Proofreader: Kleep
Chapter 15: Little Thing
A little thing that looked like a young dragon hatchling from Western fantasy movies sat inside, its body still sticky from the amniotic fluid. The difference was that it black fur down its back and ears that drooped downwards pathetically.
"What the h.e.l.l is this?" Han Li tilted her head.
That little thing also tilted its head to look at Han Li. It had an expression of curiosity as if it was giggling foolishly.
"Zhou Yu, should we kill it… or not kill it?" Wu Yun asked.
"What rank is this organism?" Zhou Yu asked.
Everyone looked at Zhou Qing since he was the one with the most extensive knowledge of the organisms in Nibelungen out of all of them.
Zhou Qing went closer and stopped beside Zhou Yu, he narrowed his eyes and carefully examined it.
"Just by its body type, its infant form isn"t large, it"s much smaller than the young of the double-headed wolf spider… It should be a C rank organism or lower."
"It"s also kind of ugly. It can"t even compare to that snake scorpion beauty," Han Li also went closer to examine it, "Remember what Wu Yun said the second law of survival was? The more beautiful an organism is, the more dangerous they are. Its appearance is far from "beautiful"…"
"Then, do you think Perytons are beautiful?" Wu Yun asked.
Han Li didn"t speak. Ugly organisms weren"t necessarily safe, but beautiful organisms were certainly dangerous.
"If you"re not planning to take it with us, just throw it off here. If you"re going to bring it… could you please clean it off first? It"s filthy."
Wu Yun showed an expression of distaste, "It looks like it"s covered in snot…"
Realizing that there were also people behind the box, the little thing turned around. Its two claws clinging onto the side of the box, it looked at Wu Yun and let out a slight "hrn?" sound.
"f.u.c.k… please don"t look at me with those innocent and naïve eyes. I"ll feel guilty!" Wu Yu said, covering his face and shedding crocodile tears.
"We"re all helpless to defend ourselves, and you still want to raise a pet?" Han Li asked, she took a glance at it and sighed, "Alright… a C rank or lower organism like this guy, without its parents… It would probably become the demon vine"s food very quickly."
"Women are so easily overwhelmed with sympathy," Wu Yun shook his head.
Zhou Yu, who had been holding his gun with both hands, let go of one hand and crouched down to poke at the little thing"s ear with his finger.
It wasn"t standing firmly and immediately fell down on its behind. Its small claws scratched at its ear and its squinted eyes showed a foolish expression.
"Oh my G.o.d, its the same as a newborn baby… It"s a crime whether we kill it or leave it here…" Han Li let out a big sigh.
"Then clean it up," Wu Yun twitched the corner of his mouth.
As a veteran, if even he didn"t think this organism was dangerous, then it probably wasn"t.
"What do I wipe it with?" Zhou Yu asked, "Why don"t you take off your clothes and I"ll use that?"
"Get out," Wu Yun rolled his eyes at Zhou Yu, "I know you"re jealous of my good figure, but I don"t plan on showing it to everyone right now."
Han Li didn"t pay attention to Wu Yun, she untied the silk scarf at her neck and pa.s.sed it to Zhou Yu, "I only have this."
Zhou Yu went over and picked up the little thing by its ear. The liquid on its body dripped down.
"Be gentle, Zhou Yu, you"ll hurt it!" Han Li got nervous.
Zhou Yu lowered his head, the little thing didn"t appear to be hurt, instead, it started to shake itself. Translucent wings also opened up on its back and started to flutter, it had an expression of enjoyment.
The little guy shook itself out and those dirty things were shaken off.
Zhou Yu stroked it and found that the black fur on its back was like satin. While he was gently caressing it, Zhou Yu"s cold and stiff heart inexplicably softened. Its translucent little wings flitted across Zhou Yu"s finger over and over with each flap, as if it was trying to convey in its own way its good opinion of Zhou Yu, softly and coquettishly.
"It seems to have taken Zhou Yu as its mother," Wu Yun was delighted at his misfortune, "It can"t be helped that the first person it saw was Zhou Yu."
Zhou Yu ignored Wu Yun and bundled it into the silk scarf Han Li gave him. He directly hung it from his waist.
"Let"s go."
Zhou Yu thought that something was weird deep inside him. The usual him would have never willingly brought along that little bundle of trouble with them on the road.
Li Qian was still lying there. Wu Yun went up and kicked him awake.
"Still pretending to be unconscious? Did you think I"d carry you on the road?"
Li Qian"s face was ashen as he woke up from being kicked. He didn"t dare make a sound and silently got up from the ground.
The travelers resumed their journey on foot. Other than Zhou Yu and Wu Yun, everyone else"s physiques were only average, they also couldn"t walk too fast while carrying so many things.
The only fortunate thing was, the devil vines around them lay sprawled on the ground as if in worship, they didn"t even move.
"We have no way of making it out of this forest by nightfall," Daniel wiped at the sweat on his face.
"Don"t touch anything, not even a blade of gra.s.s or a flower petal," Wu Yun reminded them again, "Especially you, Li Qian."
"I know…" Li Qian"s shoulders were hurting from the weight of his backpack, he didn"t want to touch anything, he only wanted to sit down and rest.
More than an hour had pa.s.sed when they finally walked out of the devil vines" territory.
Everyone let out a sigh of relief. Because they were carrying heavy loads while walking, each step caused their bodies to sway.
"Take a five-minute break."
As Wu Yun"s words left his mouth, Li Qian and Han Li sat their b.u.t.ts down directly where they were standing, as if they"d been granted amnesty. They tore open their ration and water packs.
Zhou Yu didn"t sit. He didn"t feel tired but he had to satisfy his body"s needs for food and water.
He opened a pack of compressed biscuits and took a bite while keeping an eye on his surroundings at all times.
For some reason, after they"d left the devil vines" territories, there hadn"t been another organism in sight.
There weren"t any D rank organisms that lacked the instinct to attack.
Zhou Yu spared a glance at Zhou Qing, he knew his brother was definitely hiding something from him, and he didn"t plan on telling him about it.
He was too familiar with Zhou Qing"s personality. If Zhou Qing didn"t want to say something, even if there was a gun pointed to his head, he wouldn"t let out a word. What had caused him to make the judgment to say "go west"? It definitely wasn"t just a feeling, Zhou Qing had been firm and resolute at the time.
The little thing at his waist started to wiggle, it was soft and warm. Zhou Yu looked down and made eye contact with it. Its eyes were large and bright, like… an infant trying to act spoiled.
It saw the compressed biscuit Zhou Yu was holding and became distracted, showing an expression of antic.i.p.ation.
A little glutton.
Zhou Yu smiled inwardly, his fingers twirled the biscuit over its head.
The little thing opened its mouth like a newborn puppy chasing a bone, but it was a pity that Zhou Yu did not eventually send the biscuit into its mouth.
"Hey, if you keep bullying it like that, be careful that it doesn"t get its revenge."
Just as Wu Yun teased him, Zhou Yu felt a sudden pain on his finger. Immediately following, a jolt of some electric current flowed into his body from his finger, rushing along his nerves and deep into his brain, invading his every cell.
He gasped. His strained mental state was being appeased and comforted as he started feeling more languid.
Having been in Nibelungen for so long, this was the first time he"d been so relaxed.
Even at such a chaotic time, Zhou Yu knew that the little thing had nipped at his finger and was currently sucking on his blood.
He couldn"t… He couldn"t continue to sink downwards…
Zhou Yu"s line of thought was slowing sinking into the embrace of a warm world.
This was the ultimate temptation.
Not wealth, or glory, but a satisfaction in the depths of his heart.
Zhou Yu clenched his jaw and forcefully pulled himself out from within that feeling. His shoulders shook, and he lowered his head to shake off the little thing biting down on his finger, but it had already let go of him.
"Zhou Yu! Are you okay?" Zhou Qing discovered that Zhou Yu had been bitten by that little thing and nervously rushed over to check on him.
No matter how harmless that little thing looked, no one knew how Zhou Yu would be affected by his wound.
Would it lead to inflammation? Would some parasite enter Zhou Yu"s body through his wound? Would he contact a virus?
The little thing saw that Zhou Yu was angry and immediately buried its head into the silk scarf to hide.
Zhou Yu lifted up his finger to inspect it and saw that there was no trace of an injury.
"What a relief…" Zhou Qing exhaled.
But Zhou Yu was sure that his finger had definitely been bitten hard enough to draw blood, he had felt his blood being sucked out.
As for that illusion of calm and contentment, Zhou Yu couldn"t help but suspect that it was the way the little thing hunted.
Why wasn"t there a wound?
Zhou Yu pulled the little thing out of the silk scarf, it was extremely unwilling and tried to avoid him. Zhou Yu directly gripped it around the neck.
"Hey! Zhou Yu! Are you going to choke it to death?" Han Li rushed over.
Dr. Daniel held her back, "Zhou Yu seemed to have been bitten by it."
"It… can bite people?"
"What"s so strange about that?" Wu Yun shrugged his shoulders, "Hey, Zhou Yu, you"re fine, right? If some parasite"s inside of you, don"t blame me if I shoot you."
Although Wu Yun was wearing a smile, his eyes weren"t smiling at all.
The little thing being restrained by Zhou Yu showed a pitiful expression.
Zhou Yu"s heart didn"t soften at all. He used his other hand to force open the little thing"s mouth to confirm whether it had teeth or not.
Zhou Qing understood what Zhou Yu wanted to do, he also went up to examine it. Zhou Yu stuck his finger inside its mouth and prodded its upper palate. It was warm and soft inside, and everywhere else was soft as well.
Zhou Yu left go of it, and the little thing closed its mouth and looked at Zhou Yu with an expression of being wronged.
"Hey, it probably didn"t bite you and was just sucking on your finger. Look at how riled up you are," Wu Yun found it funny.
I"m picturing the ML as a cute, baby toothless^^