Why Do All the Beasts Want Me?

Chapter 24

After Audiss's 'assault' and his intentional gentle comfort, Qiao Qixi, who was both terrified and exhausted for most of the day, indeed fell into a deep sleep.

However, his heart was not at peace before he fell asleep.

Having habitually accepted Audiss's meticulous care all this time, Qiao Qixi almost forgot Audiss's true identity—that of an ice king whose nature was to be a lone wolf.

His combat effectiveness was beyond doubt, and he was inherently competitive and ferocious.

The reason Male polar bears like to attack Little Polar Bears, besides hunger, is another obvious one: they instinctively know to eliminate all threats and competition around them, even a Little Polar Bear that hasn't grown up yet.

This is a beast's instinct, a subconsciousness written into its genes.

Just as a kitten, even before opening its eyes, will seek its Bear Mama's n****e, there's a vivid term for it called genetic memory, which is almost innate and difficult to eliminate.

Audiss's penetrating low growl not only almost scared Qiao Qixi into wetting himself but also reminded him of something: as a male Little Polar Bear, he would be Audiss's competitor in the future.

This wasn't overestimating himself; it was true.

In Audiss's eyes, he was an enemy bear competing for survival and reproductive resources, and the fact that Audiss hadn't bitten him to death but instead raised him was already an incredible thing.

But how long would this 'abnormal' phenomenon last?

It must be said that Qiao Qixi's direction of speculation was correct; his thoughts were consistent with the conclusions of most researchers, all believing that the turning point of this 'non-mainstream' friendship would be Audiss's first estrus period.

Summer to spring is not far off.

Perhaps in less than half a year, Audiss would realize he had made a losing deal, raising an utterly useless enemy bear that also encroached on his living space, and then angrily kick him out.

Or beat him up before kicking him out.

...Ah, this... scary.

The little bear sleeping timidly in Audiss's arms today was a little bear with something on his mind.

Because of that deafening roar, Qiao Qixi felt an inevitable rift had formed between himself and Audiss.

How to put it, they were together in form but separate in spirit, sleeping in the same bed but dreaming different dreams; Audiss was wary that he, soon to grow up, would become a competitor, while he was wary of when Audiss would suddenly realize and kill him.

Just thinking about it was so agonizing.

Wasn't it just like ancient emperors and their ministers?

Too agonizing.

As Qiao Qixi thought, he fell asleep.

When he woke up again, the sun was still shining brightly, the sea breeze was still slightly warm, and the Bear Mama and her cub next door were nowhere to be seen.

Audiss was not by his side.

Yes, only he, a single bear, lay under Rock, guarding the empty sleeping spot alone.

This rarely happened; see, once a rift occurs, disfavor immediately follows, and then certainly comes being kicked out.

Qiao Qixi instantly turned his head to look for his little yellow bucket; that would be the only private property he could take with him.

Finding the little yellow, he breathed a sigh of relief.

While looking for the little yellow, Qiao Qixi saw Audiss's figure; he was standing on the sea, waiting quietly for prey, so Audiss had gone hunting.

Seeing his massive back gave Qiao Qixi a sense of security.

But this wasn't right!

Qiao Qixi looked at Audiss's back with a slight daze, his brows slightly furrowed, alas, he actually didn't want to rely on Audiss so much, and besides, he was an extremely petty fake bear.

Yesterday he was so busy being scared that he forgot to be angry.

Now, thinking back, Qiao Qixi was very sad!

How could Audiss roar at him, and so ferociously, so realistically? Even now, recalling it, he still felt lingering fear.

The extremely petty Little Polar Bear lay on his side under Rock, seriously hugging his paw and thinking: Could he survive after leaving Audiss?

What were the chances of him enduring until winter alone?

Patting his chubby belly, Qiao Qixi thought it was doable.

Although life beside Audiss was comfortable, it was not conducive to him becoming independent sooner; to become a bear among bears early, going out to gain experience was a good choice.

Of course, Qiao Qixi had to admit that the sudden urge to run away was also partly because he was petty and overly dramatic to the extreme.

Being intelligent and thoughtful, he could never fully entrust his emotions to Audiss, who survived purely by instinct; this was unfair to him, as animal emotions were too unpredictable, and also unfair to Audiss, who had no obligation to bear his expectations.

Since separation was an inevitable matter, a destined fate between himself and Audiss, why not seize the moment, while emotions were high, and part ways!

Okay, having made this perfectly reasonable decision, Qiao Qixi took a deep breath and thought.

Goodbye, Audiss, today I'm going on a long voyage, with my little yellow.

The Little Polar Bear, who was a bear of few words but fierce intent, let go of his paw, which he had unconsciously gnawed wet, and scrambled up to pick up his little yellow bucket.

The noise of the sea breeze and waves evidently increased this little bear's chances of successfully sneaking away.

To avoid startling Audiss, who was hunting, Qiao Qixi employed hunting tactics: he moved with light steps and paws, minimizing his presence, gently, gently picking up the little bucket, gently, gently...

Hmm, the direction of the long voyage hadn't been decided yet.

Qiao Qixi raised his round head and looked against the wind towards the entrance of the tributary; ah, he wanted to go to the opposite bank and then fly far away, but the sea at the entrance was quite wide, making swimming across difficult.

Deep in the tributary?

That direction led inland, where the width of the sea gradually narrowed, making swimming across less strenuous; however, the dangers inland could not be ignored, and a Little Polar Bear without combat ability might encounter misfortune.

After much deliberation, Qiao Qixi decided to return to the tributary entrance he had come from, but this might lead him to encounter the Bear Mama and her cub, and he didn't know if he would get beaten if he passed by them alone.

But where in the world is there a perfect plan? Just do it.

The Little Polar Bear, carrying the little yellow bucket in his mouth, tiptoed away.

At this moment, Audiss's round, calm, and sharp eyes were focused and alertly fixed on the sea, motionless; to be precise, he was staring at the White Whales swimming around in the water.

Unlike the Little Polar Bear, who would rush in with an eighty percent chance of success, he was accustomed to acting only when he had a hundred percent certainty, which saved a lot of time and energy costs.

Furthermore, it hadn't been long since his last full meal, so Audiss wasn't particularly hungry; he was just worried that the little bear might be hungry, so he came out to hunt while the other was still sleeping.

Audiss, whose nature was simple and without many emotions, could never have imagined that while he was concentrating on hunting, the little bear he had picked up would leave without a sound.

Before catching a White Whale, all of Audiss's attention would be on the sea, unless there was an unusual movement from behind him, he would not easily divert his focus.

Thanks to Audiss's concentration, Qiao Qixi quietly left the polar bear's line of sight, and on the way, he indeed encountered the Bear Mama and her cub.

However, they ignored him and didn't do anything.

That was great.

Qiao Qixi ran with joyful little steps along the shore; at this moment, he felt freedom beckoning to him, the vast world singing for him, and even the small grasses by the roadside seemed to bow in salute to his brave decision.

The wind was blowing, and the little horse in his heart was neighing.

The sunshine was so beautiful.

With a splash, the already restless sea surface splattered water, and a massive white figure plunged into the seawater with exceptionally agile and swift movements.

The school of whales in the water panicked and scattered in all directions.

Only one White Whale was Audiss's target; even if others bumped into him, he wouldn't spare them a glance, because he was determined to catch the White Whale he had set his eyes on, and there was no need to be distracted by catching other White Whales.

Unlike Qiao Qixi, who always closed his eyes every time he plunged into the water, Audiss did not close his eyes, so after each hunt, his eyeballs would have a faint reddish tint.

To minimize damage to his eyes from seawater, the only effective method was to increase the success rate of his hunts.

Audiss instinctively understood this.

After he turned four, his chances of failing to catch a White Whale significantly decreased, but today he failed.

The massive polar bear surfaced from the seawater, bursting out of the water with a splash, then quickly shook the seawater from his head.

From Audiss's expression and eyes, one couldn't tell how he felt after a failed hunt, but it wasn't hard to guess his unwillingness and helplessness from his action of turning back to gaze at the sea.

Perhaps he was still a bit too eager, eager to bite a White Whale from the sea and drag it ashore to feed the little bear who was still sound asleep.

Audiss climbed out of the seawater, his wet, translucent fur clinging to his muscular body; the sun shone on his face, causing his pupils to involuntarily contract from round to oval.

He stuck out his tongue and licked the seawater from his lips, intending to move to a different spot and continue hunting.

Before this, the patient polar bear slowly moved over Rock in the seawater, while looking up at the tree shade on the shore.

Then his eyes widened a little, and he was a bit bewildered.

In his memory, Qiao Qixi should have been sound asleep under the tree shade, but now there was no sign of Little Polar Bear there, nor was the little yellow bucket, which he liked very much, on the shore.

Between continuing to hunt and going back to check, Audiss hesitated for only a second before his paw moved towards the shore.

And his speed got faster and faster.

As a result, the tree shade where they slept was empty, with no sign of Little Polar Bear. Looking around, as far as the eye could see, there was still no sign of Little Polar Bear.

This was an unusual thing.

Of course, it was also very difficult to understand.

Although Audiss was bewildered, he wouldn't overthink things.

The polar bear, who could track targets by scent alone, immediately ran in the direction Qiao Qixi had left, his fur wet.

When Audiss's figure flashed past Bear Mama's eyes, Bear Mama and her cub stared blankly at the departing polar bear for a while.

It must be said that the experiences of this Bear Mama and cub were quite special, as other polar bears would likely never encounter a Male polar bear chasing another runaway Male polar bear in their lifetime.

It was just absurd.

However, the ubiquitous drones recorded this scene as usual.

In terms of running speed, Qiao Qixi's current abilities were limited. He had secretly run ten kilometers while Audiss wasn't paying attention.

That's right, a full ten kilometers!

He hadn't even escaped the polar bear's nose radar range.

It only took Audiss less than half an hour to catch up to him, to be precise, twenty-five minutes.

Seeing the cub's back, Audiss slowed down, watching the cub in front of him with a puzzled yet cautious gaze, not making any sound.

This was a subconscious action of a polar bear when cornering a target, which showed that Audiss viewed Qiao Qixi as his possession.

When Audiss was ten meters away, Qiao Qixi finally spotted him, and his mind buzzed; he was done for!

His first reaction was to run like hell!

The startled cub frantically ran away, and Audiss immediately pursued him nimbly; a 10-meter distance was easily conquered in his eyes.

And that was exactly the case.

Before Qiao Qixi could even plan his escape route, he felt a shadow fall over him—oh no, a strong gust of wind blew first!

It messed up his hair.

It also messed up his heart.

Audiss, who rushed behind the cub, still braked, otherwise Qiao Qixi might have been directly flattened by his massive body.

However, this torture could be avoided, but another torture was inevitable.

Audiss instinctively bit the fur on Qiao Qixi's back neck and pressed his body down, thereby firmly pinning the other party beneath him.

Qiao Qixi's little yellow bucket was innocently thrown far away during the struggle, making a crashing sound! The future bear's heart bled at the sound. Damn it!

The back of his neck hurt so much from the bite.

Qiao Qixi was instantly both pained and bewildered. Why would Audiss do this?

Audiss, who had rushed over to catch him just now, had a fierce aura about him, looking very angry. Was it because he ran away from home?

It shouldn't be!

Shouldn't Audiss be happy to have one less good-for-nothing to feed who just buried his head in food?

Why would he be angry that he left?

These questions, predictably, the other party couldn't answer any of them.

That wasn't the point. Ahhh, it hurt.

“Wuwu yiyi…” Polaris has no tears, but the polar bear was really crying.

Because of this sobbing

wuwu yiyi

Audiss immediately loosened his teeth that were holding the cub's back neck fur, then quickly licked the spot he had just bitten.

There was no injury, no broken skin; he hadn't used much force.

But Qiao Qixi was still making a big fuss; someone who didn't know might have thought his neck was broken.

Audiss lowered his head and pressed against Qiao Qixi's face, trying to lean in and look at the other's eyes, or perhaps just analyzing the cub's condition through his keen sense of smell. In short, he was a bit flustered.

He had never encountered such a situation in his life.

A cub who was fake crying.

And why the other party left, and so on, Audiss couldn't understand, unless one day he possessed human intelligence.

Otherwise, he would ultimately only rely on instinct to survive and deal with things.

Really…?

Qiao Qixi suddenly stopped fake crying, because he was also considering this question: Why did Audiss come after him?

Was he reluctant to let him go?

He didn't know, but he had to admit one thing.

Audiss had done many things that went against his instincts, such as raising a Little Polar Bear.

As the lucky Little Polar Bear who was raised, Qiao Qixi slowly turned around, meeting Audiss's dark, focused eyes. So the other party had been watching him all along.

Eyes met, a silent exchange.

Qiao Qixi still couldn't tell what Audiss was thinking.

He blinked, and Little Polar Bear feigned a struggle, which earned him a 'Mount Tai pressing down' as Audiss directly lay down on top of him.

At this point, let alone struggling, even breathing was difficult!

Alright, Qiao Qixi understood. Audiss was afraid he would run away.

“Wuwu yiyi…”

As soon as the soft, delicate cry came out, the 'Mount Tai' on him paused, releasing a tiny bit of space.

“Wuwu yiyi…” Little Polar Bear pushed his luck, wanting more room to move.

Audiss lowered his gaze, looking at the cub he was pinning down. After a moment, he still fell for it and released more space.

Knowing that Audiss still cared for him, Qiao Qixi felt a little relieved, after all, his stunt had also scared the other party quite a bit.

But he wasn't completely appeased.

To completely eliminate the grudge in his heart, yes, he suddenly bit the other's arm with lightning speed, in the same spot, with the same force!

No, this time he bit harder!

Audiss narrowed his eyes, feeling the pain, but this time he didn't use that terrifying roar to scare the cub.

The polar bear's memory and logical abilities were quite good; perhaps he had already understood the reason for Little Polar Bear's escape.

That kind of behavior to scare the cub was enough once.

Audiss didn't react.

“??”

Was it not because of the pain, but because of the 'cursing'?

Qiao Qixi let go of his mouth and glared fiercely at Audiss's face.

He thought about it and decided to copy and paste yesterday's swear word: “Awoo!”

This time, Audiss still showed no sign of getting angry; he even lowered his head and licked the mouth that had just cursed.

It seemed to carry a hint of encouragement, as if telling him he could curse more if he was unhappy.

Damn it…

Qiao Qixi felt like he must be crazy, otherwise how could he interpret such complex meaning from a polar bear's eyes.

He must be crazy.

However, the other party indeed didn't get fierce again. Fine, fine, let's just assume he knew he was wrong. Could he really argue with a polar bear?

Qiao Qixi magnanimously reasoned with himself in his heart, then looked up and also licked Audiss's mouth.

Releasing a signal of making peace.

After all, this was the most direct way for animals to express friendliness.

Audiss's dark eyes glimmered slightly, seemingly overjoyed. After being actively licked by Qiao Qixi, he very enthusiastically immediately pinned down the cub and indulged in some affectionate nuzzling.

Soon, Qiao Qixi's face was irresistibly covered with Audiss's scent.

Then, not only his face but also his body, all the places that were usually licked were thoroughly attended to by Audiss.

That passion and careful protection made Qiao Qixi feel confident again.

It turned out that after all this circling, he was the one overthinking; Audiss didn't have that many thoughts.

Like is like, favoritism is favoritism.

Very direct and pure.

It even gave rise to a burning illusion, making Qiao Qixi wonder, are the polar bear's emotions truly this intense?

Little Polar Bear pressed tightly against Audiss's chest, feeling the other's heart rate, which was different from a human's.

Yes, it was different from a human's, but now they were the same, right?

So it wasn't having different dreams in the same bed.

No matter what happened in the past, at this very moment, they were companions, relying on each other, trusting each other, without needing so many worries and suspicions.

Qiao Qixi rubbed against the now quiet Audiss; the other party, without thinking, immediately rubbed him back.

His final little gaze seemed to ask him,

Is that enough?