After Crossing the Grasslands, I Became the Leopardess’s Cherished Mate - Chapter 3

At dawn, through the thick rock wall, Zhou Mingwu heard a few leopard roars. To her surprise, the monkey hadn’t left. Perhaps it sensed her goodwill. When she went to gather fruit and returned to feed it, the monkey shifted its backside and sat down an arm’s length away from her.

With an animal for company, Zhou Mingwu found herself talking more. “We really have a complicated fate, don’t we? You didn’t even leave after a whole night. Are you afraid of getting hurt without any companions to look after you?” After all, she was still kind enough to share her food with the monkey.

The Emerald Monkey chewed its fruit, offering no response to her words.

Zhou Mingwu continued, “This place isn’t safe. I’m planning to find a new spot to stay. If you’re willing to come with me, I’ll give you a name.”

After finishing the fruit in its hand, the Emerald Monkey noticed Zhou Mingwu wasn’t paying attention. It hopped over, snatched a bunch of berries from beside her, and stuffed them into its mouth.

Zhou Mingwu generously tossed it a few more berries. “Since you’re not speaking, I’ll take that as a yes.”

“From now on, your name is… Friday.”

Zhou Mingwu tried to find some amusement in her grim situation. She clapped her hands to shake off the red juice, packed her bag, and gazed out at the place she’d called home for the past three days and two nights.

“Friday” followed behind her, now her little sidekick.

Zhou Mingwu still held a deep-seated dread of the thicket about three kilometers ahead. Because of this, she headed in the opposite direction to find a place to shelter.

She needed to find a spot near a water source, but she also feared stumbling into another carnivore’s territory. As a result, by the time dusk approached, Zhou Mingwu was still standing under a tree, lost in thought.

She looked up at the massive trunk, mentally calculating the odds of her successfully climbing it and spending the night up there.

The probability was zero.

Zhou Mingwu shook her head. The tempered glass she’d buried in the dirt yesterday was covered in condensation, a sign that rain might be on the way. Her water was nearly gone, and collecting rainwater was crucial. If she didn’t find a temporary shelter soon, she might miss the rain.

“Friday,” its leg broken and unable to bound around, stayed obediently by her side. The small berries Zhou Mingwu had gathered earlier were also nearly finished.

For a fleeting moment, she regretted ever leaving her original spot. Why had she chosen to seek out this misery?

In the distance, an oasis shimmered, visible to the naked eye but painfully far away. Zhou Mingwu gritted her teeth and forced herself to keep moving toward it.

The night sky over the grasslands was a masterpiece no city could rival, a vast canopy dusted with stars. If not for the distant, harrowing cries of beasts carried on the hot wind, Zhou Mingwu might have paused to admire the view.

Friday, ever more attuned to the shifting mood than Zhou Mingwu herself, let out a few sharp chirps. It pressed its palms to the ground and scurried along, nearly brushing against her calves.

The moonlight, as if understanding her plight, spilled across the endless grasslands, illuminating the path ahead.

It must have been late into the night. A sudden chill seeped through the wind, and Zhou Mingwu shivered as her exposed skin registered the cold. “Almost there,” she muttered to herself, a desperate attempt at encouragement. “Just a little further!”

The sheer tension of the journey had numbed her to the injury on her leg. By the time she finally reached the oasis, her clothes had soaked through with sweat and dried again.

Zhou Mingwu collapsed onto the grass, gasping for air. Her gaze fixed on a point in the empty air as the last of her strength gave way. A wave of exhaustion washed over her, leaving her limbs heavy and aching.

The urge to simply sleep and never wake up was nearly overwhelming. With a fierce struggle of will, Zhou Mingwu forced herself to sit up and look out over the oasis.

The water source here was larger than the previous one, surrounded by dense vegetation. A closer look revealed several honey badgers hiding in the thicket, drinking from the river.

Friday was thirsty too. After all, it was an animal, and having roamed the savanna for years, its endurance far exceeded Zhou Mingwu’s. After a brief rest, it dragged its injured leg to the river to drink.

Right now, Zhou Mingwu just wanted to find a safe place to sleep.

Fortunately, there were several large boulders nearby. After drinking half a bottle of water and taking her medication, she climbed onto the highest one.

She glanced down to gauge the height, about three meters. It wouldn’t offer much protection against leopards, lions, or hyenas, but the exertion of climbing had caused her wound to reopen and bleed again. If she wanted it to heal, she had no choice but to accept her current situation and sleep on the rock.

Friday leaped up beside her and snuggled close. It seemed the silent night was even more terrifying than the howls of beasts.

Zhou Mingwu used her bag as a pillow and gripped her stun baton. Anxiety and fear couldn’t fight off her drowsiness, and she fell into a deep sleep.

Friday’s calls woke her. Zhou Mingwu frowned, a wave of discomfort washing over her. She could feel the intense sunlight burning her eyelids, and her body felt impossibly heavy.

A dazed thought formed in Zhou Mingwu’s mind: Oh no, my wound must have gotten worse. I have a fever.

Her mouth tasted bitter as she gritted her teeth and forced herself to sit up, opening her eyes.

Her head spun, but she could still feel the heat of the prairie washing over her. It must be around ten in the morning. Only when “Friday” saw her awake did it finally stop its frantic howling.

Zhou Mingwu clutched her forehead, trying to clear her head.

The discomfort subsided slightly. She had planned to gather stones today and build a small shelter, but it seemed that was no longer possible.

After drinking some water and swallowing her medicine, Zhou Mingwu lay back down on the rock and tucked her stun baton into her bag. She met the gaze of “Friday,” who was sitting beside her. “I have a fever,” she said, her voice strained. “I’m too sick to do anything. You can go look around for some berries or something.”

On the Another World Continent, animals were essentially evolved species. Carnivores, being at the top of the food chain, could speak and even transform into human form. Herbivores, however, were less intelligent, unable to speak or shift shapes. Still, compared to Zhou Mingwu’s own world, these herbivores were far more perceptive and intelligent.

Take this monkey, for example. Sensing Zhou Mingwu’s goodwill, it had remained obediently by her side, constantly trying to wake her for fear she might “die.”

Zhou Mingwu could save the monkey, but that didn’t mean she would selflessly share her stored food and then hunker down on this large rock until it was all gone.

She needed the monkey to contribute its labor. In exchange, she could offer it some measure of protection.

“Friday” stared at her with its large eyes for a moment before turning and scrambling down from the rock.

Zhou Mingwu breathed a sigh of relief.

“Friday” also had an injured leg, making it even more vulnerable to predators. It didn’t dare stray far, instead limping around the immediate area on a quick patrol before returning.

It came back empty-handed.

Zhou Mingwu had expected this outcome. She reached into her bag, took out some compressed biscuits, and shared a small portion with the monkey.

As it ate, Zhou Mingwu scanned her surroundings.

The lions and leopards she had encountered at the previous brief respite had felt like a far more terrifying threat of death than the vultures circling nearby.

The rock she occupied offered a better vantage point. Heat waves shimmered over the withered green grass. At noon, most animals would be resting in the shade, unless a carnivore was so desperate for food that it dared to hunt.

After recovering a little strength, Zhou Mingwu looked up and sighed deeply, shaking her head to clear her mind.

Time was life. She decided to make the most of the hottest part of the day by venturing further to search for food. If she found nothing, she would have to return and rest. Zhou Mingwu still hoped to return to the real world, and she hoped to do so with all four limbs intact.

She asked Friday if he would stay put or come with her. Friday blinked and scratched his injured leg with a claw, gesturing for her to look.

Zhou Mingwu understood. As she prepared to leave, a flicker of worry crossed her mind, and she slung her backpack over her shoulder.

Friday let out a dissatisfied howl.

Zhou Mingwu offered the first smile since arriving here. Though haggard, it carried a hint of vitality. “You have a history, you know. For safety’s sake, I’m taking the backpack.”

She limped away, feeling her heat tolerance steadily improve.

She chose the opposite direction from where Friday had just gone. Only when Friday’s figure on the rock had shrunk to a tiny speck did Zhou Mingwu finally stop. She couldn’t wander too far; with no distinct landmarks around, she risked losing her way back.

Where she halted, at the very edge of the oasis, the landscape suddenly opened up. In the distance, a winding stream of water shimmered, and a vast herd of herbivores moved slowly across the plain. Some lowered their heads to forage, others rubbed necks and faces in gentle affection. With no predators to threaten them, the scene was one of perfect, natural harmony.

The sheer immersion of the moment sent a surge of awe through Zhou Mingwu, filling her chest with a sense of grandeur.

Life truly is a miracle, she thought.

She lingered for a moment longer but knew she couldn’t go there. A dense gathering of prey was a beacon for predators. Instead, she slowly turned right, walking and pausing until she stumbled upon a cluster of cacti.

Zhou Mingwu’s eyes lit up. She knelt, opened her backpack, and pulled out an empty water bottle. Then, she drew her straight-edged knife, sliced a small notch into the cactus stem, and watched as crystal-clear water began to drip out, drop by drop.

The cacti here varied in height, some reaching only as high as Zhou Mingwu’s calves, while the tallest stood as tall as her neck. It was their flowering season; some were crowned with bright yellow blossoms, while others had already withered. Perhaps in a month or two, these cacti would bear fruit.

The thought of cactus fruit made her mouth water. She hoped she could survive here long enough to see them ripen.

With this small victory, Zhou Mingwu’s mood lifted, and even the dull ache in her head seemed to fade. Her pace slowed as she took in the bright daylight, clearly seeing the insects and frogs crawling across the sandy ground.

Avoiding them, she pushed aside the drooping branches and made her way toward the large rock.

The backpack was a heavy burden. She set the half-bottle of water she had collected in front of Friday. “There’s a patch of cacti nearby,” she said. “They store water.”

She didn’t care if Friday understood her. Turning away, she began searching for dry branches, intending to start a fire. She had been eating only compressed biscuits for days, and the sweltering heat had sapped her will to build a fire. But now that she had half a bottle of water, she needed to boil it before drinking.

Making fire by rubbing sticks together was easier said than done. By the time night fell, Zhou Mingwu’s palms were burning with pain, but she had finally managed to ignite the wood fibers.

“Friday” had never seen fire before. It shrieked loudly, circling the flames. As the fire grew, the monkey reached out to touch it.

Zhou Mingwu reacted quickly to block it, but not fast enough to prevent its finger from getting singed. Monkeys were tough, however, and it quickly forgot the minor sting.

Aside from the supplies in her backpack, this grassland made Zhou Mingwu feel as if she had been transported back to the Stone Age. She realized too late that she had no heat-resistant container to boil water in. She began searching the nearby area for a suitable stone.

Only after complete darkness had fallen did she find a small stone with a shallow depression. After a quick wipe, she poured a tiny amount of water into it and placed it on the makeshift stone stove she had built.

A moment later, the water began to boil. A look of joy spread across Zhou Mingwu’s face. Using leaves as a makeshift handle to protect her hands from the heat, she lifted the stone.

The success of making fire and boiling water brought a flicker of satisfaction to her heart, which had been plagued by anxiety for days.

After letting the water cool for a moment, she took a sip from the edge of the stone. The slightly bitter water flooded her mouth. Zhou Mingwu frowned, but the very bitterness of the water signaled a glimmer of hope for her survival.

“Friday” was a native of these grasslands, and its need for water wasn’t that great. The water Zhou Mingwu boiled held far less attraction for it than the warmth of the flames.

It had been a very, very long time since a fire like this had appeared on the grasslands.

The faint, occasional sound of water soon fell silent. Zhou Mingwu stared blankly into the fire, not noticing how the surroundings had grown still.

Glimmering green lights drifted out from the grass. In the blink of an eye, the lights rose and fell in waves.

Only then did Zhou Mingwu notice the green sprites. She recognized the glowing dots as fireflies, drawn to the flames but terrified of their searing heat.

She needed to keep the fire going, so she began feeding the blaze with branches one by one. A sharp snap echoed through the air, but she dismissed it as a twig breaking in the fire.

When she finished snapping a larger branch in two and looked back at the campfire, the light revealed a circle of hideous, snarling faces.

Crouched in the brush to avoid the heat, their bodies hidden, their cunning and grotesque features were illuminated by the orange-red glow.

Their drool dripped visibly.

In that instant, the thumping of Zhou Mingwu’s heart drowned out all other sounds.

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