The wind whistled past their ears as two small figures moved rapidly through the lush woods, one after the other. Dappled sunlight squeezed through layers of leaves, splashing across their bodies.
Li Xi was the first to run out of stamina. He leaned against a tree, gasping for breath; the air rushed into his throat, making him cough lightly from the chill.
He had never imagined that a day would come when a fight would end with him having to run for his life. His heart was a whirlwind of complicated emotions.
After kicking Aian down, he had spotted a tall figure approaching from a distance. With his years of mission experience, he had accurately sensed a hostile aura even from hundreds of meters away. Remembering that “Children Get Along Peacefully” crayon drawing on the wall, he weighed the pros and cons and decided to grab the kid and bolt. As for the other two cubs, they weren’t his concern.
Sure enough, after running for a while, the angry roar of that worm pierced their eardrums like a sharp blade. If sound could be transformed into mental energy, they would already be standing in the office being lectured.
Li Xi sat down on the spot, trying to adjust his breathing rhythm. After a moment, he said sluggishly, “So tired.”
Yun scanned their surroundings, only relaxing his nerves once he saw no one was chasing them. “Whew~ I didn’t expect you to be so good at fighting!”
He looked at Li Xi, his eyes filled with undisguised surprise and admiration. He began pestering him with questions.
They planned to hide for a while and wait for that menacing teacher to get off work before heading out. Li Xi agreed readily without a second thought. He truly couldn’t run another step.
The wait was long and boring. Li Xi yawned several times and finally gave up on staying awake, finding a comfortable position to close his eyes and sleep.
The sun sank low, and orange-red light slowly enveloped the horizon.
By a giant fountain near the school gate, several figures were crouching suspiciously.
“Why are you guys here?” Aian glared at Li Xi, puffing out his cheeks in anger.
Li Xi had just woken up and was feeling lazy. He stared at the school gate without moving, completely ignoring the noisy brat.
Aian had suffered nothing but setbacks at this person’s hands. Seeing this, he instantly grew volatile and reached out to grab Li Xi. “I’m talking to you!”
Li Xi spoke flatly: “Loser.”
“What loser… mmmph…”
Denier timely pressed his friend back down and whispered an explanation: “He’s saying you lost the fight.”
With that reminder, the memories he had been trying to suppress came flooding back. Aian remembered the grand words he’d shouted before the fight, and his momentum instantly wilted.
Li Xi gave him a supremely calm side-eye.
Aian: “…”
They had been crouching in the corner until their legs were numb. That male teacher stood at the school gate like a stone guardian, his face dark, scrutinizing every passing student. He radiated a hostile aura, creating a natural vacuum around him where students didn’t dare breathe heavily as they passed.
Yun quietly poked Li Xi’s arm and made a gesture to retreat. Li Xi understood immediately.
Aian and Denier exchanged a glance, hesitated for a moment, and then followed suit.
They followed Yun across the playground and past the teaching buildings, walking down a secluded path until they reached a remote stretch of the perimeter wall.
The setting sun stretched their shadows into infinity. The area was overgrown with weeds, making it look even more desolate.
“We’re climbing the wall?” Denier looked up at the high top of the wall and asked uncertainly, swallowing hard.
Aian’s face darkened even further. This kind of sneaky behavior wasn’t his style. He refused outright: “I’m not climbing.”
Li Xi stood in the flickering shadows and dropped two words with cold elegance: “Whatever.”
Three male cubs, three completely different attitudes.
Yun: “…”
The pressure was mounting.
Only a sliver of dark red remained on the vast horizon. After they had been at a stalemate for a long time, Yun felt they couldn’t wait any longer. His gaze shifted back and forth between the three of them, and he couldn’t help but feel troubled.
Given their status as males, he couldn’t afford to offend any of them.
Yun shifted his feet, leaning closer to the indifferent Li Xi. He gently tugged on his sleeve and whispered for help, “What do we do?”
Li Xi: “?”
Seeing the sky grow darker, Yun began to panic. “Any later and the patrol teachers will be here.”
“So?” Li Xi tilted his head.
Yun whispered, “I’m the one leading you to climb the wall. If we’re caught, I’ll be the one getting disciplined.”
What he didn’t say was that discipline was the lightest, best-case scenario. Another possible outcome was that the school would notify his “male father” in name. At the thought of that male, he grew frustrated again and gave a pebble a hard kick.
Li Xi’s gaze followed the arc of the pebble and landed on the two male cubs—faint, cold, and carrying an undeniable sense of coercion.
Aian flinched and instinctively hugged himself. “What are you doing?!”
Denier pulled his head into his collar. “Yeah, yeah, what?!”
The next second, Li Xi spoke: “You two, climb.”
“…?”
Climb?
Aian exploded again: Crap, climb? Are we pets? Or slaves?!
Yet, under the other’s bone-chilling gaze, he was too afraid to voice his anger.
Li Xi walked to the wall first and said flatly, “Hurry up.”
Five minutes later, Li Xi was perched on the top of the wall, holding a vine he’d found somewhere. Yun and Denier were below, helping Aian.
Another five minutes passed.
Li Xi changed his posture. Aian was still struggling to climb, using every limb, but he hadn’t moved an inch.
Seven minutes later.
Li Xi jumped back down, and they all helped Aian climb together.
The operation ended in failure.
Aian was drenched in sweat, sitting on the ground and panting heavily. “What a crappy wall!”
Li Xi cast a slightly disgusted look at the clumsy cub. He had never seen a “person” so physically uncoordinated.
“I can’t do it.” Denier was also slumped over from exhaustion, speaking weakly. “I have no strength left.”
Li Xi didn’t even want to look at them. He said coldly, “Use the gate.”
Aian refused: “No, if my male father is notified, I’m dead.” Although his father pampered him, even at his young age, he knew that love wasn’t unconditional.
Denier weakly raised his hand in agreement. “My male father can’t know either.” His father was very cruel and terrifying.
Meanwhile, Yun stood to the side with his head bowed, not saying a word the entire time.
“Eat candy.” An orange candy appeared in his field of vision. He followed the slim, white wrist up to see the cub quietly holding it out.
It wasn’t until Li Xi nudged it forward again that he took it daze-like, carefully putting it in his pocket before whispering, “Thanks.”
Li Xi was a bit surprised. The kid was exceptionally quiet today, acting like a completely different person. He couldn’t help but take a second look.
In return, he was suddenly pulled into a tight hold. The kid used his superior strength to wrap him in an embrace and wouldn’t let go. Then, a kneading sensation on the top of his head hit his brain repeatedly.
It was a stark reminder: he was being ruffled again!
By the time the kid let him go, Li Xi’s brain still hadn’t processed it. He hadn’t expected the kid’s mood to flip so fast. Gloomy and silent one moment, grinning and bullying him the next.
Li Xi, who was deliberately staying silent, looked exceptionally grim. It made Aian and Denier tremble with fear, while the perpetrator seemed entirely oblivious.
Sensing the silence between them, Yun asked in confusion, “Why aren’t you guys talking?”
“Hahaha.” Aian and Denier were perfectly in sync, giving a couple of forced, hollow laughs.
Yun: “…”
The atmosphere became even weirder.
After a while, muttering voices broke the silence.
“I’m so hungry. Denier, are you hungry?”
“Starving~”
“I miss my female father’s cooking.”
“Me too.”
“Do you think there are snakes here?”
“Maybe.”
“Hiss—”
“Aah—”
Li Xi listened to the two male cubs’ ramblings and watched them hopping around in the weeds. He realized, a beat late, that he seemed to be wasting his time.
Why was he meddling in their business? Whether they could climb the wall or not had nothing to do with him.
He stood up slowly and brushed the dust off his bottom.
“Leave them,” Li Xi said, looking at the two.
Yun scrambled up from the ground. “You mean…”
Before he could finish, Li Xi gave a confirming “Mmhmm.”
Li Xi and Yun decided right then and there; the process was very pleasant.
Aian, who had been focused on searching for snakes, vaguely heard something. He stopped and asked uncertainly:
“What… what are you talking about?”
He voiced his guess: “You wouldn’t be planning to leave us here, would you…?”
Li Xi nodded heartlessly.
Aian was in disbelief. He turned his head to look at Yun, asking silently.
Yun looked away and took a small step closer to the cub, his meaning self-evident.
“We… you, you you you…” Aian stammered nonsense for a long while at the sight.
Li Xi pointed at the top of the wall and said, “Noobs. Dragging down. My skill.”
The small cub stood in the night, his face appearing harmless, but his words were incredibly cutting.
Night had fully descended. There wasn’t even a glimmer of light in this remote corner. Insects chirped in the tall grass, and dark shadows flickered. Something crawled across the ground with a rustling sound.
Aian felt a chill on his neck and shivered.
“Aah—waaaaaah,” he cried, eyes tearing up. “I’ll climb! I’ll climb!”
“Don’t leave me!”
He rushed forward, suddenly hugging the cub’s legs, pleading: “Boss… give me one more chance!”
Li Xi was caught off guard and stumbled; the kid had to steady him to keep him from falling.
“…”
He tried hard to pull his leg away, but the downward force only increased. The waistband of his school pants began to loosen, threatening to slide down.
Li Xi grabbed them just in time to avoid the risk of his pants being yanked off. Even as a child, he had to keep his dignity.
“Don’t leave me,” Aian wailed, holding on for dear life like he was clutching his last straw. “I’m really afraid of snakes.”
Li Xi had no time to worry about Aian’s howling because the force was getting stronger. If this continued, his pants really would fall off.
“Not. Leaving,” Li Xi said. “You. Let go.”
Aian shook his head. “I won’t!”
Li Xi gripped his pants tightly, feeling for the first time that he was being quite reasonable. “Joking. Don’t take it seriously.”
At this point, the school pants were sliding down inch by inch.
Progress: 30/100.
Li Xi: [Deathly Smile.jpg]
The situation had flipped so quickly that Denier stood frozen in shock. He couldn’t believe that was his best friend. Once he came to his senses, he hurried forward to soothe Aian.
With Denier’s help, Aian’s uncontrolled emotions finally began to calm down after five minutes.
Li Xi let out a silent sigh of relief. Thank goodness his pants were still on.
Whether he was scared by Li Xi’s heartless “leave them” look or the shadow of being bitten by a snake was too strong, this time Aian’s ascent and descent over the wall were much less difficult.
Li Xi looked at the tall barrier and reached for the hanging vine. His nimble figure flickered under the moonlight, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared beside Aian, who had nearly died trying to cross.
He gave him a faint glance. Though he said nothing, his disdain was self-evident.
Aian: “…………”
“Are you even a male?” Aian had deep doubts about Li Xi’s agility. Wasn’t this a physical trait that only females possessed?
Li Xi spat out a soul-crushing word: “Noob.”
Aian’s eyes widened, unable to believe what he heard. He had never lost a fight. “You, you, you…”
As his best friend, Denier understood him perfectly. Ignoring Aian’s feelings, he reminded him at the right time, “You lost just now.”
“Aah—” Aian stomped his feet in fury. “Are you even my friend?! Why are you helping an outsider?!”
“It’s just the truth…” Denier countered.
“You!”
“…”
The noise was exceptionally loud in the quiet environment. Li Xi worried it would attract patrol worms. The moment the kid landed, he stopped lingering and walked away, leaving the two bickering worms behind.
The two cubs walked side by side, illuminated by the occasional light from the shops. Their shadows on the ground touched briefly and then separated silently.
“If it weren’t for you helping me, you wouldn’t have provoked Aian,” Yun said.
The galaxy sparkled overhead, and their path home was clearly visible. Li Xi heard the apology from behind, the voice incredibly dejected:
“I’m sorry.”
“I don’t want to cause trouble,” Yun said as he walked in silence, “but it seems like I make a mess of things every time.”