The full grown leopard had a muscular physic, and all four limbs were strong and especially pronounced.
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was being crushed into the ground by the leopard called Rhode, and she was almost out of breath.
. . . He was too heavy!
Her chest tightened, and she subconsciously moved her arm but it was immediately caught by the other and fastened to the ground.
The beastman's gaze became vicious as he stared imploringly at her, demanding, "Where did you hide Ryan?"
Unfortunately, the reindeer race had learned a di ttps://betwixtedtranslations.blogspot.com/2018/02/gentle-beast fferent form of language that was still close to the human race's.
During the evolution process, the leopard race developed certain differences in their imitation of the human language.
In addition to the beastman's very pressured tone, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu could only understand the word "Ryan", and she quickly answered, "I don't know him."
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was unable to make sense of what she was hearing, but Rhode listened to her language.
He remained motionless, his eyebrow wrinkling, evidently pondering about the validity of Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu's dialect.
No matter what she said, she smelled of Ryan, therefore she must have seen Ryan.
Rhode pulled back on her wrist with force, resting his other hand on her chest. His expression was particularly cruel, "Tell the truth."
Even if the beasts had evolved into human form, they retained their sharp claws, and those were pressed against Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu's stomach. If he used even a little bit of strength, he could gut her.
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu felt her heart go cold. She looked up towards Eric in the cornfield, opening her mouth to cry, "Help. . ."
She only spoke the word "help" before it was caught in her throat.
Yesterday, Eric had also evaded the leopard race when they had meet. Despite the large size of the reindeer, their innate differences in race made them reduced to prey before the leopards.
Was her asking Eric for help this time not tantamount to dragging him into danger?
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu ground her teeth. Even if she was killed, she was unwilling to do that.
Her finger inadvertently touched the small bag at her waist, and she stilled as she suddenly remembered it. She pulled it off her waist without hesitation to observe the beastmen's reaction.
Rhodes stared at her with contempt, looking down at her condescendingly.
The other beastman stood a few paces away, without any intention to help or to stop what was going on.
She could only rescue herself.
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu steeled herself and sucked in a deep breath. Holding the mint pouch tightly in her hand, she reached up and held it across Rhode's nose——
Every time she coated her cat's toys in catnip, it would become excited to the point of delirium. It would often hold it tight and rub and bite, rolling around. It was like a drug addiction.
They were also cats, but would it work for leopards?
The result disappointed her.
"Stupid woman," Rhode leaned his head away from the catnip sachet, disdain coloring his tone, "Do you think we would leave such a weakness? Hundreds of years ago, cat mint no longer effects us."
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu saw the the mint not only had no effect, but it only angered the beastman even further. Her heart thumped heavily in her chest. She knew that was not good.
Rhode pressed his sharp claws against her belly, leaning down to get to the bottom of the matter, "Where is Ryan?"
The claws tore through Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu's baseball jacket with no difficulty. She had not brought too many clothes, so if he damaged them, she would no clothes to replace it later.
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu struggled desperately. She could tell they were looking for a beastman called Ryan. "I really do not know. . ."
Rhode frowned impatiently as the girl squirmed under his grip, claiming she didn't know the whereabouts of Ryan.
He decided to take her away. One hand gripping Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu's wrist, the other her slender waist, he tossed her onto his shoulder without care for the fairer gender and said to Dole, the companion behind him, as he walked towards the forest, "Back to the race."
Her stomach was held right on the beastman's shoulders, and Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was in too much pain to even cry out.
Eric said the leopard race was a cruel one, and they could not learn anything from her mouth. Were they taking her back to eat her?
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu's soul was dead with despair. She was coming to accept her misfortunes as being decreed by fate, when suddenly beastman carrying her grunted in pain.
It was accompanied by a damning curse, "What the hell was that?!"
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu did not understand how it happened, but the beastmen were suddenly thrown to the ground.
She suffered the pain in silence and refused to rub at the aching regions of her body. Instead, she quicly looked up and saw a small leopard sitting on Rhode's shoulders, sharp teeth pierced mercilessly in his flesh.
Rhode reached for the leopard cub and pulled him down from his shoulder, thinking to teach it a ruthless lesson. Dark blue eyes met his with an unfathomable ferocity, and he petrified, "Ry. . ."
Ry, Ryan?!
He was interrupted by the cub's foot planting itself on his face.
Rhode admired him and loosened his grip. The small leopard leaped out of his hand.
Seeing the small leopard running toward her side, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu worried that the beastmen were looking for trouble and hurriedly stooped to hold him. When the two beastmen were still recovering, she turned and bolted.
"Wait!. . . "
Rhode and Dole wanted to catch up but had not taken even two steps when the leopard cub clutched to Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu's chest poked its head out.
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was only looking forward as she ran, so she did not see the little leopard's eyes, the expression within powerful, threatening and conveying a command.
Rhode and Dole were distracted for a moment and stopped, watching as Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu and the cub ran further and further away.
*
Finally fleeing to a safe place, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu lifted the cub in her arms and considered him with surprise, "How did you get here?"
The little leopard's throat rumbled with a whimper, then he continued in a softer voice, moving his hind legs.
As expected, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu's attention was drawn to see the gauze on his hind leg was blotched with blood.
It must have been split open when he was fighting the two beastmen just now.
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was grateful he had dashed on with no thought of his own safety, and she quickly set down her backpack and took the medicine kit from her space to disinfect the cut.
Wrapping it up again, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was moved to ask, "You appeared to save me?"
The little leopard hung his head to obstruct the view of his eyes.
To Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu, this was equated a tacit approval.
Of course, regardless of the reason, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu had already determined he confronted the beastmen to save her.
"You provoked them, and they seem very difficult to deal with. Won't they look for you?" Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was very worried about him standing in for her.
The small leopard laid quietly in her arms as if there was no nothing to worry about at all.
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu lightly whispered to the top of his head, "Where is your race? Is it far from here?"
Then she set him on the ground, "You had better go back to your race. Your clansmen ought to be able to protect you should they come after you. I fear that I cannot protect you."
The cub stood motionlessly and raised his head to stare silently at her with his dark eyes.
After some time, he still refused to move.
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu tilted her head askew, puzzled, "Why won't you go?"
He silently walked around to stand at her side.
What situation was this?
Did he not intend on going back to his race yet?
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu stood up and deliberately walked forward two steps.
Right away, the leopard stood and followed after her, his injured leg staggering behind him. Where she went, he went.
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu, at long last, asked, "You want to follow me?"
He stopped beside her leg, agreeing by default.
"But I am heading far east. The road might get dangerous and we may never come back. You still want to go with me?"
The leopard finally had a little reaction, but he did not leave. Taking advantage of when Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu bent over, he exerted force on his uninjured hing leg and jumped into her arms.
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was afraid he would fall and scrambled to catch him.
"Okay," Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu said helplessly, slightly amused, "Since you want to follow, then follow. . ."
She came to this world and he was the first animal she met.
When she thought about it, perhaps it were fate?
Thing this way, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu dropped her emotional burden and quickly acquired a pleasant attitude.
She had originally intended to go alone, but now that the cub would be going, she had to rearrange her itinerary.
. . .
Actually, it did not matter. Nothing had been planned. The patriarch had only said that the turtle called Pat was on the easternmost part of the continent and that she would just have to go east.
Remembering Barry, she was reminded of Eric.
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu planned to leave after saying goodbye, but she had met the leopard race and disrupted her plans. She had to run away and she already stood at the foot of a mountain.
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu looked toward the forest and decided not to say goodbye.
She had no way to explain her race to him, or why she had to go east.
Turning around, she walked a few steps and heard a call from behind——
"Wait a minute, Ōu!"
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was astonished to turn around and see Eric running from afar, his huge antlers shaking with his footsteps. Her heart trembled in fear.
Still not in front of Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu, Eric could not wait to ask, "I heard my grandfather say you were heading east to find your clan. Why didn't you tell me your race was so far away?"
Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu hesitated, "Oh, I did not want to be a bother. . ."
Before Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu finished, Eric raised his head to smile brilliantly, "That doesn't matter. I will take grandpa's place at the Elk Village meeting. It is also in the east, if you don't mind, we can go together."
Eric finished speaking just as he reached Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu and finally saw the leopard she was holding.
The grey striped leopard stared at Eric, and his dark eyes flashed with the characteristic glint of a carnivorous race seeing prey.