gentle beast

49

Xiǎo Ōu knew what he was trying to do. She just reacted so badly to that.

She was a little angry, but she was unable to refute him.

After all, the person who had been something of an ostrich was her. She silently rubbed her tears with Ryan’s arm and kept silent.

Ryan simply picked her up and spread her legs. Resting his hands on her butt, he rubbed the place she’d fallen and asked, “Well, why are you avoiding me?”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu pursed her lips tightly and did not know how to answer.

She can’t say she was scared to like him, so she tried to stay away from him, could she? She waited a long time before finally saying, “. . . you’re dirty.”

Ryan raised his eyebrows, “Where am I dirty?”

“Everywhere,” Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu deliberately wrinkled her little nose and exaggeratedly said, “You haven’t bathed and after fighting the tigers the last time, you were bloody for days and it still hasn’t disappeared.”

What’s more, he actually kissed her looking like a bloodstain!

But, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu saying he never took a bath was a bit of an exaggeration. Leopards were good at swimming, and every swim was the equivalent of a bath.

Frequency. . . about once or twice a month.
It was just winter and the river was freezing so they couldn’t get into the water.

Ryan mused thoughtfully for a moment then bowed his head kissed her mouth of the little one in his arms, his voice pressured, “I am your man, so you have to suffer my dirtiness.”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu hurriedly covered her mouth and angrily shouted at him, “You. . .” Her eyes were round. They were layered in a watery mist, bright, but even staring lividly at others, there was no death in that gaze. Instead, there was a shame. Such shy fury.
Ryan didn’t hold back and kissed her on the lips.

The little girl’s hair exploded and she reached for her face, about to jump away from him. Ryan grinned and bound her hands, taking her directly to the other side of the river.

The whole journey, Ryan didn’t overstep the proper boundaries again. Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu had to be honest.

Ryan took Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu to the border of the leopard territory.

There, a group of hyenas tried leaping for them, but Ryan took a look around and quickly disposed of the matter before taking Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu to the “magnetite field.”

The magnetite field was located deep in the back of the mountain. The more they walked, the more gravel was piled up on the side of the road.

The magnet were attracted by the field and it pulsed slightly, as if ready to fight. Once they reached a certain point, it pointed straight for the magnetic field.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu and Ryan walked into the field and saw countless magnetite crystals on the wall. The interference outside had to be from here.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu took out the compass and stepped out from behind Ryan. She walked towards the center of the field and looked down to see the compass was no longer swaying around, and it no longer pointed south either.

She took the needle out of the compass and picked up a medium sized magnet from the ground, rubbing it gently against the needle. She repeated it in a single direction, attempting to magnetize the needle of the compass.

Ryan leaned next to the entrance of the field and saw the girl doing such. His eyebrows furrowed slightly and her lips dipped, becoming serious and attentive.

His eyes fell to the compass in her hand.
“What are you doing?” He asked.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu looked up at Ryan and didn’t think much of it. She chose the most straightforward and easy-to-understand way to explain it, “My compass is broken. I’m trying to fix it.”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu repeated it several times and decided it was time to try it. She replaced the needle in the compass.

Seeing it gently sway twice, the red end slowly stopped and pointed in one direction with precision——

Repaired?!

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was delighted. She had only tried it according to the methods she had seen in and before class. She hadn’t expected to succeed.

Well, this way she didn’t have to worry about getting lost wherever she goes. The terrain of this continent was rugged and complicated. If she took one step wrong, she could meet her end.

While Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was excited about it, Ryan didn’t move from where he was standing. His blue eyes were hidden in the dark and he stared at Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu, not saying anything.