Why Do All the Beasts Want Me?

Chapter 7

On the way forward against the wind, Qiao Qixi almost collapsed in the snow and fell asleep several times, especially when he tripped and fell to the ground; he wished he could just sleep there.

But seeing Audiss stop and wait for him every time, even walking back seriously and staying by his side, Qiao Qixi, no matter how sleepy he was, couldn't bear to keep acting spoiled.

Perhaps it was due to being in the wild; seeing Audiss again, Qiao Qixi found that Audiss in the rescue station was far less enthusiastic and friendly than Audiss who was free and at ease in the wild.

At least Audiss at the rescue station was never so gentle and patient with him.

The sky during the polar day always hung with a bright sun, making it hard to tell what time it was.

However, Qiao Qixi's biological clock told him it should be night, or at least bedtime, otherwise he wouldn't be this sleepy.

After an unknown amount of time walking, Audiss finally found a suitable place to sleep and stopped.

Qiao Qixi, who was following behind, kept his head down, walking forward, and finally he bumped straight into Audiss, falling on his bottom, and then he had no strength left to get up.

He fell asleep instantly on the spot.

The spot Audiss found was sheltered from the wind, easy to defend and hard to attack, making it a good sleeping location.

In the past, Audiss would hide alone in such a blind spot to sleep; the single polar bear's life was very comfortable, but now there was a Little Polar Bear that needed to be fed, and he had picked it up himself.

A burden.

It's estimated that no animal in the entire Arctic could understand what this independent polar bear was doing.

Was it preparing food for the summer?

Perhaps even Audiss himself couldn't explain it clearly; his ability to process information was limited, but his care for Qiao Qixi indeed revealed something unusual at every turn.

A part of Qiao Qixi, curled up on the ground, could still feel the wind; Audiss considerately lay on his side behind him, using his mountain-like back to block the wind coming from behind.

Qiao Qixi, sleeping, could enjoy the warm sunshine and also avoid being exposed to the wind.

Regardless, the wind on the ice surface was very dry and cold, carrying a significant destructive power.

Of course, polar bears' thick fur is transparent, and their skin is black; they are naturally equipped with a sophisticated insulation system, so they are not afraid of severe cold.

Instead, they are afraid of heat.

For example, Qiao Qixi was very hot from the sun; so he flipped over on his back, rolling himself into the shade, which was Audiss's embrace, his head resting on Audiss's arm.

An atypical little bear, who likes sunbathing but is afraid of heat, and fitting perfectly against Audiss's belly.

This sleep lasted until the date advanced by one day.

When other polar bears woke up, they were all worried about how to get their next meal.

Qiao Qixi was impressive.

He woke up, let out a big yawn, and still feeling very sleepy, he chose to stay in Audiss's embrace and continue to lie in bed.

Because Qiao Qixi's sleep quality had been very poor recently, he had hardly slept well, and now that he had the conditions, he wanted to sleep enough.

However, here, Audiss was the boss; he seemed to have his own ideas, so Qiao Qixi could only groggily get up and follow him.

Huh, this direction?

Qiao Qixi smelled the scent of the sea in the air, which meant they were moving towards the shore; could it be that Audiss had taken a liking to those Xiao Ke Ai on the shore?

This trip to the coast should have been scheduled earlier, but Audiss delayed his plans to find Qiao Qixi.

After a full meal and a good sleep, Audiss's body had clearly returned to its peak condition.

In these past few days, not only had Qiao Qixi not rested well, but Audiss, who had been searching for him, also hadn't rested well.

So, Audiss had a very comfortable long sleep just now.

Now he was hungry and was looking for food on the way to the coast with Qiao Qixi, but this required luck, and clearly, today's luck was not very good.

No food happened to come to their mouths.

Audiss gave up foraging along the way and headed straight for the shore.

From a distance, Qiao Qixi could hear the sounds of seabirds and the ebb and flow of the tide.

In May, the ice had not completely melted yet, and on the exposed volcanic rocks, a group of walruses were basking in the sun.

Qiao Qixi watched those fat creatures from afar, and a bold idea formed in his mind, wondering whether he should express it to Audiss.

Hmm, walruses have sharp tusks, although he didn't know if they were just for show or actually useful, but never mind, Qiao Qixi thought.

What he didn't know was that Audiss did have his eyes on the walruses on the shore, but walruses were indeed more difficult to catch and required waiting for an opportunity.

After observing the walruses for a while, they slowly came to a downstream, a shallow beach covered with reefs, on which some seabirds stood, flying away when disturbed by them.

Qiao Qixi saw that the reefs were covered in bird droppings.

This wasn't the point; the point was, what were they doing here? Were they so desperate?

Looking for oysters and clams?

However, speaking of which, polar bears do eat these things when hungry.

They even use stones to crack open shells.

Qiao Qixi, following Audiss into the shallow water, finally couldn't resist the temptation and picked up a large oyster from the water.

Audiss heard the movement and turned around, seeing what Qiao Qixi held in his arms; he certainly recognized it, but this thing was very unpalatable.

Unpalatable in every sense of the word.

He brought Qiao Qixi into the water not to find shells, but to find the seaweed growing by the reefs.

polar bears consume some seaweed every now and then, which is beneficial to their health.

During cubhood, mother bears would bring them to eat it, gradually forming a habit.

Audiss hadn't come here for a long time because seaweed didn't taste good, but genetic memory told him it was beneficial to eat it.

Just as he was thinking about how to open the oyster, the next second, the oyster in Qiao Qixi's arms was taken by Audiss, lightly tossed into the water.

Then he picked up a handful of seaweed and brought it to his mouth.

Qiao Qixi: "..."

Brother Bear, it's not that bad.

Even if we can't afford walrus, don't we still have oysters?

There's no need to eat seaweed.

The Little Polar Bear turned his head away, apparently not liking the taste of seaweed either; Audiss, who was exceptionally patient with the little bear he had picked up, fed him repeatedly.

After three attempts, Qiao Qixi had to consider what Audiss's motive was for forcing him to eat seaweed.

It couldn't possibly be a polar bear's strange quirk.

Then, after thinking carefully, he suddenly understood: to maintain nutritional balance, even polar bears knew to regularly consume algae.

And he himself hadn't thought of it for a moment, which was truly embarrassing.

Having figured it out, Qiao Qixi opened his mouth and accepted the seaweed Audiss offered; it was slippery and quite crisp, and if it were stir-fried with vinegar, some chopped chili, and minced garlic, it would probably be very delicious.

The emerald green one he just ate should have been wakame, and then there was a purple one, which must have been nori; it had a finer texture, but it was harder to collect, and Audiss, being rough, liked to give him large pieces.

The last time, he even directly pulled over a large bundle of kelp, which startled Qiao Qixi; no, we can't raise a child like this.

Qiao Qixi quickly shook his head in refusal; he was still thinking about the oyster Audiss had thrown away.

Audiss saw Qiao Qixi pick up the oyster again, but this time he didn't stop him; he just looked for a suitable tool to open the oyster in the water.

However, he didn't need his help; the claws on a polar bear's paw are excellent tools; just find a gap and pry it open with force; the strength of a polar bear is something a small oyster cannot withstand at all.

When Audiss found a stone of suitable size and stood up to smash it, he saw that Qiao Qixi had already opened it.

Oysters in May are very plump and delicious; it is also the last month suitable for eating oysters.

The Arctic weather is severe, and oysters grow exceptionally large to adapt to the climate here; generally, animals growing in the Arctic seem to be larger in size.

The oyster Qiao Qixi opened was on a different scale in size compared to oysters grown in temperate climates; it was almost as big as his paw.

Qiao Qixi drooled over this plump, white oyster meat, already imagining the taste in his mouth, which would surely be fresh, tender, and smooth; however, he held back his saliva and offered this delicacy to Audiss's mouth.

Just as the Little Polar Bear didn't like to eat seaweed, Audiss also didn't like to eat oysters; he would only occasionally eat them in the summer when there was no other food.

Audiss turned his head away, trying to refuse the Little Polar Bear's feeding.

But then he hesitated a little.

Doesn't he like to eat it?

Or does he want to let him eat first?

Qiao Qixi thought for a moment; there were oysters all over the place here, so it didn't matter who ate the first one.

Then he wouldn't be polite.

Qiao Qixi stood on his two hind legs in the water, a unique skill of polar bears; they can walk upright and even fight.

He held the oyster with both paws, lifted his head, and ate the plump oyster meat.

The taste was as sweet and delicious as Qiao Qixi had imagined, clearly not on the same level as the farmed oysters he had eaten before.

Arctic oysters were too delicious.

The Little Polar Bear smacked his lips, using his sharp claws to forcibly pry off the column muscle remaining on the oyster shell and eat it.

Audiss himself ate some seaweed, then walked upstream; he would stop occasionally to gaze at the walruses upstream, seemingly planning the steps to catch a walrus.

Of course, he would also look back at Qiao Qixi, who was concentrating on getting oysters among the reefs and wouldn't follow to disturb him.

For a polar bear to catch a walrus, it requires the right time, place, and bear; if there's a cub messing around nearby, he will certainly go hungry.

It must be said that Audiss was very clever; he found something fun for the Little Polar Bear, gaining himself time for undisturbed hunting.

Initially, Qiao Qixi would just pry open any oyster he saw, but later he carefully compared them, specifically looking for larger ones.

He could spend all day getting these delicious little snacks here.

Huh? Where's Audiss?

As he was busy, Qiao Qixi realized his companion was gone; he immediately dropped the oyster shell and ran towards the shore on all fours.

From a distance, he looked like a white fur ball running, with his body fat jiggling; without sufficient fat reserves, he really couldn't create such a visual impact.

He ran like this simply because Qiao Qixi was too annoyed; he had been so engrossed in eating that he didn't even know when his companion had left.

Uh, Audiss ran away?

Qiao Qixi was anxious, and a hint of hurt arose; alas, was Audiss so heartless, running off after only taking him for a day?

He mused that his own appetite wasn't that big.

And he was quite cute, wasn't he?

The Little Polar Bear was feeling dejected when he suddenly saw Audiss's massive form, carrying a walrus, appear in his field of vision.

He was stunned, and his bad mood quickly vanished; good, Audiss hadn't run away, he had just gone hunting.

Thinking about it, it made sense; taking him, a novice bear, on a hunt would surely yield half the results for twice the effort, so Audiss settled him nearby and gave him something fun to distract him.

Tsk tsk, Qiao Qixi had previously thought that Male polar bears couldn't raise cubs, but now it seemed quite good.

Both moved towards each other and soon met on the shore; Audiss released his mouth, licked the blood from his lips, pressed down on the walrus's body with his paw, lowered his head, tore open its belly, and bit off the fattest part of the belly.

These actions were effortless for him, as if tearing open the walrus's tough skin was just a minor flick of his head.

That plump belly meat was placed in front of Qiao Qixi; Audiss looked at him with both eyes, and even without verbal communication, the pressure to make a child eat was invisibly overwhelming.

As a child filled with pressure, Qiao Qixi lowered his head and obediently ate the meat, but after taking a bite and swallowing, his expression changed; this wasn't meat at all, it was clearly fat.

It was very greasy.

Qiao Qixi took one bite and didn't want to eat anymore; his eyes were fixed on the walrus's back meat; he didn't want to eat the belly meat, he wanted to eat the loin meat.

Audiss saw that he wasn't eating and looked a bit confused and worried.

But the next second, the Little Polar Bear walked to the back of the walrus, lay there, and tried hard to bite the walrus's back.

Audiss: "..."

Indeed, polar bears also pick the texture of their prey, but they have a special fondness for fatty parts; all polar bears are like this, without exception.

Audiss picked up that piece of belly meat and fed it to the Little Polar Bear again; in his instinctive consciousness, consuming enough fat was essential for survival.

Qiao Qixi, of course, refused; he thought the loin meat tasted better.

The author has something to say: Still picky!