Gentle Beast 33

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Ryan’s voice was cold and detached, then he put on a smile like the stillness of night, a bleak and biting chill breezing past.

Corey was faintly embarrassed, “Don’t tell me I’m wrong? The female satisfy in bed. . .”

Ryan leaped up and threw Corey to the ground, raising his hand to pierce the earth next to his face——

“Don’t get any ideas about her,” Ryan snarled each word one by one.

The claws pressed to his underbelly were strong and sharp, and Corey remembered that claw had just hollowed out the chest of a mountain pig. His Adam’s Apple rolled in anger and the momentum was broken, “Chief, the idea isn’t mine alone! Winder and Dole are also very interested in your girl. . .”

Besides, it was a girl. Why was he reacting so much?

Winder was suddenly tossed out and hastened to quibble, “I didn’t say that!”

He that Ryan tightly held that girl in his eye, and the female wasn’t a leopard in the first place.

The females of the leopard race were shared freely but other races didn’t necessarily work that way. . . On the Bornia continent, it was more common for a female to stay with a male commonly called a “mate”.

When if the chief wanted to keep this female? He wasn’t going to be as brash as Corey.

Corey turned his head to the side and spat in contempt, mercilessly exposing him, “When Rhode took the girl away, you were right there saying the girl’s voice was nice and called her a milk cat. . .”

Winter was anxious, “I,  I just said it casually! I don’t think so about you.” What’s more, the girl’s voice really was good.

Corey laughed: “Come on, you dare say you didn’t react that time. . .”

When he was speaking, he glanced down at Winter’s body.

Winter was so embarrassed that he looked cautiously towards Ryan. He saw that the side of the chief’s face was cast in the shade of the tree, his expression dark and uncertain.

Winter swallowed, “I. . .”

In the next moment, Ryan shifted and let Corey up from the ground.

Winter immediately closed his mouth.

Ryan looked around at them all. “She is not a female you can share,” he said with a blade of ice in his eyes, “Who dares to get the idea will leave the race. Immediately.”

It wasn’t just Winter and Corey that were stunned, but all of the leopards.

Although the leopards were solitary animals, the race was still the inseparable living condition for them.

Leaving the race meant being besieged and injured, or killed, by other hostile races.

Ryan actually, for a female. . . In the past, there were no few examples of males wanting their females to be exclusive, but they were unable to withstand the attacks of the others and, in the end, they either compromised or left the race.

If the other party was Ryan, it was not easy to say.

Dole looked at Ryan and thought quietly.

Ryan took back his gaze and said, “Take a break.”

Winter plonked himself on the ground and followed Ryan, “Yes, yes, chief.”

After a group of leopards had divided out the boars, they continued deep into the Ramos valley.

Ramos Valley was drastically different from the Camuda Valley. Here the terrain was flat and lush with greenery, inhabited mostly by the herbivorous species.

However, in the deepest part of the valley, it was the home of the saber-toothed tigers.

Ryan and his tribe stayed in that valley for three days and captured lots of prey.

Of course, it was inevitable that the saber-toothed tiger’s food was robbed.

Ryan inventoried their prey then, removing the food he needed to give to Bethan’s race, he left the remaining females to survive the winter. If there was no incident, he could make the return journey that night.

——The efficiency was twice as fast as last year.

Ryan licked his teeth and involuntarily remembered the timid female at home.

He wondered how she got along with Suzanna?

Did she learn the language of the leopards?

How good had her injuries healed? Had Bethan taken out her stitches?

The last time he pierced her identity, she had that “want to go home” expression on her face again.

Did Suzanna have a good look at her? Camuda Valley was surrounded by wild beasts and rugged terrain, making it too dangerous for her to leave alone.

Moreover, she still carried so many “unsolved mysteries”.

Ryan shifted to his beast form and the flexible, robust body passed the prey, the herbivorous species having retreated far.

“Chief!” a yellow and black leopard came from the distance and stopped in front of Ryan, opening his mouth, “Winter was taken away by the tiger patriarch.”

Ryan’s gaze shifted, “What?”

“He was going to hunt with me in the back of the mountain. The tigers said we robbed their food and if we don’t return the prey, they’ll skin Winter!”

“I thought this was something interesting,” Corey said as he crossed over to them, “The last time the chief saved his life, he said he could solve it himself. Right not the opportunity has presented itself. This time, let him think of his own way to escape. The catch was hard-earned, how could we just give it up to the tigers?”

Although the messenger thought such silently, he said, “But. . . except for Winter, the saber-toothed tribe seems to have occupied females of our race. We have always had few of them. . . and I just looked at it. There were about a dozen or so, and most were already adults.”

Corey immediately stood up, “How did our females end up in the tiger tribe?”

“I’m not sure,” the leopard scratched his head. If they could save the females, it would be much better than having sex with the boars.

Obviously, Corey and the others thought so too.

“Chief, what should we do?” They asked Ryan.

Ryan raised his body and looked towards the saber-toothed tiger’s den, “Let’s go take a look.”

Ryan commanded seven or eight to stay and watch the prey, and the rest followed him toward the tiger den.

The group of leopards were soon ready to go and the sturdy figures shifted within the jungle forest and they soon disappeared without a trace.

*

Camuda Valley, Leopard Tribe.

After the three to four days of being in contact with her, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was finally able to communicate a little with Suzanna.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s stitches had been removed and she still couldn’t eat greasy foods. She tried to make soup every day, however, the ingredients in her space was limited and Suzanna was always with her. Some of the ingredients Suzanna had never seen before and was bound to get curious, asking about their origins.

For example, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu made a soup of winter melon and kelp soup.

Suzanna pointed at the seaweed in the pot and asked, “What is that? Bark? I have never seen you herbivores eat this type of food before. Where did you find it?”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu could not answer, so she had to pretend she did not understand.

Unfortunately, that could not continue to happen. To prevent Suzanna’s inevitable suspicions, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu decided to ask her if she could go out and walk.

To look at what edible plants were around. But also. . . to find out about the terrain here.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu and Suzanna talked for a long time, even with some gestures, and Suzanna finally understood her meaning.

“You want to go out for a walk?” Suzanna looked at Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu who had lowered her head. At first, she wasn’t agreeable. After all, Ryan had explained that she was to watch her well. The outside was filled with carnivorous species and this girl, she was so weak. If she was attacked, she probably didn’t even have the ability to protect herself.

But, seeing her locked up in the house all day, having come to the leopard tribe more than ten days ago, and in addition to being taken away buy Rhode, she still did not even go out the gate of the yard. She was so weird, but Suzanna reluctantly nodded, “I don’t care if you die.”

So, the next day, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu followed Suzanna out of the leopard tribe.

Behind the tribe was a towering mountain and the rocky road stretched with many kinds of plants on either side.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu observed the plants while walking and silently noted down the route.

“There are not many prey here. The ordinary ones won’t come here. There is nothing to see. I’ll take you. . .” Suzanna said and looked back to see Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu walking on the other side, “Hey, where are you going?”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu walked up to a large tree and tilted her head back, black eyes staring brightly at the fruit above.

“Olives!” she said to Suzanna.

Unfortunately, Suzanna did not understand her. She had to step on her tip toes and bring down two of the olive fruits. She took a bite and chewed. It was sour and slightly astringent. It was indeed an olive.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was pleasantly surprised. Olives not only could treat some diseases but could also be pressed into oil.

They had brought everything on their camping trip except for cooking oil. These days, whenever she boiled her soups, they were heavy on brought and very light without any oil.

If she could use olive oil, then cooking would not be a problem and the barbecue grill in her space could come in handy.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was cheerful and took all the olives from the branch in a single breath.

Fortunately, she brought a bamboo basket before she left the house and she could put all the olives she picked in it. After picking from there, the other branches were too tall and Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu could not reach them. She reached several times, standing on all her toes, but was only tall enough to grab a tree leaf.

Suzanna looked at the girl under the tree and muttered, “What’s so good about a green fruit. . .”

Suzanna had eaten this kind of thing before. It was stringy and sour, hard to eat, and she had no interest in them.

Watching Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s behavior was a little difficult to understand.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu originally jumped and picked some more but considering her stomach was just hurt, it wasn’t appropriate to pull so hard and had to give up.

She only picked a little, just enough to cover the bottom of her basket. It would not make enough oil.

Suzanna walked on ahead of her and she followed after her, regretfully having to wait until her injury was completely healed.

The trees here were all sorts of strange, and the fruits were rather different.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu discovered many familiar ones on the way.

Mountain bamboo, walnut, milk fruit. . .

Somewhat different from the ones in the 21st century but practically the same.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu found them to be treasures and loaded them into her basket, planning to take them back.

Surrounded by the dense forest, the trees and leaves were luxuriant in this part of it.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was on the move and ready to go further but Suzanna suddenly reached out and stopped her, “Don’t go any further.”

Although Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu couldn’t understand Suzanna’s words, she could understand the gesture and the seriousness in her eyes.

“Why?” Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu asked.

Suzanna directly took hold of Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s arm and pulled her back.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu staggered but managed to stabilize herself, “Wait a minute. Are we going back?”

Suzanna also didn’t understand that, nor did she explain to Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu. It wasn’t until they were a great distance away that she released Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s wrist.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu rubbed her wrist and pointed to the forest behind them. She asked in the tiny bit of leopard language she had learned these days, “There. . . can’t go?”

Suzanna looked at her and was slightly surprised, “You can speak our language?”

Suzanna obviously did not expect Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu to learn so quickly. Being able to communicate, she quickly explained to Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu, “That is the wolf’s territory. The wolf tribe would be there if we went in.”

Said such, Suzanna then frowned, her tone disgusted, “The wolves are awfully cunning and despicable. To rob us of our territory, they held a siege on Ryan. Their patriarch, Holden, is not a good guy. If you don’t want to die, you will stay away from there.”