When Ruan Xiao, who’d been tagged countless times, saw the post by Almer: “…”
He couldn’t help but mentally chide his two sons and nephew. Three of them combined weren’t as fast as he was—were those guys asleep or what?
Meanwhile, the three brothers of the Ruan family had finally realized what was happening. As they saw Almer’s post, they all ground their teeth in frustration.
Then, as if on cue, they each made their own posts.
Some showed Shushu dressed in cute animal outfits, others captured her eating or sleeping.
The backdrop in all the photos was the snowy planet.
In each picture, Shushu’s expression was soft, her brows relaxed, and her gaze gentle. Even when she was asleep, she lay curled up in a tiny bundle on her cushion, quiet and utterly adorable.
The fans who’d been eagerly awaiting these glimpses of her were ecstatic.
Bring on the competitive posting—none of them were going to complain about it!
At this moment, Ruan Shu knew nothing of what was happening online; she was busy snuggling up with Pink Maiden.
Her soft, kittenish meows soothed the beautiful pink mushroom. In her cat form, Pink Maiden seemed a bit oversized, but that didn’t matter.
Ruan Shu noticed Pink Maiden seemed a bit chilly, so she nestled her under her soft little belly to warm her up.
The little vine nearby, seeing this, wriggled over, wanting to snuggle up too.
“Squeak~”
Pink Maiden wasn’t sad anymore, feeling incredibly happy cuddling up with the little cat.
But this joy didn’t last long, as Ruan Shu was quickly swept up and carried away.
Ruan Fengsi tucked the fluffy Ragdoll kitten into the front of his coat, zipped it up, effectively making her disappear.
However, the little bulge at his chest was obvious, and soon enough, a furry little head poked out of his collar.
“Meow~”
The kitten’s nose and mouth were a delicate pink, and with a soft, endearing mewl, she nudged her head affectionately against her big brother’s chin.
Ruan Fengsi’s smile was full of warmth and fondness. With a sister this adorable, who wouldn’t be smitten?
Then he heartlessly handed the mushroom and vine to his younger brothers.
The younger brothers: … Thanks, but no thanks.
Almer kept casting glances at the kitten nestled on Ruan Fengsi’s chest.
He was jealous and wanted one, too.
But that was Shushu’s actual brother, so he had no chance.
Almer sighed; if only he had met Shushu before she’d been taken home, he would have hidden her in his lair, offering her all the best things in the world.
If only the little kitten could be his lucky charm, to hold in his hands and hear her soft meows now and then.
×××
They didn’t leave right away. After a while, an iron-horned ox emerged from the snowbank.
But what awaited the iron-horned ox was not freedom, but death.
Out on the snowfield, they had set up an essential wilderness cooking kit, which didn’t need firewood—only an energy crystal core to automatically heat up. The water in the pot was already boiling.
Ruan Qingran’s hands, usually steady for surgery, and his blade were now at work on the iron-horned ox.
With remarkable precision, he expertly dismembered the massive creature into eight parts, separating the edible portions.
The iron-horned ox was a mutated beast, much larger than a snow wolf. When it ran, it was like a small mountain moving across the plains, and the thunderous sound of its hooves could cause avalanches in the surrounding snow mountains. Avalanches often happened when creatures of this size fought or moved in large numbers.
However, living on the snowfield, these beasts were used to such occurrences. While they might get buried or injured, they were rarely fatally harmed. With their natural affinity for ice and snow, they didn’t suffocate under the snow and could dig themselves out after some time.
Thus, they acted fearlessly, which often resulted in snowfield adventurers or mercenaries becoming unintended victims.
Today, however, it was the iron-horned ox that had met its match.
Every ox they spotted was killed on the spot.
What if they couldn’t eat all of it? There were several wolves nearby that had run with them for quite a while—they deserved a treat.
So now, they were preparing a beef hot pot and grilled meat with graceful, unhurried movements. Nearby, a few wolves were happily gnawing on the freshly killed iron-horned ox, a rather bloody scene.
As for the other oxen they encountered, they were killed and stored in the Holy Light Bracelet Ruan Shu carried. It was a high-grade storage space where time was frozen, ideal for keeping fresh ingredients.
With his surgical precision and refined blade skills, Ruan Qingran sliced the beef into thin, even slices, the marbling of the meat visible and clear.
They then brought out a pack of hot pot seasoning, adding it directly into the boiling water.
They weren’t ones to fuss over complex recipes—besides Ruan Qingran, who could cook a decent steak, the others didn’t have much culinary skill.
Ruan Fengsi could grill meat, a skill he’d picked up in the wilderness during his mercenary days, but that was about it.
In the end, they finished off the entire iron-horned ox. They weren’t entirely full but were too lazy to cook more, so they topped off with some nutrient supplements.
Ruan Shu enjoyed a piece of steak grilled by her brother Qingran, a bit of grilled meat, and some hot pot beef slices, her little belly round and full by the end.
Freshly butchered beef couldn’t get any fresher.
If it had been before, a scene like this might have unsettled Ruan Shu. But now, after seeing battles firsthand and watching her brothers and other students fight off beasts in high-definition live streams, she’d developed a calm acceptance of the star beasts and their nature.
Still, watching the wolves devour their meat in such a bloody manner made her slightly uneasy.
One thing was for sure, though: her brother’s knife skills were truly impressive. To dismantle a beast with such elegance and precision was a rare talent indeed.
After eating their fill, Ruan Shu, with her little vine and the mushroom, took a stroll around, leaving tiny plum blossom-shaped paw prints in the pristine snow.
Pink Maiden, with a scarf around her stalk (made by Ruan Shu), followed along, bouncing and leaving larger imprints beside the cat’s paw marks, her jumps leaving little pits that were even bigger than Ruan Shu’s paw prints.
After finishing the meal, everyone divided up tasks to clean all the outdoor cooking equipment. Then, they looked over at the messy wolves with a hint of disdain.
Suddenly, the idea of having these creatures as mounts didn’t seem so appealing anymore.
The wolves, originally a pristine white and rather striking, now had their mouths and chest fur stained red from the feast.
However, they didn’t have any better mounts on hand at the moment.
The most important factor was that none of them wanted to walk themselves, so they shifted their gazes back toward the snow wolves.
The snow wolves, now full and lying down to rest, suddenly shivered as a primal instinct warned them of danger.
The wolf king looked around warily, searching for threats, but found nothing beyond those humans.
Soon enough, the wolf king realized exactly where the danger was coming from.