Chapter 52
Zhou Ziyou helped deal with the wild boar.
She cut some lean meat and stir-fried some vegetables. She tasted it but didn't really like the flavor. There was some indescribable fishy smell.
On the other hand, Gray Tail simply boiled the meat and silently sat across from her, eating large bites.
Zhou Ziyou: "Um, does it taste good to you?"
Gray Tail grunted, "As long as I can eat my fill, the taste doesn't matter."
When he was still small, he couldn't find anything to eat in the human world. Even after going up the mountain, prey was still hard to come by. Hunger was the norm. His entire wolf body was reduced to skin and bones. He had eaten all kinds of unpalatable foods.
Things got much better when he turned twelve. His body size grew somewhat larger and eating his fill was no longer an issue.
When he was fifteen, he believed he had become a very powerful wolfman. He decided to go hunt a wild ox to challenge himself. But he failed. A human hunter's rifle struck him. That was also when the master brought him back to Nanfeng Courtyard to heal his wounds.
There were many wolfmen at Nanfeng Courtyard. To him, that place was like heaven. Every wolfman warmly and kindly accepted him and treated him well. Every day the food transported over from the grasslands for him was fresh ox and sheep meat. His body kept growing larger and larger.
Nowadays hunting up on the mountain for food was extremely easy for him.
He planned that the next time he would try hunting a wild ox. He should be able to do it now.
He had never gone hunting together with the master before. But he had heard from Cang Ling that it took the master less than a minute to take down a wild ox. He worshipped the master and also hoped to become very powerful one day so that he could be of use to him.
However, the master, who was very mighty and fierce in his eyes,
was currently at a children’s amusement park looking no different from an ordinary human, holding the cub in his arm and buying him cotton candy.
The vendor was quite skilled. He rolled the cotton candy into various little animal shapes.
The three of them looked just like a real little family of three. As the vendor worked, parents leading their children continuously walked by behind them.
The conversation between a child and parent drifted over.
“Mommy, I want cotton candy.”
“Eat what? I told you to eat less sweets!”
“Mommy, I haven’t had any for so long. Buy me one, please, mommy.”
“No! Can’t you let me worry a little less and listen to me? I said no so no. If you don’t behave I won’t like you anymore!”
It was a little girl. Upon hearing those last words, her mouth drooped as she held back her tears, not daring to speak again.
As she was dragged away by the adult, she looked back longingly at Baby Shang.
Seeing the little girl disappear into the distance, Baby Shang pursed his lips. He looked uncertainly at Shang Xi and asked tentatively, “Mommy, am I good?”
As soon as they arrived at the amusement park he had asked for a little bunny-shaped cotton candy.
Carrying her bag on her back and standing to the side with crossed arms, Shang Xi smiled when she heard his question. She hadn’t expected the conversation between the mother and daughter passing by to also make her son worry. “Baby is the best behaved. Whether you’re good or not, mommy will always love you.”
She figured sweets were fine to have in moderation. It was rare for her to bring her child out to play. As long as his requests weren’t too outrageous, she would try to cater to the child regarding what he wanted to eat and play. The most important thing about an outing was for it to be fun. It would be meaningless to dampen the child’s mood.
Carried in Gu Wen’s arms, Baby Shang completely relaxed upon hearing those words. His mood instantly lifted. The silly hair on the top of his head swayed in the gentle breeze.
Sensing the change in the cub’s emotions, Gu Wen turned to look at the woman dressed all in white beside him. Tall and long-legged, she stood lazily with relaxed posture. Her hair was tied up in a bun, revealing her slender, snow-white neck and deeply sunken clavicles. Her fair, delicate skin didn’t have a single mole.
Gu Wen’s pitch-black eyes deepened unconsciously as he licked his sharp, pointed teeth. At a certain instant, he wanted to lick across that spot and bite down, leaving his mark.
It was the primal instinct of wolfmen going back tens of thousands of years. When hunting prey, they enjoyed biting into the neck.
Likewise, the crude and vicious ancient wolfmen would bite down on their mates’ necks to prevent them from fleeing in pain during their most intimate moments.
Later on, as the female wolfmen population continued shrinking, the crude male wolfmen were no longer selected and got eliminated. Only genes of wolfmen who respected their mates remained.
Although modern wolfmen were no longer as crude and excessive as ancient ones, they still retained an innate, intense fascination with necks. To wolfmen, necks were a very special and tempting place.
Shang Xi wasn’t his prey. She was the cub’s mother. That status should have belonged to his mate. If she had been his mate, he could have indulged himself without restraint... That area must be where he frequently lingered around...
Gu Wen forcefully shut his eyes for a moment, compelling himself to look away.
Baby Shang had one tiny hand resting atop Gu Wen’s back. He tugged absentmindedly at his father’s clothes. After getting the bunny-shaped cotton candy, his eyes shone brightly as he first held it out to Shang Xi.
“Mommy eat first.”
“Thank you, baby.” Shang Xi didn’t care much for sweets but she naturally didn’t want to turn down her son’s good intentions either. She lowered her head and took a bite from the bunny ear.
“Mm...so sweet.”
Baby Shang was delighted. He took a huge bite from the other bunny ear. The sweet taste spread inside his mouth. He suddenly noticed the silent father.
The little guy was taken aback for a second. He looked at the cotton candy then at his father before silently holding it to Gu Wen’s lips. “Daddy eat.”
As the forgotten prop—old father Gu Wen—he finally heard his cub speak to him. It was also his first time eating cotton candy.
He stared at the bunny ear Shang Xi had taken a bite of. His eyes darkened subtly as his thin lips parted. In what seemed like a casual, natural movement, he bit off a piece from the same spot.
It really was sweet and chewy, he thought. Just then he noticed the child’s mother looking at him somewhat strangely.
She saw it.
Gu Wen faltered. His face grew hot all of a sudden. Rather awkwardly he hugged the cub and abruptly turned around. He lightly coughed and spoke in a low, serious tone. “Shang Xi, what do you want to play?”
Oblivious to the adults’ matters, Baby Shang nibbled on the bunny cotton candy as he pointed ahead. The drop tower.
It was a children’s drop tower, seemingly no taller than three meters high. It could fit five children per ride.
Gu Wen carried the cub as he walked over.
Shang Xi pursed her lips, still tasting the sweetness. She felt this wolfman was truly baffling.
She had been uncomfortable earlier over his hypersensitivity to physical contact. Yet now he went and ate her bitten cotton candy. Reasonably speaking, indirect kissing was much more intimate than physical contact, right?
That was already...an indirect kiss.
She tugged her lips tautly and scoffed inwardly. She decided that the next time Gu Wen brought up physical contact she would confront him with this incident!
Could it be that in wolfmen's eyes indirect kissing was no big deal but physical contact was more intimate?
Even if she didn’t understand wolfmen well, she knew the former was more intimate.
Looking at the nonchalant man up ahead, Shang Xi felt he was more and more toxic.
Baby Shang sat expressionlessly through an entire cycle on the drop tower and found it rather boring. After all it was a children’s ride. Slowly rising up and down was all there was to it. Not thrilling at all.
But the other children with him were screaming and crying messily. One even started bawling.
Baby Shang stared at them for a second, seemingly unable to comprehend what was so scary about it. He silently walked over to his mother.
“Not fun?” Noticing her son’s expression, Shang Xi asked him.
Baby Shang shook his head.
“There’s a rollercoaster over there. You’ll probably like that.”
There was a family rollercoaster with seats for three. Baby Shang’s eyes lit up.
And so...
Exchanging a look between them under their son’s anticipatory gaze, Shang Xi and Gu Wen sat down together with the cub in the middle.
Shang Xi figured it was just a kiddie coaster. No need to worry.
But she embarrassed herself.
The rollercoaster raced along the winding tracks. Baby Shang clearly found it a bit thrilling. His fair, chubby cheeks revealed a smile. “Haha! Mommy, it’s like we’re flying.”
Gu Wen sat as if he was on flat ground, his face expressionless without a ripple in his eyes.
Shang Xi was careless. She was the only one who stood out. Shortly after the roller coaster rushed out, when it reached a small slope and plunged down, she cried out unprepared: "Ah!"
Her cry contained tension, attracting the attention of the father and son.
"Mommy? Are you scared? I'm holding on to you."
Shang Xi felt embarrassed: "No, mommy is not scared, what's there to be scared of..."
Gu Wen turned to look, staring at the woman's slightly trembling shoulders. After thinking for a bit, he stretched out his hand over the cub's head and put it in front of Shang Xi like a guardrail.
Before he could say "Hold on to me—"
Shang Xi cried out again and grabbed his arm in one go.
Gu Wen's eyes widened slightly.
At that moment, Shang Xi didn't even know whose arm she had grabbed. She only felt that there was a guardrail in front of her that she could hold on to. She grasped it with both hands, facing the fierce wind without fear, only thrill and excitement.
She was extremely excited now.
"Ah ah ah! This is so cool! Which amusement park's kiddie coaster is so thrilling ah hahaha!"
"Cub, are you scared? Ah ah ah, another turn is coming!"
Seeing that mommy was no longer scared, Baby Shang also swung his little short legs, his small flushed face let out a cry.
He was not scared at all. He only felt it was fun.
Since it was a children's roller coaster, it arrived at the terminal quickly.
Only then did Shang Xi notice whose arm she had been grabbing. She was so shocked her eyes showed horror. She let go all at once, with some intention of using something and then discarding it.
"!!! Sorry, I was too excited just now."
She felt this werewolf would be unhappy again, and didn't know what he was thinking about her in his heart. Would he suspect she liked him again...
Unexpectedly, Gu Wen only silently retracted his arm and said "It's fine" in response.
?
Shang Xi felt like the sun had risen from the west today. She had held his arm for so long! She was really surprised and couldn't help but glance up at him.
She saw Gu Wen standing to the side, silently lowering his eyes, looking at where she had grabbed, not knowing what he was thinking.
Shang Xi pursed her lips. He must have something on his mind but couldn't flare up in front of the cub.
The next second, noticing her gaze, Gu Wen turned to look at her. His pitch-black eyes stared at her steadily, as if bewitched by something. He stretched out his hand, "Want to grab it again?"
????
Ah this, Shang Xi was dumbfounded, shaking her head: "Let's not..."
What was there to grab now?
Gu Wen silently retracted his hand. Shang Xi actually felt he seemed a little disappointed for an instant!! ??
It must be an illusion, definitely an illusion.
There was a patch of lawn fenced up in the amusement park. A few rabbits were kept inside. Many children surrounded them, feeding them small carrots.
Shang Xi also brought her son over to watch.
The rabbits were pure white, soft and extremely cute.
However, when they arrived, those rabbits seemed to be frightened. They huddled together, shivering.
She smiled and looked at her son, "Cub, aren't the bunnies very lov—" The word "lovable" was not yet spoken when her smile froze.
Because her son was staring at the rabbits with an inhuman gaze, his eyes pitch-black and hollow. The corners of his mouth seemed to move, as if licking his milk teeth.
"......"
He wanted to eat them.
He actually wanted to eat them!!
At this moment, Shang Xi realized so clearly that her son was a little wolf cub.
Although her heart was overturned, her expression remained the same on the surface. She didn't say anything.
There was fishing next to them. The children held small fishing rods.
Baby Shang's eyes lit up and he joined them.
He soon caught a fish. He silently grabbed the struggling little fish in his hand. His little hand clutched it tightly. He stared at it for a while, his lips moved...
Then, he seemed to lose control and wanted to put it in his mouth.
When Shang Xi saw this scene, her soul was frightened away: "Cub! You can't!"
Baby Shang suddenly came back to his senses. He threw the little fish away forcefully. Looking rather wronged, he stood in place, at a loss, raising his eyes to look at her: "Mommy, mommy..."
He also didn't know what had come over him.
A few children were already staring at him in horror.
"Mommy, he was going to eat the fish just now."
At that moment, Baby Shang felt out of place in this world. His eyes darkened.
Shang Xi walked over in a few steps and picked up her son, turning to leave.
"It's fine, it's fine, cub don't be afraid, it's fine." She ruffled her son's hair and kissed his little face, "It's fine. If you want to eat little fish and bunnies, we'll go back and eat them."
Baby Shang was stunned. He didn't expect his mother to say such words.
Even Gu Wen was taken aback for a moment.
As a pure human, Shang Xi's motherly love was shown incisively at this moment. She didn't care if it was bloody, cruel, unacceptable or... disgusting.
The first thing she thought about was that she didn't want the cub to feel bad. She wanted to feed him.
Holding the cub, comforting him that there were bunnies to eat at home, the mother in white glowed under the bright sunshine.
Gu Wen's throat rolled. Shang Xi was... was a very good pure human, very special and gentle.
His heart beat violently. The high wall in his heart crumbled little by little.
For a moment, he felt it didn't matter anymore.
So what if she was a pure human?
So what if she had slept with him four years ago and then disappeared?
She was the mother of his cub. She should be his mate!
Why was she the mother of his cub yet not his mate!
He thought unreasonably and contradictorily. His eyes turned dark and turbulent with intense emotions.
He had no impression of what he did next. It was as if two little people were frantically pulling at each other in his brain.
The little black person told him not to jump into the river. Jumping in would be painfully miserable. Was being lonely like this not good enough? If he jumped in, there would come a day he'd suffer more than dying. Could he tolerate the look of no love in his mate's eyes?
The little white person said: Jump! What's there to be afraid of? What does it matter? Didn't he want to possess her? He had so many things. Coaxing and loving her all his life, not giving her a chance to love another pure human would do. His pure wolf body was quite big, wasn't it? His clan was proud of him. When he was little, hadn't he thought of this before? One day, he would carry his mate on his back and run towards the snowy mountains, taking her to see the most beautiful flowers on the snowy mountains.
Carrying her, running deep into the dense forest.
Carrying her, wading through the streams, letting her feel the breeze, fragrance of flowers, beautiful scenery. When they reached the highest mountain peak, he would let out a proud howl for her to hear. His pure wolf body was so big. When it was coldest he could let her hide in his arms and warm her with his body temperature for life. She wouldn't bear to leave him. Her eyes would no longer have room for other pure humans.
The two little people argued incessantly in his mind. Gu Wen had a headache and closed his eyes briefly. Unknowingly, he had followed Shang Xi out of the amusement park entrance.
"Cub, you go back first with daddy. Mommy wants to go out with friends. Be a good boy and sleep early tonight, don't wait for me okay?"
Hearing this, Gu Wen suddenly regained awareness.
He wasn't the cub. Naturally he understood what she meant.
Going out with friends, wasn't that a date? Asking the cub not to wait for her at night, what, did she want to stay out all night?
What did she want to do?
For a moment, Gu Wen hoped the son would throw a tantrum to stop her from going.
But Baby Shang didn't receive his dad's signal.
His small face was earnest and sensible as he nodded, perfectly understanding as he said, "Mm, have fun mommy. Adults need to play too."
Gu Wen: "......"
"Cub is right! Mommy is going to have the adult life!"
She looked at Gu Wen, "Mr. Gu, please take him back first then? I'm not around, please spend more time with him, pay attention when he's taking a bath, he likes little bunny pajamas, give him a bottle of wolf milk formula before bedtime, he likes that."
Gu Wen's whole wolf head was confused, his chest felt as if it was fiercely hammered by a bear paw. Adult life? What adult life?
What were she and Rong Wen going to do?
What were they going to do?
His throat rolled difficultly, almost turning dark before his eyes, watching Shang Xi get into a taxi and leave.
He only felt that breathing was almost impossible.
He and the cub were just abandoned by her like that.
Abandoned at a children's amusement park.
Old readers all know that Huang Bao is the master of advising people to quit reading, I don't like forcing myself to read something I'm unhappy with and then complaining to me, I support Baby deleting bookshelves.