Tiger Tribe XI
Hearing Jiang Yu's cry from outside the cave, Qi became very nervous and shouted, "Ah Yu, what's going on in there?"
Although Mu didn't say anything, his unsheathed claws fidgeted with worry.
Jiang Yu heard Qi's voice but didn't answer. His full attention was focused on the strange object at his feet.
It's warm, but also smooth and silky. Most importantly, though, is that this thing can move! It can move! !
Jiang Yu's whole body was frozen. He is not a timid person. He's caught earthworms and geckos before and done many other crazy things. But in the past, he always knew what was happening! Now he's in a dark place, and suddenly a living creature emerges. Who wouldn't be scared?
After Jiang Yu gave himself a pep talk, he plucked the courage and firmly kicked away the unidentified object wrapped around him. Then he dashed out of the cave faster than he had ever run in his lifetime.
When Jiang Yu ran out of the cave, he was panting hard. Straight away, he walked rapidly to the little white tiger and hugged its neck.
Jiang Yu felt tired, but that was unimportant. What mattered most right now was to hug the white tiger to ease the strange feeling of the cave.
"What in the world was that all about? What did you find in the cave?" Qi carefully inspected Jiang Yu and found that he had no obvious injuries. He sighed in relief.
Jiang Yu froze. He felt that his scream had really lowered his status*.
(*掉价 -Diàojià - translates literally as a drop in price, but it can also mean to fall socially)
"I'm all right. It's just that there was something climbing onto my leg. It was so dark in the cave that I couldn't see anything. I wasn't expect something to be there, so I was really scared." Jiang Yu said, a bit embarrassed. He had to stop himself from burying his head in the white tiger's neck.
Because his hand was injured when collecting the golden thorn grass, cuts were appearing all over his hands. In fact, the palms of his hands were almost completely covered in blood. Because he was hugging the small white tiger, the fur he touched with his hands was almost completely stained with blood. The white and red patches were very unsightly.
Jiang Yu, who discovered this, was momentarily embarrassed. He turned toward the other two and said with gravity, "I have what I came for, so let's head back."
Qi looked at his two bleeding hands, and for the first time, his normally cold face showed a strange emotion. "Okay."
What Jiang Yu did not notice was that when his hand was looped around Mu’s neck, Mu's body was tense and hot. Once he let go, Mu's tightly wound up body relaxed.
When they agreed to leave, Mu's uneasiness faded and he was finally able to relax.
Jiang Yu didn’t go directly home when he got back but went to the tribe doctor's house along with Qi. The first reason was that he had to give his hard-won herbs to the doctor, and the other was that he was in a tough situation. If he went home now, he'd probably die very miserably when his dads see his hands. Afterward, he'd probably never be able to leave the house again. Therefore, Jiang Yu needed the doctor to heal his wounds first.
The tribe doctor was very worried about Jiang Yu's wounds. After repeated confirming it, he determined that Jiang Yu had only slightly injured his hands. Though the doctor was relieved when there were no serious problems, he still felt extremely distressed.
Females are the most precious of all in a tribe. Females are injured very rarely because their bodies are simply too delicate to bear the wounds. Sometimes even a very small wound will spirit them away to the Shapeshifter God.
This is also why the golden thorn beast is extremely gentle to females, even though there is no reason for females to collect golden thorn stalks.
Ah Yu wanted to collect gold thorn grass, and although he couldn't stop himself from agreeing to his requests again and again, he still had doubts about it in his heart. Immediately after he agreed, he started to regret it.
When he saw Ah Yu returning safe and sound, his heart, which had been beating in his throat, finally settled down.
"Uncle, my hands hurt. Can you apply some medicine on them?" Jiang Yu's eyes watered as he pretended to be pitiful.
"You deserved it. So you do know what pain feels like! Now you've realized that picking herbs isn't easy, right? Hmph! You inexperienced little boy*!" The doctor began to angrily scold Jiang Yu, but his hands moved carefully and gently.
(*The phrase is 天高地厚-Tiāngāodìhòu- which means wet behind the ears, an idiom that originated because farmers noticed that newly-born animals were licked dry everywhere except behind their ears. How wonderfully strange.)
Jiang Yu smiled and occasionally shivered from the medicine. "I'll be more careful next time. I've already confirmed today that there aren't any big problems, except that the cave smells really bad. And the other thing is that it's too dark in the cave. I can't see anything..." Jiang Yu said. He shivered when he recalled the unidentified creature that had hugged his leg in his cave.
After listening to Jiang Yu's description of the situation inside the cave, the doctor thought deeply and said, "Well, the creature you met today is probably a golden thorn cub."
“The golden thorns are very close to the females, especially their young cubs, um...” The doctor paused and glanced at Jiang Yu. “The golden thorns actually aren't very ugly or scary-looking.”
The doctor saw that Jiang Yu was secretly a little embarrassed. However, his disgust toward the creature strangely receded.
"Then, uncle, I've gathered the golden thorn grass, so can you make the medicine that will cure Mu now?" Jiang Yu asked eagerly.
"Yep, no problem. The other herbs are all here, so Mu will be able to take it tomorrow. You brought back a lot of herbs. It's enough for a month, so you don't need to go get more in that time. I will tell you when I run out."
Jiang Yu nodded happily like a bobblehead.
The tribe doctor gave him a strange look. "What I don't understand is why you're so worried about Mu. Didn't you always bully him?"
Jiang Yu's little body froze. He forced out a laugh and said, "It's exactly because I always bullied him before that I feel kind of sorry, so I'm making up for it. Haha, I'm actually only doing it because I feel bad!"
The doctor noticed Jiang Yu's embarrassment and did not say anything else. Huh, Ah Yu has so many pursuers, but the only one in his eyes was that weak Mu. However, Mu is also very fortunate to have a female such as Ah Yu who is willing to take risks for him and disregards his own comfort to find a way to nurse Mu's body.
As he thought about it, Jiang Yu become a paragon of someone in love in the eyes of the doctor. At this moment, the doctor gazed at Jiang Yu with a little pity and respect.
The person he was gazing at felt his hair stand up. Something felt off.
As soon as his hands were wrapped up, Jiang Yu hastily said goodbye, and quickly ran out of the doctor's home.
If Jiang Yu knew what the doctor was thinking, he would certainly not run away, but yell in his face. He's obviously someone who's diligently doing his duty. How could the doctor think that he was a lovesick fool who disregards his own body because of love? And anyway, who would like that grumpy, gloomy brat? He is not a masochist or a pedophile!
——————
"Oh, Qi, you're here," said Aspen, opening the door. His voice was soft and fragile.
"Um," Qi nodded and drawing his eyebrows together. He really didn't like this female. "I'm looking for Mu."
"Mu?" Aspen was startled. A strange light flashed in his eyes, so quickly that Qi didn't notice it. He smiled softly. "Well, I'll get him for you."
Aspen pretended to carelessly ask, "I've noticed that you're coming often to find Mu. But why? Our Mu is in poor physical condition, and he definitely causes some difficulties for you. If you've been going hunting with him, you must forgive him if he's been dragging you down. But his brother Qiao is quite mature for his age. If there is anything we can do to help, do ask Qiao. It would also be a brother's way of thanking you for taking care of his older brother."
As Qi listened to Aspen, his frown grew deeper and deeper. He did not know why. but he always felt that Aspen was trying to harm Mu.
If Jiang Yu was here and knew what Qi was thinking, he would surely sigh. "A shapeshifter's thought process is really too simple!"
Especially the young ones.
As a species with brawns but not brains, it was already pretty impressive that Qi could feel that Aspen didn't mean what he said!
Just take that big, beefy shapeshifter Bo. Aspen has said so many bad things about Mu in front of him. But he never noticed Aspen's true intentions, and actually beat up Mu instead.
How can a simple shapeshifter from the Tiger tribe be able to see through a treacherous female from the Snake tribe?
After Qi discovered the malice in Aspen's tone, he was even less inclined to listen to him. He repeated, "I have some business with Mu. So I'll have to bother you to call him here."
The smile on Aspen's face froze. Why wasn't Qi reacting to his words like Bo did?
Aspen had no choice but to call Mu and then walk away, feeling unpleasant.
Bo, Aspen, and Qiao all lived in a large wooden cabin that was very spacious, while Mu was holed up in a much smaller cabin that was so old that the wood had begun to decay.
Qi looked at the dilapidated house. He furrowed his brow but did not say anything.
"My dad, the doctor, wants to see you. I'm bringing you to him."
Mu's gloomy expression changed to surprise. "The doctor wants to see me?"