Today, Ziqing’s labor was imminent!

Her water had broken that morning, and she’d remained in the cave ever since, refusing to let any poison beast come near!

By now, the great foolish bear and the four top-tier poison beasts were all keeping vigil at the cave, anxious beyond measure.

Even animals cried out in pain during labor, let alone humans — yet from morning until now, they hadn’t heard so much as a sound from Ziqing.

But the moment any of them tried to get close, Ziqing chased them right back out!

This woman had exceeded everyone’s expectations entirely.

The great foolish bear lay sprawled on the ground, its massive hindquarters blocking most of the cave entrance, shielding out the cold air flowing in. Its head faced outward, both paws set neatly in front of it like an obedient schoolchild, chin resting on its paws, its small black eyes fixed on its own paws. It looked calm, still — but its newly grown fur betrayed it, because beneath that stillness, every single white hair stood bristling on end.

The Nine-Tailed Fox sat off to one side, staring straight ahead unblinking, unusually solemn. When this creature turned serious, it lost a good three parts of its usual cunning and instead gave off an air of wisdom — one look at its face was enough to know the situation was grave, no laughing matter.

Henggong Fish drifted back and forth through the air like something swimming through water, silent and weightless, like a specter.

Zizhu crouched like a puffed-up ball of fur, sprawled in front of the great foolish bear, locked in a staring contest with it.

Beneath that stillness, every heart pounded with anxiety.

None of them knew exactly what was happening inside the cave. Though they’d all taken good care of Ziqing and the child throughout her pregnancy, at a moment this critical, everyone couldn’t help but feel tense.

Just then, Howling Hare finally couldn’t hold back any longer. “Hey, what kind of person do you all think the baby’s father is?”

“Definitely no good — can’t even protect his own wife and child, what kind of man is that?” the Nine-Tailed Fox shot back at once, disdainful.

Henggong Fish said nothing, only cast a glance of agreement.

“Heh, whatever kind of thing he is, this child is out of his reach! Even if Master wants the child to acknowledge him as father, I, for one, absolutely refuse!”

Zizhu didn’t turn its head, but ground the words out through gritted teeth.

The great foolish bear had no idea what they were saying, letting out a few innocent whimpers, unable to help glancing back into the cave — it had no idea how its master was doing in there!

“Hey, do you all think it’s a boy or a girl?” Howling Hare asked again — after such a long, tense wait, if they didn’t find something to talk about, someone was bound to break down.

“A girl!” the Nine-Tailed White Fox declared with absolute certainty.

“A boy, I’d guess,” Henggong Fish said, uncertain.

“It has to be a girl — daughters are so devoted, and she’s bound to grow up just like Master!”

“No, a boy is better — he can grow up and protect Master!”

“A girl is better — less trouble.”

“A boy is better — he can get things done!”

“Why can’t a girl get things done? You can’t look down on women like that!”

“That’s not what I meant, but you can’t deny that men are naturally superior to women!”

“Pah! Where would men even come from without women? Men are born from women, aren’t they? Can a man give birth to a child?”

“Well, where would women come from without men? Can a woman have a child all on her own?”

…

Somehow, as the conversation went on, the four top-tier poison beasts found themselves plunged into an ancient, unanswerable debate over which came first — the chicken or the egg.

The great foolish bear listened like a duck hearing thunder, utterly baffled by what they were arguing about. It quietly turned back to look at the cave, its small black eyes brimming with worry, as if it could stare straight through the darkness by sheer will alone.

“How can a woman not give birth to a child all on her own?”

“Ridiculous — how could a woman possibly give birth to a child all on her own?”

“The ancient goddess Nüwa molded humans out of clay, didn’t she! Humanity was created by a woman!”

“Nüwa created humankind, yes, but heaven and earth themselves were created by Pangu splitting them apart — and Pangu was a man! Without men, there’d be no you, rabbit!”

“Waaah… waaah…”

Howling Hare was about to argue back, but suddenly stopped short. “What was that sound?”

“Rrrooowl…”

The four poison beasts exchanged glances. The Nine-Tailed White Fox stared at the empty cave entrance and murmured, “That’s the great foolish bear’s cry.”

“No, wait, there was another sound just now!” Zizhu said urgently.

“You fools, that’s the baby!”

Howling Hare was the first to snap out of it, spinning around and shooting into the cave like an arrow, with the Nine-Tailed White Fox, Henggong Fish, and Zizhu all swarming in right behind it!

The poison beasts moved lightning-fast, converging right in front of Ziqing — luckily the great foolish bear’s mountain-like bulk blocked their way, or they truly wouldn’t have been able to stop in time!

It had to be admitted — this great bear’s body was as thick as a wall, blocking not only their bodies but their view as well, leaving them able to hear nothing but the “wah, wah, wah” cries of a newborn.

“Move, move!”

“Out of the way, you stinking bear!”

“Is it a boy or a girl!”

“How big is the baby!”

“Let us see, quick!”

“Master, are you all right!”

“Master, say something! Is the baby safe!”

“Move it, you dead bear!”

No matter how the four poison beasts roared and pulled at it, the great foolish bear refused to budge an inch. The entire cave fell silent, save for the sound of the baby’s crying!

Finally, Zizhu couldn’t stand it any longer, its massive qilin-like head suddenly bursting free of its fur, roaring, “Move it, you dead bear!”

The roar echoed through the entire cave, and in that thunderous wake, the great foolish bear was so startled it immediately rolled aside — and finally, they saw!

There, atop a bed of pristine white bear fur, lay Ziqing, utterly spent, yet her face glowed with happiness.

The faint smile playing at the corners of her lips was the most beautiful expression the four poison beasts and the great foolish bear had ever seen from her — the very first genuine, unguarded smile since she’d entered the world of poison beasts!

A child. She had a child now.

Nestled in the crook of her arm was a tiny, wrinkled little thing, completely bare — a baby boy, his whole body and tiny face still creased and crumpled, his eyes not yet fully open.

A newborn was never going to be pretty. The tiny creature before them could only be described in two words — quite ugly.

Yet even so, the four poison beasts stared in complete astonishment.

“The little young master… he’s so tiny!”

“A bit small, yes, and also…”

“Also… also…”

Howling Hare and the Nine-Tailed White Fox both trailed off, unable to finish, but Henggong Fish, with its usual lack of tact, blurted it right out: “So ugly!”

But to everyone’s surprise, Ziqing wasn’t angry in the least. Instead she couldn’t help laughing merrily. “He is ugly, isn’t he. But at least there’s no poison mark on his face!”

At this, all the beasts froze, only now recalling the significance of it — no poison mark on the child’s face meant his constitution was entirely normal!

What could possibly be more cause for celebration than this?

Ziqing was so happy she nearly cried, all her sorrow, pain, and hatred cast entirely from her mind in this moment — as long as her child was safe, that alone was the greatest happiness she could ask for.

Yet just as everyone reveled in their joy, the great foolish bear kept sniffing the air, as though sensing something, its long snout drawing steadily closer to the little baby…