You Plan to Kill me with Meng?

POLAR BEAR ARC CHAPTER 41

A simple plastic bucket, yet it managed to keep an 800-kilogram polar bear in check.

Had Qiao Qixi not seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it. But Otis indeed complied, turning back three times to check, and each time, Qiao saw Otis obediently staying by the bucket.

Qiao couldn't help but chuckle, feeling both amused and warmed inside.

He knew it wasn't the yellow bucket that restrained Otis, but himself.

In the eyes of any animal, hunting is inherently dangerous. It could lead to injuries, bleeding, or even a one-way trip. By hunting alone in front of Otis, Qiao was essentially sending a message: 'I'm going off to face danger on my own, and I might not come back. But you can't follow me, or I'll get mad and ignore you.'

So it was impossible for Otis to feel at ease.

Although Otis appeared calm as he watched the little bear leave, he was likely battling internally—should he risk making Qiao angry by following, or should he let him go and indulge his whim?

In the end, he made no move.

The desire not to upset Qiao must have won out.

Once out of Otis's sight, Qiao felt a pang of guilt. He could almost sense Otis's worry, so he decided to make it quick, hunting swiftly and returning with his catch to reassure the big guy who was surely fretting.

Before heading back, Qiao had considered that Otis might be upset—just your average kind of upset.

But what he didn't expect was that as soon as Otis caught the scent of blood, he would rush over, his eyes slightly red, his entire demeanor radiating worry.

'Uh-oh, this seems more serious than I thought.'

Otis, usually so reserved, rarely displayed significant emotional swings. But as Qiao reflected, it seemed that whenever he did, it was somehow related to him.

'Rawr,' Qiao dropped his prey and dashed over to hug Otis, offering some comfort.

He didn't go for a kiss this time—his mouth and face were still smeared with the blood from hunting a seal.

Yet Otis didn't mind. He gently turned his head and began carefully licking the blood off the now almost fully grown bear. It wasn't until Qiao was thoroughly cleaned that Otis's emotions settled.

Animal emotions can come and go quickly. Seeing that Qiao was safe and sound, Otis then started enjoying the ringed seal on the ground without any hesitation.

Qiao joined him, but at the same time, he thought about how much Otis clearly disapproved of him hunting alone. The resulting emotional stress was not good for his health.

'Fine, I'll just stop stressing out Otis's big heart,' Qiao decided.

In fact, a polar bear's heart is far from small. For a bear of Otis's enormous size, his heart is at least as large as a human head.

From that day on, Qiao behaved himself and no longer went off hunting without Otis.

As a result, Otis's mood was consistently bright and sunny.

He couldn't stand watching Qiao leave his sight to hunt alone, but he could accept them hunting together, where he did the heavy lifting while Qiao observed.

Qiao: 'Pfft, more like a 70-30 split.'

This division of labor worked well—it wasn't too exhausting for Otis, and it kept Qiao's claws sharp.

It felt like they were getting closer to being soulmates, even just a little bit.

During this summer's migration south, Qiao managed to take the lead, having won that privilege from Otis through some shameless wheedling. He was in charge of the entire route, eager to prove that after so many trips back and forth, he had advanced from a novice to at least a bronze-level navigator.