gentle beast

61

“Little Darling, it really is you. . .”

The female voice on the opposite side was unable to calm down and her voice was weak, but she spoke very quickly, “Little Darling, where are you?”

“Little Darling” was Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s girlhood nickname, and it also meant “baby.”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was still in shock, and she raised her eyes, seeing a wide circle of wooden houses, “I, I’m. . . in a far away place.”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s mother asked, “Very far place? Are there any characteristics nearby? Who are you with right now?”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu startled: “I. . .” How could see say that she was with a beastman? Would her mother believe her?

The phone’s signal suddenly weakened and it was full of static, sounding like it would disappear in the next second. Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu held the phone tight and hurriedly said, “Mom, I’m fine now. I’m not in danger. . . You and dad don’t need to worry.”

After her words were spoken, the phone on the other end dropped with a bang and Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s mother ended. It was replaced by an ECG monitor’s irregular sound and rapid footsteps.

The last sound heard was a nurse calling for a doctor:

“

The patient is emotionally unstable, call Dr. Li!”

Then, all the voices were interrupted, and the call was dropped to a series of blind, cold tones.

. . .

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu stayed in place, her mind a mess.
Mother was hospitalized?

Why?

Was she sick or something?

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu controlled her trembling hands and redialed the last call. But the cell phone signal was interrupted and the call couldn’t be made.

She didn’t give up and tried several times until she completely exhausted the last bit of power it had and the phone automatically shut down.

The seconds that it had just connected seemed to be her hallucinations.

However, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu knew it wasn’t.

Her mother’s voice was very clear from the other end and very familiar, just like the countless other times she had conversed with her before.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu suddenly stood up and found her Swiss army knife from her backpack. She went to the door and tried to pry open the lock.

However, just as she walked to the door, it was pushed in from the outside without warning, and a pair of long legs came in.

Outside, a cold wind was blowing and it carried a fine rain.

Ryan’s shoulders and body were wet and his boots were saturated with mud.

His eyes fell to Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s hands and saw the blade, he paused for a moment then voiced, “What?”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu hastily put away her blade and explained, “You locked the door, and I had no way out. . .”

“It’s dangerous to go out during the rainy season.” Ryan shut the door and spoke as she pulled off his fur coat.

Before entering, he had thrown his prey into the kitchen but the smell of blood had not been washed away yet.

Ryan’s body was very good. After taking off his clothes, his shoulders were wide and his waist narrow. His spine was straight and the muscles of his lower abdomen were strong.