Chapter 24: Today is a Working Cub~ part 1
“En-ying… play~”
With a head of pink fur, two round black grapes hung on his porcelain-white face, a pink dot at the tip of his pert nose, and a ring of milk-stains around his ruby-red mouth. The cub still spoke one word at a time, though sometimes the “ying-ying” sounds of a red panda cub would still emerge.
Shen Lin had already passed that awkward period and successfully reconciled with his own infant form.
“Where does the Little Master want to play today?”
The head maid A-Mei squatted down. While wiping the milk-stain from the carved-jade-like Little Master’s mouth, she asked.
The Little Master had always been in his beast form; A-Mei had thought the Little Master’s true form would be maintained until he was three years old before slowly changing forms. Three days ago, A-Mei went to the room as usual to wake the Little Master, only to find that the Little Master, who had been napping in the nest, was gone.
She hurriedly gathered people to go out and search, only to bump into the Little Master at the entrance of the small castle. At that time, the Little Master appeared in the form of a human cub. He was stark naked, covered in grass clippings, and his almond eyes were red and swollen, scaring A-Mei into hurriedly calling for a healer.
After that, the Little Master could speak.
Afterward, A-Mei checked the surveillance; she only knew that the Little Master had gone to the Marshal’s place again, but he had left after a short stay. After that, the Little Master’s figure could not be seen on any surveillance throughout the Shen residence. No one knew where the Little Master had gone, or how he had returned in such a manner.
A-Mei had tentatively asked, but unfortunately, the Little Master said nothing. The Second Miss and the butler also came to ask, but the Little Master kept his mouth tightly shut, refusing to speak.
This matter was smoothed over when the cub smiled again the next day. Every day after eating, the Little Master would go out to play, mostly wandering near the Beast Blood Pool. Sometimes the Little Master wouldn’t let A-Mei follow, running out to play alone. A-Mei originally disapproved, but the Little Master showed strong rejection.
As the head maid personally promoted by the butler Uncle Chen, the Little Master’s words were orders, and A-Mei had to listen. The Shen family was now a fortress, so there was a certain level of safety. Don’t look at the Little Master as a tiny person like a soft bun; he was very assertive. Most of the time he was the one making the decisions, and A-Mei could only assist from the side.
A-Mei watched the Little Master squatting by the small garden near the Beast Blood Pool and didn’t go up to disturb him, instead leading people to stand guard from a distance.
The cub observed A-Mei and the others’ position, slowly moving toward a visual blind spot. Once certain that the mechanical insect eyes flying in the air couldn’t see, he pushed aside the hidden crack, transformed into his red panda form, and squeezed in.
In order not to waste time and attract the attention of A-Mei and the others, he increased his speed and sprinted through the jungle. Looking down from high above, one would see a pink little ball moving as if possessing a god-tier perspective, accurately avoiding fallen dead trees, shrubs, and hidden cracks in the ground.
A vast area of stones stacked layer upon layer formed boulders. A giant beast, black all over, lay on the boulders, its nose and mouth emitting a large number of dizzying vortexes, their strange colors twisted like moth-flies. Ordinary beastmen didn’t dare look too long at those moth-flies; those things would produce a certain pheromone that would affect a beastman’s reason, making them furious and frenzied. Even professional healers only dared to observe from the safety zone outside the light-net.
The only things that could approach the giant beast were the mechanical insects that constantly repaired the light-net.
Three months passed in a flash. Seeing that the day Marshal Shen was to enter the Abyss of Blood was approaching, Shen Zexi wanted her father to spend his final time in comfort. She didn’t lock Marshal Shen within the light-net deep in the blood pool, but instead placed him in the peripheral primitive jungle.
Everyone from the Beast Blood Pool was withdrawn, even the healers. Perhaps it was predestined; the cub broke in at noon on that same day.
“Ba~”
A sweet little milk voice came.
Shen Lin switched from his red panda form to his human cub form, moving closer to the giant beast step by step.
Feeling his body being touched, the mountain-like black tiger opened its eyes, its head tilting slightly. The blood-red color faded, and those golden-glowing eyes reflected the image of a jade-carved human cub.
A fluffy pink head pressed against the black tiger’s belly, and his soft pink-white cheeks were squeezed into little rolls of fat as the black tiger’s belly rose and fell. A pair of innocent almond eyes curved, filled with smiles.
The black tiger only glanced once before changing positions to lie on its side. The thunderous purring was gone, and the black tiger’s tail swayed leisurely behind it. The sun felt warm on their bodies, and the cub and the tiger enjoyed a brief moment of tranquility.
Shen Lin climbed onto the black tiger, his entire body lying on the tiger’s soft belly, a smile on his face.
Fortunately, he hadn’t rushed off to wander. Fortunately, he had taken a look at the Beast Blood Pool. Fortunately, everything was still in time…
He had thought that in this life, he would be living in a strange world all alone. He hadn’t expected there would be a day when he would see “Big Monster Baba” again. It was wonderful~
Three days ago.
The cub heard that his father in name was about to be sent to the Abyss of Blood. He wasn’t sure what the Abyss of Blood was, but he could sense the oppressive atmosphere at home; Second Sister Shen and Third Brother Shen were in low spirits. The Abyss of Blood was probably a very bad place.
Seeing that his cheap Elder Brother and Second Sister usually took good care of him, he planned to go around the Beast Blood Pool and see that Marshal Shen. Last time, he had exposed his healing ability in front of his sister, and for a period afterward, she treated him as usual. There was no panic, no surprise; it was as if she still just took care of him as her own younger brother.
If the Second Sister could sense the cub’s favorability, it must be +1+1+1…
It was also because of the Second Sister’s attitude that Shen Lin thought about taking a look at Marshal Shen. If the other party was pleasing to his eyes, he planned to help Marshal Shen before leaving. He’d consider it repaying the debt of birth, and after that, they would owe each other nothing. He was still determined to leave the Shen family and wander alone in the future; he didn’t want to owe anyone.
Unexpectedly, upon entering the Beast Blood Pool, he saw a black tiger constantly crashing into boulders, low groans of pain coming from its mouth. The black tiger was mountain-sized, with long, sturdy limbs. Several bone-deep wounds in its black fur were slowly seeping blood. A pair of tiger eyes were dyed blood-red with pain, and saliva mixed with a large pool of blood flowed down the boulders like a small stream. The dripping blood was thick and dark red, like a blood-colored waterfall.
It was a piercing red!
The boulders had been smashed into fragments by the black tiger, but it was still crashing into them as if it knew no pain. Deep within the stones, dark brown blocks that had dried for a long time had accumulated.
Shen Lin thought he was hallucinating because he missed Big Monster Baba too much and gave himself a sharp slap. A burning pain came from his face, but the black tiger in front of him did not disappear. A drop of warm blood splattered onto his face, and the cub’s heart clenched.
Ignoring everything else, he ran over. The Ghost Vine, which was alert to the massive creature, couldn’t stop its master’s movements, watching as its master threw himself beside the black tiger and grabbed one of its legs.
In the moment the cub approached, the black tiger let out a low roar, its black fur standing up like steel needles. Shen Lin threw himself to hug the tiger’s leg without preparation, and the sharp steel needles mercilessly pierced through his limbs.
Feeling the life in the cub’s body rapidly draining, his healing power operated crazily to treat his injured areas. Pink light-strands darted out, and healing power dissipated into the air. Tiny bits of starlight flew into the tiger’s eyes, and a flash of clarity passed through the originally cloudy tiger eyes. The black tiger caught this trace of clarity and swatted the cub away, preventing him from approaching and being harmed again.
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