You Plan to Kill me with Meng?

POLAR BEAR ARC CHAPTER 25

After spending considerable time together, Qiao Qixi, who had now fully adapted to life as a polar bear, became increasingly sensitive to the body language of his kind. He was certain that his interpretations of Otis's actions were not just figments of his imagination.

However, some of the meanings seemed so complex that even Qiao Qixi found it hard to believe that Otis was actually conveying those thoughts.

He could only trust the simpler interpretations, like the one happening at this moment: Otis was using his eyes to ask if he should continue grooming him.

Qiao Qixi shivered and quickly shook his head, signaling that he'd had enough. *No more,* he thought. The warm, wet, and forceful licking was something he didn't want to experience again today—or even for the rest of the week.

Thus, the dramatic "running away from home" episode ended with more bark than bite. Qiao Qixi licked his paws and then struggled out of Otis's embrace, suddenly remembering something important.

"Wah wah wah!" he whined, thinking of what had happened to his little yellow bucket. He transformed into a little ball of worry and rushed over to the spot where it had fallen—a narrow pit in the rocks.

The pit didn't look deep, but there was no easy way to climb down.

Otis immediately followed, responding to the little bear's cries with a deep, resonant rumble, akin to the best subwoofers in the human world, intending to soothe him.

Looking down at the unfortunate little yellow bucket, Otis seemed to "share" the bear's concern. He bent down to lick Qiao Qixi's ear before stepping into the pit.

Qiao Qixi blinked, lying at the edge of the pit, nervously watching as Otis went to retrieve the bucket.

Fortunately, Otis's large size made the task easy for him. With a few steps, he lowered his head, grabbed the bucket in his mouth, and then backed out of the pit, holding the bucket in his mouth as he looked at Qiao Qixi.

Seeing that the bucket was safe and sound, Qiao Qixi felt a surge of joy. He was just about to happily take the bucket and thank Otis for his help when, before he could do anything, Otis turned and started walking back toward their resting spot, still holding the bucket.

*Huh? Otis?*

Qiao Qixi hurried after him, feeling a mix of amusement and exasperation. That bucket was his private property, something Otis usually wouldn't touch unless Qiao Qixi was too lazy to carry it himself and made Otis do it.

But now, without any prompting, Otis was being so diligent. Was this his way of showing he was sorry?

It had taken Otis twenty-five minutes to catch up to Qiao Qixi, but at this slower pace, the walk back would take much longer. Feeling the hunger pangs after not having eaten for a while, the little polar bear looked longingly at the distant sea.

As they passed by the mother bear's territory again, they received two watchful gazes.

When Qiao Qixi had left earlier, he hadn't dared to greet them. But now, with Otis as his backup, he confidently stared back, though his gaze softened when it fell on the cub.

Qiao Qixi mumbled to himself, *If your mom wasn't watching, I would've petted you bald already,* just like how Otis was always grooming him.

What took half an hour to leave now took an hour to return—a mess of his own making. The little bear, now feeling tired and hungry, thought lying down was the only way to feel comfortable.

So today's learning objectives had to be postponed, and Qiao Qixi excused himself by blaming the physical and emotional toll he had endured.

As he lazily lay under the shade of the trees, staring up at the brilliantly blue sky, he picked at his paws and glanced at Otis, who was busy hunting. *Life as a bear isn't so bad when you have a powerful bear looking after you,* he mused.