Chapter 23 (1/2)

Leaving for Orte

It must be said that the Sea Blue universal medicine was very effective. After Xie Tao drank it, he only needed to rest under the quilt for some hours and by evening, his fever was almost completely gone.

Along with it, most of the dizziness dispersed, and Xie Tao gradually started to come to his senses. At this time, he suddenly noticed a cold touch against his left cheek.

Realizing that he was holding a cold object, Xie Tao instantly opened his eyes and shifted his gaze to the object in his arms.

What came into his view was a scale covered silver tail, similar to that of a dragon…

Xie Tao: “…”

It took a moment for his brain to register what it was and during this quiet moment, Xie Tao followed the object with his eyes, all the way from where it emerged from under the quilt, up to the slightly tilted tip parallel to his head.

The silver tail was obediently being held in his arms and appeared to in no way resist being treated like this.

His still fuzzy brain finally started questioning where the owner of the tail was. He dizzily scanned the room and then turned his head to looked behind.

Cyan eyes.

He was very close to the other person’s face and instantly came eye to eye with a pair of pale cyan eyes. Beautiful. They were as bright and clear as the winter sky. It was a very nice pair of eyes. They had a certain luster to them, and although it was not very distinct, it made one feel as if the owner of them was watching something very important.

Ya Yi did not divert his gaze and instead quietly met Xie Tao’s stare.

Xie Tao’s dizzy mind finally put the puzzle pieces together. While he was feverish, he must have been drawn to the silver tail and forcefully grabbed ahold of it in order to use it as an ice pack. With this realization, his mind at once became clear and he instantly let go of it.

Holding his hands up in front of him, Xie Tao felt slightly embarrassed. It would probably be good to explain himself.. but how?

As Xie Tao was struggling with this, he suddenly felt his left cheek being touched…

The other’s cheek was softly rubbing against his own.

Xie Tao had seen this action before, it was similar to what most cubs did in order to express closeness and dependence. However, the one doing it was undoubtedly in adult form, and suddenly having such a intimate action done to him made Xie Tao unconsciously tense up.

Seeing his reaction, Ya Yi momentarily paused. But after the initial response, Xie Tao did not reject it and let the adult Knox rub his cheek.

It did not last long, he only gently rubbed his cheek twice. He then withdrew and positioned his head close to Xie Tao’s ear.

“Ah Tao.” He said this slowly. His low voice held a cold penetrative feeling, but the way he said it made one feel as if it had immense importance.

Ya Yi said these two words to the human youth in his arms.

It was his first words and he wanted him to hear them.

Not expecting that the other would suddenly say his name, Xie Tao was stunned. But before he had the chance to react, the adult Knox behind him disappeared and a small white cub emerged from behind his back, promptly climbing into his arms.

“Meaah.” Snuggling into the youth’s embrace, the fluffy cub called out to him.

When faced with his cute cub form, Xie Tao lost all will to reject him, and he lifted his hand, not to push him off, but to reach out and feel the small horns on the Knox cub’s head. After briefly playing with them, he then let his fingers follow the curve of the cub’s neck down to his back. His fluffy fur was very soft to the touch.

The Knox cub, who was petted by the youth, made a low sound from his throat and the silky tail behind him immediately rouse, the tip slightly tilted at the end.

The fever may have come suddenly but did not stay for long. After a day and night of resting, Xie Tao had almost completely recovered and as he still planned on going to the competition, he was busy organizing the three cubs’ flying practices.

Before he got sick, he had gone onto the Star Network in order to search for anything related to the flying competition. While browsing through the information and tips, he found that if they wanted the cubs to get good positions in the competition, it was necessary to properly prepare them and practice in advance.

In order to add difficulty and make the competition more interesting, as well as thoroughly test the cubs’ flying abilities, the race track for the competition was not so simple as to be straight or only have a few curves, it would be too easy.

So, to not have their club’s cubs being completely unfamiliar with the track, Xie Tao carefully studied the videos from the past five years’ competitions.

The race course was different every year, but no matter how the course changed, there were things that remained the same, such as the way they calculated the score and the difficulty of the track.

Where the competition was held was selected by the ones in charge of organizing it for the year. Like ordinary races, the track had a start and a goal.

However, the ranking gained in the competition was not based on when they arrived at the finish line. It was based on the points the cub obtained while getting there.

So how was the score calculated?

Well, throughout the track, many circles made by something similar to golden mist could be found. Each time a cub flew through one of those golden rings, they would get a point.