Chapter 40 p2
Ye Qingyu was stunned, so shocked she forgot to blink.
Her back was still covered in a thin layer of sweat, and she couldn’t come back to her senses for a long time.
A gentle pressure suddenly came from the top of her head. It was the woman, placing a hand on her head and, with a slight pressure, pulling her into the crook of her neck.
“Don’t be afraid,” Pei Rong said, hugging her gently, her voice with an almost imperceptible dampness and hoarseness. “I’ve said it before, this is my territory. It’s very safe here. You will absolutely not be harmed.”
Worried that the human, just as she was afraid of birds, was naturally afraid of black panthers and would faint in the aftershock, she coaxed:
“And… that one just now likes to eat grass. You see that big patch of bald turf in front? She chewed it all up.”
The tip of her nose suddenly touched delicate, warm skin. Ye Qingyu smelled the clear, sweet scent of bamboo leaves from the woman’s neck.
In her ear was a gentle voice, which for some reason had a calming power, every word making Ye Qingyu unconsciously believe it.
The realization of her escape from danger brought with it a belated fear. Her limbs felt a little weak, and she buried her head in Pei Rong’s embrace, her hands wrapped tightly around the woman’s waist, like a large, dejected puppy.
Countless emotions were churning in her heart, but it seemed that more than the relief of her escape, one thought was the strongest:
It’s so good that I didn’t lose you again.
But, when had she ever lost her?
Pei Rong’s hand stroked her human’s head, one stroke after another, a dazed look in her peach blossom eyes.
The internet said that humans all have a selfish and flawed nature.
And Pei the Red Panda herself had been navigating human society for many years and knew this well.
But when Ye Qingyu had encountered what she perceived to be a ferocious beast, she had chosen to use her own life to cover her retreat.
Could it be that there was actually a human who would treat her, a little panda, so selflessly and without reservation?
With this thought, Pei Rong felt the defenses around her heart begin to crumble, loosened and on the verge of cracking by the sudden surge of emotion.
The bamboo forest fell back into silence, with only the slightly quickened and long breaths of the two of them.
Ye Qingyu finally and slowly lifted her head from Pei Rong’s embrace.
The close, warm hug seemed to be able to touch her soul, and her turbulent emotions were soothed and calmed a little.
She belatedly felt a little embarrassed. After being scared, she had actually gone limp in her beautiful boss’s arms for so long, looking very timid.
And so, she sniffled and tried to pick a light topic to break the silence. “That beast eats grass?”
Indeed, she had seen mud and grass at the corner of that beast’s mouth at the time, and the surrounding turf was also bald, but she hadn’t had time to think much about it.
“Isn’t it a black panther…”
In the moonlight, Pei Rong saw the young woman’s still-flushed eye rims. Her lips moved, and for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to continue hiding the truth.
This human surely wouldn’t bear to send her, a little panda, to the zoo.
“Actually, I…”
I am a red panda.
That black panther just now was Wu Shu.
We are a group of neither human nor beast, small animals who have been rejected by our own kind and find it difficult to fully integrate into human society.
The truth was on the verge of spilling from her lips.
BOOM—
A bolt of lightning suddenly tore through the dark sky, and the entire bamboo forest was instantly lit up.
Out in the open, the feeling of lightning and thunder was much more direct and intense than indoors. Pei the Red Panda trembled all over and stumbled back two steps.
The dense current of numbness and pain that shot through her body seemed to surge out from her memory, hitting her again with a real and profound force, and her peach blossom eyes instantly filled with mist, her whole being falling into a bone-deep fear.
She instinctively spread her palms and raised them high above her ears, quickly striking a “surrender” pose.
BOOM-BOOM—
The sky exploded with an even more violent crash, as if it were going to shatter the entire Yuqi Lake area.
Pei the Red Panda’s peach blossom eyes grew even more misty. An urgent whimper came from her throat, and she was so scared she fell directly to the ground.
“Don’t zap me…” she murmured indistinctly.
Ye Qingyu was slightly stunned.
She quickly took a few steps forward and picked up the woman who had suddenly been scared into a limp puddle.
“Don’t be afraid.” Her heart clenched, and she held her tight. “It’s probably going to rain. I’ll take you back.”
Her beautiful boss was clearly tall and slender, but now, curled up in her arms, she was just like a fluffy little red panda, clutching her collar and trembling incessantly, weak and helpless.
With every clap of thunder, her body would tremble violently.
Ye Qingyu walked quickly. Fortunately, she didn’t run into any more large, herbivorous wild beasts this time.
She successfully arrived at the lakeside campsite before the rain and finally breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a post-disaster exhaustion.
The tents were clustered together, and on the grass in the middle, only the picnic blanket piled high with empty cans remained. Everyone must have gone into their tents and were fast asleep.
Ye Qingyu opened the door of the two-person tent, carried Pei Rong inside, and placed her in the bedcovers.
The moment Pei the Red Panda touched the soft covers, she buried herself in them.
The thunder had not ceased. She let out a low whimper from her throat and resisted in a daze, “Don’t zap me…”
The timid little panda was cold all over, trembling in a ball.
Ye Qingyu couldn’t hear what she was murmuring and could only lift the covers and lie down with her, tentatively pulling her into her arms.
Fortunately, Pei Rong had no resistance to her at all. After falling into the warm embrace, she quieted down a little, as if she had found a safe and familiar haven.
Her two hands clutched Ye Qingyu’s collar, her body occasionally trembling.
Ye Qingyu petted her head, soothing her, and coaxed her in a soft, quiet voice for a long while. In the end, Pei Rong fell asleep in her arms, her lashes heavy with tears.
The rain was slow to fall, with only the terrifying thunder.
Ye Qingyu pulled the covers up a little, covering Pei Rong’s neck securely, and couldn’t help but let out a long, silent sigh.
After a huge emotional fluctuation, her mood barely settled back to a stable state, giving rise to a subtle emptiness.
The beast’s eyes, the feeling of near death, Pei Rong’s familiar tone as she easily drove it away.
Every time she encountered lightning, Pei Rong’s terrified and uneasy appearance.
…
All of this churned in her heart, making it difficult for her to fall asleep.
Ye Qingyu had always been a psychologically strong person, with excellent resilience and acceptance, but now, she was having a little trouble digesting it all.
She urgently needed to do something simple to distract herself.
A thought came to her, and her eyes lit up slightly.
She took out the nail clippers from her backpack, pulled her beautiful, softly sleeping boss out from under the covers, held her slender white fingers, and, with great concentration and a single mind, cut all her nails cleanly.
Mmm, I feel much better now.
…
When Pei the Little Able Cat opened her eyes, she stretched dazedly.
She felt a dazed and uncomfortable feeling, as if she were recovering from a serious illness.
She twitched her nose and smelled the sweet aroma of food, and immediately felt her stomach rumble.
“Ye the Little Tree…” she called out groggily, but the tree did not respond.
After washing up, Pei the Little Able Cat went to the camping cooking area and saw the human cooking breakfast.
“Ye Qingyu, what are you cooking?”
“Sweet rice balls.”
Ye Qingyu turned her head and, seeing that her beautiful boss was in good spirits, felt a little relieved.
“When I used to go out with my mom, we would always eat a meal of sweet rice balls to symbolize peace and reunion,” Ye Qingyu said. “So I brought some this time. They’re sweet.”
Pei the Little Able Cat was stunned.
She was immediately reminded of last night, when the human had faced the black panther alone, resolutely standing in front of her.
“…You will be safe, Ye Qingyu.”
Pei the Little Able Cat hesitated, then her peach blossom eyes drooped slightly, and she turned her head to give the human’s cheek a light peck.
The woman had just brushed her teeth, and her lips and teeth smelled of jasmine toothpaste, warm and damp as they pressed against her own cheek.
The tips of Ye Qingyu’s ears instantly turned red.
She pursed her lips and said devoutly, “You be safe too.”
It was as if this had been her long-cherished wish even before she had met Pei Rong.
Soon, the sweet rice balls were served, along with a plate of steamed buns.
After a night of heavy drinking, the little beasts, all feeling a little unwell in their stomachs, floated over, following the steaming hot aroma.
Jin Can sniffed, her puppy-dog eyes sparkling. “I’m going to start!”
“Wait,” Wu Shu said.
Everyone looked over with a swoosh.
Wu Shu took out a silver needle from somewhere. “Let me test it first.”
She held the silver needle and poked a sweet rice ball with it. When she pulled it out, the tip of the needle had turned black.
All the beasts were shocked.
Then, Wu Shu turned the needle around and poked a steamed bun on the side.
The tip of the needle turned black again.
Wu Shu’s jade-green eyes suddenly sharpened, a sharp light shooting out.
As expected, humans would always try to poison panthers.
Especially a human who had seen her eating grass.
Nian Qiu also widened her eyes, looked at the blackened silver needle, and pointed a trembling finger at the sweet rice balls and steamed buns. “Does this mean… there’s poison in the food?”
The human had gone to the bus to wash her hands and was not there. Hearing this, Pei the Little Able Cat’s peach blossom eyes narrowed slightly.
She took the lead and picked up her chopsticks, calmly picking up a sweet rice ball.
She took a light bite, and the sweet and full black sesame filling spilled out. It was delicious.
She then picked up a steamed bun. The red bean paste filling was sweet and delicious.
“…Oh, so the filling is just black,” a beast pointed out.
The table was silent for a moment.
The panther grumbled and silently put away her precious silver needle.
