Tiger Tribe XIV
"There should be mist gra.s.s at the southwest side of the tribe. Ya Qi mentioned it before, but he wasn"t very clear about the direction. Run a bit slower this time, and I"ll watch for it in the meantime." In the whipping wind, Jiang Yu grabbed the fur on Mu"s neck tightly, shouting loudly. He got a belly full of cold air from yelling, but even then, his voice was still very small.
There isn"t any helping it, because Mu is getting faster and faster. When Jiang Yu speaks, he can"t hear himself at all. Obviously, Mu doesn"t need to hurry. It would be fine if he ran at his ordinary speed. He really doesn"t know why Mu is running like crazy.
Mu"s ears twitched. He slowed down, and the wind stopped hurting Mu"s face.
Mu felt strangely ecstatic these days. Since his body has become better, he is becoming happier every day. He can"t wait to romp in the forest every day and experience the freedom that he has never had before.
This was originally a very good change, but Mu discovered that something about himself had become rather strange recently. Ever since he found out that the arrogant female had collected the herbs for him, his eyes always followed him unconsciously.
From the very beginning, when he was very puzzled, to later, when he felt incredibly confused with no idea why he"d been forming this habit of staring at Jiang Yu unconsciously.
Strangely, that arrogant and overbearing female had begun to seem cute, almost in the blink of an eye.
That chubby round ball didn"t seem very sharp, especially when he climbed clumsily onto his back. Many times, he would try to get on and fall off. Then Jiang Yu would run over to face Mu, scrunch up his face, and petulantly order him to crouch lower. His already round face would become even rounder, and Mu would have an urge to poke a paw at it. He imagined that it would definitely be very soft.
Mu panicked. Maybe he was ill. Every time that arrogant and overbearing little female crawled onto his back, his muscles tightened and his heart panicked, especially when the little female bowed his head and talked in his ear.
His ear felt like a burning furnace, so hot that he had the urge fan it with his hand.
Unconsciously, he would speed up until he was running as fast as he could. However, whenever he did this, the young female would be almost blown away. When he stopped, the young female cut an extremely sorry figure. His round little face would be bright red, and his neat black hair would be a complete bird"s nest.
Every time I see him like this, I always feel pained, and then I am conscience-stricken and remorseful.
It was definitely because he ate too many herbs! The doctor said before that when he starts taking the medicine, it"ll be somewhat painful, but after five or six times, the pain will disappear. Now that Mu doesn"t feel any pain after drinking the medicine, these strange feelings must have taken the place of those painful ones!
Somewhat fl.u.s.tered, Mu went to the doctor and told him about his situation. However, he didn"t know why he had been so embarra.s.sed about talking about it so clearly. In the end, he just told the doctor that sometimes his ears felt hot and he felt fl.u.s.tered.
The doctor looked at him strangely and then asked him a few words in a tone that Mu had never heard him use before.
He asked, "When you feel these symptoms, is Ah Yu is present?"
Mu was surprised and felt somewhat awkward. His face warmed up, and he felt as if the secrets of his heart were being laid out and dissected. He finally stutteringly and candidly confessed.
"Ah--" the doctor nodded meaningfully. "Then, Mu, don"t worry about it. It"s not a disease, nor is it a side effect of drinking medicine. Just look after your little female, and don"t let him be run away to be with someone else."
Mu"s ears immediately turned bright red, and steam began to rise from his face.
Why, why did the doctor call that arrogant Ah Yu my little female? ! Mu silently mouthed these words and his heart began to feel too warm.
Mu was scared away. He subconsciously ran out of the doctor"s house quickly, while the doctor laughed heartily behind him.
After the doctor finished laughing, he felt sincerely happy for them. It seems that not only does Ah Yu like this little shapes.h.i.+fter, but Mu also has a soft spot for Ah Yu, although he hasn"t realized it himself.
Although he told Mu at the very beginning, "Ah Yu likes you", it seems that Mu didn"t really take it to heart. However, that"s fine, because he will definitely remind him again in the future. He doesn"t have anything else to do except measure herbs and concoct medicines anyways. Watching these little juniors, who don"t even understand their own feelings, acting all bashful is a great way to while away the time.
He is also very curious when Mu will finally realize that he likes Ah Yu.
Well, he"d have to remember to remind him when Ah Yu is being chased by other little shapes.h.i.+fters, or else it will be a tragedy.
"Why is it that you"ve always been running around lately?" Aspen asked softly, his face full of concern.
"Ah Yu is looking for something, and he wants me to carry him." Hearing Aspen"s voice, Mu has already raised his guard, replying very carefully.
"What is Ah Yu looking for? Goodness, it"s already so many days. He"s always bullying you. We should let your father know, so he and the tribe leader can do something about it. Your body isn"t that good, and Ah Yu is still so immature. It would be tragic if you get hurt because you"re so exhausted." Aspen sighed, his face showing some resentment toward Ah Yu.
Hearing Aspen"s unfavorable worlds about Ah Yu, Mu almost talked back, but because he was prepared for Aspen"s acting, he controlled himself in the end.
However, Mu was young, and his face revealed a hint of emotion.
Aspen pretended not to notice anything, but in reality, he was carefully observing Mu"s movements.
"What is Ah Yu looking for? If I have some of it, I can send him it directly. That would save you all this running back and forth for him." Aspen asked again.
Mu frowned. He didn"t want to tell him at all. Aspen had never cared about him. But if he didn"t say anything, Aspen would definitely keep on pestering him.
"Mist gra.s.s. We are looking for mist gra.s.s."
Mu subconsciously didn"t bring up the special golden thorn gra.s.s.
"Oh, I don"t think that herb is easy to find." Aspen nodded, lowered his eyes, and covered his own thoughtful look.
Mu saw that Aspen was done asking. He made to return straight away to his own house, but Aspen"s words immediately stopped him.
"Oh yeah, Mu, recently it seems that your body is a lot better than before. This is absolutely great!"
Mu"s muscles tensed. He said carefully, "No, what father* says is probably wrong. Maybe it"s because I often run around with Ah Yu, and because of that exercise I seem to look better than before."
(*Mu refers to Aspen here if that wasn"t clear)
"Uh-huh, it"s great that you"re even a little bit better. Your current physical condition is just so much better than before, your aura has even become better. When I look and you now I feel relieved. Since you can exercise by running with Ah Yu, you should do so more often in the future." Aspen"s face was full of empathetic delight.
"Okay, father, I know." Mu nodded and then turned back to walk to his house.
In the split second that Mu turned around, the concern and delight disappeared from Aspen"s face in a flash, replaced by a gloomy expression.
......
"Qiao, when you have time, run to the forest and check on Mu. He"s been following Ah Yu a lot recently, and I"m afraid he might collapse. Follow them and find out what exactly they"re looking for. If your old man knew what it was, he might be able to help them out." There was a hint of helplessness on his face. "It"s a pity Mu"s not related by blood to me. I asked him, but Mu did not want to talk to me, or I wouldn"t have to trouble Qiao to do it."
"Dad, why do you care about that good-for-nothing?!" Qiao"s tone was full of indignation. "You try your best to take care of him, and he dares to ignore you?!"
"Isn"t he just a good-for-nothing? How is he worth all of your worrying?" Qiao"s face was full of disdain for Mu. "You are way too kind to him. Dad, you should know the difference between those who deserve your help and those who don"t by now by now."
"Qiao! How can you say that about your own brother!" Aspen"s face was not pleasant. "Although he is not in good health, he is still your brother! Others may call him a good-for-nothing, but you absolutely cannot!"
"He"s a rotten brother, and he"s not even my biological brother. I don"t have any reason to help him." Qiao grumbled to himself, annoyed.
A loud slap split the air.
Qiao was stunned. How could his dad, who was always so gentle and considerate, hit him?
"Qiao, you have to remember that no matter how you feel inside, you can never show it! And you must especially never talk to other people like this. Do you understand?!"
Qiao nodded his head, cupping the side of his face that was burning, with a vacant expression.
Aspen suddenly sighed and hugged Qiao tightly in his arms. He bowed his head to blow gently on the half of Qiao"s face that was now red.
"It isn"t that Dad doesn"t love you, it"s just that we two originally came from the Snake tribe, and although you call Bo Dad, if you want to speak truthfully, the two of you actually have no relations.h.i.+p. We two were not originally part of the Tiger tribe, so it"s already more difficult for us to a.s.similate into the tribe. If you were impolite and disrespectful of your elder brother, how do you think they would look at us? If that happened, do you think there would be a place for us in this tribe?" Aspen was so sad that a few tears trickled down his face.
When Qiao saw his dad"s tears, he so felt distressed that he couldn"t control his words, and quickly agreed. "I know, Dad, I will never do something like that again!"
Aspen wiped the tears from his face. "Then will you go check up on what Mu"s doing?"
"I"ll definitely go tomorrow!" Qiao gnashed his teeth, fuming.
"Whatever you do, don"t let them know you"re there. If Mu sees that I"m interfering in what he"s doing, he"ll definitely get angry."
Qiao wasn"t really comfortable with the idea, but when he saw his dad holding back his tears, he could only suppress the fire in his heart. "I know, I won"t let them discover me."