The burly man closed his eyes and chose to pretend to be dead.
The masked girl who arrived at the cave’s edge didn’t even glance at him, throwing herself onto Xiong Yu instead. She examined Xiong Yu with a caring gaze, checking all over to see if he was injured.
After confirming that Xiong Yu was fine, the girl sighed in relief.
“As long as you’re okay,” she said.
On the other side, the muscular man, pretending to be unconscious while secretly observing through narrowed eyes, mentally complained:
“I’m the one lying here, so why did you check on this bear first?”
After caressing Xiong Yu’s face again, the masked girl turned toward the burly man.
The strong man immediately shut his eyes tightly, appearing as if he were already dead.
Without hesitation, the girl grabbed a branch and poked the man’s belly: “Awei, get up!”
The burly man named Awei showed no reaction.
The girl continued, “I already know you’re fine. If you don’t get up now, I’ll go tell Ah Hua!”
Awei remained silent for two seconds before replying, “Awei is already dead.”
“Get up!” The girl’s tone became serious, almost like a command.
Awei stood up from the ground, straightened his body, and looked down at the floor like a child caught doing something wrong by his teacher.
“You came here looking for Xiongxiong for what reason!” The masked girl’s voice remained stern.
Xia Yu paused for a moment before realizing that “Xiongxiong” referred to himself.
Awei dared not look at the girl’s face. He seemed timid but spoke firmly: “I came to drive this bear away.”
“How could you treat Xiongxiong like this!” the girl continued questioning.
“Miss, this isn’t the bear you raised before—it’s a wild bear!” Awei explained to the girl. “Xiongxiong was raised by humans since childhood and has never killed anything. The bear in front of you, however, can hunt on its own!”
“It’s a good bear!” The girl hugged Xiong Yu’s waist.
“No matter how good it is, it’s still just a bear!” At this moment, Awei was no longer hesitant. Through the girl’s questioning, he had solidified his belief and convinced himself he had done nothing wrong.
He pulled out his wooden spear and went to pick up the dropped handgun nearby.
After taking a couple of steps toward the gun, Awei suddenly stopped as if remembering something.
However, the girl had already figured out his direction and looked over, spotting the fallen handgun.
“You actually used a gun!” The girl became furious. Swinging her branch, she lashed out at Awei.
“I didn’t use it! It was knocked away by the bear as soon as I pulled it out!” Awei weakly tried to explain.
The branch in the girl’s hand mercilessly struck him.
Awei didn’t feel sad from the beating, but the girl grew increasingly upset while hitting him.
“My home is gone, others either died or fled, and Xiongxiong is gone too. Now, can’t I even find another bear on my own!” Her eyes welled up with tears.
Awei, who had been somewhat resolute before, immediately lost his confidence upon hearing these words. Covering his head, he remained silent, letting the girl vent her emotions.
Beside them, Xiong Yu rubbed his chin thoughtfully. From listening to their conversation, he gathered that the girl had originally owned a pet bear that was later lost, so she had chosen him as a replacement?
Xiong Yu felt complex emotions.
But then he thought, what did it have to do with him if he was merely a substitute for a brown bear?
With this thought, Xiong Yu relaxed.
He sat on the ground, watching the girl beat up the burly man.
Unfortunately, the girl only had a branch in her hand, not a whip.
The branch, about the thickness of a finger, couldn’t withstand repeated strikes and eventually broke in the middle, causing the girl to stop.
She didn’t have much strength, and Awei was wearing a coat, so he sustained no real injuries.
“I’m keeping this bear, no matter what anyone else says!” Dropping the branch, the girl declared.
“But that’s a wild bear!” Awei still disagreed.
“It’s very smart.” The girl recalled Xiong Yu making fire by drilling wood, even though he hadn’t succeeded.
“It might be smart, but can it compare to a human…” Awei’s words stopped halfway.
Thinking about the scenes where Xiong Yu had beaten him both in hand-to-hand combat and with weapons, he couldn’t deny Xiong Yu’s intelligence dishonestly.
He looked at Xiong Yu again. Xiong Yu was lying on the ground sideways, supporting his head with one hand and playing with a leaf, seemingly as relaxed as an old man watching TV.
Remembering what the girl had just said, Awei hesitated for a moment before agreeing, “You can keep it, but every time you come here, you must bring either me or Ah Hua to supervise.”
Upon hearing this, Xiong Yu suspiciously glanced at Awei twice.
It sounded like Awei believed he could stop Xiong Yu if he ever intended to do anything to the masked girl.
The girl, however, didn’t question this point and nodded in agreement.
For the following time, the girl stayed close to Xiong Yu’s side.
Xiong Yu used his telepathy to sense Awei again. The hostility from the burly man’s body had completely disappeared.
With Awei, seemingly a local tough guy, keeping an eye on things, the brown bear’s safety should be no problem.
He yawned, stood up, and continued using the remaining time on his previously uncompleted experience card.
Eight hours later, Xia Yu returned to his own body.
It was 7:30 a.m. in District One. Xia Yu got up, washed up, and went to the dining room, where the housemaid had already prepared breakfast.
This housemaid had specially trained in old Western cuisine. Although she couldn’t compare to top chefs, her cooking was slightly better than You Xue’s.
After breakfast, he went to the piano room and continued composing the music for “The Princess of Silence.”
Xu Youxiang worked at night, so mornings were her sleeping time.
In the afternoon, under You Xue’s urging, the three of them went out shopping together.
While returning An Siyao’s maid, Xu Youxiang also returned the two bodyguards, but when buying the house, Xia Yu had assigned her two even more burly ones.
An’s bodyguards mainly focused on skills, deliberately selecting those who looked ordinary and wouldn’t easily draw attention when in plain clothes. However, the bodyguards Xia Yu hired now were chosen solely based on their physique.
These two tall and muscular sunglasses-wearing bodyguards would attract significant attention wherever they appeared. As they followed behind Xu Youxiang, the attention of passersby was sure to be drawn to them.
However, this time she refused to be accompanied by the two bodyguards.
She turned her head to look at Xia Yu pushing her wheelchair. Compared to the two bodyguards, Xia Yu gave her a greater sense of security.
Moreover, she didn’t want to appear like an arrogant young lady in front of You Xue by bringing two bodyguards along.
You Xue, however, didn’t care about such things. If Xu Youxiang had brought two bodyguards, she might have thought it was cool.
She had already confirmed the mall they were going to through online searches. The group took a taxi directly to the location.
The mall was ordinary. Although they now had money, the girl remained quite simple, at most indulging in milk tea she previously couldn’t afford.
As she wandered around the mall, Xia Yu and Xu Youxiang’s attention wasn’t focused on clothes.
Xu Youxiang leaned back on the chair, allowing her to be closer to Xia Yu.
Some of her hair had fallen onto Xia Yu’s hand. As they walked and the wind blew, it tickled his palm, making him feel a bit itchy.
He raised two fingers and pinched Xu Youxiang’s hair.
Feeling the smooth strands, Xia Yu used his free hand to grab a handful of Xu Youxiang’s hair. It was soft and smelled of shampoo.
Noticing Xia Yu playing with her hair, Xu Youxiang’s face turned slightly red.
The atmosphere between the two was pleasant until they turned a corner.
Xu Youxiang’s expression became somewhat unpleasant.
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