Chapter 10: Cuteness Must Be Sold

The other two quickly nodded, amazed as they looked at the black-and-white creature, and they immediately thought about capturing it.

However… they weren’t sure about this creature’s combat ability.

The same thought flashed through all three of their minds.

【Ding! Your cuteness has made the three humans in front of you feel a flutter in their hearts, thinking that selling the host would make a lot of money. You have gained +3 Cuteness Value.】

The black-and-white creature continued sitting there cluelessly, scratching its belly, looking incredibly adorable, though it secretly wished it could kill the three of them.

They actually wanted to sell him!

Facing such a cute panda, their first reaction was to sell it?

Clearly, they were not good people.

At this moment, the three of them completely ignored the black panther and cautiously surrounded the little creature.

The little creature, still unaware of anything wrong, looked up at the three humans and continued swinging its little feet, making soft, innocent noises.

The black panther, of course, recognized who this extremely ugly creature was.

It struggled to stand up, growling in distress.

It was anxious and worried.

“Roar—ah.”

—Run, you ugly creature.

Upon hearing the panther’s growl, the three humans immediately became alarmed, fearing that the black-and-white creature might run away. One of them quickly drew a weapon and attacked the panther.

Ji Wuxiu’s heart skipped a beat. He couldn’t care about anything else and quickly grabbed hold of the man’s leg, lifting his head with a pitiful, confused look in his eyes, gazing up at the man, making a cute sound.

“Aw woo—”

The black panther grew even more anxious. Forgetting its own bleeding wounds, it angrily growled at the ugly creature.

Run!

Those humans are bad!

They will kill you.

Ji Wuxiu continued clinging to the human’s leg, shaking his arms like a five-year-old throwing a tantrum.

When a human child made this gesture, only one thing would happen.

That is, wanting to kick the naughty child to death.

Especially a naughty child who cries and throws tantrums.

It would be best if they were kicked all the way to the sky.

But when the same action is done on this black-and-white animal, it only leaves a cute and soft impression.

How could such a cute creature exist in this world?

The human looked down, stunned, staring at the chubby panda face. Almost unconsciously, they reached out, wanting to rub the creature that looked like it was asking to be hugged and petted.

【Ding! Your cuteness is so original and creative that it made this human think that the host is truly adorable and wants to pet it and bring it home. You have gained +2 Cuteness Value.】

The black panther nearly cursed the ugly creature.

It knew these humans were so bad, yet it was being so close to them!

Not only ugly but also incredibly stupid!

Despite this, the black panther still desperately rushed forward, attempting to attack the human, with only one obsession filling its heart.

—Don’t hurt it!

Another human had already noticed the panther’s movement and quickly used their weapon to strike.

Ji Wuxiu realized this wouldn’t do. He had sacrificed his dignity to save the panther’s life, so how could he just watch the human kill the black panther? Without hesitation, he abandoned the human and rushed to hug the man’s thigh, using the same tactic as before.

With a wet, confused look in his little eyes, he gazed up at the human, continuing to roll and make pitiful whimpering sounds.

The human froze, not daring to move. They could have pushed the creature away and killed the panther, but looking at its soft, wet eyes, they suddenly felt a strange urge to not scare this adorable creature.

In fact… they even felt strangely content being clung to by the little creature.

It was as if their heart was filled with a pleasant feeling from the creature’s gaze, causing them to soften their actions and, almost instinctively, say to the creature, “Be good, okay? I’ll go take care of that ugly black pancake.”

Despite knowing this creature couldn’t understand human speech, they still did it.

It was as if only by saying this could they calm the adorable creature and keep it from being scared.

【Ding! Your cuteness has made this human feel a flutter in their heart, thinking that if they were just clinging to the leg like this, even if they were to die, it would be so happy. You have gained +5 Cuteness Value.】

Ji Wuxiu rolled his eyes internally but still maintained a silly expression on the outside, his little face looking perpetually unhappy as he continued to cling to the human’s thigh, secretly smirking with a look of disdain.

However, all everyone else saw was the silly, wide-grinning black-and-white fluffball, its innocent and clueless expression making their hearts melt completely.

“Big brother, don’t scare it.” The human, who had killed many animals, suddenly whispered.

The one called “big brother” nodded, speaking in an unusually gentle tone, his face still looking fierce, but his expression was oddly and awkwardly soft, which made Ji Wuxiu feel a bit constipated.

Fortunately, no matter what expression the panda made, it was always so silly and cute, carrying a hint of unmasked sadness.

The black panther hated this ugly creature, but it didn’t want this stupid creature to suffer the same pain it had endured. This feeling—it was fear, terror, and also… pain.

A trace of determination flashed in the black panther’s eyes.

It would rather die than let this ugly creature suffer.

It wouldn’t let those hateful humans harm it.

It had already endured enough of this kind of pain.

In an instant, despite its serious injuries, the black panther felt an unknown strength surge within it. It roared in fury.

“Roar—!” It had decided to go down fighting with these humans.

A wave of heat seemed to rise from its head, then gathered in its throat, making it feel like if it opened its mouth in the next second, it would spew something strange that would surely harm the humans.

The system suddenly prompted: 【The lightning panther is about to evolve. Stop it from spewing whatever it’s about to, or those three humans will discover the panther has mutated and won’t let it go.】

Ji Wuxiu was startled and didn’t doubt the system’s words for a second. He immediately shouted at the black panther to stop and close its mouth—he didn’t want his plans to fail.

The black panther, however, didn’t understand Ji Wuxiu’s intentions. Still full of anger, it was about to release whatever it was about to spit out.

—Come, humans, let’s destroy everything together!

The three humans noticed the black panther acting strangely, a hint of confusion flashing in their eyes.

At this moment, Ji Wuxiu was extremely frustrated by the fact that he couldn’t communicate with the black panther. He quickly ran over, but in his awkwardness, almost tripped and fell. Fortunately, he wasn’t far from the panther, and his body flew toward it, quickly slapping the panther with a bear paw.

The black panther, still furious and about to spit out its venom, froze.

—It’s gone.

—Whatever it had in its mouth, it swallowed.

—Stupid ugly creature!

The black panther roared at Ji Wuxiu in frustration: “Roar—roar!”

If it could speak, it would definitely give Ji Wuxiu the middle finger and curse, “Screw you.”

But for now, the black panther could only vent its rage through angry growls.

From this, one could tell just how furious it truly was.

Ji Wuxiu patted the black panther’s head, signaling for it to quiet down.

The black panther fell silent for a moment, then roared again in anger, wishing it could bite the ugly creature in front of it to death.

—You ugly creature!!!!

Ji Wuxiu remained expressionless, calmly wiping away the saliva the panther had sprayed: “…”

This panther’s brain was definitely stupid, really stupid. He told it to be quiet, yet it kept on roaring.

The system, feeling a little sorry for Ji Wuxiu, was afraid he might get angry and couldn’t help but speak up: 【It was trying desperately to protect you earlier, even choosing to self-destruct and go down with the humans.】

Ji Wuxiu froze for a moment, then couldn’t help but look at the black panther. The sleek, dangerous-looking panther was no longer there. The current black panther was bloodied, with not a single part of it unharmed. Its once-proud fur was riddled with wounds, and its tortured eyes still held a longing for life.

And… that pair of eyes, sincere and filled with the desire to save itself.

Clear and deep.

Ji Wuxiu’s gaze trembled, and his nose suddenly grew sour.

He had thought that the panther once wanted to kill him, and that perhaps it didn’t like him, especially since their situation had been adversarial from the start.

So, all this time, he had only thought that saving the panther was the goal, never considering… that the panther had also harbored the thought of saving him.

The mind of an animal is never something a human’s complicated heart can understand.

Pure and simple.

He suddenly understood the panther’s thoughts.

The panther had hurt him before, simply because of territory and survival, but now, it chose to risk its life to save him, simply because… it wanted to protect its kind.

When Ji Wuxiu looked at the panther again, his gaze was filled with complexity and deep emotion.

The black panther was still angrily growling, its vertical pupils full of fury, “Roar—!”

This time, Ji Wuxiu no longer minded the panther’s angry roars. He even silently allowed the panther’s saliva to spray on his face.

Thank you…

For letting me know that my efforts were never in vain.