The great foolish bear studied Ziqing, growing more and more puzzled the longer it looked.

Just now, this monster had seemed to be talking with the top-tier poison beasts. Though it hadn’t understood the words, it knew they’d been speaking.

Could this monster be a top-tier poison beast too? But then why was her blood different from theirs? She’d seemed so powerful just now, and she’d saved it, hadn’t she?

Could she be even stronger than a top-tier poison beast?

The great foolish bear let out a disbelieving low growl and quickly backed further away, filled suddenly with awe toward Ziqing!

Heavens, it had wanted to eat her bite by bite earlier — how could it have had such a terrible thought!

Thinking this, the great foolish bear, overcome with guilt, backed away yet another large step, no longer minding its grudge over the honey.

Recalling what had just happened, the great foolish bear’s fur trembled uncontrollably all over — it couldn’t believe it had actually had the nerve to fight two top-tier poison beasts! Had its head broken?

Just thinking about it in hindsight terrified it. It cautiously crept a little closer to Ziqing, thinking to itself that this monster seemed to have saved its life.

It just didn’t dare get too close, only watching from a distance.

Time slipped by — a full day and night passed, and still Ziqing hadn’t woken.

Throughout that day and night, the great foolish bear truly didn’t move at all, watching over Ziqing without blinking.

It kept wrestling with one question: would this creature die?

Her wounds weren’t light, were they?

Should it go over and check on her, try to save her?

But she was even stronger than a top-tier poison beast — what if she woke up wanting revenge?

But then again, hadn’t she clearly saved it before?

The great foolish bear was caught in an inner struggle, and time slipped by again — another full day and night.

Finally, the great foolish bear made up its mind. This creature had saved it before, after all — it couldn’t just stand by and let her die. Even beasts had to have some sense of honor.

Having convinced itself, the great foolish bear slowly crawled over. This time, it wasn’t greedy the way it had been before — instead it lay down carefully beside Ziqing, docile as a pet.

Only once it lay down beside her did it truly grasp, by comparison, just how enormous it was, and how small Ziqing was.

Lying next to her, it was like a mountain — able to shield her from wind and rain.

It sniffed carefully, and aside from the smell of blood from her wounds, it caught no scent of death. Once it confirmed Ziqing wasn’t dead, the great foolish bear began licking her.

This lick was completely different from before — before, it had simply been licking the blood clean; this time, it was treating her wounds.

A poison beast’s saliva could heal wounds — not only disinfecting them but helping them close quickly.

The great foolish bear was thoroughly diligent about it, not missing a single visible wound, working away with dedicated focus. A full two hours later, it had finally cleaned every trace of blood from Ziqing’s body and tended to every visible wound.

Ziqing looked far cleaner now.

The great foolish bear lay beside her, staring unblinking at her pale little face, puzzled — why was it that, being the same kind of beast, this one was so good-looking?

Noticing Ziqing’s lips were dry, the great foolish bear turned to fetch water — but the moment it moved, pain shot up from its leg. It hurt so badly!

In the fight with Howling Hare and Henggong Fish earlier, it had taken a serious blow to the chest, and its leg had been hurt too.

Looking back, it saw great patches of dried blood matting its own snow-white fur. But the fastidious bear, usually so particular about cleanliness, paid it no mind, instead hobbling deep into the cave. Before long it hobbled back, one paw dragging along the ground, the other cradling a small water jar.

Setting the jar down, it dipped its great paw into the water, then pressed its dripping wet hand to Ziqing’s lips. But unfortunately, its paw was simply too big — the water didn’t just flow into Ziqing’s mouth, it splashed all over her face too!

Seeing this, the great foolish bear seemed rather embarrassed, letting out an “Ohhh,” and clumsily lifted the water jar with both paws to Ziqing’s mouth. But no matter how it fussed, the water simply wouldn’t flow into her mouth.

Growing anxious, the great foolish bear suddenly tilted the jar too far, and all the cold water spilled out at once, running down along Ziqing’s neck and into her clothes!

Terrified, the great foolish bear buried its head and began licking frantically, its mouth working from her collar downward — and just then, Ziqing, jolted awake by the icy cold sensation, opened her eyes to see the great foolish bear’s intrusive behavior. Too shocked even to scream, she gripped Liuguang and stabbed viciously into the bear’s shoulder!

“Roooowl!”

The great foolish bear reared its head back, howling in agony. Ziqing gripped her dagger tightly, pointing it at the bear, finally finding her voice, and roared furiously, “Stay back, or I’ll kill you!”

The great foolish bear scrambled backward at once, meaning no harm at all, one great paw pressed to the wound on its shoulder, still retreating several more steps.

Ziqing, still shaken, had assumed this bear was friendly — but…

She couldn’t help but recall those few words she’d seen in Yelu Chenyi’s hidden chamber, words that would haunt her for the rest of her life.

Though, in the great foolish bear’s eyes, Ziqing at this moment seemed even more terrifying than Zizhu, the fiercest top-tier beast in the world of poison beasts, Ziqing herself knew that right now she was nothing more than a helpless little rabbit for the taking.

She had no strength left at all. Whatever great feats she was capable of, she couldn’t manage them now — unless she was willing to throw everything aside and resort to the most primitive method, using her own teeth to fight these beasts tooth and claw.

But if it came to that, what difference would there be between her and a wild beast?

And yet, even so, she was determined to hold on. Staring at the enormous creature before her, Ziqing couldn’t help but grind her teeth.

But to her surprise, the great foolish bear didn’t come any closer. Instead it let out a few low, trembling whimpers and lay down, cowering.

Even lying down, it was still enormous — yet its gaze was reverent, as though, though looking down at Ziqing, it were actually gazing up at a deity.

What was going on?

Ziqing didn’t understand. The great foolish bear even lowered its head all the way, its long snout pressed flat to the ground, the very picture of an apology.

Yes — the great foolish bear was apologizing.

It thought that by spilling water on Ziqing, it had made her angry.

Ordinarily, first-tier poison beasts felt an instinctive awe toward top-tier poison beasts — the most primal instinct of any animal.

And with Ziqing having just driven off two top-tier poison beasts, the great foolish bear genuinely believed she was extraordinarily powerful.

Ziqing had no idea what the great foolish bear was actually thinking; she couldn’t make sense of its submission at all.

To her surprise, the great foolish bear scooped up the small water jar again, brought it to its mouth — but instead of drinking, it poured the rest of the water all over its own body, then, looking thoroughly panicked, began frantically licking itself dry.

Once done, it lay back down obediently, whimpering pitifully at Ziqing.

Ziqing looked down at her own soaked clothes, then at the small jar, and finally understood what had happened.

She’d misjudged this great foolish bear.

Seeing that Ziqing’s expression was still stern, the great foolish bear whimpered a few more times, then, to her horror, grabbed the small water jar again and smashed it straight against its own head!

Startled, Ziqing cried out, “Don’t!”