CHAPTER 227: CHAPTER 227: A FAMILIAR CHARACTER ENTERS!

The monkey snorted. "Don’t tell me you are too busy playing with the stinky cub that you haven’t informed your mother."

Zerra’s heart nearly jumped out of her chest. She grabbed her head in agony. This body had a mother?

Who was it? Unfortunately, she didn’t inherit this body’s memories. Just as she was about to rack her brain to recall at least some pieces of information, the scene in front of her became a blur.

Little Cassias turned around and walked away, almost as if he was fleeing from the scene.

"Stinky cub, are you going to kidnap the fox? Be careful that her mother doesn’t eat you!" The koala’s usually calm voice was filled with shudders. "She is a scary spiritual beast!"

Zerra wanted to ask who her mother was, but Cassias was too fast. She could only listen to the cubs’ shouting and try to filter information from their words.

"The little fox’s mother came to us looking for her stinky cub. If you kidnap her, you will surely be dead!"

"Even if you have a strong fire ability, you can’t defeat an adult spiritual beast. Just leave the little fox here, and we will escort her to find her mother!"

Little Cassias didn’t listen to their words. If anything, his pace was getting quicker. The more the cubs talked, the tense he became.

All of a sudden, Zerra’s eyes were filled with blurred scenes again. The scenes on the ground—lush vegetation and tall trees—slowly became farther below.

She was flying in the sky.

Almost like an instinct, she clung to Cassias in fright. This fox couldn’t fly! Whether it was the kid or adult version of him were all the same! They always shocked her when they suddenly spread their wings and flew.

Wait, wings?!

Her eyes were fixated on little Cassias’ wings. It wasn’t the white, pure wings just as she remembered, but jet-black, like the color of the night.

"Did you paint your wings black?" She couldn’t help but blurt out. As soon as she realized what she had said, she hurriedly covered her mouth in horror.

Cassias’ mouth twitched slightly. "You don’t like the current color of my wings?"

"No, it’s not like that–"

"I think you are right. Maybe I should change them so that we will have a similar color, Zizi? What do you think?" He cut her off and continued to mumble, a little distracted.

Zerra momentarily fell silent. The more time she spent in this place, the more her doubt grew.

The adult Cassias had his wings pure white too. Did he change it because of this? She couldn’t guess the exact scenario that had played out, but it must have been similar to this.

"Black is also good," she muttered after a while. "It’s the actual color, right?"

"Why do you think so? After seeing your fur, I think white is better than the original black color." Cassias frowned.

Not long after, they arrived at the house again. He retracted his wings, and they entered the house. Zerra witnessed the kid close all the windows and lock the doors. The cubs’ words about her mother must have gotten into him.

She bit her lip. Cassias was definitely worried that her mother would come back and snatch her. She was also a bit anxious because she didn’t know the identity of her mother here.

Cassias was so lonely. How could she bear to leave him too?

They tacitly didn’t mention the matter of her mother. He didn’t even confront her about why she wasn’t telling him the truth—she actually had a parent.

He went to the kitchen to cook the mushrooms they had gathered earlier. They couldn’t find much because of the cubs’ sudden arrival.

Zerra sat beside him, watching as little Cassias cooked the soup. Her paws were useless and not as convenient as human fingers, but she tried to do her best to help him.

"I will wash the mushrooms and vegetables!" She declared. "You cut them!"

The two began to do their assigned roles. By the time they finished, her front paws and face had become wet.

Before he started to make the fire, Cassias grabbed a towel and dried her face. She scrunched her face, letting him take care of her.

"Stay here and rest. I will bring the soup once I finish," he told her and went back to the kitchen. Zerra stared at his back, pursing her lips.

She licked her paw, thinking. She knew he didn’t want her to be dirty all over like some days ago. The smoke and sudden wind blowing the ashes made her fur turn black all over.

Someone might have mistaken her for a dog or wolf cub at first glance. It had taken Cassias hours of bathing her before she returned to her clean self.

Just like he promised, he returned by bringing two bowls of soup, not forgetting the wild fruits they had gathered since a few days ago.

During dinner, she couldn’t resist her curiosity any longer and blurted out, "Kaz, is your true form a bird?"

It was really surprising how fast he had gained a human form. Cassias must have been a really talented cub. Among most of the cubs in this forest, he was relatively young, but he had reached the level where he could turn into a human.

It was too late to take back her question. He had been silent for a while. So, he wasn’t a bird? Zerra scrunched her little face, her head lowered in embarrassment. Did he get offended by her question?

However, a pleasant laugh echoed in the room. Zerra lifted her eyes, staring at Cassias’ amused face in bewilderment.

"So... you are a bird." She mumbled with some hesitation.

His little hand reached out to flick her forehead. Then, he rubbed the fur on the top of her head. "No, I am not a bird... what makes you think I am one of them?"

She grumbled, crossing her paws on her chest. "Your wings!"

He looked startled. "They don’t look like bird wings at all, don’t they?"

That was how Cassias spent the entire night trying to convince Zerra that his wing didn’t resemble a bird’s. Of course, he hadn’t told her about his true form yet, leaving her guessing his true origin.

They both stayed at the house for a few more days with the windows and doors remaining locked. No one really came for Zerra, making Zerra wonder whether the cubs were just playing a prank on them.

On the third day, Cassias took her out again. They continued to work on the plantation field. Zerra’s eyes landed on the pitchfork once again.

Cassias was using it with such familiarity.

She withdrew her eyes from it and asked him, "What kind of plants do you want to grow?"

After checking her inner space, she found some strawberry plants. Since he liked it so much, they should grow strawberries. Other than that, they could also grow grapes.

If they grew the fruits themselves, they wouldn’t need to wander in the forest to search for them anymore. After all, it was dangerous with a lot of spiritual beasts lurking around.

Most spiritual beasts here were herbivores, so they had a relatively mild temper. Unless they were provoked, they wouldn’t go around making trouble with other spiritual beasts.

They must have noticed Cassias’ existence too, but they just left him alone. Indeed, when he didn’t actively use his powers, Cassias just looked like other cubs, rather harmless.

"We have to find some plants in the forest," he replied. "Just gather anything we can find. The plantation field is wide enough."

Zerra tilted her head. She could see that he was rather conflicted about going away from the house after they ended up meeting other cubs last time.

She had tried to persuade him to interact with other cubs because she didn’t want him to be so lonely. However, his answer was rather perfunctory: "I’ll think about it."

Actually, other than the monkey and koala’s group, there were still other cubs in the forest. Since he didn’t seem that interested, she didn’t bring up the topic again.

"I still have some plants. Let’s plant them?" She asked rather enthusiastically.

"Alright." He nodded with a soft smile on his face.

What a familiar smile.

The days passed peacefully. Zerra slowly noticed that the gloominess shrouding little Cassias’ figure was dissipating. Indeed, he had been a lonely cub in need of a companion.

Even if he couldn’t tell his problem, he just needed someone he could talk to and be there for him. The owner of this fox body must have been there for him, right?

However, the peaceful days didn’t last long enough, unfortunately. One day, an earth-shattering roar disrupted the two cubs, who were busy taking care of their plantation field.

A tiger jumped in front of them, its eyes gleaming. It stared at them, slowly advancing.

Zerra clutched Cassias’ clothes, staring at the familiar figure in shock. The tiger was all too familiar to her!

It suddenly spoke. "It’s time to go back, little cub. You have played outside long enough."