Gentle Beast Chapter 16
The snow in the forest had not melted yet and there was endless white everywhere.
Because the blizzard had come in fast, the leaves of the fir trees had not completely fallen off yet and snow covered the still green branches, as if someone poured a layer of cake icing over them.
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s clothes were thin, but Holden had sent a goose down coat with her before she disembarked.
The goose down here was not as good as the 21st century, the outer layer wasn’t polyester, but for Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu, it was the best thing to keep warm.
She was not self-conscious toward Holden, thanks to the it. After all, no one could embarrass her over her body.
This coat ought to be based on Holden’s size.
Holden had said it was a coat jacket, but on her, the hem touched her knees and it was simply a very long coat.
Putting it on, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu felt much warmer.
She trampled the shallow depths of the snow, worried for the little leopard, and she wrapped him up inside with her, exposing only his furry head and little round ears.
Ryan was treated as a pet by her for days now, so his eyelids slid half shut, accustomed to it.
The girl’s body was still emitting that sweet scent, and without the disguise of the sachet, she attracted many of the foraging species along the way.
Ryan laid in Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s arms and, to the beastmen following them to the right, he drew back the corners of his mouth and exposed sharp teeth, his expression fierce.
His entire posture menacing.
Even if he was small now, the leopard’s prestige and power were unmatched.
In the distance, the antelope beastmen met Ryan’s fierce eyes and immediately retreating, turning and fleeing far.
Ryan’s tongue pressed against his teeth and he licked them slowly.
Suddenly though, a miserable feeling grew in his chest.
——He was actually reduced to scaring away these cowardly herbivores.
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu did not know what was in his heart, but she did see the many herivorous races that had smelled her body and followed her. She also saw when they discovered the leopard in her arms and ran off, she reached out to scratch his chin lightly, “Ah, how about I give you a name?”
All this way, she did not know his name and she didn’t know how to call him, and Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu had already had this idea long ago.
Ryan lifted his eyelid but remained unmoved.
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu became full of zest and began to speak, tilting her head askew, “《The Book of Songs》, said the nobleman Táo Táo, was harmony and happiness. Additionally, Táo Táo means to speed up, isn’t Táo Táo quite a good name for you? Not all leopards run fast, the name suits you.”
“. . .” Ryan endured and continued to endure, struggling to resist the urge to tell her his name.
What was Táo Táo? It sounded stupid.
Ryan’s face became dispirited. She said so many words, but he could only understand the last two sentences.
However, this had not ended yet.
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu finished thinking about his name and suddenly became aware of a serious problem.
——She still did not know the gender of this little leopard.
Was it female or male?
When they first met, she only thought he was small, injured and pathetic. She did not even consider his gender.
Later on, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu deliberately did not think in this regard.
Right then, she patted her forehead. She still didn’t know if it was male or female.
Ryan stared at her, and somehow had an incredibly bad feeling.
Sure enough, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu immediately bent over and set him on the soft snow.
With all his limbs facing up, Ryan felt Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu groping along his body and then her two hands gently held each of his hind legs and began to pull them apart. . .
Up until then, it had been too slow for Ryan to realize what she was going to do.
He started to struggle, but his hind leg was unfortunately injured and bandaged, so he could not expend much energy.
The girl freed one hand to hold his forelegs and soothed him, “Do not be afraid. . . I only want to look.”
Struggling, Ryan realized it was hopeless. He could not even shake off such a weak female.
Ryan’s heart turned to ashes, and allowed the girl to break open his legs and observe his life.
But, the girl was unaware of his lack of resistance, or that he could understand her words. She stared at his lower body for a long while and only slowly, suddenly sighed, “. . .so you are male.”
Ryan: “. . .”
*
Holden’s boat was heading east and after a day and night, it traveled quite the distance.
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu looked at the compass and hobbled along in the snow for half an hour. Her shoes were soaked.
Her hands and feet were cold, her feet almost frozen to numbness, and she wanted to find a place to rest.
Just now, she saw a lot of herbivores on the road, were they close to their tribe?
If so, could she ask them to take her in for a night?
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu looked down at herself. She wasn’t wearing any animal hides, and there were no animal teeth or horns adorning her. She should not look carnivorous to them?
The only place of discord was. . .
She stared at the little leopard in her hands and saw it open his mouth in a huge yawn, exposing shiny sharp teeth.
How was she going to disguise this guy? He wasn’t like a car, right?
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was a little worried. All the herbivores feared the meat eating species. Even Eric, the reindeer’s strongest warrior was terrified of leopards. She just noticed that there were antelope, rabbit, giraffe, elk, and other herbivorous beastmen species around. If they saw the leopard, would their reaction be the same as Eric’s?
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu embraced “Táo Táo” tightly and stepped forward.
She did not go far, seeing there were several races in front of her, and on the road noticed many sharp horns of the antelope species. There were really tall giraffes with ears upright, and rabbits with prominent front teeth. . . this was a small community of herbivorous species.
From a distance, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu saw a group of beastmen leaving a doorway and starting to come her way.
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu held the leopard cub in her hands.
This was her last hope. If she could not successfully borrow a resting place, she would freeze to death after it was dark.
But how was she going to handle the leopard?
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu painstakingly thought and finally had a realization, thinking of a method.
Since her backpack and other things could be taken out and put into the space, was it possible to put this little leopard into it?
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu, eager to try, held the leopard’s forelimbs in her hands and raised her head, looking at him seriously.
Ryan: “. . .”
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu closed her eyes, like she usually did when taking things out, and looked in the space for a quiet, clean place, and she put the leopard there.
Opening her eyes, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu looked at her hands and found her palms empty, there was nothing there.
When she closed her eyes again, she could see the little leopard standing in the corner of the space, his body pressed down under pressure, his fore paws pressing hard into the ground, and his head swerving around in search.
It really was unexpected, but Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was unable to contain her joy.
Did her space raise another level? Even living things can be put in it?
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu worried that the leopard would destroy her supplies in the space, deliberately moved it a little further away.
Having settled everything, she looked up and saw several beastmen approaching her.
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu saw a head of huge, ornate antlers, and a back carrying a bamboo basket, and a strong, sturdy body.
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu glanced at the one walking in the middle of the deer and she opened her mouth in surprise——it was Eric!
Eric apparently also saw her and stopped, inconceivably shocked, and cried out, “Ōu?!”
*
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was sitting in a rattan chair. The beastmen were very tall and the chairs were high. Her legs hung dangling in midair. She held a cup of hot ginger tea in her hands and drank half, warmth spreading from her stomach to her limbs.
Eric sat opposite her and was constantly adding firewood to the fireplace.
The furnishings in this room were very simple. To make it moisture proof, the floor was built at a distance from the ground.
There was a bed, a table, two wooden benches, and some other simple furniture in the room.
Eric added firewood and took the initiative to break the silence, “Ōu, how did you escape from that boat?”
That night, he saw Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu board that sailboat and, according to the beastman manning the ferry, it was a ship full of wolves.
Although it was hard to understand why she had boarded that boat, but Eric was still very worried about her.
Wolves were not good, and they were willing to let her go back intact?
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu briefly talked about what happened that day, from finding the leopard on the boat to sailing through the reef, she then talked about the wolf race’s conditions.
She narrated systematically and in full detail, concealing nothing.
Eric listened with a look of reverance in his eyes, and praised generously, “You’re great, Ōu!”
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu touched her cheek and did not tell Eric that a large part of the credit went to the compass.
“Why are you here?” Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu changed the subject.
Eric smiled and said, “You forgot. I told you before, I was going to the Elk Village instead of my grandfather for this meeting. After you left, I came here by boat. This village’s patriarch prepared a house for me, and if you have no place to live, you can stay here. There are two rooms and I live in the south room.”
For the homeless Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu, this invitation was simply too precious.
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was unceasingly grateful, saying again and again, solemnly, “Thank you, Eric.”
Eric was too embarrassed to stand up and scratched his antlers, and looked around for words to say, “Ōu, why don’t I see that leopard?”
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu faltered, “Uh. . . it’s foraging elsewhere and hasn’t come back yet.”
“Oh,” Eric said, not suspicious, and thoughtfully said, “Ōu, you couldn’t have had a good rest last night. It it best to rest for a while. I’ll come and call you for dinner.”
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu nodded in agreement and, when Eric was ready to go, suddenly remembered to ask for a map.
After Eric left, she lay in bed and looked over the map carefully.
Only a few nearby races were painted on the map in scattered areas. There area was in the north-western part of Bornia, quite a long distance from the east.
Last night, not only did she sleep for only four hours and very unstably, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu looked for only a little while before sleepiness set in.
She rubbed her eyes with her fingers and hoped to strengthen her spirit for a little while longer. But the fire in the fireplace was too strong and the whole room was warm and dry. It did not take long before she was deeply asleep.
She completely forgot there was still a small animal in her space.
*
When it got dark, Eric came over to invite Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu out for dinner.
He had made a delicious cabbage turnip soup and fried onion potatoes.
“Ōu, have you woken up?” Eric asked as he knocked on the door.
The door was silent.
Waiting for a moment, Eric once again knocked on the door, “Ōu?”
There was still no answer.
Eric was full of doubt. Ōu still hadn’t woken up?
But even forgetting the time, the firewood had long burnt out. Wasn’t she cold?
Eric thought for a moment, distrusting, and lifted a hoof to push on the door.
“Ōu, I’m coming in?”
The door squeaked open.
Eric subconsciously looked in the direction of the mattress and his pupils immediately contracted, stiffing in his place.
On the bed, the slender and delicate girl lay there sleeping.
And on the inner side of the bed, there was a huge beastly leopard.
There were dark spots under dark blue eyes and the huge body almost completely covered the girl.
The leopard’s long, powerful tail swayed behind it, sweeping the floor in a swinging motion, shaking the dust from the ground.
Just then, its tail rolled in front of its body and wrapped around the girl’s legs.
The giant leopard lifted its claws and placed on the girl’s ear, lifting his eyes casually to look toward the door.