Clumsy Beast, Keep Your Paws Off - Chapter 229

Chapter 229: Chapter 229: The Day a Fox Challenged a Sleeping Dragon
After eating until they were completely full, Su Qinglan leaned back with a long, satisfied sigh.

Han Jue, Hu Yan, and Rong Ye had all eaten with her, stuffing themselves with meat and dumplings until even their expressions were filled with satisfaction.

Su Qinglan happily patted her belly, feeling calm and sleepy, but before she could drift too far into relaxation, her thoughts returned to her sleeping husband above.

She lifted her head and looked toward Hu Yan. “Shouldn’t he wake up by now? It has been so long… Should I go check on him?” Her voice carried a soft worry. She did not want to disturb him, but ignoring him made her uneasy, as if her heart kept tugging her back toward him.

Hu Yan, who normally stopped her from moving too much, did not protest this time. After all, Xuan Long had said if she wanted to meet him, she could come anytime.

So it was better if she could see him, because he was not going to wake up soon.

“Alright,” he said, standing quickly. “I will take you upstairs. You can see him, but he is not going to wake up so soon.”

Su Qinglan immediately brightened. She picked up the bowl she had purposely saved for him and held it carefully in both hands.

When Hu Yan lifted her into his arms to carry her up to the upper floor, she hugged the bowl close to her chest, like a small offering meant for someone she cared about. The air above was cooler and filled with the faint scent of rain and the warm breath of a slumbering beast.

As they reached the upper floor, she froze completely.

There, curled around almost the entire space like a giant guardian beast, was a massive sleeping snake…her dear beast husband. His scales glimmered faintly even in the dim light, and his huge tail was wrapped lazily around the room. He was so enormous that the floor looked too small for him.

Su Qinglan stared, speechless for three seconds.

Hu Yan calmly set her down and dropped into a squat. “If you need me, just call,” he said quickly. “I will come pick you up immediately.” Then, without waiting for her response, he backed off like he did not want to disturb the giant snake.

She nodded silently, still holding her bowl of dumplings, and slowly approached the sleeping Xuan Long.

Should she say something?

Should she wake him?

Or should she leave quietly?

In the end, she made the gentlest choice. She walked forward on silent feet, carefully placed the bowl beside his head and made sure it was within reach for when he woke up. If he felt hungry later, he could eat right away.

Then she slowly leaned down, brushed a hand over his forehead, and pressed a soft kiss there, light enough not to disturb him. A small affectionate gesture, nothing more. After that, she stepped back without a sound and walked toward the hole where Hu Yan was waiting.

He lifted her again and took her downstairs, relieved that Xuan Long had not opened his eyes even once.

Once they were back below, Su Qinglan suddenly felt the weight of the day hit her all at once. The exhaustion, the emotions, the fullness of her stomach… all of it pressed on her like a warm blanket pulling her into rest.

So she simply lay down in her small warm nest, curled up comfortably, and soon drifted into sleep, with Hu Yan accompanying her for sleep.

She immediately nestled into his arms as the atmosphere outside was still cold because of the rain. The rhythmic sound of droplets falling through the thick leaves above them lulled her deeper into relaxation.

Outside, Rong Ye was still guarding the next tree house. His tail flicked lazily as he stayed alert, occasionally fiddling with random sticks or helping Han Jue.

Han Jue was beside him, and the two were busy working. They were building another shed in front of the next tree house, determined to expand the covered area so that when rain came, none of them would get wet while walking between tree houses. The shed roof needed to be wide, strong, and long enough to connect every entrance.

They had to make the cooking area bigger as well, because cooking outside in rain would be a disaster. The shed had to cover the fire pit and the walkway both. They discussed measurements, checked the strength of the wooden beams, and planned how to make the support poles thicker to handle heavy rainfall.

While the two worked outside, the sound of tapping wood and rustling leaves filled the air.

***

The next day, Su Qinglan woke up with a soft yawn, her body filled with the warmth of sleep, and she blinked slowly before falling back onto the hide blanket for a second.

Her eyelids were still heavy, but eventually she sat up properly, washed her face, changed into clean clothes, and stepped outside to find breakfast already prepared for her.

So she ate quietly while the light rain outside continued falling without a break, and strangely it felt like the rain had grown even heavier compared to yesterday.

But because their dome blocked most of the rain, the rain inside their tribe was still much lighter than the harsh storms outside.

So she only watched it for a while before her hand reached out to grab her new boots because she suddenly wanted to go out and travel around the tribe instead of staying inside all morning.

All her husbands were outside working, so she immediately pulled out her boots and decided to wear them. She did not try to hide them, because they never questioned anything.

They were all understanding in their own quiet way, so she smiled at them once before slipping her boots onto her feet, pulling on a long dress and her raincoat over it, and soon she was fully ready to step out into the rain.

The moment Han Jue, Hu Yan, and Rong Ye realized she was preparing to go out, they all immediately crowded around her at the same time like three giant walls blocking the doorway.

But since last time it was Hu Yan who accompanied her, today Han Jue was the one responsible for going with her, and he did not even wait for her to ask before gently holding her waist and guiding her toward the outer shed area.

Rong Ye gritted his teeth, but the moment he realized Su Qinglan was not around, his expression brightened far too quickly. And if he could send Hu Yan away too… well, nothing would stop him from sneaking upstairs to get those dumplings.

Honestly, what was the point of leaving perfectly good food with a sleeping snake?

They were just going to sit there until they spoiled. Better they ended up in his stomach than fed to worms later. He was doing everyone a favour, really.

Feeling noble and hungry, he hummed that off tune melody he had learned from Lan Lan and shot Hu Yan a smug, provocative look like a fox declaring victory before the race even began.

Then he strutted back to his work, absolutely sure of his brilliance.

Hu Yan just rolled his eyes so hard he nearly saw the back of his skull. This cheeky fox again.

And for some reason… he suddenly felt a bad premonition. Not for himself but for the idiot fox who was clearly about to dig his own grave.