Unedited chapter
75. The Ecstatic Fallen Beasts
"You trampled on my fruits?" Catching sight of Reynolds" claws that were still slightly wet from the fruit pulp, Jones was extremely angry. He reached out a hand and grabbed Reynolds" ear.
Reynolds lowered his head and gave a small whine as his tail stopped wagging and drooped; his appearance was that of someone who was admitting his mistake. He had felt very gleeful when he had trodden down the scales along with the fruits, but now . . . .
He recognized this fruit; it seemed to be a special local product of a certain planet, and the output was very small. So, even if he wanted to compensate for Jones’ loss by replacing those fruits, there was nowhere he could go and find them . . . .
As Reynolds gazed at Jones pitifully, he found that under this position where Jones was gripping his ear, the two small red beans on Jones’ chest were right in front of him. He could not help but stick out his tongue and take a lick.
After taking a lick, Reynolds froze, for fear that Jones would be angry.
Apparently, Jones was indeed angry. The hand gripping his ear suddenly tightened, and Reynolds did not dare to move a muscle, thinking of letting Jones vent his anger by creasing and crumpling his ear—anyway, it could be said that against their beast forms, a sub-beastman"s strength was completely insubstantial.
Just thinking this way, Reynolds suddenly saw Jones before his eyes fall headlong toward himself.
Only after instinctively extending his two paws to catch Jones did Reynolds found out that Jones had actually fainted.
Seeing the unconscious Jones with eyes closed, body sunburned all over and also very thin, Reynolds immediately panicked and started to howl.
The fallen beasts could no longer speak in human language, but they had been in contact with each other for a long time and so were able to communicate. Reynolds’ howl was to make Jesse go examine Jones.
Jesse had been a doctor before becoming a fallen beast. They usually looked for Jesse to help examine them when they had some minor illness.
The lion Jesse came to Reynolds’ side and turned his sight to Jones, but the sub-beastman was almost completely blocked by their boss, to the extent that he could only see a face.
Fortunately, he did not plan to conduct a detailed inspection of the sub-beastman in front of his beastman . . . . Jesse looked the boss in the eye and said, "Boss, he must’ve suffered from heatstroke or dehydration."
This sub-beastman’s skin was all cracked and peeling, which showed that he was definitely dehydrated. As for fainting, maybe it had something to do with being frightened, but this one had better not be said, or else Bruno would get thrashed again.
"Quickly get some water!" Reynolds ordered at once. Only after he finished speaking did he remember that he also had water on his person as well as one kind of fruit that they drank as beverage. He hurriedly took a round fruit the size of a sub-beastman’s head out of the s.p.a.ce b.u.t.ton strapped to his wrist. He poked a small hole on both the top and the bottom of the fruit with his claws and, holding the fruit up with both paws, placed it on Jones’ mouth.
This fruit contained a clear, sweet juice, and it trickled down into Jones" mouth from the small hole. Jones reflexively swallowed, but much of it flowed outside.
Reynolds stuck out his tongue and licked clean the spilled juice, and then he quietly watched Jones.
The fallen beasts around also watched Jones quietly, eyes full of envy. Originally, they were very envious of the fact that there was a sub-beastman who sent things to their boss every year. This year, that man did not send anything, and they felt unutterably disappointed and hopeless.
Now though . . . that man had not sent anything, but he came in person!
Their boss’ luck was very good. How could such a good sub-beastman be found by him?
After being envious, these fallen beasts started to resent Reynolds.
Reynolds, however, was watching Jones anxiously and found that Jones had not woken up. He turned toward Jesse, "Why hasn’t he woken up yet?"
"We certainly have to wait." Jesse replied.
"It’s just, I don"t know how long he’s been thirsty. I previously saw him drink the juice of those cacti in the desert." Bruno said. Those cacti indeed had a lot of water, but even they, fallen beasts, would have diarrhea if they drank too much, not to mention sub-beastmen . . . .
Jones had always been very cautious. If it was not a last resort, he definitely wouldn’t drink the juice of a plant whose composition he had not figured out yet. It was likely that he was terribly thirsty . . . . Reynolds felt awfully distressed while thinking that Bruno, who was jabbering on and on nearby, was a particularly irksome presence—since this guy knew that the juice of the cactus was not good to drink, why didn’t he stop Jones when he saw Jones drink it?
Reynolds gave Bruno a slap.
Bruno, face bitter, felt extremely wronged—why did he hit me again?
Fortunately, Reynolds currently had no time to deal with him. After giving him a slap, Reynolds went to see Jones again.
"Boss, this sub-beastman maybe came with others. Should we go and take a look?" Jesse said again.
Hearing Jesse"s words, Reynolds also gave it some thought. If Jones was only by himself, he couldn"t have come to the Fallen Beast Planet. It was very likely that he came here with other people . . . . What’s the matter with those people? How could they let a sub-beastman come out alone? They were really too much!
Reynolds stood up and took several big leaves he had collected before out of his s.p.a.ce b.u.t.ton to wrap Jones up. Then he carried the bundled-up Jones in his mouth and snorted, "Go!"
A fallen beast"s nose was very effective. It was naturally a simple matter to find the place where Jones and the others live by following the scent left by Jones.
Reynolds led his army of fallen beasts and went to the place where Shu Shu and others had settled.
Shu Shu tied the egg to his chest with the clothes left by Jones and then examined Ian as well as Edgar for a while.
Ian’s body had been burning hot, and he could only wipe Ian"s body continuously to cool it down. As for Edgar . . . .
Edgar opened his eyes once but quickly shut them again just like before. He clearly had no strength.
There were not many drinks and fruits left. What should they do next? Shu Shu inevitably became anxious, but even if he was anxious, there was nothing he could do at the moment.
The only auspicious thing was that Edgar was already taking a turn for the better, and his life was not in danger anymore. Therefore, Shu Shu could start cultivating properly to restore his own nèidān while incubating the egg in his body at the same time.
It was impossible to give this egg so much spiritual power like they had done to the first egg. Being able to give him a little bit of spiritual power to make him safe and stable was already good enough.
Shu Shu sat down and began to work hard to absorb the qi in the air and cultivate his spiritual power. At this moment, he suddenly felt the land under his feet start to shake.
Was this . . . a herd of horses, or a drove of cattle and sheep running in his direction?
Shu Shu lost his mood to cultivate. He quickly scrambled up to the entrance hole and looked outside.
What horses or cattle and sheep outside? That was a pack of ferocious beasts! Lions, tigers, leopards, elephants, crocodiles, eagles . . . all animals he could think of were on hand. And there was still a big white wolf in front!
Shu Shu instinctively wanted to turn into a little hamster to take to the road and escape, but while he could escape, Edgar and Ian could not escape!
Stuffing the egg held in his arms into his mouth, Shu Shu gritted his teeth and climbed out of the hole. Aggressive yet shivering with fear, he watched those ferocious beasts come running towards him.
Once Reynolds and the others were getting closer to the hole, they smelled the scent of a powerful beastman even more clearly, and that scent was precisely the same as the one released by the scales Jones had been carrying before.
Reynolds was very strong. In the past, smelling Chris’ scent would not make him feel afraid and would arouse his desire to fight instead. However, the scent of this present beastman made him feel that he could not be a match for this beastman.
His steps unconsciously slowed down, and the steps of the fallen beasts behind him slowed down too. It was at this moment that they saw a sub-beastman popped up from the hole in front.
Another sub-beastman! The eyes of these fallen beasts were bright.
There was Reynolds, so they did not dare to do anything to the sub-beastman. But that was indeed a sub-beastman, ah. Even if they could not do anything, they already felt happy all over just by seeing a sub-beastman here and now.
Reynolds halted his steps and snorted again, and the fallen beasts behind him also halted their steps in unison, standing in the same place.
Worried about scaring the sub-beastman, Reynolds, holding Jones with his mouth, stepped forward alone. He barely got close to Shu Shu, and he already smelled a strong scent of a beastman on Shu Shu’s body.
Jones could have this scent on his body because he carried those scales, and the scent floated on the surface. The scent on the body of this sub-beastman before his eyes, however, was very strong and long-lasting . . . . It was very obvious that the sub-beasman in front of him was the true partner of that beastman.
Reynolds suddenly had a good impression of this young-looking sub-beastman. After discovering that the sub-beastman"s body could not stop shaking, he came to a stop three meters away from him. Then he put the bundled-up Jones on the ground and also opened the bundle to expose Jones inside.
"Jones!" Shu Shu cried out anxiously and shook even more violently—why did this wolf have Jones in his hand?
Finding out that this sub-beastman really knew Jones, Reynolds at once realized that he had found the right place. Although he was dissatisfied with this sub-beastman for letting Jones go out alone, but considering that this was Jones’ friend, he did not make any rude actions.
Extending his claws, Reynolds began to write on the ground, "Are you Jones’ friend?"
"You can write!" Shu Shu exclaimed, pleasantly surprised and not as fearful as before—this wolf could write, which meant that it was an enlightened wolf, ah!
No, this was not an enlightened wolf. This wolf . . . was probably a fallen beast like Edgar before?
Shu Shu immediately become happy. "Are you a fallen beast?"
". . ." Was it necessary to be so happy when seeing a fallen beast? Reynolds was somewhat speechless and started to write on the ground again, "I’m a fallen beast, and my name’s Reynolds. Has Jones ever mentioned me?" His paws had always been very stable and steady, but they inevitably trembled a little when writing the last sentence.
Although Jones always remembered him, but he probably wouldn’t speak about him to others, right? You had to realize that he was no more than a fallen beast.
"He has! I know you. You’re the guy whom Jones likes. Jones asked me to treat your illness!" Shu Shu, seeing this wolf write such sentences, was completely relieved. A moment ago, he still thought that he would be eaten. As it turned out, it was actually Jones’ old lover who was coming to visit!
He had an illness? Reynolds was somewhat dumbfounded. Although he had become a fallen beast, but he was very healthy, and he had no illness whatsoever.
"What happened to Jones? Did he also get heatstroke?" Shu Shu was no longer afraid of Reynolds and went to Jones’ side to take a look. After discovering that Jones was breathing smoothly, he was all the more certain that Reynolds was not malicious.
"He suddenly fainted." Reynolds wrote again.
"So that’s the case. It’s good that Jones is all right." Shu Shu blinked and then turned toward Reynolds eagerly. "Do you have any water?" They were all so d.a.m.n thirsty; Edgar and Ian were even dehydrated now! Reynolds’ body was so big; living in the desert, he surely had to drink a lot of water every day. In this case, he should have water.
Reynolds nodded and took out a few fruits along with a large water bottle filled with water. The Beastman Empire sent a lot of things here every year, and those things were all packaged. They also got many bottles and cans, and this bottle used to be a nutrient fluid bottle.
Shu Shu, seeing the water bottle, looked pleasantly surprised. He hugged the bottle and looked at Reynolds gratefully. "Thank you! You’re truly a good person! I’ll definitely help you restore your beast core!"
When Reynolds, who was writing on the ground about how to consume the fruit, heard Shu Shu’s words, his paw shook, and the sand under the pad was instantly messed up. He looked at Shu Shu in disbelief, feeling like he was having an auditory fantasy.
Shu Shu, who had already read Reynolds’ explanation at this time, realized that this fruit was edible and also contained water, and he immediately showed a smile. "So this fruit’s like a coconut!"
"What did you say just now?" Reynolds wrote another sentence.
"I said coconut. Coconut is a kind of fruit with a very hard sh.e.l.l and water inside . . ." Shu Shu turned toward Reynolds.
"Not this. I mean what you said before. You said you’d help me restore the beast core?" Reynolds asked.
Shu Shu nodded. "Yeah, I promised teacher Jones that I’d help you. But then I had an egg, so I plan to come find you later. I didn"t expect to see you so soon."
"You can restore the beast core?" Reynolds" words were written crookedly, but each letter was written with great effort. Although he finally saw Jones, and although he was very happy that Jones could come find him, but Reynolds did not dare to hope too much that he could be together with Jones.
Jones was a sub-beastman, and he was a fallen beast. They simply had no future . . . . Before, Reynolds only wished to accompany Jones for a little longer, so even if Jones left, he could still hold on for another thirty years.
He even thought that Jones paying a visit to him this time was perhaps to see if he was doing well and then to completely let go of himself . . . . And so, he really couldn’t hold Jones back for a lifetime.
But now . . . this sub-beastman said that he could restore the beast core?
"I guess I can. I’m not sure either. I and Jones still haven"t done a research that produced a result yet." Shu Shu said. "But Edgar has gotten better before, so you should be able to do it too."
Reynolds froze. Shu Shu, however, had no time to take care of him—Edgar and Ian were still waiting for him to take care of them.
Jesse slowly approached Reynolds, "Boss, we didn’t mishear, right?"
"You heard it too?" Reynolds moved his gaze to Jesse.
Jesse nodded. Reynolds turned toward the fallen beasts behind him and found that every fallen beast had a dull expression—although they were not within close range to Shu Shu, but at such a distance, Shu Shu’s words just now were clearly audible.
Every one of them went into ecstasies over this revelation. Reynolds even had an urge to start jumping about, but of course he did not do that. He just gave another slap to Bruno, who was approaching him from behind Jesse.
Bruno the lion lay motionless on the ground, looking like he was resigning himself to being beaten and scolded while his heart was bursting into tears—who have I provoked and irritated, ah?