Gentle Beast 17

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The entire sky over the Elk Village was filled with smoke, tendrils of grey rising in spirals where they fused into rays of light and dissipated.

A little closer in the distance, the curtain of darkness pulled forward bit by bit and the black spotlight poured forward. Where ever it went, the bright sky was divided into two black-and-white halves of the world.

Night came quietly behind Eric and quickly passed over his head, instantly engulfing him in darkness.

Fortunately, the bonfire in the yard was still lit and illuminated everything in front of him.

Eric’s body was stiff and he stared at the large leopard before him for half a minute, only for his legs to soften and he almost fell to the floor.

Although Eric was the strongest warrior of his race, he still could not be put into the eyes of the ferocious leopard race.

He typically only led the race to resist the attack of some weak carnivorous species, such as foxes, weasels, etc. but never dared to content with the large cat species.

On one hand, their speed was inferior to the leopard race.

On the other, the leopard’s ferocity was worse than the others.

But most importantly, the main source of food for the leopards were the deer race.

Many of Eric’s companions were dead in the mouths of the leopards. One could only imagine, the moment he saw a leopard, especially one of this extraordinary caliber, how much panic and fear must have been in his heart.

Eric held tight to the door frame, and his first instinct was to run away.

He turned and quickly ran out of the room, but his antlers were too large and they hit the door with a loud “bang”, and the whole cabin swayed with his hit.

At the same time, his antlers were stuck in the gap between the frame.

Eric twisted his body and looked inside as he struggled.

Ryan laid on the bed and made a move to show he was greatly dissatisfied, bearing his teeth in aggression.

The girl beside him was disturbed by the sound and her eyebrows creased into a frown.

Because she was too tired, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu did not even wake up and rolled over, raising her hand to rub her eyes and falling back to sleep.

Ryan raised a claw and his large claw was bigger than the girl’s cheek, and he set it next to her ear. It covered up her exquisitely delicate face slightly.

“Just be quiet,” the heavy, unhappy voice sounded out and reverberated in this tiny wooden house. Then, he slowly, without any civility, threatened, “Make noise and I’ll eat you.”

Eric held his breath and swallowed nervously, afraid to make even the slightest noise.

Even the antlers were suddenly lighter and moved easier.

He finally pulled them out of the door and turned around, watching the leopard on the bed lifting his paw to hover over the girl’s head.

The leopard’s eyes were deep, his expression unpredictable, and Eric didn’t know what to think.

In the firelight, the claws of that paw radiated a cold, sharp light. Eric fretted. In a single moment, the leopard could pierce her fragile temples.

Eric was so terrified his face went pale white.

This time he was unable to change his own position, but he still cried with confusion, his body steadfast, “Don’t!”

“No. . . don’t treat Ōu like that,” he was desperately calm, carefully mulling over his words.

To be honest, Eric felt confused.

Looking at the color of this leopard’s markings, it should be the leopard that was always around Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu. How had he changed so quickly from a child to an adult? And now, the leopard race could masquerade as a weakling to cheat a female’s sympathy?!

Wasn’t that something only the wolves would do?

Eric did not know what his purpose following Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was.

But, no matter what, a carnivorous species following a herbivorous female. . . it could not be good.

Eric decided to save Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu from the giant leopard.

“Ōu, Ōu has always treated you as a friend. . . she is very friendly to you,” Eric boldly stepped forward a few steps, slowly nearing the beat, and suppressed the fear in his voice though it still trembling.

Ryan slid his eyes to the side to look at him, indifferent, and not very pleased with his appearance.

Of course she was good to him. She once said to him before that she had raised a kitten in her house, and she treated him like a cat.

“Last time, in order to save you, Ōu went on that ship full of wolves alone. You should be grateful to her. . . if Ōu hadn’t been there, you may have not come back at all,” Eric met the leopard’s indifferent gaze and instantly felt timid, his voice becoming smaller, “So. . . you cannot hurt Ōu. . .”

Help! He actually dared to talk about the safety of a leopard. He felt his death may have been right around the corner.

However, after a long time, the expected anger was not present.

He slowly looked at the large leopard to see it lower its head and watch the girl who had curled up on the bed.

The leopard’s eyes were deep blue, as if they contained seas within.

She was on the wolf boat to save him?

Before that, Ryan had always thought she was there to get her bag back.

Speaking of backpacks, Ryan’s eyebrows furrowed.

Where has she put him just now?

He saw an empty, blank space, as well as her backpack and the milk and jerky she often fed him.

More than anything, he had never seen any of the items there.

Was this were she usually “took things out of thin air” from?

What was that completely blank area?

There was such a place on the Bornia continent?

This space seemed to be static, but it also flowed quickly.

Ryan’s body had become more and more heavy, his mind more and more tired. The last thing he remembered was lying on the ground and closing his eyes.

When he woke up again, it was here, in this form, and on this bed.

Ryan had tried every means to change his body back and could not. Yet, unexpectedly, just a little sleep and it changed back.

What opportunity was this?

Ryan could not understand.

He previously thought that the key to regaining his body was in the wolf’s hands, but it appeared not now.

His nails gently pointed at the girl’s smooth fave and gradually reached up, pausing as it reached her skull.

His posture was motionless, thoughtful.

This movement appeared dangerous to Eric, as if in the next second, this beast would open up Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s body to eat her.

He could not let him hurt Ōu.

Eric thought so and secretly lowered his antlers, gathering the greatest courage of his life. When the leopard was unprepared, he leaned over, bowed his head, and jerked forwards to the beast’s stomach.

Ryan tilted his neck and slid backward two inches.

While he watched, the reindeer quickly picked up the sleeping girl in his arms and ran towards the door.

Ryan’s expression sank, unconsciously turning into a scowl, and he twitched his tail, stretching it forward, flexibly striking against Eric’s calf.

He did not have to move a single finger, watching Eric’s center unsteadily lean forward——

One dear and one girl were thrown to the floor one after the other.

*

“Uh. . .”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was awakened by pain.

The back of her head hit the hardwood floor and she felt a little wooden.

At the same time, another heavy weight was pressed down on her, making her unable to breathe.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu tightened her eyebrows and slowly opened her eyes, looking up at Eric’s large antlers then down to his dark eyes.

“Eric?” Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu mind felt stupid, and she could not figure out what was going on. She looked around to see that she was still in the room she had gone to bed in, but. . . why was she on the ground? And why was Eric here?

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu raised her arm and rubbed at her temples, thinking that the sleep left her confused.

Eric propped himself up with one hand and looked at the puzzled look on the girl’s face, his cheeks suddenly blushed. He quickly jumped up from the ground and stood straight, coughing twice and giving a flustered explanation, “Ōu, you, you woke up. . . I knocked on the door before coming in. I cooked dinner but you didn’t respond, and I was worried about what would happen to you, and I just came in to see. I hope you won’t blame me.”

Tension and panic aside, Eric spoke a little incoherently.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu nodded in understanding and shook her head again. “It’s okay. . . I just haven’t slept too well for too long. . .”

While asleep, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu had a very strange dream.

She dreamed she was under a giant furry doll, and the doll’s tail kept tangling with her legs. No matter how hard she struggled, she could not get rid of it.

The large doll was very hairy and it wrapped up her whole body, making her especially warm.

She subconsciously relied on it, drawing warm, despite feeling that it was very dangerous. She wanted to escape, but her whole person was caught up in contradictory desires.

Waiting for Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu to finish speaking, Eric seriously grasped her wrist and pulled to take her outside, “Ōu, we need to get out of here.”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was not fully awake and blinked, following a few steps, “. . . why?”

Eric said, looking back to the bed, “It’s dangerous here, the leopard. . .”

Halfway through the words, they were abruptly brought to an end.

He just saw the large, majestic size off the beastly leopard. But, without knowing when, it had suddenly changed back to look like a child.

Its body was smaller, reduced to the average size of a cub.

The bed around it was caved in halfway, the only traces of his previous body’s weight.

The bandage, which originally wrapped around its hind leg, was now broken into pieces and scattered on the ground when it became bigger.

Eric: “. . .”

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