Translator: WontonChaos & Kii
Editor: Dragonfae
Based on Xiao Bai’s current size, he couldn’t even fit into the main entrance of the IOA headquarters, let alone an ordinary apartment complex. Thus, Han Xingqian handed over the keys to his urban villa to Rimbaud, allowing them to stay temporarily until Xiao Bai recovered. During this period of time, the Medical Association could send cars daily to transport doctors for Xiao Bai’s examinations.
The villas in the area where Han Xingqian lived were spaced far apart from each other, and each one had a decent-sized separate courtyard. Fortunately, the other residents nearby were also colleagues from the Medical Association, so it should not cause too much trouble for the neighbors.
Rimbaud sat on the bed of the second-floor bedroom with a first-aid kit on hand. His fishtail had transformed into legs, and he was wearing the casual shorts that Dr. Han had sent over. He bit the hem of his t-shirt and lowered his head to disinfect the wound on his chest with ethyl alcohol.
Dr. Han had advised him to disinfect with iodine before bandaging the wound, but Rimbaud wasn’t entirely sure about the differences between ethyl alcohol and iodine. In truth, he couldn’t get infected due to his purification ability, so there was no need for disinfection. Nevertheless, since Dr. Han had earnestly instructed him, he followed the advice.
“Hiss…” Rimbaud bit down on his t-shirt’s hem, letting out a muffled groan as the alcohol met the wound, causing his body to tremble in pain.
That’s done. Rimbaud used medical bandages to wrap up the wound, preventing it from reopening and bleeding before it could fully heal.
“Growl…”
Outside the second-floor window was a rustling sound. Rimbaud turned back to look at the balcony—two big blue eyes, clear and pure like the moon, looked straight at him.
The white lion’s two front paws were gently hooked onto the wall outside the balcony, and the tip of his pink nose faced Rimbaud, twitching and sniffing. The puffed-out air raised the curtains in the room and blew Rimbaud’s blonde hair into disarray.
“Sit.” Rimbaud released the hem of his shirt and walked over barefoot. He put his hands on the railing and flipped over to sit on it.
The big white lion obediently sat down, his tail curled to the front and wrapped around his two front paws.
“Good boy.” Rimbaud lifted a foot and stepped on the lion’s big pink nose. It was a bit moist, very soft, and both cool and warm.
The white lion shifted his head, bowed his head in the garden, and circled around while sniffing. After a while, he raised his head from the flower bushes, with a few leaves stuck on his head. With his lips, he held a wreath woven from two intertwined sasha angel roses and carefully put it on Rimbaud’s ankle. Then, he sat back down quietly, looking at Rimbaud with a reverent gaze.
Rimbaud leaned down and rubbed the white lion’s big head. “I will treasure it.”
The moisture within the white flower hardened into the form of hydrated steel, preserving its original color without becoming hard or chafing.
He hugged the white lion’s big face, kissed his big nose, leaned his cheek against him, and whispered softly, “Thank you for coming to help me, I needed you, randi.”
The white lion blinked, his blue eyes flickering like a will-o’-wisp. Bowing its head, he sniffed around in circles on the grass, becoming so shy that he started digging around frantically.
Before going to rest, Rimbaud injected the dissociative agent, which was hidden in the white lion’s fur, into his nape. Then, nestled into the swing chair on the balcony, he accompanied the lion to sleep, hoping that by the next morning, Xiao Bai would have recovered to his original state.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
The white lion curled up into a big ball like a mound, sleeping on the courtyard’s lawn, and his head was covered by a small coat given by Rimbaud.
The next morning, Han Xingqian drove over to give Xiao Bai a check-up while Xiao Xun helped him with the equipment. As soon as they reported the elimination of the dragon turtle experimental subject, Lu Yan and Bi Lanxing also rushed back from Jiutan Mountain. They heard Chu-ge almost went into deterioration and Rimbaud was injured. They both panicked, insisting on coming along to visit.
Bi Lanxing hugged a file bag in his arms. They were all reports that he had organized and needed to be signed by the Search Division’s chief. Since Chu-ge was sick, he took the initiative to do most of the report work and worked to know the situation inside and outside of the Search Division like the back of his hand, so that when Chu-ge came back, he could swiftly hand everything over to him.
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“The situation isn’t considered too dire, we’re still working on solutions. At least in the short term, there won’t be any major issues.” Han Xingqian parked the car outside the courtyard, not planning to stay for too long.
The group of people got out of the car one after another and entered the courtyard. Han Xingqian looked around and didn’t see anything unusual, so he knocked on the door.
The one who opened the door was Rimbaud.
Rimbaud was wearing a loose T-shirt and shorts. He was holding a towel to dry his damp hair.
“You guys came at the right time, I just finished bathing him. He rolled around to the point of being covered from head to toe in mud.”
“Bath? You gave him a ba…” Lu Yan’s cheeks turned red, and his rabbit ears rolled up.
They entered the house, with Xiao Xun who held the medical kit following from behind. Meanwhile, Dr. Han asked Rimbaud about Xiao Bai’s condition last night.
Bi Lanxing followed behind them with the file bag in his arms. Lu Yan wasn’t carrying anything, and he jogged all the way while looking for Bai Chunian in every room.
Lu Yan pushed open the bedroom door and glanced inside. Bai Chunian wasn’t inside. When he was about to leave, he turned to see that there was a creature with snow-white fur and blue eyes perched on the low cabinet, staring at him face to face.
A beast’s species suppression on a rabbit’s was quite strong. Lu Yan’s hair suddenly stood up on end, and his ability, The Cunning Rabbit’s Cave, appeared under his feet. He slipped in and fell out of another barrow two meters away. He stared blankly at the majestic white lion perched on the cabinet, who was grooming its claws with nobility and grace, emitting the fragrance of shower gel.
“? Bai Chunian?” The brandy pheromone did not change, so Lu Yan was still able to recognize him.
The white lion continued to lazily groom his fur and did not bother to look up.
Lu Yan turned back in dismay to ask Rimbaud. “Can he no longer understand what I said to him just now?”
Rimbaud opened the curtains to let the light in. “He can, he’s just ignoring you.”
Xiao Xun asked in surprise, “He still hasn’t recovered yet?”
Rimbaud walked over, and with great struggles, carried the just-cleaned white lion to the bed. The white lion, boneless, was hoisted under the arms and dragged down from the low cabinet, its body stretching out unnaturally long.
“He has, but not completely.” Rimbaud casually removed the claws hanging on his body and pinched his pink paw pads to have him extend his claws. Then, he cut it with a hydrated steel clipper and then filed them smooth with a hydrated steel nail filer, so as to not tear up Dr. Han’s furniture.
“I injected a dissociative agent for him yesterday, and this morning, I noticed that he had become smaller. He has become around the same size as ordinary white lions, maybe even a bit smaller, but he still hasn’t recovered his human form.”
Han Xingqian recorded the situation Rimbaud described. For the Medical Association, this was important clinical data.
He glanced at the copy of “The Habits of Lions” thrown in the trash can and the “How to Care For Kittens”, filled to the brim with hydrated steel bookmarks, that was placed on the bed, and with his chin resting on the palm of his hand, analyzed. “It seems that his intelligence and thinking skills have yet to recover.”
Rimbaud clamped the white lion between his legs to prevent him from running around and used two cotton swabs to clean his ear. The white lion felt very uncomfortable, let out a few cries, and broke free to shake his head vigorously.
He’s quite young, so his cries lacked the intimidating roars of a fully grown male lion. Despite his aggressive demeanor, it sounds more like whimpering.
Lu Yan tentatively reached out to pet him. The white lion puffed out his chest proudly, showing the barely visible mane on his neck.
Xiao Bai was familiar with their scent, so he held no hostility toward them. Instead, he lay down on his back, exposing his belly and pink paw pads.
Lu Yan carefully asked Bi Lanxing, “What is he doing? Is his back itchy?”
Bi Lanxing crouched down, looking him up and down, and said, “Hmm, I got it. He’s lying like this because he wants a belly rub.”
Lu Yan had played at Lanxing’s house before and knew that they had a Bernese mountain dog. The dog’s name, Guen, was even given by him.
“Does he want to be petted?” Bi Lanxing slowly reached out his hand to rub Xiao Bai’s belly. Unexpectedly, Xiao Bai suddenly became hostile, grabbed Lanxing’s hand with his two front paws and bit it, and his two hind legs kicked him wildly.
“Chu-ge, Chu-ge…” Bi Lanxing froze, not daring to move. He also didn’t dare take his hand out rashly. He was kicked until stars appeared in his eyes.
“Randi! Let go!” Rimbaud noticed the ruckus on their side and immediately stood up to chide him.
After being scolded, Xiao Bai rolled over and ran off. He gracefully jumped onto the windowsill, lazily lifted a hind leg, and lowered his head to use his tongue for grooming his fur.
Fortunately, Xiao Bai didn’t attack them with real intentions, and thus Bi Lanxing was not injured, but was only frightened. He asked Rimbaud, “Did I do something wrong just then?”
Rimbaud nodded, holding in his hand the guide to raising cats filled with bookmarks (which he didn’t understand very much). He put on a pair of hydrated steel glasses and turned to a page in the book. “When he laid down and exposed his belly to you, it shows that he trusts you. However, actually petting him there was out of line. What he actually meant was for you to rub his head.”
Bi Lanxing, “…”
While no one was paying attention, Xiao Bai tentatively extended his paws toward the file bag placed by Bi Lansheng on the windowsill. With a nudge here and there, the bag precariously balanced along the edge without falling off.
Bi Lanxing looked up quickly. “Hey, Chu-ge, those are documents that need your signature.”
Xiao Bai gave him a glance, then dropped the bag onto the ground, and happily parkoured around the room.
Bi Lanxing could not help but cover his face. It seemed like he had to completely take over Chu-ge‘s work during this period of time.
Once he was tired, Xiao Bai stopped running and plopped himself down on the bed. Everyone thought he was finally done causing a ruckus and was going to rest, but he suddenly pounced on Lu Yan. With his front paws, he pinned Lu Yan down, grabbing and tugging at one of his rabbit ears playfully. Frustrated, Lu Yan pounded the ground, shouting, “Bai Chunian! You fucker!!”
Xiao Bai’s attention was then attracted by Xiao Xun’s tail. He lowered his body and assumed a pouncing posture, then suddenly kicked off from the floor and lunged towards Xiao Xun’s tail.
Dr. Han was one step ahead of him and got in front of Xiao Xun. He grabbed the scruff of Xiao Bai’s neck, and despite his seemingly gentle expression, his grip was firm as he lifted the upper half of Xiao Bai’s body up and spoke softly near his ear, “It’s normal for little male lions to be naughty. Just neuter them and they’ll be fine. There’s no better time than the present, how about we do it today?”
Xiao Bai shivered, struggled out of Han Xingqian’s grip, and hid behind Rimbaud. Acting nonchalantly, he licked his paws as if nothing had happened. After a while, he got bored again, so he held Rimbaud and gnawed at his head.
Han Xingqian had the others hold Xiao Bai down, drawing several tubes of blood from him to take them back for testing and injecting him with another dissociative agent. Before finding the synthesis booster, the dissociative agent was particularly important for restraining Xiao Bai.
“It seems that maintaining his original form consumes a considerable amount of his excess energy. This way, he’s less likely to go berserk due to the energy surplus.” Han Xingqian stored the collected blood samples in a cooler, briefing Rimbaud on the follow-up plans. “Stay here for a few more days to observe his condition. I’ll come by every day to draw blood and administer medication. When he regains his human form, give me a call.”
Rimbaud nodded.
Han Xingqian waved his hand, and Xiao Xun picked up the medicine box and followed him. Lu Yan dashed out like he was running away, while Bi Lanxing picked up the document bag printed over with paw marks and left with a bitter smile.
Xiao Bai, who was injected with the dissociative agent, became very lethargic and lay limp on the bed, his limbs splayed out, breathing weakly and rapidly.
Rimbaud laid down, accompanying beside him on the bed, propping up his head with one hand and pinching the pink paw pad of the white lion in the other. He pressed his palm to extend his claws, then retracted them, finally pressing them gently against his lips for a kiss.
After lying down for a while, Xiao Bai with great struggle lifted one of his hind legs to groom his fur. Just before, his fur was all messed up from being held down by a group of people for the blood draw.
Supporting his cheek with one hand, Rimbaud looked at him seriously grooming his fur, and suddenly reached out to pinch between his two hind legs.
The white lion’s eggies also feel good to touch, with a pair of snow-white ones hanging under the base of its tail, round, downy, and a bit prickly.
The white lion, licking his fur, froze as he held up one leg, with half of its pink tongue still hanging out.
Rimbaud laughed out loud, and the white lion huffed before turning around and lying down with his back facing him.
“Don’t be angry, I was just curious.” Rimbaud reached out and brushed his plush side, and the white lion purred loudly in comfort, then turned back, snuggling up to Rimbaud, holding no grudge.
In Rimbaud’s view, all living beings are equal. In his eyes, Bai Chunian’s current state is no different from the form of his lover previously, and he still likes it very much.
In the afternoon, Rimbaud opened his eyes from his lazy nap, with a graceful arm resting on his lower abdomen. A young and handsome face was close to him, and he slept soundly beside him defenselessly.
The white lion mimicry on Bai Chunian’s body has completely faded away, and even his hair has returned to its normal black color. He lies shirtless, half-leaning on the bed, his muscular waist and abdomen slightly twisted. His pale skin glowed with a halo of orange-red under the afternoon sunlight.
Breathing carefully, Rimbaud’s gaze traced the contours of the alpha’s face, and even the fine hairs were clearly visible under the scorching light. In the past, Rimbaud often looked at him this way. In those moments, Rimbaud would always forget the scorching sun, forget the truth he adhered to, and only know that he loved him.
[Staff Corner]
Dragonfae: Now remember readers, young lions are not just over-sized house cats. They should never be kept as pets.
Thank You for the new chapter ♡(ღ˘⌣˘ღ)
😍😍😍
Ufu thnks fr the new chapter🍀
To dragonfae-san: aye, almost bought one—
😂😂 Thank you for that gentle reminder