Chapter 29: Time for a Paw Wash

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

When Lu Yao opened his personal AI assistant, he saw a message from Zhao Minghe sent just a few minutes earlier. It said the snow leopard’s follow-up check had been completed and everything was normal. He would be returning the snow leopard to the base.

Lu Yao pinched the snow leopard’s mouth, just like one would pinch a duck’s beak. His whiskers trembled, ears perked, and he blinked at him innocently. After a moment, Lu Yao released his hold and smoothed the messy fur on the snow leopard’s cheeks. He tapped the animal’s forehead with his fingers, then lay back down and exhaled.

Seeing this, the snow leopard settled at the side of Lu Yao’s bed and began to purr softly. Only his long tail remained raised, the fluffy tip curling into Lu Yao’s palm. The white fur on the underside brushed against his skin.

Zhou Yunchen thought that Lu Yao probably needed a little more rest. Suddenly, the snow leopard’s tail was yanked sharply. Startled by the sudden tug, the snow leopard leapt off the ground, slammed into the ceiling—bam!

Lu Yao, leveraging the motion to sit up, was just as shocked. The two stared at each other wide-eyed, Lu Yao still clutching the stiff tail tip. They froze like that for a moment before the snow leopard cautiously approached him again. Lu Yao returned the tail. The snow leopard let out a soft ah-woo and grabbed his own tail tip in his mouth.

Lu Yao got ready to leave the infirmary. As he stood, he held the snow leopard’s leash in one hand and the medicine prescribed by the doctor in the other. The moment he opened the door, a face full of worry and enthusiasm collided with his. His heart skipped a beat. He suspected that if he were the snow leopard, he probably would have rocketed straight into the ceiling.

“Chief Engineer Lu!” Li Yan stepped forward. “Are you feeling okay?”

The snow leopard moved forward, baring his fangs, muscles in his back and limbs taut as if he could strike at any second.

“I’m fine,” Lu Yao said, holding the leash firmly.

Li Yan had clearly noticed the massive feline. He bent down, attempting to interact. “Is this your pet? It’s beautiful—I’ve never seen anything like it. Is it an intelligent mechanical animal?” Li Yan reached out toward the snow leopard.

The snow leopard opened his mouth slowly, lowly growling, the muscles around his face and brow compressing, displaying the ferocity of a predator. Intelligent mechanical animals came with preset personalities. Not every one was docile—it depended entirely on the owner’s preferences. But they were programmed never to attack humans.

Li Yan, unconcerned about being bitten, still smiled. Lu Yao frowned at his naïve expression. “Don’t touch him,” he said.

No one knew whether he was speaking to Li Yan or to the snow leopard. Still, since Lu Yao had spoken, Li Yan hesitated to get any closer. He rubbed his nose. “Do you like animals? I do, too, though I mostly raise dogs. They’re lively, affectionate, and friendly with strangers. Chief Engineer Lu, would you like to meet them?”

Looking at Li Yan’s earnest expression, Lu Yao finally understood why he always felt something was off about the boy. He was like a silly dog—so oblivious that even after being rebuffed, he’d continue moving closer, wagging his tail, pawing at a stranger’s knees, begging for attention.  Lu Yao had no patience for dogs. He only liked cats. “No, thank you,” Lu Yao said.

Ordinary people, faced with Lu Yao’s cold expression, would typically shut up immediately. But Li Yan’s thought process was far from ordinary. He followed Lu Yao, describing the three dogs he raised—Golden Retriever, Bernese Mountain Dog, and Old English Sheepdog.

It wasn’t until the snow leopard let out an angry roar that Li Yan finally stopped. Researchers and technicians passing by froze, stunned by the fierce large cat. Lu Yao pulled on the leash. “He’s probably hungry. I’ll take him back to eat first.”

“Okay, okay… goodbye,” Li Yan muttered, still a little dazed. Lu Yao moved like the wind as he left. After a brief meeting with several technical departments to assign tasks for improving the gravity system’s efficiency, he wrapped up his work for the day. Before leaving, Deus-controlled cargo robots loaded several large metal crates onto Lu Yao’s vehicle, filling both the trunk and back seat. The snow leopard had no choice but to curl up on the passenger seat.

Lu Yao stroked his ears. Once the vehicle took off, he rolled down a section of the window, letting the wind rush in.

The snow leopard sat upright, the gusts tossing the long fur on his head and cheeks like a silvery-white dandelion dancing in the wind. The setting sun bathed the land and mountains in pink, making the air almost palpable. Beyond the peaks, the shaded sides of the ridges cast cold, dark shadows.

Flying toward the hilltop villa, the grass grew denser. Lu Yao noticed the snow leopard staring out the window, his pale gray eyes reflecting the rosy light. He adjusted the controls and lowered the craft. The metallic vehicle roared close to the ground, the jet of exhaust leaving long streaks across the grasslands. The snow leopard pressed his nose to the glass, leaving a wet, heart-shaped mark.

“Do you want to run?” Lu Yao asked. The hilltop villa’s force field enclosed an area nearly the size of a soccer field. For a snow leopard used to racing across highland snowfields, it was still too small. At home, the snow leopard hadn’t shown anxiety, but Lu Yao knew he longed to run across the open plains. He turned his head to look at him. Lu Yao held the leash. “Shall we go?”

The snow leopard blinked at his hand. Lu Yao’s eyes brightened. He began descending and slowing the craft, stopping two kilometers from a low hill. After helping the snow leopard out, he switched the craft to autopilot and let him follow from behind.

He guided the animal, pointing toward the hilltop villa in the sunset. “We’ll head that way… home.”

Home… The snow leopard took a few steps along the road, the leash stretching taut as his shadow, elongated by the setting sun, followed behind. Suddenly, he stopped and glanced back at Lu Yao, who had remained motionless. The soft glow of dusk fell across his chiseled profile.

“Mee-oo—” The snow leopard shook his ears, scattering strands of golden sunlight.

Lu Yao stepped forward a few paces, shrugged off his coat, draping it over his arm, and broke into a light jog. The leash pulled taut, and the snow leopard surged ahead. Within seconds, he had overtaken him, and suddenly it felt as if Lu Yao was being dragged along by the great cat through the sunset.

They ran along the road at first, but soon the snow leopard veered off, guiding him into a pink-and-green grassland. The earth was soft and damp, and the fragrant scent of water-laden grass filled the air. In the distance, the sea sparkled along the horizon. The long wind rolled off its surface, sweeping over the grasslands and up toward the mountain peaks.

The snow leopard pulled Lu Yao all the way to the base of a low hill. He wanted to scramble up through the forest, but Lu Yao, panting heavily, couldn’t keep up and took the elevator instead. When the elevator doors opened, Lu Yao saw the familiar snow leopard in his usual spot, sitting patiently. Before he could even gesture for him to come or scratch behind his head, the lightness in his heart suddenly stiffened.

The snow leopard’s eyes were wide and fixed on him. He watched as Lu Yao’s flushed, post-run expression hardened into icy seriousness. His tail, previously swishing, froze mid-air.

What had happened? Lu Yao’s eyes followed the trail behind the snow leopard—from the hallway and reception area out to the courtyard—muddy paw prints smeared across the floor. His heart sank.

The snow leopard, sitting innocently, swished his thick tail, unintentionally wiping the muddy paw prints into a mess. The soft white fur under his tail was stained brown, clumps of dried mud falling off in bits. Lu Yao pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to contain his temper. But the snow leopard’s wide-eyed, innocent panic defeated him completely.

He crouched down, cupping the snow leopard’s cheeks and rubbing vigorously, forcing the animal’s head around. “Look at the mess you made. Do you think the cleaning robot will start screaming at you?”

“Woo…” If it were one of Lu Yao’s cleaning robots, it certainly would. Zhou Yunchen still remembered two years ago, when he returned home. Lu Yao had been modifying the household robots, and Mo Feng had come over to discuss work—“helpfully” tweaking the robots’ intelligence levels and voice programs.

Surprisingly, Lu Yao had kept Mo Feng’s eccentric settings intact, letting the household robots occasionally shriek or squeak coquettishly. Sure enough, a cylindrical cleaning robot rolled over. “Bad kitty! Bad kitty! You dirtied the floor~”

Lu Yao sighed. Before the snow leopard could react, he scooped him up with both hands, cradling his belly. “Mee-oo? Awooo—”

“All right. Let’s give the robot some space.”

At first, the snow leopard’s back pressed against Lu Yao, hind legs dangling, tail brushing the floor like a long strip. Lu Yao freed one hand, adjusting his hold so the animal rested comfortably in his arms, paws up, muddy paw pads exposed.

The long tail still dangled dangerously, only three centimeters from the ground. An adult snow leopard’s weight challenged Lu Yao’s strength, but using a leverage-style “princess carry” made it much easier. The snow leopard stared at his paws, bewildered. His tail swayed in the wind, eyes wide, yet all he could see was the graceful line of Lu Yao’s jaw.

Lu Yao could even hear his own accelerated heartbeat and breath. The snow leopard’s whiskers brushed against his cheek, making it itch. He pressed his face gently against the side of the animal’s head, holding the whiskers down.

Lu Yao carried the snow leopard to the open-air bathroom facing the courtyard. A sunken bathtub big enough for five or six people sat on a stone patio, open to wind and sunlight. He set the snow leopard down and waved his hand. A showerhead descended automatically from the dome into his grasp. Another wave brought a chair floating over.

He sat down, removed his shoes and socks, and extended his hand toward the snow leopard. “Paw.”

The snow leopard obediently placed his paw in his hand. The paw was almost larger than Lu Yao’s hand—thick, furry, and soft yet springy. He couldn’t resist kneading it a few times. The sensitive touch made the fur on the animal’s back bristle, but he finally stopped and turned the paw over under running water.

He rinsed away the mud with warm water, massaging the rough pads and cleaning out dirt caught in the crevices. One paw finished, he reached for the next.

“You’re such a good, water-loving boy,” Lu Yao said. The snow leopard buried his face into his chest fur. The more Lu Yao praised him, the less courage Zhou Yunchen had to think about how he would eventually reveal the truth to Lu Yao.

After cleaning all four paws, there was still mud on the tail. Since the snow leopard had been sitting, water pooled on the ground, soaking the remaining fur. Lu Yao thought for a moment and ordered his AI to deliver the full cat fur care kit he had bought earlier. He intended to give the snow leopard a complete bath.

As the household robot rolled the care kit over, the snow leopard looked back at him curiously. A warm splash of water hit his face.

Author’s Note:

Is he really a water-loving boy? You’ll find out after a bath!

 

 

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