gentle beast

52

Since spring had begun, each day was warmer than the one before.

The Camuda Valley was surrounded in greenery and flowers, golden light quietly sweeping over the leopard tribe, rending everything in dazzling brilliance.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu had taken her firecrackers out of her space and placed them outside. Even though the air in her space wasn’t humid, it was better to occasionally set them out in the sun to keep them from getting damp.

Some of the fireworks were larger and Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu had to move them back and forth several times, so she gradually began to pant with exhaustion.

She stepped on her stool and put the last of her fireworks on the highest shelf. Because it was crooked, all she could see was the wall of firecrackers in front of her swaying and she was tilting to the side——

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu rushed to grasp for something to hold but she couldn’t find anything to support herself with and she was going to fall onto the fireworks. . .

Suddenly a warm temperature from behind her came up and supported Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu in outstretched arms. They steadied the fireworks and encircled her in his arms at the same time.

After Ryan corrected the fireworks and confirmed they wouldn’t fall again, he freed one of his hands to hold Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s waist and lifted her off the stole. He turned her around to face him and raised an eyebrow, “What are these things?”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu touched her cheek and seriously said, “Fireworks, firecrackers.”

She didn’t intend to hide anything from Ryan so she said, “I want to use them to make explosives. They’re very easy to carry and very powerful. Once they’re done, they can be used anytime. . .”

Halfway through, she realized that Ryan didn’t understand and she stopped, summarizing, “Anyway, they’re very powerful.”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s things were all very strange. Ryan didn’t think it uncommon so he shifted his line of sight to behind her, “How do you make them?”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu bit her lip and said, slightly embarrassed, “I haven’t figured that out yet, but I’ll tell you when I figure it out.”

Ryan: “Anything I can help you with?”

“No,” Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu shook her head, “The ingredients involved are rather complicated and I haven’t confirmed any of it yet. I listened a little to dad mentioning it once or twice before. . .”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s parents were university professors, high intellectuals. Once was in chemical research and the other an archaeologist.

The two were open-minded, conservative but not stigmatic. At home, they never deliberately avoided discussing academic things around Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu, and over time, she actually learned quite a lot from them.

The little girl’s eyes were fuzzy but they shifted back to what was going on. Ryan interrupted her thoughts, “How powerful is it?”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu lifted her eyes and blinked. She pondered a moment but didn’t know how to explain it to him. She only said, “I’ll tell you this evening.”

That evening, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu took Ryan to the back of the mountain and found a higher, relatively flat place.

She took the fireworks that had been drying in the sun and placed it on the flat ground in front of them, placing four or five cylinders in a row.