When dawn was approaching, Zhao Shuning looked down and saw Kong Shishuang sleeping soundly under the tree.
After keeping watch all night, she felt a bit fatigued. So she closed her eyes and prepared to take a little nap.
She slept for about an hour. When Zhao Shuning woke up, it was already broad daylight, and the sun in the distance had risen much higher.
Zhao Shuning stretched and looked down at the area under the tree.
Shuang'er, Sese, A Shui and A Yue had already woken up, but Kong Shishuang was nowhere to be seen.
Although Zhao Shuning didn't really like Kong Shishuang in her heart, considering they were in the same team, she thought she should help when she could. Moreover, Zhao Shuning found that Kong Shishuang wasn't that annoying. It was just her spoiled - girl temper that was sometimes hard to bear.
With a leap, Zhao Shuning got down from the tree.
Shuang'er quickly came forward and said, "Xiaoning'er, why don't you sleep a little longer?"
Zhao Shuning stretched again and looked at Shuang'er with a smile, asking, "Where's Kong Shishuang?"
A Shui replied, "Leader Ning, that Miss Kong woke up as soon as it was dawn today and then went out to look for firewood. She still hasn't come back yet."
"She's quite dedicated to this task."
Sese found a water source somewhere. After seeing Zhao Shuning wake up, she fetched some clean water for her to rinse her mouth.
"By the way, Sese, how long has Miss Kong been out?"
"Roughly more than half an hour."
More than half an hour? It did seem like a long time.
"A Shui, A Yue, do you know which direction Miss Kong went?"
The two teenagers pointed to the southeast and said, "The forest is dense there. We thought there should be plenty of dry branches, so Miss Kong should have gone in that direction. I glanced that way early this morning."
Zhao Shuning nodded, put down the water in her hand, and then said, "Sese, you know a lot. I'll leave this place to you for now. Remember, don't leave here. We don't have a map now, and the Dark Marshlands are full of dangers. I'll go into the forest to look for Kong Shishuang and will be back soon."
Sese nodded.
They always unconditionally obeyed Zhao Shuning's arrangements.
After making all the arrangements, Zhao Shuning plunged into the deep mountain forest.
All the way, she was trying to detect Kong Shishuang's whereabouts.
"According to Miss Kong's habit, she must be afraid that the thorns will damage her clothes, so she should have gone in that direction."
Zhao Shuning searched all the way, not knowing that at this moment, there was a Lotus Green - Silk Cat right in front of Kong Shishuang.
Kong Shishuang had seen this kind of cat in the library of a pavilion before.
The Lotus Green - Silk Cat in front of her was more than ten times larger than an ordinary cat. It was like a tiger, with a pair of shiny, crystal - clear sapphire eyes. Judging from its fur color, it should be a leopard cat.
At this moment, the leopard cat was sticking out its tongue and licking its front paws back and forth.
Kong Shishuang had read the book about spirit beasts. It said that this kind of spirit beast was generally quite docile, on the premise that it was raised at home.
However, a Lotus Green - Silk Cat that had lived in the wild since childhood was completely the opposite. Such a cat was extremely wild. If it was provoked, its sharp claws would tear a person's body apart and then carry away all the internal organs.
At present, this was exactly the picture that came to Kong Shishuang's mind.
She didn't want to die. She was in the prime of her life.
"Big Brother Leopard Cat, I'm not tasty at all. I'm too thin and have no meat."
The cat stopped its action and started to stare at Kong Shishuang.
"Big Brother Leopard Cat, I beg you. Please let me go. I... I just came here to pick up some firewood. I didn't mean to disturb your sleep at all."
Kong Shishuang's tears had gathered in the corners of her eyes, as if they were about to flow out the next moment.
The leopard cat arched its body and started to walk towards Kong Shishuang.
"Y - you, don't come near me."
Kong Shishuang fell to the ground and kept backing away. Her fair hands hit the rock behind her, leaving a smear of scarlet.
Her clothes were quite in a mess because the morning dew hadn't dried yet and she had sat down on the ground.
Kong Shishuang kept backing away in fear.
The pain from her palms and body couldn't attract her attention at all. All she could think about at the moment was to escape.
With nowhere to retreat, Kong Shishuang's back hit a solid tree trunk. The leopard cat opened its huge mouth. Seeing this, Kong Shishuang screamed in horror, "No——ah——"
But the expected pain didn't come.
However, she still closed her eyes tightly and didn't dare to open them. Her body was shaking with fear.
"It's okay now."
A familiar voice came, and Kong Shishuang slowly opened her eyes.
That petite figure was standing in front of her. Kong Shishuang cried with joy. It was Zhao Shuning.
At this moment, she thought Zhao Shuning was so cute. When she appeared, her whole body seemed to be shining. Kong Shishuang threw herself at Zhao Shuning and hugged her, saying, "Woohoo——Zhao Shuning, you little rascal. Why did you come so late?"
Zhao Shuning gently pushed Kong Shishuang away with one finger.
"I said, Miss, can you not be so easily touched and cry at every turn? You look so ugly like this."
"Zhao Shuning, you're so nice."
"Miss, did you say the wrong thing? Or did I hear wrong?"
"Zhao Shuning, I was wrong before. I shouldn't have always caused you trouble secretly. I shouldn't have tripped you. Zhao Shuning, I'm sorry. Thank you for risking your life to save me."
Zhao Shuning pushed Kong Shishuang away again in disgust.
She said helplessly, "It's not really risking my life. This Lotus Green - Silk Cat is quite cute and gentle."
However, wasn't this kind of spirit beast supposed to appear at least at the second - level area? Why did it appear at the bottom - most area, the area where they were?
At this time, Kong Shishuang sobbed and looked behind Zhao Shuning. The huge leopard cat was looking at her with a pair of innocent big eyes.
Zhao Shuning stretched out her hand, and the leopard cat automatically lowered its head for Zhao Shuning to stroke its neck.
"Zhao Shuning, why is it so obedient? Isn't it wild?"
"Yes, but Miss, take a closer look. Its fur is very tender and the color is not deep. It should be an under - aged Lotus Green - Silk Cat, so its aggressiveness is not that strong."
Kong Shishuang said, "Impossible. It opened its mouth and wanted to eat me just now."
Zhao Shuning said, "Did you wake it up?"
Kong Shishuang nodded.
Zhao Shuning could roughly understand what had happened.
She said helplessly, "I said, Miss, it was just yawning because it had just woken up and wasn't fully awake yet. A young leopard cat isn't capable of eating people yet, but its mother might be different."
"Why did it walk towards me just now?"
"It thought you were going to stroke it, so it came over on purpose. It was trying to show its friendliness to you."