Chapter Fourteen: I Refuse to Experience This

The leopard, unconscious, felt something pressed against its back, and gradually it began to wake.

"Ah! You're awake?"

As soon as it opened its eyes, Lin Lei's masked face appeared before it. The leopard was stunned for a moment, then recalled—the little rascal had just touched its backside!

"You little scoundrel!"

With a shout, the leopard lunged at him.

"Haha!" Lin Lei, seeing the leopard revived, immediately wrapped his arms around it. This female leopard was overly enthusiastic; several times she tried to open her mouth and lick him, but each attempt was blocked.

"Xiao Bai, enthusiasm is fine, but you're not allowed to lick me. I detest anything sticky!"

The leopard wanted to cry. Lick you? I only want to bite you to death! Why do you keep blocking my mouth!

Not only could it not match his strength, its speed was lacking too. Every time it tried to bring its jaws together, he would grab them and clamp them shut, resulting in two teeth lost after only a few tries, the pain bringing tears to its eyes.

"I give up, I give up!"

The leopard couldn't take it anymore. No matter how it tried to tear at Lin Lei, it couldn't touch him. Not only was it ineffective, but it was being held so tightly its neck felt close to breaking.

Just what manner of monster is this boy? Struggling free from Lin Lei's grasp, the leopard was filled with despair.

Since it couldn't win, perhaps it should run. Thinking carefully, it realized there was no need to care so much. Though it had been exposed, after all, the other was just a child; letting him touch its backside wasn't such a big deal.

Calming down, the leopard began to retreat, preparing to flee. Hmm… what was happening? Why were all the maids staring at it?

Earlier, it had been too focused on revenge to notice the surrounding eyes fixed on it. Now, finding a chance to escape was difficult.

Even the bear monster tied to the pillar was staring, its face flushed as if constipated. Strange—was there something odd about itself?

The leopard glanced at its body. Nothing special—smooth skin.

Wait… smooth… all over… where was its fur?

A bolt of lightning seemed to strike the leopard, a shudder running through its body.

With a thud, it dove into the snow, burying its belly.

"You… you…"

The leopard, face filled with disbelief and tears in its eyes, looked at Lin Lei. "What did you do to me!"

Lin Lei sighed at how human-like the leopard’s actions were. "I made your fur…"

He hadn’t finished when the leopard, unable to bear the shock, collapsed once more.

"Hey, Xiao Bai!" Lin Lei was momentarily stunned. Why had the leopard fainted again? Was it really such a big deal that its fur had been hidden?

"Must be hunger," Lin Lei muttered, peeling off the rune from the leopard's back. "This invisibility spell never works right."

Immediately, the leopard's snow-white fur reappeared—strange, Lin Lei thought the invisibility spell would work on a beast without clothes, but it only made the fur disappear.

His gaze shifted to the maids behind him.

"Your Highness, we still need to marry!"

The maids, faces pale, ran off in a hurry.

Lin Lei could only turn his attention to the bear monster tied to the pillar.

At dusk, the leopard awoke in its cage, overwhelmed by heartbreak and began to weep bitterly.

"I haven't even married yet, and so many people have seen me… What will my fiancé say if he finds out… oh, oh, oh…"

Nearby, two guards watching the garden exchanged glances.

"The leopard has a fiancé?"

"This world is truly full of wonders!"

"But since she's so sad, should we tell His Highness not to look for other male leopards?"

"Absolutely not. His Highness wants to form a choir to make money. Let’s pretend we heard nothing!"

Hearing the guards' conversation, the leopard felt a foreboding dread.

"A choir?"

"The last pet that little demon had was a male tiger that could play ball," suddenly a voice spoke. The leopard turned to see the bear monster tied to the pillar looking at her with sympathetic eyes.

"He wanted to form a tiger football team. Don’t ask me what a football team is—I don’t know either. But he fed the tigers a lot of medicine, then put them in a cage with a group of female tigers—that was the last time I saw him."

The sense of impending doom in the leopard’s heart grew stronger.

"Those female tigers later gave birth to a dozen cubs, none of whom could play ball. His plan failed."

The bear monster had a rune pasted to its forehead, colored flags fluttering in the wind.

"When you fainted, that little demon stared at your backside for a long time. He said he wanted to form a choir."

The leopard didn’t understand at first, but in the next moment its face turned deathly pale. It suddenly recalled Lin Lei’s eyes shining when it spoke, and screamed so loudly it shook the palace.

"Another one gone mad,"

The bear monster looked at the female leopard with pity. It had been here for some time. That little demon believed a tiger who could play ball could produce cubs who could play ball, so surely he would believe a talking female leopard could produce talking cubs—a choir wasn’t impossible.

An old wizard passed near the garden.

"Wizard, let me out!"

The leopard, seeing him, excitedly battered the cage. "Let me out."

The old wizard glanced at it, clearly aware of its nature.

"Strange, do druids beg for mercy like us?" He approached, intrigued. "What did His Highness do to you?"

"He wants me to give birth to a choir of leopard cubs!" the leopard replied in terror. "We were kin five hundred years ago—you must stop him!"

"A choir…" The wizard paused, then nodded. "That does sound like His Highness. But I cannot stop him."

He would not offend that young master for the sake of an enemy, and besides, the prince had captured this enemy, so he had no authority to release it.

The wizard regarded the leopard with sympathy. "I advise you to focus on being His Highness's pet. If you can please him, perhaps he’ll heed your opinion."

"Never!" the leopard shouted in fury. "How could I obey the orders of an enemy?"

The wizard shook his head. "Then I can do nothing."

He turned to leave, but the leopard, desperate, cried out, "You can't stand by and do nothing! With him humiliating me like this, you’ll all suffer divine wrath!"

"Divine wrath…" The wizard stopped. "In that case, I have an idea. Wait here."

The female leopard was overjoyed.

The wizard hurried away, returning within half an hour, and placed a book in the cage—"A Heart-Wrenching Novel: Wild Cave."

"What’s this?" The leopard was puzzled.

"This is the continent’s best-selling series, written by your predecessor. How could you not know it?" The wizard was surprised, then slapped his forehead. "Ah, my memory! This series was banned in primitive elven society, so of course you haven’t read it."

The leopard was full of suspicion. "Can this book save me?"

"Not save you, but perhaps it will help you see things from a different perspective…" The wizard smiled, patting the leopard’s head. "Experience the essence of this book well."

A bone-chilling wind drifted through the garden. The leopard flipped the pages with its paw—

Mark turned and dashed out of the cave, using a decisiveness he had never possessed in his life. His heart thundered. "No, I can't do this!" The druid told himself, while behind him came Belt's anxious cry: "Mark! Stop!"

Mark halted. "Belt, please, don’t… I…"

"Mark, are you going to be a coward?" Belt chased after him, circling him, her eyes full of affection. "You drove away those lions for me—I thought you were braver than that."

"But I… I've never tried such a thing…" Mark was breathing hard.

"That’s perfect." Belt giggled, turning around and raising her tail as she walked toward the cave. "Don’t you want to practice a little with me?"

Beneath the gentle tail of the female leopard wafted an alluring scent. Mark gritted his teeth and slowly followed…

The novel continued, but the leopard, unwilling to enter this new world, tore the pages to shreds in agitation.

"I refuse to experience that!"