Chapter 47: The Mermaid Cub is So Cute
After Nan Zishi removed the she-wolf’s stitches, and amidst the Wolf King’s "soulful" reluctance to see her go, Nan Zishi patted its head several times, earnestly praising it as a "good dog" before finally leaving with Hu Bai and the others.
The Wolf King led a pack of young wolves out to see them off, their "AWOOO AWOOO" howls echoing through the forest.
As Hu Bai carried Nan Zishi on his back, he remained in a state of continuous shock.
Although it wasn’t the first time he had seen Nan Zishi interact with the wolf pack, he still felt that,
’His female master truly is extraordinary. She actually managed to tame wild beasts. So many wolves completely obey her.’
’And now that she’s leaving, all these wolves are so reluctant to see her go.’
The weather was beautiful today, so Nan Zishi and her group enjoyed a leisurely journey through the scenic landscape.
"Mommy, Mommy, cuddles~" the little mermaid cub cooed sweetly, asking to be held.
She teased the Little Mermaid in the bucket, correcting her, "Little one, I’m not your mommy."
The mermaid cub’s eyes instantly welled up with tears, and little golden pearls threatened to fall.
Nan Zishi quickly said, "Don’t cry, don’t cry! I’m really not your mommy. You can’t call me that in the future, or it’ll be a real problem for me."
The Little Mermaid pouted and turned her head to the side.
’The mermaid race is different from other races; they’re very sensitive to blood connections.’
’Mommy is obviously her mommy, so why does Mommy say she isn’t?’
’Mommy must not like her...’
’Bad Mommy, she doesn’t like me!’
"You can call me Auntie, or even Big Sister," Nan Zishi said with a smile.
’Hmph. Bad Mommy.’
The Little Mermaid turned her back, ignoring her.
After Nan Zishi coaxed her for a while, the Little Mermaid finally turned back, looking at her with an adorable expression.
Nan Zishi asked curiously, "Little one, how old is your father?"
The Little Mermaid held up three chubby baby fingers.
"Thirty?" Nan Zishi asked, surprised.
’That’s not right.’
The Little Mermaid shook her head and said in a tiny, milky voice, "Three hun-hundred~"
Nan Zishi was stunned. "Three... three hundred years old? That old?!"
’What old geezer managed to have such an adorable and cute mermaid cub?’
The mermaid cub tilted her head.
’What’s Mommy saying? Three hundred isn’t old!’
’The way the little cub tilted her head was just too adorable!’
Nan Zishi picked up the fair, tender Little Mermaid and doted on her.
The adorable Little Mermaid suddenly opened her mouth and bit down on Nan Zishi’s entire hand.
But the little cutie’s mouth was so soft that Nan Zishi didn’t feel any pain.
She shook her hand up and down, making the mermaid cub wiggle up and down along with it.
Fox Qi rushed to Nan Zishi’s defense. "Little sister, little sister, you can’t bite my mommy’s..."
The little cutie immediately switched targets and, with a CHOMP, latched her big mouth onto Fox Qi’s head.
Fox Qi turned his head, and the two little cuties looked at Nan Zishi in unison.
Nan Zishi: "..."
"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Nan Zishi couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst out laughing, clutching her stomach.
**
After traveling for half a day, Nan Zishi had Hu Bai find a place for them to rest.
Hu Bai transformed into his human form in front of Nan Zishi.
Nan Zishi stared, mesmerized, as the handsome and noble fox transformed, just like that, into a handsome and noble male right before her eyes.
’No matter how many times I’ve seen it, the process of a Beastman changing into a human is still so interesting!’
Because of the transformation, the tall male’s body was now completely naked.
Nan Zishi’s eyes practically popped out of her head!
Hu Bai was immediately burned by Nan Zishi’s scorching gaze, the tips of his ears turning slightly red. He quickly turned around to put on his Beast Skin Skirt.
’RAWR~~’
’Truly powerful and robust!’
Only after the male Fox Beastman had put on his Beast Skin Skirt did he seem to relax.
Hu Bai gathered firewood and started boiling water.
Nan Zishi took out the goat milk powder from her storage space. After testing the water temperature, she prepared enough for four cubs.
One portion was fed to the little wolf cub with a large syringe.
Three portions were poured into cups for Fox Qi, She Yang, and the little mermaid.
For the first time, Nan Zishi was grateful she was a Beast Doctor. When she’d stocked up on supplies, she had packed a lot of dog food and a good amount of goat milk powder.
It was enough to feed them for now.
The little wolf cub drank the goat milk formula with great effort. Nan Zishi felt its weight in her hands; it had grown a bit bigger. It looked like its eyes had opened into a tiny slit, and it would be opening them fully soon.
She murmured, "Little wolf, you need to grow up quickly."
The three cute cubs shot a look filled with a tiny hint of murderous intent toward the little wolf cub.
The little mermaid cub held up her cup of goat milk and offered it to Nan Zishi. "Mommy, Mommy, feed me~"
"I already told you not to call me Mommy," Nan Zishi sighed.
The little mermaid cub looked aggrieved, and little golden pearls were about to fall again.
Seeing this, Nan Zishi quickly put the now-fed wolf cub aside. She coaxed the little mermaid cub, "You want me to feed you, too?"
The Little Mermaid nodded vigorously. "Feed, feed~"
Nan Zishi smiled, picked up the little mermaid cub, and took the cup to feed her the goat milk formula.
The mermaid cub drank it down with a GULP GULP.
Little Fox Qi and Little Snake Yang watched the Little Mermaid with envy.
’They kind of wanted Mommy to feed them, too.’
’But they were too big now; they were too embarrassed to have Mommy hold them and feed them milk.’
The two little cubs both sighed.
Hu Bai walked over with a smile to help take care of the cubs.
When he took the Little Mermaid to feed her the goat milk formula, she surprisingly didn’t cry or fuss. Her eyes sparkled as she stared at the handsome uncle.
’Pretty uncle... so pretty~~’
The Little Mermaid giggled.
"She likes you," Nan Zishi said with a serious expression.
Hu Bai chuckled. "She seems to like you quite a bit, too."
"How can you tell she likes me? Didn’t you see her bite me just now!"
"She was probably just hungry," Hu Bai said.
Fox Qi asked, "Mommy, Daddy, is the milk enough for our little sister? Does she need to eat something else?"
Hu Bai smiled and said, "As far as I know, fish like to eat other fish."
An image of a swarm of red crabs appeared in Nan Zishi’s mind: a mother crab eating her little baby crabs one by one, CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH.
She imagined the baby crabs crying, "Mommy, don’t eat me!" and "Mommy, brother tastes better..."
She quickly shook her head, trying to drive the disturbing images out of her mind.
Nan Zishi curiously sized up the mermaid cub, who was noisily drinking her milk. "In any case, she should eat meat, right?"
Nan Zishi reached out and teased her, poking her little face.
The little mermaid cub’s eyes immediately crinkled into a smile; she was overjoyed.
Fox Qi and She Yang were excited. Little Fox Qi said, "Mommy, the uncle from next door gave me a piece of meat when we left. I’ll cut a little piece for our little sister to try."
Little Fox Qi used his small, sharp claws to cut the meat into tiny pieces and carefully fed them to the Little Mermaid.
"Wow, she’s eating it! She’s really eating it!"
Although the little mermaid cub ate the beast meat Fox Qi fed her, her little face wrinkled slightly.
She was a very good girl. Even though she clearly didn’t like the beast meat, she still ate every piece her big brother fed her.
Nan Zishi observed and said, "It seems like the little cub doesn’t like beast meat."
Hu Bai pondered this as well and guessed, "Perhaps mermaids can eat beast meat but don’t really like it? Maybe they prefer tender, smooth fish meat."
Nan Zishi agreed with Hu Bai. "Then it seems we need to get her back to the sea as soon as possible."
After Fox Qi finished feeding his little sister.
The big brother, full of little-man bravado, picked her up and placed her back in the small bucket, where the Little Mermaid happily tumbled about in the water.
Little Fox Qi and Little Snake Yang gathered around the mermaid cub.
Little Fox Qi teased the mermaid cub, "Little sister, if you don’t like beast meat, big brother will catch fish for you from now on."
Little Snake Yang’s eyes crinkled with a smile. "HISSS, HISSS." ’Big brother will catch some for you, too.’
The mermaid cub joyfully splashed them both in the face with her tail.