Gentle Beast Novel Chapter 48

Gentle Beast Chapter 48

. . .

Jǐ Xiǎo ??u 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 ??u’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 developnt 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 so emotion into him. Even after he suddenly beca “Ryan,” the mory 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 ??u constantly persuaded herself to try and rid her brain of those absurd ideas.

Without ntioning 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 ??u 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 ??u never went to see her.

This ti, 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 ??u hadn’t known what to say. So she only asked, “Is Suzanna inside?”

Scarlet nodded.

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

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

Scarlet’s face beca 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 forr elder, know about Winter going to the east to find Pat. And he also knew that Jǐ Xiǎo ??u 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 ??u could still give birth to a defective child.

Jǐ Xiǎo ??u 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 ntion he was no elder now.

“If not,” Jǐ Xiǎo ??u 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 ??u 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 ??u walk in. Her first sentence was, “Did you save

that day?” Her voice was hoarse, and almost too low to be heard.

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

Jǐ Xiǎo ??u 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 ??u understood what that sentence ant.

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

*

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

Jǐ Xiǎo ??u went into the kitchen and began to prepare the noon al.

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 ??u 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 ??u was caught off guard.

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

“To see how she was?” Ryan frowned.

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

“Did you et Scarlet?”

Jǐ Xiǎo ??u nodded, “En.”

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

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

Silent for a long ti, Jǐ Xiǎo ??u 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 ??u’s cheeks flushed even redder, “No.” Him staying there would only make her beco 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. . . . so loud, she could almost hear it.

Ryan finally released her and Jǐ Xiǎo ??u 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 ??u asked, “What do you an?”

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

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

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

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

Ryan’s eyes lightened up at that aning, 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 ??u shook her head and said sincerely, “I don’t know.”

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

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

Jǐ Xiǎo ??u 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 beastn. 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 ??u made sure to maintain a certain distance from Ryan.

Aside from eating next to each other, Jǐ Xiǎo ??u 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 tis he wanted to catch her and ask what she ant, but Jǐ Xiǎo ??u hid from him and whenever he approached her, she ran away.

This ti, Ryan hadn’t even spoken yet when Jǐ Xiǎo ??u 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 seed to be attracted by a force, rolling in the sa direction. When she picked up two of them, the two pieces of broken stone got stuck together.

Jǐ Xiǎo ??u guessed there was a natural magnetite sowhere 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 ??u: “. . .”

Then Ryan crossed the room to the door.

This ti, it was too late and Jǐ Xiǎo ??u 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 ??u 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 ??u 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 ti, 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 ??u 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 ??u grit her teeth and stood up from the ice, trying several tis 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 ??u felt anxious in her heart and she wiped her tears with her fingers, “Ryan, wait for . . .”

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, “Co here.”

Jǐ Xiǎo ??u 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 ?”