Clumsy Beast, Keep Your Paws Off-Chapter 383: The Little Demon

The transition from the bright, salt-kissed air of the island to the shaded interior of the cave usually took a moment for the eyes to adjust.

But Su Qinglan didn’t wait for her vision to clear. Her heart was hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird.

"Who are you?" she demanded, her voice sharp with a mother’s instinctive alarm.

She dropped the bundle of wild onions and the flat cooking stone, the heavy thud echoing against the cave walls. She rushed toward the sleeping area, her breath catching in her throat.

However, the frantic pace of her footsteps came to a halt.

Standing by the blanket was not a suspicious figure, Su Qinglan found herself staring at a creature so unexpected that her anger evaporated into pure, stunned silence.

It was a little girl.

She looked no older than three or four years old, a literal toddler with limbs as chubby as lotus roots.

She had a mop of soft, dark hair and skin that looked like it had been dusted with peach blossoms.

But it was her eyes that held Su Qinglan captive...they were enormous, dark, and sparkling with curiosity and startled wonder.

Su Qinglan had never imagined she would encounter such a small, delicate child here.

The girl had been leaning over the sleeping cubs, her tiny finger hovering just inches away from Xiao Yi’s twitching ear.

When Su Qinglan spoke, the girl jumped slightly and looked up, her rosebud mouth forming a perfect ’O’ of surprise.

Su Qinglan’s heart, which had been tight with fear just seconds ago, suddenly felt like it was melting into a puddle of syrup.

The girl was so adorable, so round and soft, that Su Qinglan felt an almost physical urge to reach out and pinch those chubby cheeks.

Softening her expression immediately, Su Qinglan crouched down to the girl’s level. She reached out and gently took the child’s small, warm hands in hers.

"Who are you, little baby?" she asked, her voice dropping into a tender, melodic hum.

The little girl blinked, her long lashes sweeping against her cheeks. She looked at Su Qinglan, then at the cubs, and then back to Su Qinglan. A shy, toothy grin broke across her face.

"Sister," the girl chirped, her voice as sweet as a songbird. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Su Qinglan nearly clutched her chest. Oh, my heart... how can someone be this sweet? she thought.

She had three sons, and while she loved them fiercely, there was something about the soft, floral sweetness of a little girl that hit differently. She suddenly felt a pang of longing...why hadn’t she been blessed with a daughter this cute?

By this time, Lan Yue had hurried into the cave behind her. She was panting, her face pale, but when she saw the toddler, she let out a massive sigh of relief.

"Oh! It’s a cub," Lan Yue whispered, leaning against the cave wall to catch her breath. "She must have just recently learned to take her human form."

In the beast world, cubs usually stayed in their animal forms for safety and growth, only transitioning to human form between the ages of two and five. This little one was clearly an early bloomer.

"Do you know whose she is?" Su Qinglan asked without looking back, her eyes still glued to the toddler.

Lan Yue shook her head, puzzled. "I don’t recognize her. The tribe is large, and the younger cubs are usually kept deep in the nursery caves. She must have wandered off."

The little girl, feeling the friendly atmosphere, didn’t stay still for long. She suddenly squirmed out of Su Qinglan’s gentle hold. Su Qinglan let go, curious to see what she wanted to do.

The toddler turned her attention back to the blanket. With a determined look on her face, she waddled forward and tried to sit directly on top of the sleeping Xiao Yi.

Su Qinglan’s eyes widened. "Wait, baby, don’t..."

But Xiao Yi, who was the most alert of the three, felt the incoming weight. Even in his sleep, his instincts were sharp.

Before the girl’s bottom could make contact with his fur, he leaped out from under the blanket like a spring.

He landed a few feet away, his fur standing on end, his tiny tail puffed up like a bottle brush. He bared his two tiny, sharp milk teeth, ready to defend his territory against an intruder.

However, when he saw who had tried to squash him, he froze. Instead of a rival predator, he was staring at a giant (to him) pair of sparkling eyes and a very round face.

Xiao Yi let out a low, confused growl, looking back at his mother as if to ask, ’Mom, what is this pink thing and why is it trying to flatten me?’

Su Qinglan couldn’t help but laugh. "See, Xiao Yi? Someone came to play with you."

Before Xiao Yi could even think about retreating, the girl let out a delighted squeal.

"Play," she chirped.

With surprising speed for a toddler, she lunged forward. She didn’t just grab him; she leaped on him, her tiny arms wrapping accurately around his neck and head. She squeezed him with all her might, burying her face in his soft fur.

"Soft! Like!" she giggled, trying to hike her leg over his back. "Ride!"

Xiao Yi’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. He was a proud tiger cub! He was a future magnificent tiger! He was not a pony! He struggled to wiggle out of her grip, his little paws padding frantically against the dirt, but the girl’s "death grip" was surprisingly strong.

Every time he managed to slip an inch away, she would let out a giggle and haul him back by the scruff or a leg, pulling him back into a suffocatingly cute hug.

"Mmph! Mmph!" Xiao Yi muffled his complaints into her chubby forearm. He didn’t want to bite her...even he could sense she was fragile...but his dignity was taking a severe beating.