Chapter 23
Leaving for Orte
It must be said that the Sea Blue universal medicine was very effective. After Xie Tao drank it, he only needed to rest under the quilt for some hours and by evening, his fever was almost completely gone.
Along with it, most of the dizziness dispersed, and Xie Tao gradually started to come to his senses. At this time, he suddenly noticed a cold touch against his left cheek.
Realizing that he was holding a cold object, Xie Tao instantly opened his eyes and shifted his gaze to the object in his arms.
What came into his view was a scale covered silver tail, similar to that of a dragon…
Xie Tao: “…”
It took a moment for his brain to register what it was and during this quiet moment, Xie Tao followed the object with his eyes, all the way from where it emerged from under the quilt, up to the slightly tilted tip parallel to his head.
The silver tail was obediently being held in his arms and appeared to in no way resist being treated like this.
His still fuzzy brain finally started questioning where the owner of the tail was. He dizzily scanned the room and then turned his head to looked behind.
Cyan eyes.
He was very close to the other person’s face and instantly came eye to eye with a pair of pale cyan eyes. Beautiful. They were as bright and clear as the winter sky. It was a very nice pair of eyes. They had a certain luster to them, and although it was not very distinct, it made one feel as if the owner of them was watching something very important.
Ya Yi did not divert his gaze and instead quietly met Xie Tao’s stare.
Xie Tao’s dizzy mind finally put the puzzle pieces together. While he was feverish, he must have been drawn to the silver tail and forcefully grabbed ahold of it in order to use it as an ice pack. With this realization, his mind at once became clear and he instantly let go of it.
Holding his hands up in front of him, Xie Tao felt slightly embarrassed. It would probably be good to explain himself.. but how?
As Xie Tao was struggling with this, he suddenly felt his left cheek being touched…
The other’s cheek was softly rubbing against his own.
Xie Tao had seen this action before, it was similar to what most cubs did in order to express closeness and dependence. However, the one doing it was undoubtedly in adult form, and suddenly having such a intimate action done to him made Xie Tao unconsciously tense up.
Seeing his reaction, Ya Yi momentarily paused. But after the initial response, Xie Tao did not reject it and let the adult Knox rub his cheek.
It did not last long, he only gently rubbed his cheek twice. He then withdrew and positioned his head close to Xie Tao’s ear.
“Ah Tao.” He said this slowly. His low voice held a cold penetrative feeling, but the way he said it made one feel as if it had immense importance.
Ya Yi said these two words to the human youth in his arms.
It was his first words and he wanted him to hear them.
Not expecting that the other would suddenly say his name, Xie Tao was stunned. But before he had the chance to react, the adult Knox behind him disappeared and a small white cub emerged from behind his back, promptly climbing into his arms.
“Meaah.” Snuggling into the youth’s embrace, the fluffy cub called out to him.
When faced with his cute cub form, Xie Tao lost all will to reject him, and he lifted his hand, not to push him off, but to reach out and feel the small horns on the Knox cub’s head. After briefly playing with them, he then let his fingers follow the curve of the cub’s neck down to his back. His fluffy fur was very soft to the touch.
The Knox cub, who was petted by the youth, made a low sound from his throat and the silky tail behind him immediately rouse, the tip slightly tilted at the end.
The fever may have come suddenly but did not stay for long. After a day and night of resting, Xie Tao had almost completely recovered and as he still planned on going to the competition, he was busy organizing the three cubs’ flying practices.
Before he got sick, he had gone onto the Star Network in order to search for anything related to the flying competition. While browsing through the information and tips, he found that if they wanted the cubs to get good positions in the competition, it was necessary to properly prepare them and practice in advance.
In order to add difficulty and make the competition more interesting, as well as thoroughly test the cubs’ flying abilities, the race track for the competition was not so simple as to be straight or only have a few curves, it would be too easy.
So, to not have their club’s cubs being completely unfamiliar with the track, Xie Tao carefully studied the videos from the past five years’ competitions.
The race course was different every year, but no matter how the course changed, there were things that remained the same, such as the way they calculated the score and the difficulty of the track.
Where the competition was held was selected by the ones in charge of organizing it for the year. Like ordinary races, the track had a start and a goal.
However, the ranking gained in the competition was not based on when they arrived at the finish line. It was based on the points the cub obtained while getting there.
So how was the score calculated?
Well, throughout the track, many circles made by something similar to golden mist could be found. Each time a cub flew through one of those golden rings, they would get a point.
However, the circles did not always stay put. They often abruptly disappeared after a cub had passed through them and sometimes they would pop up in tricky places, such as vertically above or a place that would require a instant turn.
The circles that suddenly disappeared and appeared in tricky places was actually the most difficult part of the competition and it was precisely this that Xie Tao wanted to prepare them for.
“Did you understand?” Xie Tao was holding the three cubs in his arms, in front of them was the connector. It was playing a video of the contest that he had specially edited, and when it ended he lowered his head to asked them this.
The video he had made contained all the difficult situations that appeared in the previous year’s competition as well as the cubs who at that time had successfully handled it. Xie Tao had worked overtime last night in order to finish it.
“Tiuh!” The three cubs raised their head and responded in union.
“Then let’s practice together.” Xie Tao touched the cubs’ little heads and put them down on the grass in the courtyard.
He did not consider practicing before the competition to be immortal or unjust since it was something anyone could do.
At this year’s competition there would certainly be cubs who had participated before and was experienced in it. Because of this, Xie Tao felt that he needed to prepare their cubs and give them as much advantage as he could give them, he did not want them to lose before they even started.
Hearing the youth say that they were going to practice for the competition, the three cubs who were placed on the lawn, gathered their wings together and put on a very serious look. If it wasn’t for the fact that they were about to train, Xie Tao felt that he would not be able to stop himself from kneeling down to hug these three adorable creatures.
Still, his lips could not resist bending a little. Xie Tao had to put great effort into suppressing this reaction as he began to guide the cubs through the flying practice.
They mainly practiced sudden rise, rapid turn, abrupt change, and so on. The daily practices continued for a week and soon the time for the flying competition at last arrived.
“Ah Tao, you should come back as early as possible, otherwise the cubs left behind will be troubled. If that happens, we won’t be able to handle it.” As she sent off the youth, Xia Qi said this with a helpless expression.
That she said this sentence was not without reason. On the day the youth fell ill, all of the cubs playing in the living room expectantly glanced towards the door from time to time, starting from early morning. By afternoon, the cubs started restlessly gathering close to the door and if someone tried to move them, they would slip away only to soon return to their place by the door. The cubs sat there staring at the door for hours, whimpering and calling out for the youth.
The three cubs nestled in the small house had taken it particularly hard. Even though they did not sit with the other cubs, they were the ones that most persistently called out for the youth. Every once in a while they would even fly over and slam into the closed door.
The caretakers had been at loss of what to do. It was only after they explained to the cubs several times that the youth was sick but that he would definitely be better soon, that were they able to somewhat soothe them.
“I’m going to bring Peipei and the other two to Orte in order to participate in a competition. I will be back soon.” Looking at the fluffy cubs surrounding him and the Muka cub sitting obediently next to them, Xie Tao reached out to pat them.
Next he went to the indoor swimming pool. As soon as he approached, the mermaid cub swum to the edge. Touching the cub’s wet golden hair, Xie Tao repeated what he had told the other cubs.
Most of them took it quite well, however there was one that was more reluctant.
The Knox cub had stuck to him all morning. This had not really been a problem but now, all packed and ready to go, Xie Tao looked down at the white fluffy cub nestled in his arms.
“Meah.” The cub half-hooked his small tail around Xie Tao’s wrist and attentively looked up at him with his bright light blue eyes.
Meeting those eye and feeling the small tail around his wrist, Xie Tao yielded.
After his surrender, the cub took the initiative to climb up onto his left shoulder. Once in place, he satisfyingly crouched down, his small tail slightly tilted behind him.
So, with a white fluffyball on his shoulder and three different colored fluffyballs in his arms, Xie Tao arrived at the nearest airport and took a commercial starship to Orte.
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Translator’s note:
Ya Yi finally said his first words!! 🎉
It took some chapters but we finally got to see it, I guess he waited for the right moment, haha, so sly, I love it.
By the way, it’s soon Christmas and since Sweden have some weird traditions, let’s have a cultural exchange!!
1. We celebrate on the evening of the 24th not in the morning.
2. Santa doesn’t come during the night, he comes and hands them out personally. (Which means that I kinda figured out that he wasn’t real at age four because I recognized my aunt in beard)
3. We have a Christmas ham instead of turkey. (maybe some other country also has it?)
4 . Some Swedes dance around the Christmas tree while singing about how frogs don’t have ears or tails. (I have a strict rule to only do this at midsummer when I get to jump like frogs around a big flower dressed pen*s… ehm, look it up if you don’t believe me…)
So, does your country or family also have any weird traditions? Can it beat number four? I’m very curious. (>^ω^<)
Also, many thanks to Mimishijie and other for the Coffees. ♡