Chapter 11: The Cub Fainted
Soland looked at Yu An in his arms. The cub was clearly right here with him, so who was the cub Chausier found?
Soland replied: [You found the wrong one.]
[How is that possible?] Chausier was very stubborn. [I called it ‘cub’ and it answered. Cub~]
[Woof!]
F*cking psycho.
Soland cursed and cut the connection with his companion. Originally, he had come to find Yu An alone, but Chausierās ability was mimicry and camouflage, allowing him to lower his own power without causing harm to space, so he had followed along to find Yu An.
Ushatos preferred acting alone. Soland and Chausier had split up as soon as they descended. Now that Soland had found Yu An, he didn’t care what kind of ghost Chausier had found; he directly took Yu An back to the Ushatos Temple.
The Ushatos Temple, which was usually ignored, was exceptionally lively today. These solitary long-lived species were rarely gathered together, huddling to catch a glimpse of the little cub in Solandās arms in the center of the temple.
Since the size difference between an Ushatos and a human was like a dinosaur and an ant, to see the cub more clearly, these arrogant overlords shrank their bodies and molded themselves into human forms.
Compared to ordinary humans, their forms were taller and more massive, their strong and powerful bodies wrapped in a layer of black mist. At this moment, the black mist served as clothing.
The Ushatos looked at Yu An with doting eyes. [The cub is so small. Heās actually white. Did our race have white clansmen before?]
[I remember we didn’t. Although a white cub is very cute, isn’t this too dangerous? Heās so small; how will he hide himself? What if he gets eaten?]
Ushatos had no natural enemies, but weak cubs without clansmen to care for them often became targets for other predators.
[Itās fine. I will be the cub’s guardian. I’ll protect him.]
The Ushatos who said this was quickly ridiculed by other clansmen.
[What kind of trash are you? The cub being with you is the greatest danger. He should be with a mature and stable elder. Like me.]
[Oho, you old thing, you’re quite shameless.]
An argument over Yu An was in full swing. These proud overlords had little patience even for their own kind. If words didn’t suffice, they would switch back to their original forms and fight.
Soland didn’t participate, focusing solely on holding Yu An. Among the Ushatos, he was the youngest and the weakest. If anyone got so angry they took it out on him, he could only accept the beating.
The soft and good cub was the best.
Soland looked affectionately at the soundly sleeping Yu An. A small tentacle emerged from his back and gently poked Yu Anās cheek. [Cub~ Cub, wake up~]
Yu An was resting on Solandās shoulder, motionless. His elegant small brows were slightly furrowed, an abnormal flush appeared on his face, and his breathing became rapid.
Soland noticed the abnormality immediately and nervously shook the little guy. [Cub?]
In his dream, Yu An felt like he couldn’t breathe, as if the surrounding air had been emptied. The suffocating discomfort made the little guy whimper and struggle to open his eyes.
What met his eyes was an incredibly magnificent temple. Massive relief-carved pillars reached toward the clouds; Yu An couldn’t even see where the top was. In addition, over a dozen strange creatures floating in mid-air were swinging long tentacles, whipping one another.
Yu An clearly saw the sharp teeth within the dense suckers on their tentacles. The Ushatos bloodline within him made him not fear these terrifying-looking overlords, and even generated a sense of familiarity and closeness.
However, the noisy sounds flooded his ears continuously. The Ushatos were arguing fiercely, sometimes failing to notice their volume. Yu An only felt waves of dizziness. “So dizzy… so hungry.”
Yu Anās voice was weak. He only had time to make two sounds before leaning against Solandās shoulder and closing his eyes.
This time, Soland wouldn’t think Yu An was simply asleep. He anxiously patted Yu Anās flushed cheek and shouted at his clansmen: [Stop arguing! The cub is unwell! He fainted!]
The next second, the entire hall fell silent. The Ushatos turned back into human forms and crowded around nervously. [What happened? Why did he suddenly faint?]
[He wouldn’t have been scared unconscious by us, would he? The cub has always lived with humans and hasn’t seen us before.]
[Waaaaah, my poor cub! Why is his face so red? Being a bit black is normal, but don’t be red!]
[Boss! Boss! Boss, come quickly! The cub is dying! The cub is going to be scared to death by us!]
The chirping finally woke the sleeping Lord of the Ushatos. Klold sent several clansmen blocking his path flying with a tentacle. His expression was solemn. When he saw Yu An leaning listlessly against Soland, the aura around him became incredibly dangerous.
His deep lake-blue eyes scanned the clansmen threateningly. [Who told you to bring him back?]
[The cub is ours; naturally, he should be brought back.] An Ushatos spoke with conviction. [Our cub, why should he stay with the humans?]
Klold took Yu An from Solandās arms. Yu An sensed the familiar aura and nuzzled against his shoulder like a kitten, whimpering in discomfort twice before becoming quiet again.
Kloldās slender and well-proportioned hand covered the lower half of Yu Anās face. Yu Anās breathing gradually became regular, and the redness on his face slowly faded.
[He is still too small and isn’t adapted to the environment here.] Klold looked down at the little guy sleeping sweetly in his arms. Hearing the rumbling from Yu Anās small stomach, a light smile flashed in his eyes. [Heās hungry…]
He slit his wrist and brought the bleeding spot to Yu Anās mouth. Yu Anās small nose twitched, and his little mouth bit onto the wrist, urgently sucking the blood.
[Don’t rush. Drink slowly.]
Yu An was indeed starving. His body was in a growth phase and needed a large amount of food. He had been hungry for several days, and the little guy was famished.
After being full, Yu An didn’t let go of the wrist, sleeping with that piece of flesh in his mouth, occasionally biting lightly as if grinding his teeth.
Solandās expression was blank the whole time. It wasn’t until the little cub was handed back to him that he reacted, looking at his Boss with a bewildered face. [Wh-what happened?]
[Take him back.] Klold switched back to his impatient expression when looking at Soland. [I sent you to look after the child, and you didn’t even feed him?]
Soland lowered his head like a child who had done something wrong. [I didn’t know the cub needed to eat. I thought he would find food on his own.]
Because that was how he had grown up. His elders had tossed him into the vast universe, and whether he survived depended entirely on himself. Soland couldn’t help but look at Yu Anās thin arms and legs; this little cub didn’t look like he could hunt.
Klold gave him a knock on the head. [Take him back now. Remember to feed him.]
[And remember not to switch back to your original form in front of the child. He seems very afraid.]
Klold remembered Yu An was terrified when he saw the slender arm that night. Their tentacles were a hundred times more terrifying than that arm. This little cub would definitely be scared, so they had to take it slow.
Soland took Yu An. [Understood, Boss.]
After the other Ushatos had left, a human-form Ushatos arrived in a hurry. His appearance was so beautiful it was gender-neutral, looking unreal, but his reactions were slow, making him look a bit dazed.
Chausier held up a small yellow dog, his tone excited. [Boss, Boss! I found the cub!]
Klold: “…”
His silence made Chausier freeze. Thinking Klold couldn’t see, he held the dog further forward. [Look, itās the cub~]
Monday wagged its tail, its large eyes full of energyāmuch more energetic than Yu An had been. It looked at the Lord of the Ushatos with its tongue out and barked with a voice full of vigor, “Woof!”
The veins on Kloldās forehead throbbed as he held back the urge to beat Chausier. […Idiot. That is the dog the child is raising.]
[Oh… not the cub.] Chausier lowered his head dejectedly, casually placing Monday on the ground. [Then I’m going to look for the cub.]
Monday was already confused from being whisked away by Chausier. Now left in this massive temple, the puppy whimpered in fear, tucked its tail, and looked around until its gaze landed on Klold.
Monday could smell Yu Anās scent on this man.
Klold: “…”
Klold felt a headache coming on. He pointed at Monday and stopped Chausier. [Come back. Take it back.]
Chausier was very obedient, immediately turning back to pick up the dog and leave.
Watching Chausierās departing back, Klold really didn’t want to admit he had raised this idiot. He seemed to have a curse where everything he raised turned out stupid.
Back then, Soland had stayed with him for a few days, and seeing the boy get stupider and stupider, he had quickly let go, vowing never to raise a child again.
This was also why he hadn’t gotten too close to Yu An.
What if the other one turned stupid too?
In the early morning, Yu An got out of bed feeling refreshed. While standing on a small stool brushing his teeth and washing his face, Yu An looked at his lake-blue eyes in the mirror and dazed for a moment.
He seemed to have dreamed of many uncles and aunties with the same eye color as him last night.
A fragrant uncle had even given him a strawberry cake. Recalling the taste of the cake, the “glutton” in Yu Anās stomach was hooked again.
Mhm… I can ask Papa to bring strawberry cake later.
Yu An rolled around on the bed with his tiger plushie. Finally deciding the room was too dark, he stepped barefoot onto the floor to pull the curtains open. Warm sunlight instantly illuminated the cozy room.
He leaned against the windowsill to gaze at the rising sun, catching a movement from the small succulent on the sill out of the corner of his eye. Yu An froze and leaned in to look.
A grayish-black, jelly-like object was lying on top of his succulent, with several long, thin strands hanging down. Its body was rising and falling as if it were sleeping.
Yu An stared at this unknown creature for a long time. Unable to tell what it was, he took the phone Grandma bought him and snapped a photo.
After the smart identification, two similar species were given: the Stygiomedusa gigantea and the North Pacific giant octopus.
Mhm… the upper body looks like a jellyfish, especially the umbrella-like head, while the bottom is octopus tentacles. Yu An gently pinched a small tentacle to observe it closely, but the tentacle was so small he had to use a magnifying glass to see the dense small suckers on it.
So what species was this?
Yu An put down the magnifying glass and stared intently at the strange little fellow, full of confusion. Occasionally, he gathered his courage to touch its soft small tentacles.
No matter how deeply Soland slept, it was time to wake up. After bringing Yu An back last night, he had wracked his brain thinking about how to find food for Yu An. There wasn’t much high-nutrition food in this world. Soland searched around and found some mutated creatures that were edible.
Soland caught a few and tasted them; they were passable. Before Yu An could adapt to space life, Soland was determined to raise Yu An to be fair and chubby.
After working all night to find several food storage locations, Soland was also tired. He shrank his body and slept on the succulent for a bit. After all, the cub was a little lazybones who wouldn’t wake up until nine.
As a result, Soland, who was woken up by the “lazybones,” was exceptionally bewildered. [Are you sure you’re not sleeping more?]
The two little fellows looked at each other with similar lake-blue eyes, seeing bewilderment in each other’s gaze.
Yu An hadn’t expected this creature to have the same pupil color as him. After a few seconds of surprise, he answered Solandās suggestion, “Iāve slept enough. I don’t want to sleep now.”
“What about you? Are you a little jellyfish or a little octopus?” Yu An didn’t dare touch Solandās tentacles again. He was quite shy and restrained himself, only offering verbal praise. “You’re so cute. Small and soft, like a little mushroom.”
He… was cute?!
Soland was utterly shocked by the adjective. Didn’t the Boss say the cub was terrified of their original forms? But it looked like the cub clearly liked him.
After thinking it over, Soland attributed this to his shrunken size. It was normal for children to like creatures smaller than them.
[Th-thank you for the compliment. Cough cough… I’m an octopus.] Soland randomly accepted an identity and looked at Yu An with anticipation. [Cub, can I follow you? I can find food for you so you won’t be hungry.]
Yu An blinked and tilted his head in confusion. “Why do you want to follow me? And my Papa will give me food; I won’t be hungry.”
Solandās mind spun rapidly. [Because I don’t have a home and nowhere to live. I can only follow you. I… I like you very much, cub. I want to be with you. Can I?]
Yu An was a soft-hearted child. He didn’t have a home before either; he only had one because he got a Papa.
He pursed his lips and looked at the cute little octopus, proactively extending his fair small hand. “Then follow me. I’ll give you a home.”
Soland froze. Ushatos had no concept of family, yet this little guy said he would give him a “home.” By the time Soland snapped back, he had already climbed onto Yu Anās hand, his small tentacles clinging tightly to the childās wrist.
Yu An smiled happily, stroking Solandās head. “Be good. I’ll take good care of you.”
He could raise Monday well, so he could raise the little octopus well too.
Hearing the childās soft promise, Soland inexplicably felt a surge of guilt. Clearly, he was supposed to be the one raising the cub. Why did it feel like their roles were reversed?
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