Watching the two giant beasts instantly start grappling with each other, Susu, who was hiding in the bushes and had only peeked her head out to check on the battle, felt her heart pound with terror.
She licked her somewhat dry lips and carefully pressed her body down even lower, trying her best to minimize her presence.
She hadn’t been hunkered down for long, however, before Susu’s mind started whirring again.
From the looks of it, Brother Leopard was clearly on her side.
And judging by the current state of the battle, he also had the undeniable upper hand in this duel.
But that raised a question…
‘If Brother Leopard wins, what will be waiting for me?!’
‘What if Brother Leopard just sees me as an after-dinner dessert?
Wouldn’t I have just escaped a tiger’s maw only to fall into a leopard’s den?!’
Susu couldn’t remain calm at the thought.
After a moment’s hesitation, she sprang into action.
She crept backward, moving as quietly as possible, and stealthily slipped away from the battlefield, trying her best not to startle the two fighting beasts.
Then, with a flick of her tail, she darted into the nearby jungle—
‘If not now, when?!’
Susu quickly pulled the same trick.
Not long after she started running, she spotted a dark tree hollow by the path, hidden behind a curtain of vines.
Ignoring the foul smell of stagnant mud from the perpetual dampness and darkness within, she dove headfirst into it.
‘My life is on the line!
Who has time to worry about useless details like that?!’
No sooner had Susu hidden herself than the fight between the Fierce Tiger and the Black Panther reached its conclusion.
The outmatched Fierce Tiger had no desire to prolong the fight; it reluctantly disengaged, turned, and fled.
The Black Panther stared in the direction the Fierce Tiger had fled, only turning its head in relief after the other beast’s shadow had vanished completely.
It returned to the spot where it had just placed Susu, only to find…
Narrowing its golden eyes slightly, a pleased rumble emanated from Brother Leopard’s throat.
He then lowered his head, sniffing the spot where Susu had vanished.
Following her trail, he quickly tracked her scent to the tree hollow where she was hiding.
「By now, the jungle sky had completely darkened.」
In the lightless depths of the jungle, the Black Panther lazily settled down outside the tree hollow.
He methodically licked his front paws, then rested his head upon them.
Squinting, his gaze passed through a gap in the vines and met the eyes of Susu, who was hiding inside.
…
‘Is he fucking corpse-camping me?!’
Susu’s heart filled with dread, unable to guess the Black Panther’s intentions.
She wanted to tell him that she was still small—all bones and no meat, not at all tasty.
But clearly, Brother Leopard, who just gave her a lazy yawn, had no intention of communicating through eye contact.
He simply closed his eyes and…
FELL!
A!
SLEEP!
After waiting quietly for a long while and seeing no movement from the Black Panther, Susu cautiously crept forward.
But the moment she poked her head out of the hollow, she saw the panther’s golden eyes, which had been closed, snap open again.
They glowed like two bright lamps in the darkness…
Susu spinelessly shot back into the hollow.
For good measure, she scrambled even deeper inside to protect herself, only stopping when her back hit the far wall.
She didn’t dare act so recklessly again.
The opening to the tree hollow wasn’t large; it was nearly impossible for a creature of the Black Panther’s size to even fit its head through.
For this reason, Susu felt that, for now, she was more or less safe inside.
However, it was truly only temporary safety.