Seven Cubs, Seven Fathers, Zero Days Off novel Chapter 49

Chapter 49: Chapter 49: He Put Her in His Heart, but She Put Him on the Knife

Shen Yue stood where she was, gasping for breath.

Staring at the pond, she tried to calm herself down.

’An illusion. It’s an illusion. It has to be an illusion!’

Her face was pale. She took a moment to recover as she recalled the voice from just now. It was as pleasant as the trickle of a clear spring.

’I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere before.’

’But I can’t quite place it.’

After composing herself for a moment, she decided to walk over and take another look.

But when she reached the edge of the pond, the fish was gone!

Shen Yue: "???"

’What’s going on...’

’I clearly saw it get tossed back into the water!’

’Where did it go?’

Just as she was reeling from the shock, a small figure appeared beside her.

She turned her head. "Qibao?"

Little Qi, who had been playing with her brothers in the bamboo house, was now standing beside her.

Her delicate, sweet little face looked up at her grievously, then glanced at the pond, and then back at her.

Her eyes darted back and forth, and she pursed her lips, looking like she was about to cry.

The sight made Shen Yue forget all about the fish.

She hurried over to her.

"Qibao, what’s wrong? What happened? Did your brothers bully you? Why are your eyes so red?"

"Tell your Female Mother, did your brothers bully you!"

In response—

"Waaaaah!"

Qibao burst into tears.

"Female Mother, please don’t kill the pretty fishy! Qibao is scared!"

Shen Yue was speechless.

’So Qibao was scared because she saw me about to kill the fish.’

She’d almost forgotten that Qibao was a mermaid, which was basically a type of fish. Qibao must have been so upset because she saw her about to kill one.

The Mermaid Clan did feed on ordinary, non-sentient schools of fish in the sea.

But Little Qi had only just hatched. She’d never seen such a bloody scene before. Shen Yue’s actions with the knife must have truly terrified her. ’After all, it’s one of her own kind.’

Shen Yue quickly pulled her into an embrace.

"Okay, okay, Female Mother won’t kill it!"

"It scared our Little Qi, didn’t it? Don’t cry, come here, let your Female Mother hold you!"

Tears continued to stream down Little Qi’s face, crystal clear and utterly pitiful.

The sight made Shen Yue’s heart ache.

Meanwhile, Lan Cangyue was hiding in the shadows, clutching his rear end and hopping up and down in pain.

’How could my little Female Master be so cruel?’

’She stabbed me in the butt with a needle the moment we met! Ouch, ouch, ouch! The pain is killing me!’

"Come on, your Female Mother will take you to see. The fish got away, I didn’t kill it. Let’s go find it together, okay?"

Hearing this, he forgot all about rubbing his sore butt. In a flash, he dove back into the water.

Little Qi rested in Shen Yue’s arms as they stood by the edge of the pond.

Shen Yue pointed at the pond.

"Look, the little fish is gone, see? It got away..."

She trailed off mid-sentence.

Shen Yue froze.

The fish that had vanished just moments ago had reappeared in the pond.

Only this time, it wasn’t swimming around cheerfully. It was just lying motionless in the water.

It even seemed to be looking at her with a hint of resentment...

Shen Yue was speechless.

’What is going on? Am I seeing things?!’

’Is this fish blinking in and out of existence?!’

In her arms, Little Qi saw the fish in the water and immediately stopped crying.

Wiping away a tear, she hopped out of Shen Yue’s arms, crouched by the edge of the pond, and stared at the fish.

"Female Mother, Little Qi likes this fishy. Can we please not eat it?"

Shen Yue wondered if she was just on edge today, causing her to hear and see things.

Little Qi’s words snapped her out of her daze.

She noticed that as soon as Little Qi spoke, the fish wiggled its body and swam over to her.

’From the looks of it, this fish really is sentient.’

’And it seems to really like Little Qi.’

As if on cue, Little Qi looked up, her big eyes glistening.

"Female Mother, he’s so pretty. Can Little Qi keep this fish? And... he said he likes Little Qi, and he likes you too."

Shen Yue froze.

"It talked to you?"

"Uh-huh! He also said he wants to stay with you and me forever."

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