Chapter 53: Laying Eggs

Half a month later, Feng Yu suddenly sensed that his mate's emotions were unstable and she seemed somewhat irritable, yet this restlessness differed from the behavior she exhibited when she had other needs. He asked Qi Hua to examine her, and Qi Hua diagnosed it as prenatal anxiety, a natural physiological reaction of her body.

However, the calming and sedative herbs prescribed by Qi Hua yielded no noticeable effect. Feng Yu suddenly recalled that after Feng Chi's bath, while he and his mate were organizing the items in Feng Chi's spatial storage, Qi Yue had once held up a small object, stating that it was a Gaze-the-Moon Rhinoceros horn, capable of clearing heat, cooling the blood, calming the spirit, and detoxifying.

He immediately retrieved the small rhinoceros horn and handed it to Qi Hua. "Qi Yue collected this Gaze-the-Moon Rhinoceros horn previously. She said it can clear heat, cool the blood, calm the spirit, and detoxify."

Qi Hua stroked the small pointed horn and asked, "Did she mention how to use it?"

"She seemed to say it could be ground into powder to supplement medication, and also worn against the chest to ward off fright," Feng Yu recalled and replied.

"Then what are we waiting for? Grind some powder from the thicker end for her medicine, and drill a small hole near the tip of the horn to string it with a thread so she can wear it," Qi Hua said, pulling out the calming herbs again to decoct them once more with the addition of the rhinoceros horn powder.

Under the dual action of the rhinoceros horn she wore and the medicinal decoction, Qi Yue finally calmed down, allowing Feng Yu and Qi Hua to breathe a sigh of relief.

Only then did Qi Hua think to ask Feng Yu, "What creature is this Gaze-the-Moon Rhinoceros?"

"I asked about it before. It's what we usually call the osmanthus tree. Leopard Xue'er gave her this horn back when we were in the Luoyu Tribe." Hearing his explanation, Qi Hua thought to herself: Osmanthus horn? It truly was quite an ordinary thing, yet she had never expected it to be so useful. She would have the chieftain collect a few more for her in the future.

Nearly another half month passed in this manner. One day, when Feng Yu was feeding Qi Yue her broth, she suddenly could not swallow it, and her expression grew increasingly painful. Her body, lying on its side, curled up somewhat, and her lower body was stained with a bloody fluid.

Calculating the days, it was around the time she should give birth. He immediately set down the bowl and went to the neighboring cave to fetch Qi Hua. "Auntie, Qi Yue is going into labor. What should we do?"

"What do you mean, what should we do? Go boil some hot water so we can wash her up after the delivery," Qi Hua said as she walked into the cave where Qi Yue was, moving a folding screen to completely shield Qi Yue from view.

Not daring to delay, Feng Yu immediately prepared a bamboo vat of warm water.

Qi Hua undressed Qi Yue, adjusted her posture, and began to gently massage her belly, guiding the egg downward. An egg—you heard that correctly. Kirins were originally viviparous, but when Qi Hua came for a checkup a few months ago, she discovered that the fetus in Qi Yue's womb appeared completely formless. Considering that Qi Yue carried the bloodline of the Phoenix tribe, it was understandable, even if she had never witnessed a viviparous Kirin transforming into an oviparous birth.

Yet throughout the past year, Feng Yu had fed Qi Yue far too well, resulting in a rather large fetus. Even within the Ink Kirin tribe, such a size would lead to a difficult labor. Although oviparous births might be somewhat easier than viviparous ones, this egg was a full circle larger than a normal newborn, causing it to become stuck at the birth canal and unable to emerge. After massaging for a while, even Qi Hua lost her composure. Qi Yue's expression grew increasingly agonizing as she cried out to Feng Yu, "Feng Yu, come here! This baby is too big and cannot come out. Do you know how your Phoenix tribe handles this situation during childbirth?"

"Our tribe has never heard of a fetus being too large," Feng Yu replied. As a beastman, how could he know about such conditions? He had never even heard of a difficult birth within his own clan.

"Her baby is too large, likely on account of her being a Kirin. If only Yue can regain consciousness and actively push, it would help," Qi Hua said, utterly devoid of options at the moment.

"Right, there is something that might help." Feng Yu retrieved the purple ginseng stored in its wooden box from his spatial storage, pulled off a ginseng whisker, and pushed it into Qi Yue's mouth. "Qi Yue harvested this before. It might be useful."

"Why did you only use such a tiny bit?" Qi Hua had never seen this item before.

"Yue said before that a weak body cannot handle excessive tonics, and using too much of this thing would instead be harmful. She said just holding it in the mouth is enough," Feng Yu patiently explained.

At that moment, seeing Qi Yue's face grow somewhat ruddier and less deathly pale, a wave of intense pain jolted her into lucidity.

Seeing her eyelids flutter, Qi Hua knew she was about to wake up and immediately urged, "Qi Yue, push hard now. Push along the direction of my hands, the baby is almost out."

'The baby? Have I fallen into a coma for a long time again?' Qi Yue recalled touching a blade of grass previously, and vaguely remembered having relations with Feng Yu afterward. Could it be that she had fallen into a pregnant coma once more?

The excruciating pain prevented her from thinking any further. Subconsciously, she bit down on her lower lip, gripped the animal hide beneath her tightly with both hands, and followed Qi Hua's instructions.

Seeing Qi Yue bite her lower lip until it turned purplish and was on the verge of bleeding, Feng Yu felt a pang of heartache. He gently pried her teeth apart with his hand and placed his left arm near her mouth. "Yue, don't bite yourself. You can bite this all you want." At the same time, his right hand smoothed away the furrow in her brow.

Qi Yue was no longer in any state to process her surroundings; she simply clamped down on whatever was near her mouth and refused to let go. Fortunately, beastmen possessed thick skin and sturdy flesh; Feng Yu cared nothing for this minor pain. In his heart, being able to endure the pain alongside his mate made him feel even closer to her.

This birth was unlike the previous time she delivered Chi'er, during which she had been entirely unconscious. This time, Qi Yue was in a state of complete awareness, meaning the agony was beyond description. Oviparous and viviparous births were fundamentally different; once the egg entered the birth canal and the pelvic bones expanded sufficiently, the egg would slide right out. Although the initial stage of opening the pelvic bones took some time, and the egg pushing against her pelvis caused Qi Yue considerable suffering—leaving her lower body feeling completely numb as if it no longer belonged to her—forty minutes later, the egg inside her finally emerged.

As the egg slipped out of her body, Qi Yue felt an all-over sense of release, as if the excruciating pain that had just tortured her had instantly vanished. She raised her upper body to look at the newborn object. It was a golden egg, resplendent and brilliantly luminous, shaped like a rugby ball but larger by half.

She thoroughly sensed her entire body and felt no tearing pain. The physical flexibility of females in this beast world was truly remarkable; she could scarcely imagine how such a massive egg had managed to pass through.

The moment he saw the golden egg, Feng Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief. This little ancestor had at last emerged, sparing his aunt any further torment. Only then did he feel the pain in his left arm, where the deep teeth marks were firmly embedded in his flesh. Yet this minor ache was truly insignificant compared to their offspring. As for what kind of creature might eventually hatch from that golden egg, he genuinely did not care—whether it turned out to be a phoenix or a Kirin made no difference to him.

Upon emerging, the eggshell was warm and somewhat soft. After a short while, its surface hardened significantly, and only then did Qi Hua dare to take an animal hide to wipe the golden egg clean. A golden egg—could it be a metal-attribute Kirin? A metal-attribute Kirin born under the activation of the Ink Kirin's protection, would it differ from the metal-attribute Kirins within the tribe? The mere thought filled her with excitement.