunder.
Amidst the lightning and thunder, he recalled what Yan Ye had told him, and the strange expressions on the faces of Yun Rong, Yan Shuang, Yan Xi, and others.
So, his original fiancée was Yun Manman?
He had lost his own mate by his own hand??
Amidst the overwhelming thunder, Lu Qi's brain resounded with his own resolute words: "I, Lu Qi, will never mate with you Cloud Beast Beastmen!"
Half an hour later, Yun Manman sat in the passenger seat of the hover car, looking with concern at the fresh wound on Lu Qi's face.
She asked puzzledly, "So why did you fight?"
Just now at the Yunzheng mansion, after hearing Yan Ye's introduction, Lu Qi was stunned for a long time, then suddenly erupted, grabbing Yan Ye and wrestling with him, saying things she couldn't understand.
"So you knew all along! Yan Ye, you bastard!!"
The brothers and sisters who had long been unhappy with Lu Qi also joined the battlefield as if to stir things up. For a moment, it was the Singing Snake versus the Cloud Beasts, a group of cats surrounding the big snake.
They fought from under the eaves to the garden, trampling the flowers and plants in the garden. The fish in the lake were so frightened they sank to the bottom.
Yun Manman was quite anxious at the time, fearing they might get hurt in the fight.
After all, the sound of cats' sharp claws scratching against the Singing Snake's invincible scales was truly ear-piercing, and it sounded like they were using quite some force.
However, Yun Rong and the other elders watched them fight calmly, even bringing chairs to sit on.
Their expressions were inexplicably satisfied.
Yan Xi even comforted Yun Manman: "It's alright, this is how the younger generation 'builds rapport' with each other."
Yun Manman felt something was off, but couldn't quite put her finger on it.
Lu Qi tugged at the corner of his mouth, but the movement pulled at his wound: "Ouch."
"It's nothing, just exchanging feelings with them. It's been too long since we last sparred."
Yun Manman thought: Well, your way of exchanging feelings is quite special.
Obviously, neither Lu Qi nor the Cloud Beast Beastmen wanted Yun Manman to know about her previous engagement.
Yun Rong and Yan Xi and the others felt that since the engagement had been canceled, it was best to pretend it never existed, and there was no need to make Yun Manman, who had just returned, worry.
As for Lu Qi, there was no need to say more.
One could only say that the big snake had to swallow a mouthful of broken teeth.
Now Lu Qi's mouth tasted of blood from the fight, and his heart was in turmoil.
His heart felt like a crumpled piece of paper, wrinkled and uncomfortable.
He wanted to cry, but he couldn't.
Yun Manman was unaware of the Singing Snake's heartache. She relaxed into her seat, watching the drizzling rain leave trails as it slid down the car window.
She tilted her head, and the reflection of the cute cat in the window tilted its head too. "Qiqi, I'm so happy," she said.
Lu Qi, who had been sulking to himself, was taken aback. Then he heard Yun Manman say softly:
"I never thought I could have so many family members. And they all seem to like me so much."
Whether it was Yun Rong, Yan Shuang, Yan Xi, or Yan Jiao, Yan Ye, and others, every big cat's eyes were filled with unreserved sincerity and love.
While Yun Manman was immersed in this familial affection, she also felt anxious and uneasy.
What if, what if this was just a dream?
What if she wasn't really "Yun Manman"?
Yun Manman was positive and warm, like a bright little sun, always unreservedly kind to her friends.
She had never imagined that one day she would encounter people who would unreservedly pour their love into her. For a moment, she didn't know how to react.
The little orange cat's voice was floating and excited: "I'm really, really happy, but I also feel like I don't deserve so much love..."
Her voice held an unconfident seeking of affirmation.
Lu Qi's heart suddenly ached. He reached out and patted the cat's round head, his crimson phoenix eyes unconsciously revealing tenderness.
"Miss Yun Manman, please be confident."
"You deserve everyone's love, including mine."