"Yuan Hexiao, Yuan Hexiao, Yuan Hexiao!" Su Yanke shouted his name at the top of her lungs. As the last call faded, she jolted awake.
Su Yanke opened her eyes listlessly and looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings. Where was Yuan Hexiao?
She searched everywhere for his figure. Su Yanke rubbed her throbbing head. Her memory stopped at the moment when Yuan Hexiao was about to be skinned. What happened after that? Where was Yuan Hexiao now? Was he... still alive?
She dared not even think about this possibility. It was not until this moment that Su Yanke realized how important Yuan Hexiao was to her. She had fallen in love with him without even noticing.
Just as Su Yanke was on the verge of despair, she heard the sound of the door opening. She turned around and saw fully - armed men carrying Yuan Hexiao in.
Yuan Hexiao, covered in bandages, looked lifeless. Seeing this, Su Yanke's tears couldn't stop flowing. Without thinking, she rushed forward.
The people around were so frightened that they dropped Yuan Hexiao and ran away. The guard, despite his fear, closed the door.
"Yuan Hexiao, Yuan Hexiao, wake up. Open your eyes and look at me, okay? Yuan Hexiao, I'm sorry. It's my fault that you're like this. Yuan Hexiao, Yuan Hexiao..."
Su Yanke sobbed uncontrollably, but Yuan Hexiao showed no reaction. If she hadn't seen those people carry him in, she would have almost thought he was dead.
Perhaps because of Su Yanke's intense emotional turmoil, Yuan Hexiao finally showed a bit of reaction.
"Yuan Hexiao?"
"Yuan Hexiao!"
Yuan Hexiao couldn't open his eyes. His consciousness was hazy, but even in this hazy state, he responded to Su Yanke in his mind, telling her not to worry and that he was okay.
When Su Yanke heard Yuan Hexiao's voice again, she felt as if she had passed through a long time.
Knowing that Yuan Hexiao was conscious, Su Yanke was no longer so scared. After waking up with such intense emotions, she was really exhausted. Leaning against Yuan Hexiao, she fell into a deep sleep.
After an unknown amount of time, Su Yanke was woken up by something poking her. When she opened her eyes, she saw a thick, soft object swaying in front of her.
Su Yanke instinctively lashed out, but this soft object was quite agile and managed to dodge.
After moving around a bit and regaining some clarity, Su Yanke finally saw what had poked her. It was an elephant's trunk.
There was an elephant in the cage next to Su Yanke's. It was lying on the ground, trying hard to poke her.
Su Yanke didn't know what it wanted, but she was afraid it would also poke Yuan Hexiao, so she watched it warily.
When the elephant saw that Su Yanke was awake, it seemed very happy. Su Yanke didn't know why she had this feeling, but she just sensed this emotion flash through her mind.
Then Su Yanke found out what it wanted, and she was extremely touched.
The elephant rolled the half - eaten watermelon from its cage to the side of Su Yanke's cage, trying to let her drink some water and regain her strength.
Su Yanke was really thirsty at this moment. This was just what she needed!
She wasn't polite. With one paw, she smashed the watermelon into several pieces. She ate a little more than half of it herself and saved the rest for Yuan Hexiao.
Su Yanke was just wondering what time it was when she smelled the aroma of meat. She turned around and saw a small hole in the door with a basin of bloody raw meat in it.
After all, Su Yanke still retained a human mentality. Looking at the bloody meat, she felt a sense of repulsion, but her body's instinct wanted to eat it.
Su Yanke did some mental preparation and finally made up her mind to eat!
At this time, a strong body was the capital. If she didn't eat enough, she didn't know how those people outside would torture them in the future.
But to be honest, the meat tasted quite good. It seemed that the raw meat eaten by animals was different from that eaten by humans. But Su Yanke had never eaten raw meat when she was human. Maybe it was just because she was too hungry now?
There were two servings of meat, but only meat. Did the people outside not know that they also needed water? Fortunately, there was this cute elephant to help.
After regaining her strength, Su Yanke went to check on Yuan Hexiao's condition. It was quite good. His breathing had calmed down, and his body temperature was normal. It seemed that the nursing staff really knew their stuff.
Seeing that Yuan Hexiao was okay, Su Yanke felt relieved. She turned to look at the elephant in the cage. The elephant looked so cute and lazy. After rolling the watermelon over, it just lay on the ground motionless.
Su Yanke wanted to chat with it, but unfortunately, they couldn't communicate due to the language barrier.
Just then, the motionless elephant suddenly trembled all over. At the same time, the door opened, and several familiar faces that Su Yanke had seen before walked in and pulled the elephant out.
Su Yanke was extremely anxious, but she couldn't get out of the cage at all. There was nothing she could do. She could only silently pray in her heart that it would come back safely!
At this moment, several scenes flashed through Su Yanke's mind. Weren't those the same people who had killed the elephant last time?
The more Su Yanke thought about it, the more uncomfortable she felt. Could it be... No, no, it couldn't be. It looked so young. What she was thinking couldn't happen.
Just as Su Yanke was fidgeting and her fur was standing on end, the door opened again.
What she saw next made her blood run cold. The cute elephant from before was now curled up painfully in a corner of the cage, moaning weakly.
Su Yanke wanted to comfort it, but all she could do was growl, which only made those people laugh wantonly. It had no other effect.
After those people had vented their anger, they left cursing.
Only then did Su Yanke see its specific condition. The wounds all over its body, the criss - cross whip marks, and the blood holes made her tremble with fear.
But Su Yanke had no way to relieve its pain at all.
Accompanied by its painful moans, Su Yanke fell asleep uneasily.
When Su Yanke woke up, the elephant had stopped moaning. The wounds on its body had started to scab over after a night. Su Yanke guessed it was because of the medicine. No wonder the room was filled with the smell of Chinese herbal medicine.
It seemed that was the effect.
Just as Su Yanke was lost in thought, the door opened again. Several people came in. They surrounded Yuan Hexiao and looked at him.
"It seems we made the right decision sending this tiger to this lion. We thought it was a goner in the treatment room, but unexpectedly, it survived."
Then they whispered to each other and were about to go forward to take Yuan Hexiao away.
Su Yanke wasn't having any of it. She took an attacking stance. Anyone who came close would get a swipe from her paw.
Those people didn't come empty - handed. They all carried training electric batons with controlled electricity, which could make the animals lose their ability to resist without causing serious injuries.
Su Yanke was outnumbered. She was severely beaten to the ground, but those people were also injured. They were all scratched.
After that, Su Yanke was conscious, but her body didn't respond to her will. She could only watch helplessly as Yuan Hexiao was taken away.
Su Yanke had no idea how many times she had experienced this sense of powerlessness. She hated it so much that she really wanted to set the place on fire.
After another unknown amount of time, Su Yanke had lost all sense of time here.
A strong smell of blood wafted over. Those people appeared in front of Su Yanke again. Yuan Hexiao was also brought back.
However, the Yuan Hexiao, who had recovered well from his injuries, was now covered in blood, and his limbs were trembling slightly.
Su Yanke's mind was in a complete mess. She couldn't think at all. She could only stare blankly at Yuan Hexiao.
"This lion really needs to be disciplined. If it weren't already trained, I'd like to do it myself and let it experience our live piercing."
"But this tiger is really tough. It hardly made a sound. It's really no fun. Bah!"
Su Yanke now knew what Yuan Hexiao had gone through. Live piercing. Just the name sounded extremely cruel.
And Yuan Hexiao had endured it without making a sound so as not to worry her. What a silly tiger, her silly tiger.
"What a pity. Anyway, they'll start training tomorrow. Then you'll have all kinds of ways to make them scream! Hahaha."
"Right, you're right. Little guys, see you tomorrow! Hahaha."
Yuan Hexiao's furry face was covered in blood and water. Su Yanke cleaned it with her fur, stuck out her tongue to lick her paw, and smoothed the fur around Yuan Hexiao's face.
Looking at Yuan Hexiao's face, she fell asleep heart - broken. The injuries from the batons and electric shocks had also exhausted her.
Su Yanke was woken up by shaking. Her cage was being pushed. Yuan Hexiao wrapped her in his arms.
"Yuan Hexiao, you're awake. How do you feel? I'm so scared. You... you can't die before me. Do you hear me?"
Su Yanke buried her head in Yuan Hexiao's arms and sobbed.
"No, no. As long as I'm here, you'll be fine." Yuan Hexiao gently stroked Su Yanke's little head and said firmly.
Su Yanke also knew that this wasn't the time to be sentimental. She told Yuan Hexiao the news about the upcoming training that she had heard the day before.
Yuan Hexiao's reaction was calm. He just said in a steady voice, "Our lives will be safe until the performance starts. Don't be afraid. I'll take care of everything."
Soon, the cage stopped, and the cloth outside the cage was removed.
As expected, those people were already waiting there. They were all holding punishment tools and looking at them excitedly.
The cage was opened. Yuan Hexiao walked out first. In front of him was a cylindrical single - plank bridge. It seemed they wanted Yuan Hexiao to walk across it.
Yuan Hexiao started very slowly, almost inching forward. But he quickly grasped the trick, and the second half of the journey was quite smooth.
Since they couldn't punish Yuan Hexiao, they couldn't wait to look at Su Yanke.
But what Su Yanke did next left them stunned.