Chapter 511 : The Relentless Little Tail in the Shadows (2)
Hua Yao shot Qiao Chu a depreciating look that would translate to "Are you an idiot?".
Fei Yan literally rolled his eyes at Qiao Chu's shamelessness and continued to tease, "By that time, who would want your old brittle bones? They would have become useless."
"Brother Hua will love to have it! Right? Brother Hua?" Qiao Chu asked, fawning coyly at Hua Yao with a pitiful puppy eyed look on his face.
Hua Yao refused to even look at him.
Rong Ruo watched them banter with a light laugh and reached out her hand to offer some rations to Fan Jin who had been silent all this while. Fan Jin gave Rong Ruo a bitter smile and nodded in appreciation, secretly envious of the close ties that Qiao Chu enjoyed with his comrades. He knew he treaded a different path from these guys especially after all the recent incidents that had rocked the Zephyr Academy, and Fan Jin only felt deeply ashamed and a sense of guilt towards Jun Wu Xie.
Jun Wu Xie was still dogged by a strange feeling that something was not right. The feeling that she was being watched had appeared once again but she had not seen any fleeting shadows this time.
And that same situation surfaced once again the next day. Jun Wu Xie and the team had just hunted down a high grade Spirit Beast when that feeling struck her once more.
This time, she did not try to search for it, but to secretly summon Ye Sha.
However, when Ye Sha came back to them, Jun Wu Xie was greatly shocked.
She only saw a rotund wooly little sheep gripped in Ye Sha's hand. Its rounded spherical shaped body looked very much like a wooly snowball. Two tiny horns curled on the top of the little sheep's head, and it's round eyes were brimming over with tears as it looked straight at Jun Wu Xie.
"This is..... a Spirit Beast?" Qiao Chu was staring in wide eyed wonder. He looked at the tiny Spirit Beast who was not much bigger than the little black cat and thought what a wonderful world he was living in.
Qiao Chu stretched out his finger to poke at the tiny sheep's little body and the little fella trembled a little.
"Meh~"
Jun Wu Xie's eyes flashed, but she made no action.
"This Spirit Beast has been tailing our Young Miss." Ye Sha stated.
"Huh? That's strange. It's such a tiny Spirit Beast, it must belong to the lower grades. First grade? Why was it following Little Xie for?" The soft fluffy feel made Qiao Chu enjoy himself tremendously and he ravaged the tiny sheep's soft wool, rubbing it vigorously.
Gripped in Ye Sha's hand, the tiny sheep's four little hooves kicked and struggled endlessly but it was unable to escape from Qiao Chu's violation, and could only bleat helplessly going "Meh~ Meh~~".
"HAHAHA!" Qiao Chu was getting carried away, and was beginning to get a glimpse into the reason why Jun Wu Xie loved Rolly so much.
'THUD!'
One of the tiny sheep's front hoof suddenly hit Qiao Chu right on the bridge of his nose. The little but hard hoof had left a red glowing imprint right on the bridge of Qiao Chu's nose.
Qiao Chu was suddenly still.
"Young Miss, how do you want me to deal with this?" Ye Sha asked.
"Give me." Jun Wu Xie stretched out her hand. The little black cat on her shoulder silently swept its tail over its eyes.
When the tiny sheep was in Jun Wu Xie's arms, it turned itself over completely, and they saw that even its underbelly was covered in soft fluffy white wool and it really closely resembled a white spherical ball.
"Meh~"
Jun Wu Xie's eyes narrowed, as she looked at the tiny wool ball in her arms, and drew in a slight breath.
She hugged it tight!
Rubbed its fluffy wool!
"Meh! Meh!"
"....." Qiao Chu and the others fell speechless, and laughter soon erupted among the teammates. Seeing the tiny sheep cuddled, stroked and rubbed all over by Jun Wu Xie made them all roar out in laughter.
Outraging a Spirit Beast's modesty, only Jun Wu Xie would be capable of such a thing.
After Jun Wu Xie was satiated, she squatted down and put the tiny sheep on the ground. The tiny sheep was still dizzy from Jun Wu Xie's ravaging and was slightly swaying as it stood. It shook its head vigorously to clear the dizziness. After it cleared its mind, it tried to turn its head to look behind itself but found its view obstructed by its own fluffed up and abundant wool on its body and could not see anything else. It finally decided that it had no other choice and it started to raise its four little hooves up one at a time and turned itself slowly around before it raised its head to look at Jun Wu Xie.
"Meh~"
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Chapter 512 : The Relentless Little Tail in the Shadows (3)
Jun Wu Xie's eyebrow raised slightly. The tiny sheep suddenly lowered its head and opened its tiny mouth and started to chew on the green grass around Jun Wu Xie's feet, seemingly savouring it exceptionally.
"This Spirit Beast isn't afraid of humans? Is it because its grading is beyond low?" Qiao Chu said laughing with tears in his eyes. This was the first time he had seen such a bumbling and foolish Spirit Beast. When other low grade Spirit Beasts sensed that humans were nearby, they would have ran and disappeared immediately without leaving a trace. But as for this little fella here, even after being repeatedly violated by them, it was still not afraid and still hanging around them.
And it was even feeding itself happily in enjoyment!
Wasn't it afraid that they might kill it?
"Judging based on its size, it looks to be still an infant born not too long ago and still not too conscious of its surroundings, totally oblivious to danger." Rong Ruo said, finding the tiny sheep rather lovable.
"Have you ever seen a sheep that was just born possessing such a thick layer of wool?" Qiao Chu challenged with an eyebrow raised, and Rong Ruo could not answer.
The tiny sheep seemed not to have heard Qiao Chu and just continued to chomp, chomp, chomp..... Not even raising its tiny head once.
Jun Wu Xie shifted her feet a little to the side to allow the tiny sheep a little more room to carrying on with its feeding, but she had not expected to see after she had barely shifted two steps that the tiny sheep followed right behind her, its little hooves tapping on the ground.
Jun Wu Xie stopped her gait and the tiny sheep halted as well, and lowered its head and continued to chomp on the grass.
"..... Does that mean the little fella likes Little Xie? I know birds go through a nestling stage, but sheep..... do that too?" Qiao Chu asked, scratching at his head.
"No, they don't." Hua Yao affirmed confidently.
Light was starting to fade gradually and the temperature around the Spirit Moon Lake was dropping. Jun Wu Xie and her team had had a long day and they needed to rest. They repeated the same old trick and scrambled up high into the trees!
The tiny sheep that had been feeding on the grass around Jun Wu Xie's feet saw that Jun Wu Xie was suddenly moving and it gave up on its feeding and trotted after her.
Alas.....
The tiny sheep looked up into the trees that looked sky high from its perspective and stared after Jun Wu Xie as she shot herself up quickly into the canopies, as despair filled the tiny sheep's teary eyes.
"Meh~ Meh~"
"Wanna bring it up?" Qiao Chu looked down at the now almost negligible white speck at the bottom of the tall tree, thinking that tiny sheep was really persistent.
"No need." Jun Wu Xie said coldly. As she pulled her clothes tightly around her to lie down, she let a porcelain bottle that contained the medicine that could keep Spirit Beasts away slip from her hand to fall down beside the tree. The tiny sheep was startled and it hopped aside in surprise. When it did not see any other reaction, it bravely walked over and lowered its tiny head to sniff warily at it before nudging the bottle a few times with its nose.
"You are afraid that it would be eaten up by other Spirit Beasts?" Qiao Chu had spotted Jun Wu Xie's actions and he asked with a wide smile on his face.
She had asked him to not bother with the little fella, but she had softheartedly dropped that bottle herself. But there was one thing.....
Qiao Chu deeply suspected that, with that dumb little sheep's low intellect, would it know that that bottle would be its life saviour when things got nasty?
"Sleep." Jun Wu Xie turned her body and closed her eyes to rest. Qiao Chu and the others kept their thoughts to themselves and went to sleep, with mirth on their faces.
At the bottom of the tree, the persistent tiny sheep was still bleating softly. After some time, night fell and darkness enveloped them. The tiny sheep at the bottom of the tree seemed to have grown tired and its bleating stopped. It trotted around on its little hooves and leaned up against the roots of the tree to rest. After it laid itself down, it did not forget to take a bite of the green grass on the ground. Only this time, it did not swallow and its tiny face creased up in disgust, and it hurriedly spat out all the grass it had just put into its mouth.
"Meh....."
[Not nice, not nice at all.]
The mournful tiny sheep grumbled in its mind, as it closed its eyes, falling asleep while feeling aggrieved, a crystalline tear lightly sparkled hanging from the corner of its eye.
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Chapter 513 : The Relentless Little Tail in the Shadows (4)
It was early the next day when Jun Wu Xie and her teammates awoke. The tiny sheep was still sleeping and Jun Wu Xie gestured for all of them to remain silent. Qiao Chu and all the rest of the gang slipped soundlessly down the tree and ran away without a whisper.
It wasn't until the tiny sheep awoke and raised its little head to peer into the treetops, that all the wool on its wooly body suddenly almost jumped out of its body in fright!
"MEH! ! !"
[Where did they go!?]
"Bwah ha ha ha!!!!! You're really killing me! If you don't want that little fella following us, just throw him somewhere further away! But you made us all sneak off silently! Ha ha ha! I can't..... My stomach hurts..... Brother Hua..... save me....." Qiao Chu had been laughing hysterically throughout the journey. Even the high grade Spirit Beasts were not a match for this group but they had been forced to escape sneakily from a persistent tiny sheep. It was absolutely hilarious.
"Moron! Scram!" Fei Yan kicked away Qiao Chu who was about to taint Hua Yao with his "dirty paws", his face creased up in disgust.
"But I am rather curious though, Little Xie, why are you not willing to keep that little fella? It is rather cute, isn't it?" Rong Ruo was rather puzzled by Jun Wu Xie's reaction. She could see how much Jun Wu Xie loved furry little animals, and logically, wouldn't Jun Wu Xie be happy to have the moronic little sheep follow her?
"Will die." Jun Wu Xie said, frowning slightly.
Rong Ruo was taken aback, but knew what she meant.
Although the lifespans of Spirit Beasts were longer than ordinary livestock, but still shorter when with compared to a human's lifespan. A Spirit Beast that belonged to such a low grade might just live a little more than a decade and Jun Wu Xie did not want to keep it as she was afraid the little beast would die on her one day and she did not want to deal with the heartbreak that would be sure to come.
If it stayed by her for a long period, feelings were bound to develop, and it was the same even for the usually cold Jun Wu Xie.
Hence, no matter how much she loved it, she would not allow herself to grow attached to the little fella with its short lifespan. She hated to see anything that she truly loved die before her eyes.
She might always seem cold and distant, but once she developed an attachment, it was difficult for her to cut ties.
Although she absolutely adored those cute and furry animals, she allowed herself to only interact with them occasionally, and would never grow too close to any particular one.
The little black cat was an exception, due to the fact that as long as she lived, it would be able to accompany her till the end.
Rolly was another exception as it was a powerful ring spirit and it would not die under normal circumstances.
When they would not be parted by life and death, she would not have any misgivings about it.
"Cough..... Rolly will live a longer life than me! Do you want me to summon Rolly to cuddle?" Qiao Chu asked, suddenly coming beside Jun Wu Xie. He had always felt, despite Jun Wu Xie's cold and icy personality, the words she says sometimes made one's heart cringe in bitter sympathy..
It might be her extraordinary intelligence that made her much too aware of the potential heartbreaks that caused her to restrain herself so pitifully.
At such a young age, but bogged down with so much misgivings causing her to restrain herself from the things she loved, wouldn't that be very tiring?
Jun Wu Xie shook her head and when she looked up and saw Qiao Chu and the others looking at her with a "You're so pitiful, so heart wrenching" expression on their faces, she was rather surprised.
'Had she just said anything wrong?'
'Why are all their expressions so weird?'
"Meow." The little black cat swished its tail as it rested on Jun Wu Xie's shoulder.
[Do not use your own logic to assess the average person. Your words will always make them think that you are just a pitiful person with a tragic past, and you are just silently repressing your real self.]
Jun Wu Xie felt a slight twitch at one corner of her mouth.
She did not think she was pitiful in anyway, not even once!
After she was reborn, she had felt the bliss that she had never felt before!
The noisy banter continued as they went along on their way as they set their sights on the next target. They easily overcame the Spirit Beast who actually had a tear in its eye when it died.
Then, a small tiny white figure was once again hidden behind a line of trees not too far away. The round eyes sparkled as it stared at Jun Wu Xie standing just beside Fan Jin.
[Found them! Meh~!]
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Chapter 514 : The Relentless Little Tail in the Shadows (5)
A snow white spherical ball of wool dashed forward, its short tiny little hooves fully extended!
Jun Wu Xie could spot the ball of white unidentifiable object from afar, dashing madly all the way straight at her!
"....."
"Meh!"
[Oh no! I will be discovered!]
Just before it got to the spot right before Jun Wu Xie, the tiny sheep jammed its short little hooves to a sudden halt! But the built up momentum continued to carry it forward and the tiny round wooly ball fell onto the soft green grass. The tiny sheep panicked! It hurriedly raised up its two short front hooves to quickly cover its eyes completely.
[You cannot see me, you cannot see me.]
"....." Jun Wu Xie stared at the tiny sheep right in front of her. She was speechless.....
Qiao Chu erupted into another bout of hysterical laughter.
You've tumbled, rolled and stopped right by our feet for goodness sake!
Covering your eyes does not mean no one can see you!
Can you come to your sheep "shenses"!!?
"Go." Jun Wu Xie turned resolutely and walked away, not wanting to give the tiny white ball another glance.
Qiao Chu could not stop guffawing as turned and followed behind Jun Wu Xie and the others.
The tiny sheep finally peeked out under its hoof. And when it saw the departing back of Jun Wu Xie, it hopped up onto its four little hooves and followed behind, its hard hooves tapping on the ground.
Throughout the rest of the journey, whenever Jun Wu Xie stopped her feet, Qiao Chu would always find a dumb tiny sheep whenever he turned his head behind to look, lying flat on the ground, its tiny front hooves covering its eyes.....
And once Jun Wu Xie resumed walking, that dumb tiny sheep would follow, its hooves tapping on the ground once again. That tiny sheep was sure..... exceptionally determined!
Till the moon was almost dipping behind the mountains in the west, the tiny sheep was still keeping at it, following behind Jun Wu Xie all the way, maintaining a fixed distance away from each other.
Finally, Jun Wu Xie was feeling rather helpless.
"Little Black."
"Meow?"
"Drive it away."
"Meow!"
[Understood! Scare it away! It will be done!]
The little black cat jumped to the ground from Jun Wu Xie's shoulders and walked with poise and grace as it approached the dumb tiny sheep that was still hiding behind its hooves.
Qiao Chu and the others watched on with interest, trying their hardest to suppress the mirth and laughter threatening to burst forth in their chests.
"Meow." Little black stood before the dumb sheep, its stance incorrigibly arrogant, its eyes looking down in contempt.
"Meh?" The tiny dumb sheep slowly lowered its hooves very slightly, and peeked over them a little to see the little black cat standing before it.
[I've been discovered! I've been discovered! Meh!!!]
At that moment, the tiny sheep was in a panic and every single strand of wool on its body almost stood out on their ends!
The little black cat stared at the tiny dumb sheep as it weaved about in circles in a state of panic, and found itself speechless. It licked on its paws and suddenly morphed into its black beast form! It opened its jaws wide, exposing its sharp pointed fangs, and gave out a full bodied ear shattering roar directed right at the tiny dumb sheep that was merely at size of its head!
"ROAR! ! !"
The sound reverberated, and the soft wool on the tiny sheep's body was pushed back from the mighty roar!
The tiny dumb sheep stared wide eyed at the ferocious and majestic black beast, and it froze, like a little sheep statue on the ground!
The black beast tipped up its nose and snorted contemptuously, feeling very pleased at the expression of utter shock on the tiny dumb sheep, its tail swishing happily behind.
[Little sheep, run before I eat you up!]
The tiny dumb sheep had not moved and its four hooves finally started to take a few steps backwards then.
Just as everyone had thought that they were about to lose the persistent little sheep from the fright the black beast had given it, an astounding sight materialised right before their very eyes!
The tiny dumb sheep, after having taken a few steps backwards, all the wool on its tiny body started to give out a brilliant and blinding light. The grass beneath its hooves started to rustle though there was no wind! A whirlwind suddenly kicked up, swirling fiercely around the tiny body, enveloping it completely!
The blinding brilliance exploded! And everyone had to avert their eyes!
The brilliant light intensified and grew into a humongous glowing body! The rays of light then started to gradually disappear as they dispersed into the air!
A gigantic and unbelievably massive Spirit Beast suddenly stood before their astounded eyes.
The gigantic Spirit Beast was no stranger to all of them there. It was the exact same Guardian Grade Spirit Beast that had attacked the men from the Rui Lin Army just days before!
Before the sudden appearance of the gargantuan Guardian Grade Spirit Beast, the massive black beast suddenly looked to be so tiny!
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Chapter 515 : The Relentless Little Tail in the Shadows (6)
The Guardian grade Spirit Beast opened its humongous jaws and gave the black beast a mighty roar that sounded like it would split the skies!
"ROAARRR!"
We're dead!
We're so dead!
We're so damned dead!
Everyone's mind was in sudden disarray. Nothing in the world would have made them thought that the tiny dumb sheep that had so doggedly shadowed Jun Wu Xie would turn out to be a Guardian Grade Spirit Beast! And it was the same one that they had fought!
"Tell me please..... This is not real....." Qiao Chu's legs were suddenly feeling weak and he was holding on to Hua Yao's shoulder for support in order to remain standing.
'That dumb sheep was really the same Guardian Grade Spirit Beast!?'
'Were the Heavens making fools out of them?'
'Had he really, just some time earlier, violated a Guardian Grade Spirit Beast! ? And he had remained in one whole piece.....'
'It was really great..... to be alive.....'
The one that was most shocked was actually Jun Wu Xie, however, not much of it actually showed on her face. She only stared wordlessly at the gigantic sized Spirit Beast, and no one knew what she was thinking.
The most miserable one among them was the black beast.....
As it had shouldered the responsibility of driving the sheep off, its entire body was now fully peppered with spit from the Guardian Grade Spirit Beast.
As it stared at the exposed fang, that was as big as its entire body, reflecting its own image on its smooth white surface, the black beast almost lost its mind. It was thinking that its mistress had really done it this time!
"Meow~" The black beast turned tail, and tactfully slipped with a swoosh to jump up onto Jun Wu Xie's shoulder in hiding, quickly reverting back to its little cat form as it sprinted and leapt!
"Meow....."
[I almost died there!]
"........" Jun Wu Xie patted the little black cat's head reassuringly.
The Guardian Grade Spirit Beast smirked as it saw the black beast revert to its black cat form and it raised its head smugly and snorted indignantly.
After that, the Spirit Beast lowered its enormous body flat upon the ground and stared with its massive eyes at Jun Wu Xie. Nine long tails swished happily behind it and they gradually began to fold back onto its body, wrapping and twisting, and the entire body of the Spirit Beast started to visibly shrink and decrease in size, until it turned into the mini sheep that had been tailing them, before it stopped.
"........." Qiao Chu's mouth was badly twisted.
Fei Yan's eyes were like saucers, as he gulped noisily.
Hua Yao and Rong Ruo exchanged glances and attempted to smile bitterly at each other.
Fan Jin had not recovered and made like a statue.
Tap, tap, tap.
The incredibly powerful dumb sheep trotted upon its short little hooves to come stand before Jun Wu Xie, a seemingly proud expression upon its upturned face, as it stretched its short hooves fully straight, attempting to stand as tall as it could.
"Why are you following me?" Jun Wu Xie finally realised the dumb sheep's real identity. It was not a low grade Spirit Beast that did not possess any consciousness. It was actually a Guardian Grade Spirit Beast, capable of intelligence.
It would understand what she said.
The dumb sheep trotted closer, and walked one circle around Jun Wu Xie's feet. It lowered its head and chomped on a mouthful of fresh green grass, and raised its head, to allow Jun Wu Xie to see it chew and finally swallow the green grass in its mouth.
"Meh~"
[The grass around you, is delicious~]
[Meh likes it~]
Jun Wu Xie did not understand "sheep" and fortunately, the little black cat seemed to know what the dumb sheep meant, and translated it for Jun Wu Xie.
Jun Wu Xie finally understood why a dumb looking tiny sheep, which in actual fact was an all powerful Guardian Grade Spirit Beast, would keep following her.
As her ring spirit was a plant spirit, although people would not feel it, all plants around her would be able to sense Little Lotus' essence, and under its influence, undergo a subtle change.
And this Guardian Grade Spirit Beast here, had in the process of battling Jun Wu Xie, detected the scent from her, and been hence attracted by it.
Think, what kind of allure would more delicious and tastier green grass bring to a dumb sheep.....
The choice is unthinkably obvious!