Gentle Beast 52

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Since spring had begun, each day was warmer than the one before.

The Camuda Valley was surrounded in greenery and flowers, golden light quietly sweeping over the leopard tribe, rending everything in dazzling brilliance.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu had taken her firecrackers out of her space and placed them outside. Even though the air in her space wasn’t humid, it was better to occasionally set them out in the sun to keep them from getting damp.

Some of the fireworks were larger and Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu had to move them back and forth several times, so she gradually began to pant with exhaustion.

She stepped on her stool and put the last of her fireworks on the highest shelf. Because it was crooked, all she could see was the wall of firecrackers in front of her swaying and she was tilting to the side——

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu rushed to grasp for something to hold but she couldn’t find anything to support herself with and she was going to fall onto the fireworks. . .

Suddenly a warm temperature from behind her came up and supported Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu in outstretched arms. They steadied the fireworks and encircled her in his arms at the same time.

After Ryan corrected the fireworks and confirmed they wouldn’t fall again, he freed one of his hands to hold Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s waist and lifted her off the stole. He turned her around to face him and raised an eyebrow, “What are these things?”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu touched her cheek and seriously said, “Fireworks, firecrackers.”

She didn’t intend to hide anything from Ryan so she said, “I want to use them to make explosives. They’re very easy to carry and very powerful. Once they’re done, they can be used anytime. . .”

Halfway through, she realized that Ryan didn’t understand and she stopped, summarizing, “Anyway, they’re very powerful.”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s things were all very strange. Ryan didn’t think it uncommon so he shifted his line of sight to behind her, “How do you make them?”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu bit her lip and said, slightly embarrassed, “I haven’t figured that out yet, but I’ll tell you when I figure it out.”

Ryan: “Anything I can help you with?”

“No,” Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu shook her head, “The ingredients involved are rather complicated and I haven’t confirmed any of it yet. I listened a little to dad mentioning it once or twice before. . .”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s parents were university professors, high intellectuals. Once was in chemical research and the other an archaeologist.

The two were open-minded, conservative but not stigmatic. At home, they never deliberately avoided discussing academic things around Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu, and over time, she actually learned quite a lot from them.

The little girl’s eyes were fuzzy but they shifted back to what was going on. Ryan interrupted her thoughts, “How powerful is it?”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu lifted her eyes and blinked. She pondered a moment but didn’t know how to explain it to him. She only said, “I’ll tell you this evening.”

That evening, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu took Ryan to the back of the mountain and found a higher, relatively flat place.

She took the fireworks that had been drying in the sun and placed it on the flat ground in front of them, placing four or five cylinders in a row.

Then she took a look at her surroundings. The beastmen here stuck to a regular schedule. When it got dark, they went to bed, and at this time, she and Ryan were the only ones out and about. So there was no need to worry about being discovered.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu took the lighter out of her space and with a “click,” it lit up in red flames.

She touched the lighter to the firecracker and it ignited, burning away.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu hurriedly stood up and dragged Ryan’s arm backward to hide under a dense camphor tree.

At the same time, the fireworks in front were exploding, slamming into the sky in rays of light, all bright and colorful.

Immediately afterward, the succession of fireworks began to bloom.

“Bang, bang, bang,” the sound was endless.

The fireworks broke free from the darkness and were bright and eye-catching, like a thrilling baptism.

. . .

Under the fireworks, the young girl’s eyes were bright and colorful radiance reflected on her cheeks, following along the contour of her face. Her eyes sparkled like the fireworks in mid-air.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was fascinated by the scene overhead and remembered the previous New Year when she was with her family. She wasn’t paying attention to where Ryan was looking.

After a long time, once all the fireworks were set off, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu regained her consciousness and she turned to Ryan. “That’s just the fireworks. We usually use them in celebrations or when we’re happy. Is there anything to be happy about?”

“Yes,” said Ryan, looking at her.

“What is it?”

“My woman volunteered to invite me out.”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s face was hot. “. . .” She had obviously wanted to let him see the fireworks. This wasn’t a date. What’s so good about it. . .

The girl’s cheeks were red and even in the night, could easily betray her unease.

The corners of Ryan’s mouth curled upward and he chuckled, the sound restrained, “This is what you call ‘very powerful’.”

Well, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu knew they were being underestimated.

Fireworks didn’t compare with explosives. They were originally ornamental, and aside from the flashy bloom, they were simple. She couldn’t blame Ryan for not being interested in it.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu flattened her mouth and didn’t argue with him, “Once I figure it out, you’ll see.”

*

Over the next few days, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was devoted to studying explosive manufacturing.

To do so, she especially asked Ryan to build a small cabin behind the kitchen for her “research equipment” and materials. Cotton, charcoal, firecrackers, and a variety of other things were piled up in it.

It had been five days since Winter’s return and the announcement of Pat’s death.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was still hurting and unwilling, but she also had to accept this reality.

She had originally still held hope, since her space and the bus were connected, then couldn’t she return to her world through the space?

There was no end to her space. No beginning or way out, and no matter how many times she tried, she got no results for it.

A long time now, her pillar had been taken away and her hope for going home was shattered. If she didn’t do anything to distract herself, she probably wouldn’t be able to hold herself together anymore.

What’s more, according to her current ability, there was still no guarantee of her own safety.

If she could only stay here, then she had to have a way to protect herself.

For the moment, she had managed to use a bamboo pipe to distill the diethyl ether*. It fell out of her hand and onto her matches, and she saw a cloud of smoke in front of her. Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu reacted quickly and dove out of the house.

*Apparently diethyl ether is some kind of C2H5OC2H5???

Standing in the doorway, she heard a dull explosion inside and immediately, smoke flooded it and poured out of the windows and doors.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu stood helplessly, looking at the messy cabin, a little unsure what to do.

Uh. . .

It’s done.

She accidentally blew up Ryan’s house.

What to do? Would Ryan be angry?

Ah, no. She had a lot of raw materials inside. Had they all gotten blown up?

When Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was about to go back in, Ryan, who had been woken by the explosion, was there ad his arm around her, successfully preventing her death. Having just waken up, his voice was hoarse as he asked, “What are you doing?”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu shrank her shoulders, “I wanted to get some of the things out. . .”

Ryan placed her in a safe spot and looked up. Seeing the smoke-ridden hut, he said, “Didn’t you see there’s a fire inside?”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu lowered her head, “I saw.”

It was because she had seen the fire that she wanted to sneak back in. . . Her things were all inside. Though cotton and charcoal was everywhere, and the firecrackers were in her space, but the ether and the sulfur were things she couldn’t easily refine. . .

Fortunately, the amounts that Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu had refined weren’t pure and the fire wasn’t large. After a while, Ryan used water to extinguish it.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu brought a pot and put out the last of the flames, turning her ash covered face to look at Ryan, “I’m sorry.”

Ryan threw the bucket aside and looked askance at Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu, “Eh?”

“I burned your house.”

Ryan paused slightly but the color of his face didn’t change, “It was a house built for you, you can burn as many as you want.”

“. . .”

She didn’t know if this sentence of Ryan’s was too lethal, or if Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu had become less and less resistant to him. Either way, after hearing this, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s face suddenly became red.

“But. . .” Ryan walked up to her and reached out with his claws, wiping the dust from her face. He bent down and stretched out his tongue to lick her lips, voice low, “Next time, remember to say it’s our house, so I don’t get angry.”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s face was boiling hot and it spread behind her ears, and she backed away, muttering, “I do not. . .”

“Want to go back?” RYan directly intercepted her words, and covetously held her lips, “Aren’t you humans the most honest? Since you promised to stay, but you don’t want to live with me, who do you want to live with?”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was too choked up to say anything. . .

Unfortunately, there was no room for regret with Ryan here.

Ryan clasped the back of her hand with his claws and opened her teeth with his tongue. Breaking in, he blocked all her words.