Chapter 34: Is He a Centipede, Always Climbing into Bed?

Wen Qian had no idea what had gotten into him. She pulled his hand down and shot him a warning look.

At that, the huffy young man instantly deflated. He lowered his head, resting his chin on her shoulder in a mix of grievance and petulance.

The Yellow-tailed Robin was dumbfounded. ’If I’m not mistaken, this has to be the Young Master of the Silver Tiger Clan... How is he living with a human?!’

’And... and acting so...’

Yin Zhi didn’t know what the bird was thinking, but he copied Wen Qian and shot it a warning look. "What are you looking at?"

The Yellow-tailed Robin immediately squeezed its eyes shut, playing dead.

"You scared him!" Wen Qian nudged the fluffy head on her shoulder.

Yin Zhi nuzzled against Wen Qian to appease her, then, from an angle she couldn’t see, bared his fangs at the Yellow-tailed Robin...

All afternoon, Yin Zhi and the Yellow-tailed Robin were locked in a standoff.

As long as Yin Zhi was around, the Yellow-tailed Robin didn’t dare open its eyes. The moment he left, the little guy would blink and look curiously at Wen Qian.

This was his first time interacting with a human female, and he couldn’t help but be curious.

Besides, he really liked her scent. And this room... everything here felt so comfortable...

’I have so many questions I want to ask. Too bad... I can’t transform into my human form yet.’

"Why don’t you take him with you?" As soon as Wen Qian went into the kitchen, Yin Zhi sat right down next to Gu Mian. He glanced from the little guy on the table to Gu Mian.

Gu Mian met his gaze and sneered without answering. ’His intentions are painfully obvious,’ he thought. ’If I take the Yellow-tailed Robin away, won’t I lose my perfectly good reason to come over?’

Seeing Gu Mian’s silence, Yin Zhi cleared his throat. "Qianqian and I have no experience taking care of Beastmen."

In the Beast World, he was always the one being taken care of, and Wen Qian had never encountered another Beastman before him.

"How can you be so sure?" Hearing this, Gu Mian’s eyes darkened.

At his words, Yin Zhi snorted. "Why wouldn’t I be sure? I’ve been with her for so long..."

"Barely over a month," Gu Mian interrupted, his eyes filled with contempt. "You’re not her only Beastman."

Yin Zhi was so provoked by this that he bristled. Even the Yellow-tailed Robin, which had been peeking from its box, squeezed its eyes shut tightly. ’I’m just a newly-adult Yellow-tailed Robin, why do I have to go through all this!’

’One is the Young Master of the Tiger Clan, the other is my savior... Are they fighting over the human female out of jealousy?’

’This is terrifying, truly terrifying...’

Just then, Wen Qian emerged from the kitchen. Her gaze landed on the Yellow-tailed Robin, and she asked in a gentle voice, "Should I find some bugs for you?"

She had looked it up online before; Yellow-tailed Robins’ favorite food was bugs.

Hearing this, the Yellow-tailed Robin, which had been playing dead, immediately opened its eyes and shook its head frantically.

"That won’t be necessary. Just prepare some chicken breast and fruit," Gu Mian explained. While Yellow-tailed Robins on Blue Star did like bugs, those from the Beast World were different. They preferred fruit and would only resort to eating bugs if there was absolutely nothing else.

Wen Qian nodded, only half-understanding. When she came out of the kitchen again, she was holding a sliced apple. She placed the apple in the box, and a second later, the formerly listless Yellow-tailed Robin propped itself up and began pecking at the fruit in small, delicate bites...

’What a... cute little guy!’

Seeing Wen Qian so engrossed, Yin Zhi immediately leaned in. "Qianqian, I want some apple too."

The next second, Wen Qian thrust the bowl of apples into Yin Zhi’s hands. She smiled, her voice saccharine sweet. "The rest is all for you. There’s just one rule: no wasting it."

’He usually refuses fruit when I offer it. What’s gotten into him today? Has the big tiger suddenly gone vegetarian?’

He shot Wen Qian a mournful look, speared a small piece of apple with a toothpick, and popped it into his mouth. Chewing a couple of times, he thought, ’Wouldn’t you know it... this bird food is as tasteless as I expected.’

After the Yellow-tailed Robin woke up, Gu Mian began visiting Wen Qian’s place even more frequently. Yin Zhi had no good reason to stop him, so he spent most of his time curled up on the sofa, sulking.

’I feel like I’m losing my status in this house. All of Wen Qian’s attention has been stolen by the Yellow-tailed Robin and Gu Mian.’

Until one dark and windy night, Yin Zhi finally worked up the courage to climb into Wen Qian’s bed. He had barely shifted into his human form when she shrieked and kicked him onto the floor.

Yin Zhi was gloomy about the incident all night. Eventually, he came to a conclusion: Wen Qian must be acting this way because of his engagement.

But to Yin Zhi’s surprise, even after he explained things, Wen Qian still pushed him away.

"You’re pushing me away again..." The corners of his eyes were red, and his silver hair was a mess.

Wen Qian’s face was beet red. "You have no idea what this means!"

’Are all Beastmen these days so careless?’

’A handsome Beastman all alone out here... Can’t he learn to protect himself!’

’He’s so handsome, isn’t he afraid I might lose control and... do something to him?’

’Crawling into my bed? Trying to crawl in every night? Is he a centipede with all this crawling?!’

"Impossible! You must be jealous because of my engagement!" For the past few days, he’d been glued to the new phone Ling Xuan had gotten him, binging one romance drama after another. They all said that when a girl says the opposite of what she means, it’s because she’s angry, and that anger is usually just jealousy.

"Stop talking nonsense, I’m not jealous..." Wen Qian got out of bed and went to the living room. She took the apple she’d set aside, sliced it, and placed it in the box.

Over the past few days, she had fixed up the Yellow-tailed Robin’s "nest" nicely, even lining it with a small blanket. The blanket was a soft yellow with little blue flowers, a look that perfectly matched his adorable image.

Seeing this, Yin Zhi immediately blocked the space between Wen Qian and the Yellow-tailed Robin. His brow was furrowed, and his voice was muffled and sulky. "How can you not be jealous? You must be jealous..."

"I’m really not." Wen Qian was speechless as she pushed him aside.

’What in the world has gotten into this tiger lately, pestering me with this question over and over?’

’He already said there’s nothing going on with his so-called fiancée, so what on earth is there for me to be jealous of?’

’Besides, he’s on Blue Star and she’s in the Beast World. Am I supposed to be jealous across dimensions?’

’If he hadn’t kept bringing it up today, I would’ve forgotten he even had a fiancée.’

’Also, does he even really understand what being ’jealous’ means...?’

Head hanging, looking deeply hurt, the young man shuffled over and buried his face in the sofa, his body going as limp as a soggy pancake. Clearly, Wen Qian’s answer had not satisfied him.

He was getting completely hung up on this point, because Yin Zhi couldn’t imagine any reason for Wen Qian to reject him other than jealousy.

He stewed on it all night, so much so that the next day, the first thing Wen Qian saw when she opened her eyes was a pair of dark, panda-like circles.

The young man was kneeling by her bed, chin resting in his hands, gazing at her silently.

The sight startled Wen Qian, and she scrambled into the corner of the bed as fast as she could. Pointing a trembling finger at his dark-ringed eyes, she stammered, "A Pan... Panda Beastman!"