Forced To Adopt Retired Military Dog Orc Chapter 10
byChapter 10: Can’t We Sleep Together? Awoo! Woof woof woof…
Si Jiu decided to give Ran Lie one more chance to choose.
“Sofa or bed, you can only pick one.” Si Jiu couldn’t help but yawn lightly. He turned his head; the large dog currently squatting on the sofa bed was watching him intently, a hint of eager anticipation flashing in its eyes.
Hey, what are you anticipating?!
When he raised puppies on Yalan Star, the family strictly forbade naughty dogs from getting on the bed. Dogs were required to sleep in soft dog beds in the living room, and any dog caught sneaking onto Si Jiu’s bed would be disciplined with a slipper swat to the backside.
However, considering that Ran Lie was no ordinary dog, sleeping together was even more out of the question!
“How about I choose first?” Si Jiu slowly walked toward his bed, only to hear a “whoosh.” The dark brown figure swept past like the wind, and the large dog on the sofa had already landed swiftly on the bed, one step ahead of him.
“Woof woof woof. Woof woof woof woof woof!”
—”This one, your scent is stronger here!” The large dog paced back and forth on the bed, which was covered with a gray-blue sheet, burying its black muzzle deep into the fabric folds, letting out a satisfied whimper from its throat.
The guest sleeps on the bed, and he sleeps on the sofa, just as expected.
Si Jiu nodded and returned to the sofa bed that was temporarily serving as his sleeping spot.
He fell asleep quickly—it usually took no more than two minutes from turning off the light until his breathing became steady and even. But this sleep was very light, like a film of oil floating on water, easily broken by any subtle sound. Footsteps in the apartment corridor, the scraping of branches outside the town window, or even the trajectory of the moonlight would make him instantly open his eyes.
The police sirens the day before had constantly disturbed his sweet dreams.
And once his eyes opened, there was never the blurriness of just waking up, only clear, alert light.
This was a habit ingrained in his bones from living for over ten years on the decaying Yalan Star after the explosion. In the ruins filled with radiation dust and rampant mutations, he learned how to fall asleep quickly to secure precious recovery time for his body; he also learned how to instantly wake up and flee in the first second before danger arrived.
Those who survived had to know how to turn every minute of sleep into stored energy and every startling wake-up into instinct.
Eat well, sleep well, and then live! Live with all your might, only by living…
Even after moving to the orderly and relatively peaceful Beastman Planet, this memory etched into his nerves never faded. Even if Si Jiu forced himself not to recall the painful memories of Yalan Star, the habit still followed him like a shadow. Just like now, in the pocket of his plain pajamas, just like the pocket of the white nurse uniform he wore daily, he always kept one item.
The item was thin but very sharp, fitting perfectly hidden in his palm. He never used it lightly.
It was only when he first met Ran Lie that he subconsciously reached for that pocket…
Suddenly, Si Jiu opened his eyes. His hand was already firmly gripping the item in his pocket. He felt something in his arms, nudging and moving—
His keen intuition told him that the other party meant no harm, so the item in his pocket was not drawn out and pressed against a neck.
This fellow’s behavior of burrowing into his arms was indeed a bit dishonest, but the paws pawing at his pajamas were relatively well-behaved. Wait, where are you touching!
“Slap!” Si Jiu shot up into a sitting position and immediately turned on the light.
“Woof?” The large dog, which was trying hard to burrow into his arms, remained lying on its side on the sofa bed under the light. It looked up without any sign of guilt, instead staring with round, black-gold eyes, revealing an innocent, slightly confused expression.
“Ran Lie, what are you doing?” Si Jiu frowned. Was it illegal to swat a dog’s backside with a slipper on the Beastman Planet?
“Woof woof, awoo, woof woof woof!”
—”I told you, where you sleep, I sleep!” With its neck held high and its tail wagging, it lay on the sofa bed as if staging a deliberate accident, making it seem like it was the one in the right.
“…” Si Jiu told himself that the other party was just a dog, after all, and he should be tolerant of dogs. But then he thought, this guy was a member of the Beastman military before. Could it be that continuous Beast Form Transformation had led to a decline in intelligence, making his behavior infinitely close to a Pure Beast Species canine? No, the intelligence of Pure Beast Species on the Beastman Planet was not low; he shouldn’t slander them like that.
Could it be that he was afraid of the dark? Afraid of loneliness? A dog afraid to sleep alone?
Impossible. He clearly slept very soundly in the VIP ward at the sanatorium and never requested someone to stay up with him.
And today, he was capable of fighting You Zhi in a biting and brawling battle for eight hundred rounds, and then intimidating the Goat Beastman at the apartment front desk, causing the old goat to perform a century-level face-change from arrogance to deference. And now he’s telling me he’s afraid to sleep alone?!
Si Jiu’s hands were itching. Even if he didn’t use the item in his pocket, looking at the slippers on the floor made him restless.
“Woof woof, woof woof woof woof, awoo…”
—”You can’t leave me over there and ignore me…” Seeing Si Jiu’s expression darken, those eyes that always smiled but held a certain distance seemed instantly and surprisingly cold. Ran Lie’s barking slowly weakened.
His proud head was still stubbornly raised, but his two front paws nervously tucked inward, and from deep in his throat came intermittent, broken “awoo… awoo…” sounds, as if he had truly become a helpless puppy cruelly pushed away by its owner and left in the wind and rain.
“Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear before.” Si Jiu sighed, his expression helpless but still gentle, though his slightly raised tone clearly expressed his displeasure. “I always sleep alone, so, according to our previous agreement, please respect my habits, Mr. Ran!”
Ran Lie froze at that moment, his eyes looking very hurt.
He twisted his muscular body and silently jumped off the sofa bed.
Si Jiu sat on the sofa bed, pointing to the bed not far away, his voice softening slightly: “Go to sleep quickly. I have to get up early for work tomorrow.” Can’t you just be a little obedient?!
But Ran Lie did not return to the bed. He lay down on the floor right next to the low sofa bed, parallel to it.
“Woof, woof woof, woof?”
—”I’ll just sleep here, is that okay?” In the dog’s eyes, a large part was the grievance of feeling misunderstood, yet it also carried a weak plea. His slender dog tail lightly swept the floor, occasionally touching Si Jiu’s instep, tickling him.
“Ran Lie, you…” Si Jiu finally burst into laughter, exasperated by the large dog.
“Woof woof woof, woof!”
—”Ha, you’re not angry anymore?!” The large dog slightly raised its head, baring its teeth, the corners of its mouth curving into an arc, like a cautious probe.
Si Jiu got up, retrieved the thin blanket from the bed not far away, and gently covered Ran Lie with it. Then he climbed back onto the sofa bed, choosing to compromise as he whispered, “Let’s leave it at this for now. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
“Woof, awoo.”
—”Si Jiu.” After the lights were turned off, the large dog’s eyes on the floor were like dazzling black obsidian in the darkness, flashing with a golden sheen. He watched the human on the sofa bed intently.
“Hmm?” Lying down, Si Jiu could easily turn his head and see Ran Lie by the bed.
“Awoo.”
—”Good night.” The large dog’s bark was very soft, and even the translation was tinged with warmth.
Ah, how long had it been since someone said good night to him? Five years? Ten years? Or even longer ago… Si Jiu was momentarily speechless, unable to open his mouth to reply with a good night.
Perhaps it was because those who had once exchanged good nights with him were all gone. That felt too unlucky.
That night, Si Jiu had a dream. He dreamed of Yalan Star before the explosion, he dreamed of his mother and father, and the cute little dog he once had. The puppy wagged its tail and barked “Woof woof” at him.
You little bad dog who bit me, you still remember to come back. Hmph, I won’t forgive you that easily!
“Woof woof woof!” Hugging the puppy that burrowed into his arms, Si Jiu lightly swatted its backside, still feeling a bit annoyed.
“Where did you run off to later? Why couldn’t I find you?! What kind of behavior is running away after making a mistake? You stupid dog, you don’t even remember the way home. Now look, we don’t even have a home anymore!”
The dark brown puppy’s tail wagged furiously, and it kept sticking out its tongue to lick Si Jiu’s cheek.
“Stop licking, stupid dog. Do you even remember your own name?” Gently and unceremoniously lifting the puppy by the scruff of its neck, Si Jiu looked into those black and yellow, amber-like eyes. “Do you still recognize me, your owner?”
“Woof woof woof! Woof woof woof!” The puppy couldn’t speak, but it was happy just looking at Si Jiu, wagging its tail non-stop.
A small name tag hung around the dog’s neck.
It read…
“Stop licking…” The puppy in the dream was licking his face with reckless enthusiasm.
Opening his eyes, his cheek was indeed being licked. A giant black-muzzled dog face was right in front of him.
It was Ran Lie. He must have woken up at the first lick. Si Jiu’s hand still reached into his pocket—habits were truly terrifying.
“Stop licking me, Ran Lie.” Si Jiu raised his other hand, pushed the large dog away, and sat up from the sofa bed. Ran Lie wasn’t just a simple dog; being licked always made him feel violated.
“Woof woof woof.”
—”You were crying.” Ran Lie slowly backed away, following Si Jiu’s wishes, and finally squatted quietly on the floor beside him.
Is that so? Crying?
Si Jiu raised a hand to touch his face. He couldn’t quite tell if it was tears or the large dog’s saliva.
Had he cried? Why would he cry? So he could still cry, huh. There was nothing sad in the dream, after all.
“Just a dream.” Stretching, Si Jiu clapped his hands over his face to wake himself up and completely detach from the dream. Then he glanced at the time on his phone and smiled at the large dog, whose eyes were filled only with his reflection. “It’s just dawn. You’re more punctual than the alarm clock. Come on, let’s do your exclusive healing treatment first, and then—brush teeth, wash face, and make breakfast.”
“Woof woof woof, woof!”
—”Breakfast! What are we eating?!” The large dog seemed to sense that Si Jiu didn’t want to dwell on the dream. He became excited on the floor, then hopped a few steps and jumped onto the sofa bed without hesitation.
Since he was up early, breakfast could be a little more elaborate.
However, when he thought about Ran Lie saying he would escort him to work after breakfast…
“Are you really going to the sanatorium with me?” Si Jiu suddenly had a bad feeling about what would happen when he started working…
“Woof woof!”
—”Of course!” This answer, paired with Ran Lie’s sharply defined, handsome face and his head held high in disdain, was utterly domineering.