Chapter 444: Chapter 229: Matchmaking for a Leopard! Matchmaker Yang Qi

Every one of its attacks missed. Every time, it was inexplicably struck in return. The blows weren’t powerful, but the accumulated damage, combined with the mental humiliation and frustration, made it dizzy and unsteady on its feet.

Finally, after Xiaojiu once again circled to its flank and landed a rapid series of slaps on the same side of its cheek and ear, the leopard lost its footing completely. With a THUMP, it fell sideways into a pile of firewood beside the sheep pen, kicking up a cloud of dust.

It lay sprawled in the hay pile, gasping for breath. Its amber eyes were filled with confusion, astonishment, a sense that it was questioning its very existence as a leopard, and a sliver of undeniable fear.

’Who am I?’

’Where am I?’

’What just hit me?’

’A cat??’

"Alright, Xiaojiu, that’s enough."

Yang Qi’s voice rang out at just the right moment, tinged with amusement.

Xiaojiu landed lightly back on the low wall, settling into a crouch. It elegantly licked its paws, as if the one-sided drubbing it had just delivered were nothing more than a bit of post-meal exercise.

But its emerald eyes remained calmly locked onto the leopard in the hay pile. If the leopard dared to make a single wrong move, the next strike would not be nearly so "gentle."

The leopard panted for a good while before it began to recover from its dazed, soul-questioning state.

It struggled back to its feet and looked at the little black cat on the low wall, its gaze filled with an unprecedented level of caution and fear.

Instinct screamed at it that this ’little thing’ was exceptionally dangerous and absolutely not to be trifled with!

It instinctively backed away a few steps. A weak, trembling whimper rumbled in its throat. It tucked its tail, lowered its body, and tensed as if to flee.

Yang Qi spoke calmly. "Do you really think you can escape from Xiaojiu’s claws?"

The leopard’s body stiffened, its motion to flee freezing in place.

It glanced at the black cat on the wall, which seemed ready to transform into a soul-reaping specter at any moment. Then it looked at the Two-legged Beast, the one who had felt strange from the very beginning and was now watching it with a smirk. An immense sense of defeat and terror washed over it.

"You... What in the world do you want?" The leopard’s tone had lost all its initial arrogance and threat, replaced by a mix of exasperation and weary resignation.

"Nothing much."

Yang Qi smiled lightly, as if the crushing battle just now was merely a trivial interlude.

"Just answer my question. Why did you come down from the mountain to steal sheep here?"

The leopard froze for a moment, then shook its still-dizzy head and responded.

"It’s convenient here."

"Convenient?"

Yang Qi raised an eyebrow. "You mean because the sheep are penned up, you don’t have to search and chase all over the mountains, making them easy to hunt?"

"Yeah."

The leopard swished its tail, seeming to think Yang Qi had asked a stupid question.

"It’s all food."

"Finding food in the mountains means running a long way, and sometimes you still can’t catch anything."

"Here, I can grab one whenever."

"Easy. Saves energy."

Yang Qi was left speechless.

He had imagined many possibilities.

For instance, perhaps the leopard’s territory had been invaded, or a food shortage had forced it down the mountain.

Or perhaps Dazhu or another villager had accidentally offended it in the mountains, and it was tracking them for revenge.

He even considered whether some anomaly in the mountains had forced it to leave its familiar territory...

But he had never, ever expected the reason to be so brutally simple.

This guy had actually taken a liking to how easy it was to hunt penned-up livestock, proactively treating this place like his own personal "all-you-can-eat buffet"!

What was this?

The apex predator version of slacking off and picking the low-hanging fruit?

For a moment, Yang Qi was at a loss for words.

After a few seconds of silence, he spoke again, his tone a little more serious.

"Don’t you know that what you’re doing is very dangerous?"

Hearing this, the leopard’s body visibly tensed. It instinctively took half a step back, casting a wary glance at Xiaojiu on the low wall.

"Are... are you going to hurt me?"

"It’s not me who’s going to hurt you."

Yang Qi shook his head gently. He pointed toward the village behind him, then toward the mountain forest. "It’s the other Two-legged Beasts. You stole their sheep. They’ll get scared, and they’ll organize a large group to come into the mountains looking for you."

"They’ll use very powerful tools—bows and arrows, guns, even set traps."

"When that happens, it won’t be like Xiaojiu just playing around with you. They will actually try to take your life."

The leopard fell silent.

Its amber eyes flickered in the darkness as it seemed to process Yang Qi’s words, weighing the pros and cons.

The laws of survival in the forest had taught it the danger of the Two-legged Beasts; it was just that the sheep here were so easy to catch that it had gotten a little carried away.

After a long moment, it let out a low growl.

"I... I won’t come back."

"Let me go."

"Now that’s more like it."

A satisfied smile appeared on Yang Qi’s face, and his tone softened. "Remember what you said. The territory of the Two-legged Beasts is no place for you. From now on, stay in your own mountain forest. That’s your home."

"Also, if you run into any Two-legged Beasts in the mountains, as long as they don’t attack you first, you are not to harm them."

"I’ve never harmed a Two-legged Beast," the leopard replied casually.

"I know."

Yang Qi nodded.

He was certain of this. If the leopard had actually hurt someone, the news would have spread long ago, and Luo Kaifeng and the others wouldn’t be handling it this way.

The leopard glanced at Xiaojiu again. Seeing that the cat had no intention of making another move, it asked cautiously,

"Can... can I go now?"

"You can..."

Yang Qi was about to let it go, but as the words were on the tip of his tongue, something occurred to him. An idea sparked, and he asked tentatively, "Wait. Um... do you have a mate around here?"

The leopard: "???"

It lifted its head, its amber eyes filled with bewilderment and confusion as it tilted its head to the side.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.