Chapter 339 - 301: This Little Female Might Be Yuanbao
Chapter 339: Chapter 301: This Little Female Might Be Yuanbao
They walked for five or six minutes through the dark passage.
"This is an underground tunnel dug by Mixed Breeds. They haven’t had time to fill it in yet."
Flynn was shining his flashlight, illuminating a pitch-black hole in the ground at their feet.
"We can get out from here."
"Thank you, Minister Flynn," Alex said. "You can leave us here."
As soon as he said that, Flynn jumped down into the hole, reaching up toward Gu Ning. "Come on, Miss Reporter. I’ll catch you."
The hole was narrow, only wide enough for one Beastman of their build to pass through at a time. Otherwise, he would have transformed into his beast form and carried the reporter out on his back.
Gu Ning and Alex looked at each other.
Flynn added, "I’ve never been through this tunnel myself. I’ll scout it out and see you off at the same time."
’This cat minister is surprisingly nice,’ Gu Ning thought. ’Judging by how polite Alex is, they probably aren’t that close. The minister isn’t even mad that we shot and injured one of his men, and he’s even seeing us off personally.’
"Then I guess we’ll have to trouble you," Alex said. He had seen through Flynn’s intentions but chose not to call him out on it. Leaning in, he whispered against Gu Ning’s cheek, "He’s not a bad Beastman. Don’t worry."
Gu Ning nodded.
Alex glanced at Flynn, who was waiting with his arms held high to catch the little female. He kissed Gu Ning on the cheek, handed her the flashlight, then gripped her by the waist and carefully lowered her down.
Flynn caught Gu Ning with extreme gentleness, as if he were holding a fragile little animal.
She was so tiny, and her weight was surprisingly light.
He had seen smaller females before; they usually had genes from smaller beast species.
’A moment ago, what did I hear that sheep call her? Little Rabbit?’
’Is she a female from the Rabbit Clan?’
Flynn caught the faint scent of a mature female in heat coming from the little female and secretly swallowed.
’That Black Wolf covered her in such a heavy scent... is it because she’s in heat? No wonder he’s hiding her away.’
’Bringing such a petite female to the dangerous Lower District, and her in heat, no less... Forget the punishment their group would face if discovered; more importantly, it would attract ill-intentioned males who would covet the little female.’
If the little female hadn’t revealed her identity, and if they hadn’t possessed travel documents from the Beast Alliance and the Military Department—implying they were on some special mission—he absolutely would not have helped them escape.
The thought that this little female might also be Yuanbao made him uncontrollably excited.
’That explains it,’ he thought. ’How could a virtual female be so realistic and lifelike? She looked just like the real thing... and to think she actually is!’
"Thank you, Minister." Gu Ning spoke up when she noticed the cat minister had been holding her for a while without putting her down.
Flynn snapped out of his daze and hurriedly put the little female down.
Gu Ning stepped onto the soft mud, and the slightly metallic, damp scent of the earth filled her nostrils.
She shone the flashlight upward, and Alex jumped down lightly.
Seeing they were both down, Flynn took the lead, and Gu Ning and Alex followed.
"They could’ve dug this tunnel a little wider."
"This must have been dug by Dwarf hybrids, or maybe small-bodied atavistic Mixed Breeds."
Flynn kept up a stream of chatter, turning back from time to time to look at the little female.
The tunnel was low and narrow. In some places, the two Beastmen had to hunch over to pass.
He didn’t walk fast, so Gu Ning could keep up.
But the ground was muddy with standing water. Gu Ning’s feet were covered in mud, and in some deeper puddles, the muddy water came up to her calves.
Her feet grew heavier and heavier.
Gu Ning didn’t make a sound, just kept her head down and trudged on, following the figure in front of her.
After a few more steps, her foot sank into the thick, soft mud again. She struggled to pull it out, but instead of freeing her foot, she lost her balance and pitched forward.
Gu Ning flailed her arms, desperately trying to keep her balance, and instinctively reached out to grab something.
The moment before she hit the ground, she managed to pull her left foot free and stumbled forward in a wide stride, almost doing a split, and her hand grabbed onto the cat minister’s... belt.
The flashlight fell from her hand, landing upright in the mud and illuminating the round, firm... half of a butt cheek right in front of her.
A fluffy tail twitched and brushed across Gu Ning’s face. In that moment, Gu Ning was so embarrassed she almost forgot the searing pain in her strained thigh muscles.
The cat minister in front of her also seemed to freeze, standing there for several seconds before turning around.
Flynn slowly looked down. If he hadn’t reacted quickly enough to grab his waistband, his pants would have come down, sending the little female tumbling to the ground.
’These pants aren’t even mine. I tied the belt loosely to be comfortable. Close call. They almost got yanked right off.’
Gu Ning met the cat minister’s gaze for a silent moment as he looked back, before a large hand reached out from behind and scooped her up.
Alex helped her stand steady, then picked up the flashlight, wiped the mud off on his clothes, and placed it in Gu Ning’s hand. "Walk slowly. There’s no rush."
Gu Ning murmured an affirmation, her face flushing red as she glanced at the cat minister pulling up his pants. "S-Sorry, Minister."
"It’s fine." Flynn didn’t think much of it; he just hadn’t wanted to look undignified in front of the little female. It was his fault for not wearing the pants properly, after all.
To ease the tension, he joked, "Miss Reporter, you’re the first person who’s ever managed to pull my pants off. Quite impressive."
Gu Ning was speechless. ’Is he actually complimenting me?’
After the three of them had walked for about ten more minutes in the tunnel, a bright opening appeared ahead. The sound of the wind, WHOOSHING, carried in a gust of cold, fresh air.
Seeing the light, Gu Ning let out a long sigh of relief. ’We’re finally out.’
Flynn cleared the snow from the entrance of the hole and reached down to pull Gu Ning up.
Outside the hole was a stretch of old ruins. Flynn scanned their surroundings warily. Only after confirming there was no scent of other Beastmen did he relax and turn to look at the two behind him.
Alex was squatting in front of Gu Ning, cleaning the mud caked on her legs.
Flynn watched for a moment, then walked over and said, "Which zone are you heading to? I’ll escort..."
"No need." This time, Alex refused Flynn without hesitation. "Minister Flynn, you have more important things to do."
Gu Ning also immediately said, "Thank you for your help, Minister."
’This cat minister is a nice person, but we barely know him. It was good of him to help us this much.’ ’Alex’s blunt refusal must mean he has his own plans.’
"Alright then." Flynn sensed the hostility and aggression beneath Alex’s calm tone. He knew that this was not the time to get too close to a female in heat, or to act overly enthusiastic toward her in front of her mate.
After a moment’s thought, he opened his personal information on his terminal and held it out to Gu Ning. "Miss Reporter, this is my terminal code. If anything comes up, you can call me anytime."
"Oh, right," Flynn said, as if he had just remembered something. "I heard you have a team that stayed behind in Zone 15? And the leader is also your mate, Miss Reporter? Well, that’s perfect. They’re unfamiliar with the area, so I can help look after them."