Gentle Beast

She wasn’t the type of kid to start screaming and shouting. Her parents always said she was obedient and well-behaved, like a little lamb.

She loved to cry, but she always cried alone.

Weeping silently, she wiped her tears away silently too and never disturbed anyone.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu buried her face in Ryan’s small neck, her tears continuously overflowing from her eyes, scouring his fur.

Leopard’s fur was very short, and after getting wet, it was like a furry brush, and prickled her face a bit.

Regardless, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu continued to cry for a long time, and if it wasn’t for the occasional sniffle of her nose, people would mistake her for having fallen asleep.

Ryan raised his head to look into the forest overhead. It was winter, and the tree leaves had all fallen, leaving only bare branches and a clear view to the bright sky.

Occasionally a bird flew by, causing snowflakes to flutter down.

The girl’s sobs still rang in his ears.

It was light and soft, as if there was nothing there at all, and the sound was one of pathetic abandonment.

. . .

Ryan hadn’t thought she would be so sad.

To be honest, he felt a little guilty.

If not for him, she could have spent the entire long winter with that herbivorous race.

Two days ago, Ryan might have thought about that.

But, now, he only felt a little guilty, nothing more.

Her \'space” held the key to him returning to normal. Before he could figure it out, he could not let go of her.

Even if she cried while holding him so pathetically.

When Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu stopped crying, it was already an hour later.

She rubbed against Ryan’s neck and wiped her tears away, raising her red eyes and looking into the distance.

The distant sky was clear and white clouds bloomed all across it. However, at the intersection of the horizon, the clouds intensified into an inky thickness.

The rain on the mountain was silent.

With the last experience, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu knew this was a sign of a coming snowstorm.

She sniffled her nose. In the end, she still wanted to live. She did not want to die quietly in this world. So she picked up her emotions and continued to walk on alone.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was lucky. Not that far away, she saw a deserted wooden cabin at the foot of the mountain.

The shack was shabby and the door was eroded away by wormholes. It hung on the door frame and were on the verge of collapsing when facing the cold wind.

It was also small, and looked like there hadn’t been anyone living there for a lont ime. THere was a thick layer of ice on the front and it was difficult to get down.

However, for Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu, this place was a pleasant surprise.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu tiptoed around the frozen areas and walked into the wooden house, looking up and all around.

The house’s interior looked better than the outside. There was a wooden bed in the corner and next to it, a cupboard taller than her. There was a square table made of oak wood in the middle but the tabletop was also eroded away by wormholes.

The floor was made of bamboo and there were two places that were rotten into mold.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu wiped the top with a finger and the tip came away stained with a thick layer of ash and dirt.

Maybe the owner had moved. This place was a bit too shabby and too hold. In short, no one was really living here.

No matter what, it was a good thing for Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu.

This meant that she could stay here in peace for the winter. When the snowstorm came, she wouldn’t freeze to death for the time being.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was a very easy to please person.

Looking around the cabin over and over again, her depression quickly cheered up and she put Ryan on the bed. Taking advantage of the light left before dark, she went outside to look for firewood.

The hut was very close to the forest behind it, and there were a lot of dry branches nearby. Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu picked up several seven or eight times and finally collected enough firewood for a night.

When she came back, she put the firewood in the fireplace and lit one stick with a bit of gas and ignited the rest.

The bright flames lit up and warmed up the icy cabin.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu found a plastic basin in her space and went outside to fill it with snow, then she placed it next to the fireplace.

When the snow melted into water, she wiped down the table, the cupboard and the bed with a toel. Even the floor was not spared.

After all this was done, she looked up and the sky was dark.

She intended to clear the ice at the door but had to give up.

Although very tired, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu managed to get everything clean and, finally able to live in a cabin, felt a sense of accomplishment.

She took out her sleeping bags, blankets, and pillows one by one from her space.

Because there were many people in her class, there were about thirty or forty blankets. Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu spread three on top of the bed and lied down to test it out. It was a little hard so she spread another two on top. She left a thicker blanket to stay on top.

The door was eroded, so Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu walked over and placed her hands on the door, thinking about how to deal with it.

Suddenly the door fell forward with a “bang” and hit the edge of her foot!

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu hurriedly retreated: “. . .”

This thing simply could not be used, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu thought. From her space, she found a double sleeping bag and stepping on a wooden bench, raised her hands to place it on top of the door.

The door became a little larger and could not fit into the frame so Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu erected it in front and placed the wooden table behind it, so there was no more air leaking in at least.

Ryan laid on the soft bed watching the busy girl.

Obviously, just moments before she had cried herself out of breath, and the next, it was as if nothing happened.

This was nothing like the leopard females.

Ryan lifted his front paws and licked at the fur with his barbed tongue, thinking.

Female leopards were very independent and powerful. Everything could be solved alone.

And this one. She was vulnerable, sensitive, fragile, but always tenaciously surviving.

Not even this tenacity though, was worth mentioning before the mighty leopard race.

*

In the middle of the night, the blizzard arrived right on schedule.

Outside, the cold wind whistled away and heavy snow covered the ground, fine snowflakes rolling in through the gap of the door.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was not afraid of the cold. The fireplace was burning strong and the whole house was cast in a layer of warmth. Before the snowflake could land, it was already melted.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu covered herself in the blankets and shrunk in the bed. Despite the fireplace heat, the snow was still raging and she felt chilly.

After all, the blankets were not as warm as quilts.

She hugged Ryan to her chest and tried to take some warmth from his plush fur.

The sixteen-year-old girl’s body had already begun to develop into its womanly shape. Her chest bulged slightly, like a soft, juicy peach.

Take a bite, and the juice would overflow.

Without the goose coat blocking it, she was much closer to Ryan.

The fragrance of the girl came from all directions, and it was one that the female leopards did not have, sweet and aromatic.

. . .

Ryan froze stiff.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu wasn’t aware of this, and her feelings for Ryan were probably about the same as those for her short-hair at home.

She even rubbed her cheek against the tip of his nose, asking in a grumble, “Táo Táo, do you think I can go home?”

Ryan raised both his eyes and looked at the girl.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu felt a little sleepy and her eyes drooped half-shut, her cheeks rosy with warmth from the fire, and she heaved a drowsy sigh.

Once Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu could no longer stay awake, when she had closed her eyes to sleep, in her trace she seemed to hear a sound——

“To hell with ‘Táo Táo’.”

Then, he said: “Remember. Ryan is my name.”

The voice was low, like a warm wind blowing over dry grit, coarse and rough.

It passed through the ear in a split second and inexplicably felt a little parched.

Who was speaking?

Who was Ryan?

That name was a bit familiar. . . it seemed like she had heard it somewhere. . .

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu lost the fight with her eyes then and completely fell asleep.

*

The next morning, the fire in the fireplace had turned to ash and the snowstorm seemed to have temporarily stopped.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was lying in bed and still had not gotten up. Her eyes were closed and her hands on her stomach, her entire body curled up into a ball.

Ryan jumped out of bed, speculating that she was cold because the fire had been extinguished.

She had no fur, and he did not know how long winter was going to take.

After all, he still had to rely on her to change back to his original form. He turned around in the room and found that there was nothing to start a fire, so Ryan went to the door and squeezed through a gap big enough for him to fit.

It had snowed all night and snow covered the ground.

Like a brush with white paint, it had coated the entire world a dazzling white.

Ryan dragged his wounded hing leg and made a circle around the cabin. The branches were snow soaked and couldn’t be burned.

He had to go back down yesterday’s road, back to the Elk Village, and he “borrowed” firewood from the patriarch’s kitchen.

However, this body was too small and he could only take two or three firewood each trip. On the fifth trip, he was finally discovered.”

“You——”

Patriarch George was frightened and angry, how did this leopard come back?!

George was about to call his clansmen but Ryan pressed a paw on one end of the firewood and one instantly bounced off and hit the old patriarch in the antlers.

The patriarch was hit and he clutched his antlers, retreating a few steps.

Ryan took the last piece of firewood and jumped over the fence, turning around and glancing at the deer coldly.

The look was cold, wishing to break him open.

Scared stiff, the old patriarch remained frozen in place, trembling and looking elsewhere.

Going back and forth this way several times, when Ryan had collected enough firewood, it was almost noon.

Ryan but a piece of firewood into the hearth. Fortunately the fire had not gone out completely and, soon, the flames were burning bright again.

But Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu still had not gotten up.

Ryan finally realized something was wrong and jumped onto the bed, looking at the girl in the corner.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu had shrunk in on herself. Her whole body ached, her hands and feet powerless. She felt as if she had been ran over by a heavy truck.

She didn’t even have the strength to open her eyes.

Ryan stood beside her and watched the cold sweat leak from the girl’s forehead.

Originally he thought she was too cold to get out of bed, but it seemed that wasn’t the case?

By then, the fire had risen high and the room was dense with heat.

An unusual scent spread through the air.

It was rich, sweet, and came in silky traces smelling of blood. . .

——this smell came from the girl.

Ryan looked over Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s to see she was intact and there were no visible injuries.

But, the leopard’s sense of smell was keen and could easily find the source of the scent.

Ryan walked along Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s limbs one by one and scented from top to bottom, finally stopping his nose toward the middle of the girl’s legs.

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