Lu Xuan handed over thirty-two Spirit Stones to the stall owner and received a young Cloud Stepping Leopard with green eyes in return. To prevent the young beast from escaping, the stall owner also gave Lu Xuan a black rope to tie around the leopard's neck.
Holding one end of the rope in one hand and gently cradling the leopard in the other, Lu Xuan left the market. Before heading home, he made a special trip to the shop where he had bought the Red Whiskered Carp.
The young Cloud Stepping Leopard was covered in wounds and needed to be treated, and this shop specialized in selling various spirit pets, along with healing medicine for spirit beasts. He bought a small jar of ointment and returned to his courtyard with the leopard.
“Be good, don’t move. I’m going to take the rope off now,” Lu Xuan softly reassured the leopard as he untied the black rope.
“From now on, this will be your home. Remember to behave and don’t wander off, or those bad people with bad intentions might catch you.”
Lu Xuan tried to scare the leopard a little. The young beast’s green eyes widened in surprise, and it glanced coldly at Lu Xuan before turning to observe its surroundings.
Seeing that the leopard was relatively calm, Lu Xuan felt a bit relieved and focused on its dark fur. A thought flashed through his mind.
“Green-eyed Cloud Stepping Leopard, a first-class spirit beast, feeds on spirit bird eggs and spirit beast meat. It has special eyes that can see things that are usually hard to detect, even able to see through illusions and reveal true nature.”
“It really is a special kind of spirit beast; those eyes seem to have something unique.”
Lu Xuan clicked his tongue in admiration. Spirit beasts are usually limited by their bloodlines, making it hard for them to break through their own ranks, but this doesn’t apply to the occasionally seen special spirit beasts. They have some extraordinary traits and a greater chance of breaking through their bloodline limitations.
“I’m a leopard from the north, wandering through the endless wilderness, covered in wounds, yet still enjoying solitude, awoo~”
This was the current state of the Green-eyed Cloud Stepping Leopard. Lu Xuan looked at the wounded leopard, which still held its head high, and felt a pang of sympathy.
“Come on, let’s apply this ointment.”
He pressed down gently on the leopard’s head, using his leg to hold it in place, and took a small amount of ointment to apply to its wounds.
Before long, the originally black leopard was covered with patches of ointment, making it look much less attractive.
“All done. For the next few days, don’t move around too much, or it might affect the healing of your wounds. After applying ointment a couple more times, you should be almost healed.”
The Green-eyed Cloud Stepping Leopard continued to stare coldly at Lu Xuan.
“Come here, let me pet you.”
Sensing the leopard’s loneliness, Lu Xuan wanted to give this big cat some affection. He waved at the leopard, but it just flicked its short tail and remained unmoved.
“Hey, still not listening?”
Lu Xuan reached out and pulled the leopard closer, giving it a few gentle strokes on its head and tugging at the grayish-white fur on its pointed ears.
“Awoo…”
As Lu Xuan focused on the leopard, he thought he heard a pleased low growl from it. When he looked down, he met its emotionless green eyes, making him wonder if he had imagined that sound.
Unable to help himself, Lu Xuan chuckled softly, went to the kitchen, and cut a piece of dried pufferfish meat into small strips, placing them in front of the leopard.
“Here, have some pufferfish meat. I usually don’t even want to eat this myself.”
The leopard first glanced at the strips of dried meat on the ground, then slowly approached, as if stepping on little clouds, and elegantly stuffed a piece into its mouth.
“Is it good?”
Lu Xuan asked quietly.
The Green-eyed Cloud Stepping Leopard continued to eat slowly, as if just to fill its stomach.
But Lu Xuan noticed its slightly curled paws, its wide-open green eyes, and the fur on its ears standing up.
Focusing on the leopard again, he thought, “Awoo~ Who understands? Today, I got to eat something called pufferfish meat, it really makes a leopard hungry.”
“Hahaha!”
Lu Xuan couldn’t help but laugh. He finally understood this young Cloud Stepping Leopard.
On the surface, it seemed proud and aloof, but in reality, it needed warmth and care, hiding all of that deep inside. If he hadn’t been able to sense the leopard’s state, he probably wouldn’t have noticed this trait.
“The body says no, but the heart is very honest!”
Lu Xuan smiled, and despite the leopard’s resistance, he forced himself to pet its head.
Once the leopard had eaten enough, Lu Xuan went to the Spiritual Field and scooped a bowl of water from the Spiritual Spring.
The leopard sniffed the spring water with its little nose, then extended its pink tongue to lick it gently.
Feeling full and satisfied, Lu Xuan took the leopard to the Spiritual Field.
“These are the spiritual plants I’ve grown. Each one is very important, so when you play in the yard, be careful not to harm them, or I won’t be nice.”
“And you can’t touch the Three-Tailed Red Whiskered Carp in the Spiritual Spring Pool. If I find one missing one day, I’ll ask you about it.”
The Green-eyed Cloud Stepping Leopard looked around the yard, its head completely still.
Lu Xuan knew its true thoughts weren’t as simple as they seemed, so he took it back inside.
After letting the young leopard rest in the house, Lu Xuan went to check on all the spiritual plants in the field, meeting their every little need.
He also took out some Spirit Rice and scattered it in the Spiritual Spring Pool. Once the Red Whiskered Carps finished eating, he finally returned home.
It was already dusk.
As soon as he entered the house, he saw the young Cloud Stepping Leopard staring at him with its green eyes. Upon seeing Lu Xuan, it subtly moved aside.
“Come here, sleep in my bed.”
After meditating for several cycles and washing up, Lu Xuan planned to go to bed.
He looked at the curled-up Green-eyed Cloud Stepping Leopard and felt its loneliness and coldness. He patted the side of the wooden bed, inviting it to jump up.
The leopard closed its eyes and remained unmoved.
Lu Xuan had to let it be.
He blew out the candle and lay down to rest.
After a while, Lu Xuan opened his eyes and saw the leopard’s green eyes fixed on him.
“This little guy seems to be a night creature? Could it be that it gets more excited the deeper into the night it gets?”
Lu Xuan mumbled to himself, got up, and picked up the uninjured part of the young leopard, ignoring its struggles, and placed it on the empty side of the bed.
“Be good, rest up!”
He instructed and closed his eyes.
Before long, Lu Xuan’s breathing became long and steady.
Feeling the warmth beside it, the Green-eyed Cloud Stepping Leopard glanced at Lu Xuan’s profile, flicked its short tail, and gently closed its eyes.
(End of Chapter)