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Lou Yu knew that Lou Quan was trying to comfort him, but he hadn't left during the previous attacks by mutated monsters. Now that everyone was about to go hungry, how could he bear to just leave and enjoy himself?

Moreover, Lou Quan kept his word this time, and their cooperation has not fallen apart. Therefore, even though Lou Quan was tortured by those inhuman methods, he did not reveal Snow Bird and his secret.

Lou Quan was able to go to such lengths, so Lou Yu must not be a selfish person. Otherwise, why would he have almost lost his life to avenge his comrades?

So, he can't abandon everyone and run away.

"Let's talk about it later," Lou Yu replied ambiguously.

After the two finished talking, Lou Yu got up to leave. As soon as he opened the ward door, he saw Bai Huan standing outside.

Bai Huan, carrying a small soup bucket, looked nervously at Lou Yu, hesitant to speak.

Lou Yu said understandingly, "Lou Quan is inside and hasn't rested yet. He doesn't have any other plans to meet with anyone else, so you can chat at your leisure."

"Thank you," Bai Huan said, stepping inside.

Lou Yu closed the door for him, showing no intention of eavesdropping on their conversation, and strode away from the ward.

When Lou Yu got downstairs, he found the guards staring blankly at the vegetables, meat, and eggs on the ground by the entrance. He went up to ask what had happened.

The guards explained that these were gifts from the base's residents, who said they were meant to help Lou Quan recover. Lou Quan forbade his subordinates from accepting anything from ordinary people, but those people just dropped their baskets and bags and ran away; they couldn't catch them.

The guards asked Lou Yu what to do. Lou Yu thought for a moment and said, "These are all people's kind gestures. If we don't accept them, they'll feel even more guilty. Let's take them to the kitchen and give Lou Quan an extra meal. If he asks, just say I told him to accept them."

The guards should be well.

Lou Quan is back, Lou Yu can finally be relieved of his heavy burden. Moreover, judging by the time, it's almost been longer than the day he was supposed to see Tao Qiu.

Lou Yu returned home and, looking at his half-dead reflection in the mirror, resolutely refused to see Qiuqiu in that state.

Unfortunately, the losses lasted for quite a while, and despite catching up on sleep and food in the following days, he still couldn't recover to his peak condition.

He felt he was a bit ugly and was too embarrassed to see Tao Qiu.

But he didn't want to miss meeting Tao Qiu for such a reason, so he forced himself to go anyway.

The base isn't safe yet, so the materials still can't be retrieved. His main purpose in going out this time is to see Tao Qiu... and beg him to save his life.

Lou Yu, deep in thought, drove the car to the edge of the valley, stopping closer and closer to the valley entrance each time.

"Didi--"

As the car horn blared into the valley, the children were munching on raw sweet potatoes. The raw sweet potatoes were crisp and sweet, and tasted quite good.

Tao Qiu was sitting next to the children reading a book when she heard the noise, and the children were the first to jump up.

The Second Cub excitedly exclaimed, "Daddy, Daddy, you promised to let us pick up Lou Yu!"

Tao Qiu chuckled, "Go ahead, go ahead, Dad won't fight you for it."

"Whee."

The three cubs exchanged a glance, smiled slyly, quickly took off their clothes, transformed into birds, and flew away.

Judging from the sound, Lou Yu's car was very close to the valley. The kids only went out a little bit; they shouldn't be discovered by other mutated monsters.

And even if they are discovered, it doesn't matter. The cubs have grown up, and Tao Qiu has a good relationship with several mutated monsters in the vicinity. There shouldn't be anyone foolish enough to use the cubs to threaten him.

Tao Qiu closed the book, smiled, and looked towards the direction outside the valley, hoping that her children would bring Lou Yu back soon.

Outside the valley, Lou Yu opened the car door in advance, hoping that Tao Qiu could come in quickly when she arrived.

While waiting, he patted his face and tidied his hair, hoping that Tao Qiu wouldn't dislike him for looking like this and then not kiss him.

Lou Yu was busy when he suddenly heard a bird chirp. Although it didn't sound like Tao Qiu's voice, he still instinctively turned his head to look.

But as soon as he turned his face away, he met three pairs of fierce, menacing little bird eyes.

Three birds, one black and two white, blocked the car door, their short neck feathers bristling, glaring fiercely at Lou Yu as if he were some kind of enemy.

Lou Yu was stunned for a few seconds, but when he saw the amethyst-like eyes of the bird on the far right, he suddenly understood.

"Momo, Xuexue, Yuanyuan..." Lou Yu called out to them one by one, his eyes reddening and his voice trembling with excitement.

He never expected to see children under these circumstances, let alone three of them.

But the three chicks acted as if they didn't recognize him. Even when he called out their names, they still looked at him with the eyes of someone looking at a stranger, and their gazes became even fiercer.

"Chirp chirp!" The Eldest Cub's chirp was urgent and short, like it was cursing. Its sharp beak even pecked aggressively in Lou Yu's direction.

Lou Yu instinctively backed away, looking at the baby birds with some surprise.

He was certain he hadn't mistaken the bird; he had seen photos and videos of the children, and that's exactly what they looked like.

Could it be that they mistook me for someone else?

Lou Yu with surprise and doubt, "I am Lou Yu. Qiuqiu should have told you about me. What's wrong? Has something happened?"

Considering that Tao Qiu might not have revealed his identity to the children yet, Lou Yu didn't say, "I am your father."

The children still ignored him, as if they couldn't understand human language.

The Eldest Cub gave him a fierce "chirp," nodded its head out of the car, and gestured for him to get out.

Lou Yu wasn't afraid; he was only worried.

Why are the children coming out to greet him this time? And with the same attitude? Why didn't Tao Qiu come along?

Could it be as he suspected, that Tao Qiu encountered some kind of danger?

Thinking of this, Lou Yu quickly got out of the car.

The moment his foot touched the ground, the three kids surrounded him.

The cubs had grown to be almost as tall as Lou Yu's shoulder, and their bodies were enormous. At this moment, they all opened their mouths, full of ferocious sharp teeth, as if they were about to swallow Lou Yu whole.

The pistol was on the passenger seat? But Lou Yu didn't bring it when he got out. It wasn't that he forgot; it's that he never intended to hurt the kids.

Even at this moment, he showed no intention of activating his supernatural abilities.

These are his children; he won't lay a hand on them.

The expected bloody scene did not occur. Instead, the Eldest Cub and Third Cub bit Lou Yu's arms with their wide-open mouths, but they did not use force; they were merely trying to control him.

The Second Cub nudged his back from behind, and together with the other two cubs, dragged him into the valley.

Lou Yu was confused, but also anxious about Tao Qiu's situation, so he didn't struggle and obediently followed them inside.

Previously, Lou Yu had only seen the panoramic view of the valley where Tao Qiu lived in the base, which was taken from the air and was full of mud and rocks with relatively few plants.

As for the time a few years ago when Tao Qiu rescued him from the jaws of a mutated wolf and took him back to the cave, he fainted from the pain halfway there. When he woke up, he was already back at the base. Let alone the valley, he didn't even see what the cave looked like.

After falling in love with Tao Qiu, when Tao Qiu showed him photos and videos of their children, there were also scenes of caves and valleys, but they weren't comprehensive.

Only at this moment did Lou Yu truly see what this place, where his lover and children lived, really looked like.

Just like in that aerial photograph, the valley did indeed have a lot of rocks and soil. However, the difference was that the vegetation was no longer so sparse. From the moment Lou Yu stepped into the valley, both sides of a road were lined with cultivated fields, and the fields were full of lush crops.

Radishes, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, tomatoes, berries, strawberries—all kinds of crops that Lou Yu had seen and eaten before.

At the end of the road, beneath several tall black pear trees, on a carpet of lush green grass, stood the person Lou Yu had been longing for day and night.

Tao Qiu stared wide-eyed at Lou Yu, who was being escorted in like a prisoner by the boys, and for a moment she didn't know what to say.

At this moment, the Second Cub transformed into human form, but the wings on its back did not retract.

She leaped up, hugged Lou Yu's head from behind, rested her chin on his head, and excitedly said to Tao Qiu, "Daddy, Daddy, we want to eat this today!"

The Eldest Cub and Third Cub also transformed back into human form, but they were afraid that Lou Yu wouldn't understand their chirping.

Eldest Cub: "The meat is so tender. Cut it into chunks, skewer it, and grill it over charcoal."

Third Cub: "Sprinkle some more chili powder."

The Second Cub patted his father's head like he was patting a watermelon, and said happily, "We'll roast the pig brains too, and share them."

As she spoke, she even slurped her saliva, as if she were genuinely, really craving it.

Tao Qiu glanced at Lou Yu, who looked completely bewildered, and then at the drooling kids. Suddenly, she remembered the hellish jokes she had seen online in her past life.

Life is dull and tasteless, but my dad's grilled food adds a touch of spice.

Although Lou Yu hadn't quite figured out what was going on, seeing that Tao Qiu was alright, he breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help but want to go up and hug him.

"Qiuqiu..." he called out as he started to walk forward.

The three cubs held him back. The Second Cub, though cute, said fiercely, "You're our prey, you're going to be eaten! Don't come near my dad!"

Eldest Cub: "Exactly!"

The Third Cub: "Don't move, prey! Or I'll bite you!"

If Tao Qiu still can't figure out what his kids are doing, then he'll be a wasted father.

He laughed helplessly, "Babies, stop teasing your Lou Yu's dad, you'll scare him."

"Really?" The Second Cub, perched on Lou Yu's shoulder, tilted his head and looked at him, his big eyes blinking. "Daddy Lou Yu, were you scared by the baby?"

Lou Yu was startled by the address "Lou Yu's father" and almost immediately realized that what had just happened was a prank by the three kids, and that Tao Qiu had apparently told them her identity, which they had accepted.