gentle beast

27

This scene was particularly familiar.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu vaguely thought back. She could have sworn she had seen this exact scene before.

Where was it. . .

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu closed her eyes to try and remember, but the pain at her waist too much. It bore into the nerves, dull and blunt, and she simply could not think normally.

Her ears were filled with the messy sound of beasts fighting each other, Laurence’s horror, howling, whistling and heavy breathing. . .

She even heard the voice of her mother and father, and the shrill sound of the school bus’s sharp turn——

“I really do not know how these boys think. Why pick this place for the spring outing? I heard there are many wild animals in the forest. We’d be better off going to disney and playing Buzz Lightyear. . . Xiǎo Ōu, what do you say?”

“I, ah, I think it’s not bad.” Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu looked out the window, her dark eyes glossy, and she smiled. It was part curious and part excitement. “Animals generally live deeper into the forest, and we’re at the foot, we probably won’t see any of them.”

. . .

. . .  . . .  . . .

Before the lethargy set in too deep, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu finally remembered it. This was her last conversation with her classmate.

After that, she fell straight out the bus window.

In the process of falling, she saw a huge beastly figure jump over her head, blocking the scorching sunlight.

The same color, the same agility, it was an adult leopard.

This was what drew her to this world.

*

In the snow, the ferocious leopard raised his forepaw. All of a sudden, Laurence was on the ground, blood and flesh flying every which way. All the surrounding animals had hid in their caves, too scared to venture out.

——Never before had they seen such a fierce fight.

Under normal circumstances, of the two beasts fighting, the weaker would often take the initiative to yield and the strong side would therefore spare it.

Few were like these two, the dominant leopard so bent on setting the panther to death. Not long after, the panther’s throat overflowed with vague syllables, then he ceased to struggle and laid motionless.

Ryan’s blue eyes stared at Laurence’s claws, the ones stained with blood, the ones that caused Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s body to bleed.

Ryan took his gaze back after a while and turned away.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was still lying on the ground, surrounded by blood, and her face whiter than snow.

Her lashes were stained with teardrops that would not fall.

Ryan stopped beside her and bowed to grip her clothes with his teeth. Looking at the girl’s delicate skin, the three claw marks were unusually obvious. They were two to three inches long and the middle was the deepest, stabbing straight into her belly and the blood had yet to stop.