Panda Cub – Chapter 70.1

Fierce

As soon as Jing Dan said this, He Ying’s heart skipped a beat. She looked at Jing Dan, seeing the faint smile on her face, and after a moment of silence, she softly asked, “Why is that?”

After Jing Dan’s soul merging, He Ying suddenly felt a bit of distance between them.

“Why is that?” Jing Dan relaxed her body, lazily leaning on He Ying, reaching out to play with her long hair. Her fingertips entwined with the strands, inexplicably reminding He Ying of how she had tightly grasped He Ying’s hair before.

“Do you know how small you were when I picked you up?”

He Ying fell silent, of course she knew. She was just the size of a palm, easily squishable to death with a little force.

The people across the table were a bit puzzled after hearing Jing Dan’s words. How small was she when Jing Dan picked her up? Did Jing Dan pick up He Ying?

Jing Dan glanced at them, holding He Ying and then disappearing from their sight in a flash.

The crowd: “…” Did they interrupt her from speaking?

“Zaizai seems much more composed now.” Jing Li hesitated to speak.

“I think so too.” Jing Shiyue responded after a moment of silence.

“With her like this, will she still be willing to let me hug her in the future?” Jing Li expressed some concern.

“…”

Jing Dan brought He Ying to their second-floor room. He Yuan was not here at the moment, and it was unknown if she had gone back to her room. Jing Dan pressed He Ying onto the bed, looking at He Ying’s eyes from top to bottom, and smiled, saying, “You are mine.”

He Ying: “???”

She couldn’t understand Jing Dan’s words. If this was something the previous Jing Dan would have said, she could understand it as possessiveness. But now, after the soul merging, this statement seemed a bit strange.

After all, the two of them had never been together before, so how could she claim to own her?

Seeing He Ying’s puzzled expression, Jing Dan smiled gently, lowered her head and kissed the corner of her lips, whispering, “I picked you up, I raised you. No matter how many lifetimes, you must be mine.”

Her lips gradually moved down, planting a kiss on He Ying’s throat, her voice growing lighter, “Whether seen as a daughter before or a lover now, you’re all mine anyway.”

He Ying: “…” She never expected the possessiveness from the previous lifetime to be this strong.

She couldn’t help but chuckle to herself for a moment. Just because she was picked up and raised by Jing Dan for a while, does that mean she had to be hers for all eternity? The Jing Dan from the previous lifetime was truly domineering.

She raised her arms to hug Jing Dan’s waist, this time finally able to sound a bit more relaxed. With a smile, she said, “I thought that after your soul merging, you would become distant from me.”

Since knowing the attitude of the soul towards the two of them, she actually had hidden worries in her heart. But she couldn’t stop Jing Dan from undergoing soul merging just because of her concerns. Jing Dan was able to undergo soul merging, with no harm done.

Jing Dan opened her mouth and licked her throat, then raised her head to look at her with soft eyes filled with a gentle smile. Lowering her head affectionately, she rubbed her face against hers and whispered softly, “How could I become distant from you just because of soul merging? That was just a small wisp of soul I separated to mark you, my true self likes you. When that soul returns, it just allows me to understand my past memories, make me more complete, but it won’t affect my feelings.”

He Ying embraced her and asked softly, “What really happened back then?”

Jing Dan lightly kissed He Ying’s ear, seemingly enjoying the intimate feeling. With each kiss, He Ying held her hand tighter.

“That year, I found you in the snow, a tiny, fragile thing that I could have crushed with one hand. But I brought you home, raised you by my side, and watched you get better day by day. I was actually very happy.”

“I’ve lived for too long, long enough for the people in the clan to start calling me ancestor. At that time, I originally wanted to find a place to die, so that this meaningless life could come to an end. But then I found you, and the most interesting part of my life was the time I spent with you.”

Finally, she had someone to accompany her, no longer being alone. She gave up the idea of death and only wanted to raise the little cub she found back to health. However, things didn’t go as planned. She was informed to represent the Panda Clan to ambush the crane spirit who was slaughtering the clan.

The crane spirit had absorbed and refined too many of her own kind, reaching an unimaginable level of strength. She joined forces with people from several other clans to kill the crane spirit at the Chilian Lake, but at the cost of getting severely injured herself.

Before leaving, she had prepared more than enough food for the little cub. Most of the time had already passed, so she had to hurry back. But little did she know, she’ll encounter a lurking black snake halfway.

The black snake targeted her, and the two began to fight. Because of her serious injuries, she was suppressed by the black snake. In order to survive and return, she started burning her own potential to severely wound the black snake, then managed to escape back to her residence.

Jing Dan’s tone started to turn somewhat melancholic as she lay on He Ying. She continued softly, “When I came back, I saw you flapping your wings happily. I was genuinely happy for you, but my life wouldn’t last long.”

The cost of burning potential was equivalent to burning life. She left a piece of soul on He Ying and then sealed her remaining power within He Ying to protect her. Stroking the soft fur of the little cub, she murmured, “You are the one I raised, so I will find you in the next life too!”

She placed He Ying in the spot where she had found her. She had seen a woman searching around here more than once, guessing that she might be the mother of the little cub. However, she didn’t approach her to tell her that she had found the cub, nor did she give her back. The little cub belonged to her.

But now, she had to return the little cub to the woman as she no longer had the ability to continue raising her. She waited nearby, watching the woman appear again to take the little cub away. She breathed a sigh of relief, but what awaited her was endless loneliness.

It is somewhat ironic that she once wanted to die because she had lived too long, but when she no longer wished for death, her life was coming to an end.

She stayed in her home, waiting slowly for the end of her life. There was no sound around her, no sign of the little cub that used to flutter around. She felt that this time, the loneliness was even more severe than usual.

She watched helplessly as her body dissipated little by little, until she no longer existed in this world.

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After listening to Jing Dan’s story, He Ying’s eyes were completely red. She held Jing Dan tightly, not wanting her to see her in this emotional state. But when the words finally came out, her emotions were completely exposed, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

He Ying choked up, apologizing for not being able to be by her side in her final moments, for everything that stemmed from her father, for letting her Jing Xiaodan experience such loneliness.

Jing Dan turned her head and kissed her lips, not letting her apologize, and mumbled, “It’s not your fault.”

Back then, she was just a little cub who could barely even open her eyes. What could she expect from her?

Although Jing Dan said it wasn’t her fault, He Ying’s heart still ached. She really couldn’t bear to think about how Jing Dan felt in their previous life when she dissolved before her eyes in the end. Just thinking about it made her heart ache to the point of having difficulty breathing.

Her Jing Xiaodan should not have lived like that; she should have been surrounded by love and lived happily and freely.

Jing Dan sealed her lips, then gradually deepened the kiss until He Ying was breathless, forcing her to open her watery eyes to look at her before letting her go. Holding her, she murmured, “The past is gone.”

Only the present is real, where she could hold He Ying in her arms, kiss her, already making it a very good thing.

He Ying held her tightly, burying her face in the crook of her neck, suppressing her emotions. She still couldn’t let go.

“Can you be nicer to me in the future, okay?” Jing Dan whispered softly to her.

“How can I be nicer to you?” He Ying looked up at Jing Dan.

Jing Dan smiled gently and leaned down to He Ying’s ear, whispering softly, “At the very least, you can give me an extra bottle of milk today.”

With just a simple sentence, He Ying couldn’t hold back her laughter. She looked at Jing Dan beside her and finally found her familiar Jing Xiaodan. She nodded and replied, “Okay, one extra bottle of milk today.”

Jing Dan pursed her lips and smiled, with a hint of sweetness.

Watching Jing Dan like this, He Ying felt both love and heartache. Holding her without doing anything, simply being quietly by her side, felt good.

However, time always seemed so fleeting. A knocking sound came from the door of the two women, and Jing Dan turned her head to look, the knocking continued persistently.

Her eyebrows slightly drooped, then she turned back to He Ying and whispered softly, “It’s my auntie.”

It seemed like they had stayed upstairs for too long, and their visitors were getting impatient.

“Go out,” He Ying gently patted her back to reassure her.

“Okay,” Jing Dan replied with a hint of reluctance.

“By the way, should we tell them that you are their ancestor?” He Ying remembered. If they didn’t inform them, they would continue searching endlessly.

But if they did tell them…

He Ying glanced at Jing Dan. Jing Dan’s current identity was really awkward. She had gone from being their ancestor to being a junior, not only making her feel uncomfortable but likely causing confusion for Jing Li and the others.

Jing Dan fell silent and finally shook her head, saying, “Let it go. Based on the current situation, they can probably guess that something happened to me. Before long, they won’t continue searching.”

If they were to find out that she had died alone without their knowledge, they would probably feel even more guilty.

“Okay, I’ll trust you,” He Ying chuckled.

They decided to make this matter a secret between the two of them.

Opening the door and seeing the few people standing outside, Jing Dan felt a moment of awkwardness.

She used to see them as juniors, but now they viewed her as the junior…

“Mom, auntie, auntie,” she greeted each of them. Since she had become Jing Li’s daughter in this world, there were certain things she had to accept.

Jing Li looked at her cautiously and then asked softly, “Zaizai, can I still hug you?”

Jing Dan: “…”

Feeling a bit helpless, she looked at Jing Li’s earnest expression and then transformed back to her original form, snuggling into Jing Li’s embrace.

Seeing Jing Li happily holding her in her original form, her face lit up with a bright smile and she resumed her cat-snuggling behavior.

Others: “…”

It’s really getting a bit eye-rolling.

Jing Li hugged Jing Dan and walked towards the first-floor hall, casually smoothing out the tufts of fur on her head while smiling foolishly to herself.

Watching Jing Li like this, He Ying seemed to have a feeling of understanding where Jing Dan got her temperament a bit…

“How was it? Did the soul merging succeed?” Jing Shiyue asked.

Jing Dan looked up at He Yuan, who was already seated in the first-floor hall, and nodded, saying, “With Mom around, of course it was successful!”

With these words, He Yuan’s initially faint expression gradually showed a hint of a smile. She glanced at Jing Dan, then lowered her head with a slight smile, not blaming herself.

She smiled, but Jing Li was stunned. Initially, she was quite happy when she heard Jing Dan call her “Mom,” but upon second thought, wasn’t it He Yuan who had put in the effort? Turning to look at He Yuan, sure enough…

When did they start using this term?!

She looked up at He Ying, feeling very unhappy, and said, “Why is Jing Dan calling her ‘Mom,’ and you’re still calling me ‘Auntie’?”

He Ying: “…”

A hint of embarrassment appeared on her face, and she followed suit, calling out, “Mom.”

Hearing her address her in that way, Jing Li was satisfied, and finally, she reluctantly returned Jing Dan to He Ying.

He Ying, now holding Jing Dan in her original form, smiled gently and gently ruffled her head.

Jing Dan soothingly patted He Ying, as if conveying a message of “Don’t mind, my mom is just like this.”

He Ying couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Now that the soul merging is complete, do you remember the situation from the previous life?” Jing Shiyue asked.

He Ying glanced at Jing Dan, who transformed back to her human form and said, “I don’t remember everything, just bits and pieces. I remember something about the Black Snake.”

Upon hearing this, the members of the Jing family seemed to relax slightly. If Jing Dan truly remembered everything from her past life, they would feel a bit strange.

“What grudge does the Black Snake have towards you that it continues to bother you in this life?”

At the mention of the Black Snake, Jing Dan’s face turned slightly cold as she replied, “It’s just a despicable opportunist. This time, it will never have a chance again.”

In the previous life, even when she was seriously injured, she was able to harm its spiritual core. Now that she has recovered, it is no longer her equal.

Thinking about this, she turned to look at He Ying, reached out and held her hand tightly. Likewise, she would no longer allow He Ying to be harmed while she could only helplessly watch and do nothing.

Now, it was her turn to protect He Ying.

He Ying looked back at her, giving her a gentle smile.

“If it’s not possible, you must tell Mom!” Jing Li said sternly.

Last time, the two of them sneaked off to the Gulong Mountain Range before she scolded them.

“Mom, how could I not be able to handle it!” Jing Dan also said seriously.

If you say she couldn’t handle it before, she admits it, but if you say she can’t handle it now, she will never admit it!

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