The intelligence of the cheetah was equivalent to that of a ten-year-old child, but it still couldn't fathom Zhou Quchuan's thoughts.
In fact, it had been summoned by Zhou Quchuan using a special sound last night.
Since their first encounter, when it had been scared off by his imposing aura, Zhou Quchuan had found it and beaten it up without question.
Confused, the cheetah succumbed to his demands after Zhou Quchuan asked if it would submit to him. Zhou Quchuan then had the cheetah stay on the outskirts of the area until calling it over last night.
After they easily dealt with a group of weak invaders, Zhou Quchuan instructed it to show a docile and friendly side in front of the woman, even maliciously pretending to be stupid and cute, so that she could accept it and get used to its presence.
Honestly, the cheetah resisted at first when Zhou Quchuan said this. It felt shameful that a powerful mutant beast like itself had to flatter a weak human, but under Zhou Quchuan's threatening gaze, it had to submit.
Seeing its compliance, Zhou Quchuan patted its head and injected a "qi" into its body, instantly making it feel refreshed and healing any lingering ailments in its body from a young age.
Delighted, the cheetah listened to him say that as long as it obeyed, he would occasionally inject it with such "qi," helping it eliminate hidden maladies and become powerful. He also promised to protect it, ensuring that no other mutant beast in the world could bully it.
Under the coercion and temptation of this formidable man, the cheetah finally cooperated with him in staging the morning's drama. Although it couldn't act, it didn't speak, so Zhao Lian couldn't discern anything from its facial expressions, right?
But after that, the cheetah was somewhat puzzled. In fact, the wolf king who had come to provoke them had serious internal injuries, which the cheetah noticed shortly after their scuffle.
At the end, although the wolf king appeared ready to die together, he had only scratched the cheetah's hind leg, while the cheetah had smacked his stomach, causing him to suffer internal injuries and fall.
With its strength, the cheetah had naturally noticed that the wolf king was carrying two wolf cubs, but in the instant the wolf king fell, the cheetah heard Zhou Quchuan's message in its mind, forbidding it from attacking further.
Then came the moment when Zhao Lian bandaged its wounds and the wolf king entrusted his cubs to Zhou Quchuan.
Could this be the so-called "needle in the sea"? The cheetah had heard more than once from other mutant beasts about the cunning and sly nature of humans. It seemed that no matter how smart and powerful a mutant beast was, it couldn't match human cunning.
It appeared that things were indeed this way, just as the cheetah couldn't understand why such a powerful male, like Zhou Quchuan, would choose a weak and pitiful female as a partner.
Indeed, in the cheetah's heart, Zhao Lian was Zhou Quchuan's partner. Otherwise, why would Zhou Quchuan put so much effort into "pleasing" Zhao Lian?
Because it believed that Zhao Lian was Zhou Quchuan's partner, the cheetah was more willing to please her. After all, she could be considered its "mistress," couldn't she?
In nature, the weak submit to the strong, as well as to the strong's partner or child; this is a very normal thing.
Snorting, the cheetah felt as if it had exhausted its thinking for a lifetime with its recent musings. It then saw the woman, after soothing the wolf cubs, come to its side and carefully bandage its wounds.
Even though the wound looked awful, it didn't really affect the cheetah; it had suffered more serious injuries before, but as long as it licked them continuously, its saliva, which had strong antibacterial properties, would heal them.
The cheetah didn't quite understand why the woman looked so serious and gentle, as if it had suffered a serious injury; she kept saying to the cheetah, "It's okay, you will definitely be okay; it will heal quickly after disinfection."
Of course, it was okay, the cheetah thought. As it gazed into Zhao Lian's careful movements, it felt a strange emotion—when it was still a cub, its mother had died from serious injuries while hunting, and it had never been "cared for" like this.
Surprisingly, the feeling was quite nice.
Snorting again, the cheetah squinted and lowered its head, occasionally emitting an almost inaudible purring from its throat.
Zhou Quchuan stood by, watching Zhao Lian carefully bandage the cheetah's wounds, a faint smile on his face. He knew the cheetah's doubts, and, in fact, the recent battle between the two beasts had been orchestrated by him.
The purpose of this was mainly to make it easier for Zhao Lian to accept the cheetah, and at the same time, to act as a bodyguard for her and allow him to conceal his strength, making their survival easier in this winter.
After spending several days with Zhao Lian, he had determined that she did indeed possess a strange trait that could bring him inner peace and accelerate his cultivation speed. He didn't know if it had this effect on other ability users, but for him, it was an unexpected delight.
Since he had realized this, the woman in his heart immediately became a "great treasure," of course, not the kind between lovers, but a rare treasure.
In order to spend more time with her in this place, and to make her feel at ease, keeping her from thinking about leaving all the time, he had gone to great lengths.
Of course, the plan to have the cheetah act as her bodyguard and help her feel at ease was something he had planned early on, but he hadn't expected a group of troublemakers to arrive, pushing the plan into action ahead of schedule.
He had never expected the mutant wolf king, whom he had crossed paths with in the past, to end up in the vicinity after his pack was destroyed, sensing his aura and finding him here.
Even without the battle between the cheetah and the wolf, the wolf king would not have lasted more than three to five days.
Having rescued the wolf king on previous occasions, he was aware of the terror of his power. Therefore, he entrusted his two cubs to him.
However, Zhou Quchuan was not one to do good deeds without seeking repayment. Since the wolf king had sought his help and wouldn't last for long, he had planned the battle between the wolf and the cheetah to further cement the impression in Zhao Lian's mind that the cheetah was a trustworthy partner, while also allowing her to take in the two cubs.
After all, he was really bad at taking care of children.
Moreover, considering the strength of the wolf king, it was highly likely that the two cubs would also become mutant beasts in the future, so he had provided this powerless woman with two bodyguards.
After this winter, once he had digested the insights from the battle with the lava blast dragon, he would tell Zhao Lian the truth and then send her to the New River Base.
Ensuring her safety all the way, and figuring out what she would like to do in the New Chuandu base when the time comes, arranging for it, could also be considered as repaying her for the help she provided him in his practice during this time.
When the two wolf pups matured, whether they wanted to stay by Zhao Lian's side or return to the wilderness to seek revenge on the murderer who had killed their entire family, that would be their own affair. He had only promised the Wolf King to take care of the two cubs until they reached adulthood.
Zhao Lian had no idea what Zhou Quchuan was thinking, and she had no idea that she was being fooled by the man and the beast in front of her.
After bandaging the cheetah's wounds, she saw it try to stand up, and she firmly patted its head to make it lie back down, saying seriously, "Don't move for now! The wound might reopen later!"
The cheetah: "…"
It instinctively glanced at Zhou Quchuan, seeing that he was indifferent to the woman's actions, even smiling on his face, and thought to itself: If it weren't for the leader's sake, it would have definitely slapped this woman flat, how dare she pat its head!
Seeing Zhao Lian let the cheetah lose face, looking like she dared to be angry but did not dare to speak, Zhou Quchuan found it quite amusing and lightly coughed, saying, "I've heard that mutant beasts have strong recovery abilities, and it's not possible for it to lie here and let us take care of it all the time. Trust me, you can't afford to feed it with its appetite."
"I know, I'm sorry, I was just anxious for a moment." Zhao Lian said somewhat apologetically. This cheetah had saved them twice, and this time it was injured because it had blocked the Wolf King's attack. Otherwise, she and Achuan would have died long ago.
Although she didn't know why this mutant cheetah was so close to the two of them, after the previous incidents, she had already regarded the cheetah as a companion.
The cheetah shook its tail, stood up, limped over to the nearby pickup truck, then lay down, looking like it was going to take a nap on the truck.
Zhao Lian picked up the two little wolf cubs from the mother wolf's corpse and placed them next to the cheetah. The cheetah looked at the two still deeply asleep, completely unaware and without a sense of alertness, with a golden look in its eyes, let out two grunts from its throat as a protest, then turned its head, and continued to doze off.