LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 18 - Yu Xiaoxue.
Deciding it wouldn’t hurt to leave tomorrow, Song Xinqi thought it best not to leave the little troublemaker alone, lest he causes more problems.
As he turned his chair, he saw Yu Qing nearly rolling off the bed, one hand stretched out far enough to touch his leg. Annoyed, he grabbed Yu Qing’s hand and threw it back on the bed. Yu Qing frowned in his sleep, then tucked his hand under his chest and turned his back to Song him.
After days of constant travel, either driving or fighting zombies, they hadn’t had a proper rest in a while. In the quiet environment, Song Xinqi also felt a wave of drowsiness.
Just as he was about to drift off, the ground shook violently, jolting him awake. He stood up from his chair and looked out the window. He saw two massive creatures fighting in the distance, their battle destroying nearby plants and steadily moving closer to them.
Yu Qing, driven by a strong survival instinct, sat up immediately. “What’s happening? What’s going on?”
Seeing Song Xinqi staring out the window with a serious expression, he climbed out of bed and went over to him.
Noticing that he was crowding him despite there being two windows, Song Xinqi moved to the other side to keep some distance between them.
Yu Qing didn’t notice his movement and craned his neck to look outside. A gigantic beast with round ears, a short tail, and brown fur was roaring and swiping at a large cat.
The large cat dodged gracefully in the air, its thick, white-spotted tail swinging as it bit the beast’s stubby tail.
The beast roared in pain, baring its teeth and swiping a massive paw at the cat. The cat leaped back, landing lightly despite its large size.
Yu Qing’s eyes lit up, and he whispered excitedly, “It’s a mutated grizzly bear and a snow leopard!”
Song Xinqi replied coolly, “You recognize animals well.”
As they whispered, neither knew why these two seemingly unrelated beasts were fighting, nor did they want to draw their attention.
The grizzly bear, with its size advantage, struck the snow leopard, sending it sprawling to the ground with deep gashes on its right side, exposing raw flesh. The snow leopard lay still for a moment.
Yu Qing’s heart pounded as he watched the fierce battle with a mix of fear and curiosity. “Ouch, that looks painful,” he muttered.
Watching came at a cost, though. They soon realized the beasts’ battleground was getting closer to them.
The mutated grizzly bear, now towering over two dorm buildings, had its back to them. Due to the window’s limitations, they couldn’t even see its head. The injured snow leopard avoided direct confrontation, dodging the bear’s attacks and finally biting the bear’s nose.
“Roar—”
“Not good,” Song Xinqi said, grabbing Yu Qing’s arm and sprinting toward the dorm’s back door. His quick reaction saved them; as they escaped, the grizzly bear’s massive body crashed into the dorm, reducing it to rubble in an instant.
The snow leopard landed lightly about fifty meters from Song Xinqi, its eyes gleaming like searchlights as it looked their way. He tensed up, staring back at the snow leopard.
It was covered in blood.
It quickly shifted its gaze back to the fallen grizzly bear, clearly more concerned with its condition than with them.
Song Xinqi retreated step by step, taking Yu Qing with him at the fastest speed, feeling puzzled. Generally, mutated beasts that haven’t lost their sanity don’t interfere with each other.
Moreover, it doesn’t make sense for a snow leopard to be a match for a grizzly bear, so why did it insist on fighting it?
He didn’t care about the actual reason. Once they retreated to a safe distance, the two quickly turned and left the scene.
When they could no longer hear any noise from behind, Song Xinqi slowed down to a walk.
Yu Qing asked, “Where are we going now?”
“We need to go back later, but let’s scout around first.”
They had fled too hastily earlier and didn’t manage to grab their backpacks. After some time, when the animals had likely decided the victor, they would need to return and retrieve them.
Song Xinqi’s expression was inscrutable. It would be better if the animals left; otherwise, they might have to go to the trouble of killing them.
He had used his abilities frequently today, and his mental energy was unstable again. If it wasn’t necessary, he didn’t want to use them any more.
The two walked for a while in the herbivore zone and found a dilapidated warehouse. The shutter door was lifted by surrounding vines, making the interior fully visible.
“There’s a car over there!” Yu Qing pointed to a vehicle entangled in vines inside the warehouse.
It was a windowless desert SUV. The two of them spent a long time clearing the plants off it.
Yu Qing had only seen such a vehicle on TV in wildlife documentaries. “Do you know how to drive it?”
“Let’s try and see.”
Vehicles like this usually had special uses in the zoo, and the keys wouldn’t be carried around. Song Xinqi found the car keys in a drawer nearby.
Yu Qing had already climbed into the passenger seat, watching him insert the key and skillfully start the car. The vehicle left the warehouse smoothly.
The fuel wasn’t much, but it was enough to get them to City A’s safe zone.
“Great, we don’t have to walk,” Yu Qing said happily.
Song Xinqi responded noncommittally and then drove the car back, taking out the keys.
Putting the keys in his pocket, he said to Yu Qing, who was still in the car, “We’ll come back here when we leave tomorrow. Let’s check other places first.”
Yu Qing uttered an “oh” and climbed out of the car.
They entered a nearby breeding facility, which contained many dead animal cubs. Without anyone to care for them during the apocalypse, they had starved to death, and the smell was horrible. Unexpectedly, they found some alcohol, human-use cold medicine, and other medical supplies.
When they were almost done scavenging and ready to return, about half an hour had passed. Estimating that it was about time, the two returned to the dormitory building.
From a distance, Yu Qing could see the fallen body of the grizzly. “Hey, did the snow leopard actually win?”
As they got closer, he saw the full view of the bear’s body. Its neck seemed to have been bitten off, only a piece of skin loosely hanging there. The body didn’t have many visible wounds, but the face was so disfigured that it was
nightmare-inducing.
He looked away after a glance, not wanting to see any more.
At this moment, he saw the other protagonist of this beast fight lying not far away. The bear’s large body had completely hidden the snow leopard, which he almost didn’t notice.
Compared to the bear, the snow leopard looked worse.
The short stump of a tail was covered in blood and scratches, with wounds so deep that bone was visible, and the strong smell of blood wafted over.
Yu Qing restrained the relaxed expression on his face. Anyone who saw such a cruel scene wouldn’t be able to maintain their composure.
At that moment, he suddenly saw the snow leopard’s body move slightly up and down, and it staggered to its feet like this. He retreated further and further, hiding behind Song Xinqi and peeking out cautiously.
It struggled to stand up, blood streaming from the deep wounds, seemingly unaware of it. It glanced deeply at them, then turned away with an extremely slow but determined pace, gradually disappearing from their sight.
Yu Qing opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but suddenly saw the snow leopard turn back again. Song Xinqi frowned, his sharp gaze piercing the slowly approaching snow leopard. If it made any move, he would kill it immediately.
Its movements were slow, with blood flowing as it walked, a horrifying sight for Yu Qing to witness. However, it still persisted in approaching them. As it got closer, he noticed that it seemed to be holding something in its mouth.
Song Xinqi also noticed, keeping watch without making any move, uncertain of the its intentions.
Finally, it stopped about ten meters away from them, slowly crouching down and placing what it had been holding in its mouth on the ground. It extended its bright red tongue to lick it and nudged it with its nose.
The thing shook, transforming from a small lump into a long strip, slowly crawling towards them.
Yu Qing was surprised to see that it looked like a snow leopard cub. Emerging from behind Song Xinqi, he approached the slowly crawling cub.
Song Xinqi’s mental state remained calm, indicating that the snow leopard had no intention of attacking. Yu Qing took a few steps away from him.
The little snow leopard stumbled over and fell down near his feet.
“Is it trying to give us its cub?” He bent down to pick it up, carefully cradling it in his arms. The cub was still very young, fluffy and soft. It bumped its head against his palm, making whimpering sounds as it rubbed against him.
“So the snow leopard didn’t leave because it wanted to protect its cub?” Yu Qing touched the fluffy fur in his hands, feeling a bit moved.
“She’s dead,” Song Xinqi said.
Yu Qing looked over and saw that the snow leopard, who had been staring at the cub all along, had lowered her head, her eyes already closed.
He was stunned. Holding the cub, he walked over. The wounds on its body were clearly visible, even more terrifying up close than they had appeared from afar. The cub in his arms poked its head out of his palm and kept calling out to the snow leopard, but the snow leopard would never respond to it again.
Yu Qing felt a little sad, covering the cub’s eyes so it wouldn’t see. “The snow leopard entrusted her child to us before she died.”
Song Xinqi turned around coldly and heartlessly said, “No.”
“I want to. I can take care of it.” Yu Qing caught up with his footsteps. The snow leopard risked its life to protect the cub and even entrusted the child to them. He didn’t want to let it down.
“It’s up to you.” Song Xinqi didn’t think Yu Qing could raise the snow leopard, but he couldn’t be bothered to stop him. “You have to solve its food and drink problems yourself; I won’t help.”
Yu Qing cradled the little snow leopard and took a few steps, solemnly patting the cub’s head. “From now on, I’ll be your dad.”
Hearing this, Song Xinqi’s mouth curled up in a mocking arc.