Gentle Beast 48

. . .

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu stepped out of the house and sighed outside the door. She breathed out and pressed her hand to her chest.

Right then, she was a little shaken. . .

How could she be willing to stay in this strange place for a leopard?

Was she crazy?

Or. . . did she have a crush on Ryan?

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s face was pale and she bit her lip tightly. Her heart beat violently because of her terrible thoughts.

No, it was impossible.

She was a human, how could she be tempted by a leopard?

It must have been the recent development in her relationship with Ryan. She had no relatives or friends in this world and Ryan was the only beastman she could trust. She had subconsciously begun to rely entirely on him, and setting aside her vigilance. Because he was Táo Táo, she had poured some emotion into him. Even after he suddenly became “Ryan,” the memory of her life and death experiences shared with him could not be erased.

So, she mistook those feelings as her heartbeat?

Yes, yes, that must be it.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu constantly persuaded herself to try and rid her brain of those absurd ideas.

Without mentioning the crisis in the world, how could humans mate with animals? Simply, it wasn’t right to go against the natural order of things.

After reaching that conclusion, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu naturally didn’t dare get too close to Ryan. After thinking for a while, she decided to visit Suzanna.

Since Suzanna was bitten by that saber-toothed tiger, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu never went to see her.

This time, Scarlet was drying jerky in the yard. He saw her and paused in his actions, saying nothing.

After knowing that Scarlet had instructed Wilbur to take her to the backstreet, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu hadn’t known what to say. So she only asked, “Is Suzanna inside?”

Scarlet nodded.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was about to walk inside when she heard Scarlet say, “Were you the one that had the leader change the race?”

“What?” Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu heard him and was shocked. She turned around and said seriously, “Of course it wasn’t me.”

Scarlet’s face became slightly better, but his mouth was not helpful in the least. “If you don’t intent to stay in the race for long, then you better not string the chief along anymore. He can find a better spouse.”

Scarlet, the former elder, know about Winter going to the east to find Pat. And he also knew that Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu wanted to return to her race, otherwise she wouldn’t have been tricked by Wilbur.

Since Scarlet could not prevent Ryan from changing the race, he certainly wanted Ryan to find a mate that was pure and of the bloodline.

Otherwise, even with Ryan’s strong genes, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu could still give birth to a defective child.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu licked her lower lip and her black eyes stared at Scarlet, “Does he belong to the elders?”

Scarlet said coldly, “Of course not.” Not to mention he was no elder now.

“If not,” Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu reasoned, “Then the tribe doesn’t get to interfere with the leader’s choice in spouse.”

“You!”

Scarlet’s anger wasn’t light. She had struck him in a sore spot and he couldn’t refute. This female looked soft and weak, but he hadn’t expected her words to draw blood.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu no longer spoke to Scarlet and turned to walk into the house.

Suzanna was half-sitting at the bedside and her neck injury was bandaged up. It had been stitched with a needle and was gradually recovering. Maybe it was because of the excessive blood loss that day, but Suzanna’s face was drained of blood. She saw Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu walk in. Her first sentence was, “Did you save me that day?” Her voice was hoarse, and almost too low to be heard.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu nodded, then thought and added,”I didn’t really do anything, just called for your tribe.”

Suzanna looked at her and probably thought that this female herbivore couldn’t possibly defeat a tiger, so she didn’t refute this sentence.

Between a girl and a tiger, there was nothing left to say.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu and Suzanna were not very familiar with each other, not to mention the language barrier between them. That sentence alone had scratched all the leopard tongue Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu had learned.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu didn’t stay too long. Seeing Suzanna needed nothing, she went to leave. As she went, Suzanna said to her.

It wasn’t until she was on the road that Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu understood what that sentence meant.

“I don’t like you very much, but thank you very much.”

*

Returning to Ryan’s courtyard, it was already noon.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu went into the kitchen and began to prepare the noon meal.

Recently it had gotten cold, so she planned to make a hot pot, and her space still had many fresh ingredients as well as those for her hot pot.

Just as she took out the pan and filled it halfway with water, she heard a low voice at the door asking, “Where’d you go?”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu shook her hands and almost threw the pot to the ground, but behind her, a pair of hands stretched out to hold the bottom of it, enclosing her entire body in his arms.

The atmosphere that followed Ryan around was overwhelming, and Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was caught off guard.

“I. . . I went to visit Suzanna.” Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s ears blushed without warning. Then her whole face went red and she hesitated.

“To see how she was?” Ryan frowned.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu: “Last time, she was hurt so badly, I wanted to see if she was getting better. . .”

“Did you meet Scarlet?”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu nodded, “En.”

Ryan: “If he said anything to you, don’t mind it.”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu: “Ah. . .” She couldn’t just say that Scarlet was persuading her to leave him. . .

Silent for a long time, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu struggled under his arms and said, “I’m going to prepare lunch now, can you go out?”

“Can’t I stay here?” Ryan bowed his head and exhaled over her ear, hot and scorching.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s cheeks flushed even redder, “No.” Him staying there would only make her become more and more distracted and chaotic.

She had obviously thought she had no affection for him, but when his body was stuck so close to her, she still felt her heartbeat speed up involuntarily. Boom, boom, thump. . . so loud, she could almost hear it.

Ryan finally released her and Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu exhaled a long breath.

However, in the next second, Ryan’s words made her suddenly stiffen——

“Is it that hard to answer my question?”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu asked, “What do you mean?”

Ryan: “I didn’t think your relationship with Suzanna was so good.”

It meant that she would rather go see Suzanna than answer the question he had just asked. So to say she was escaping.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s scalp went numb, feeling a bit overwhelmed, “I, I haven’t thought about it.”

Not “Disagree”, but “haven’t thought about it.”

Ryan’s eyes lightened up at that meaning, feeling a surge finally break through the line of defense, and he lowered his voice to ask, “When will you think about it?”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu shook her head and said sincerely, “I don’t know.”

Maybe when Winter comes back. She may never think about it.

Ryan was silent for a moment then said, “It’s not that difficult to stay.”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu felt as if she had been kicked by a tail, and she suddenly pushed away from Ryan, baring her teeth, “. . .I don’t want to stay!” She smacked the pan in her hand to Ryan’s chest and ran out of the kitchen.

Hadn’t she suffered enough here? Again and again, she was almost killed and chased by beastmen. She fled and witnessed countless scenes where the carnivorous preyed on the herbivorous. . . she was crazy to think she wanted to stay here.

In the room, Ryan leaned towards the counter top, his long legs overlapping slightly, and a deep furrow in his eyebrows.

. . . Still too impatient.

He glanced at the pot half filled with water in his hands and set it on the stove, walking out.

*

Since then, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu made sure to maintain a certain distance from Ryan.

Aside from eating next to each other, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was often anxious to leave him eight feet away.

Don’t even talk about a hug, Ryan couldn’t even get close to her. When she was going to sleep, she had set up a small tent by the fireplace and after dark, she went inside and zipped it up, completely separating Ryan from her.

After two days, Ryan’s face was looking rather ugly.

Several times he wanted to catch her and ask what she meant, but Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu hid from him and whenever he approached her, she ran away.

This time, Ryan hadn’t even spoken yet when Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu took the lead and said, “I’m going to take a walk along the stream.”

Her compass had not been repaired and when she passed the mountain, she noticed the stones on the road seemed to be attracted by a force, rolling in the same direction. When she picked up two of them, the two pieces of broken stone got stuck together.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu guessed there was a natural magnetite somewhere nearby and if she used the magnetic field to help calibrate the compass, it might be successful.

“Actually,” Ryan said without expression, “There seems to be a problem at the back of the mountain, so I’ll need to go look at it.”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu: “. . .”

Then Ryan crossed the room to the door.

This time, it was too late and Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu had no choice but to follow Ryan out the door to the back of the mountains.

It wasn’t too far from Ryan’s house, a quarter of an hour’s walk.

However, Ryan’s legs were longer than hers and his steps wide. Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu struggled to keep up  with his footsteps and followed behind him. When they finally reached the top of the mountain, she checked her watch. Fifteen minutes had been abruptly shortened to five.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was breathless but didn’t dare complain, and she didn’t dare leave Ryan’s side.

She thought there could be beasts on the mountain at any time, and she was safe with Ryan. If she was alone, she could be easily eaten and no one would know.

Further ahead, there was a frozen river.

The ice was thick and covered with the footprints of many animals.

Ryan walked in front, his black leather boots steady as always, as if he were walking on a flat surface.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu thought it wouldn’t be too difficult after seeing Ryan’s easy posture, but one step on the ice and she slipped, her whole body falling to the ground with a thump.

She fell too hard, and tears squeezed out of her eyes.

In front of her, Ryan didn’t even look back.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu grit her teeth and stood up from the ice, trying several times but she didn’t have the slightest effect.

Tossing about for half the day, she didn’t even make it past the river bank.

Seeing that Ryan was getting farther and farther away, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu felt anxious in her heart and she wiped her tears with her fingers, “Ryan, wait for me. . .”

Ryan finally turned around and stood in the middle of the river, his profound features seemingly engraved in the background. In the hazy fog, she couldn’t see his expression clearly.

Ryan reached out his hand to her and his voice crossed through the thick frost, “Come here.”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu stood up again and gingerly walked two steps, then sped up and flew toward him quickly.

It wasn’t until she climbed into Ryan’s powerful arms that she felt at ease.

Ryan secured her waist tightly with his other arm and leaned over to her ear, slowly asking, “Are you done avoiding me?”