Chapter 22: Wheat Fields, Misunderstandings, and the “Bear” Truth

Lin Mo looked down to find Mo Jin staring up at her, having woken up at some unknown point. The atmosphere was thick with an awkwardness Lin Mo couldn’t easily escape. Mo Jin remained pillowed on her lap, her expression hazy, eyes slightly rimmed with red, and her lips parted in a way that felt dangerously inviting.

Lin Mo cleared her throat, looking away. “Morning. The weather seems nice today.”

“Is it?” Mo Jin’s voice was raspy, and she showed no intention of moving.

Eventually, Lin Mo had to admit, “My legs are numb. I need to get up and move.” Only then did Mo Jin sit up. As her dark hair brushed against Lin Mo’s skin, the numbness seemed to intensify into a sharp tingle. When Lin Mo finally tried to stand, her knees buckled, and she landed with a heavy thud—kneeling directly in front of Mo Jin.

“Do you need help?” Mo Jin asked, tilting her head.

She’s doing this on purpose, Lin Mo thought, her face burning. “No, I… I actually find kneeling quite comfortable. It’s good to change positions after lying down for so long.”

Mo Jin nodded blandly. “Oh, so you like this position.”

It wasn’t until Mo Jin stepped out of the tent that Lin Mo realized how suggestive that sounded.

The Magic of Harvest

Lin Mo decided to focus on work to distract herself. She spent the morning tilling a small plot of land within the fence to plant wheat. She was tired of a purely carnivorous diet.

Mo Jin watched her. “What are you planting?”

“Wheat,” Lin Mo said proudly. “Once it grows, we’ll have flour.”

“Why wait?” Mo Jin flicked her finger. In the blink of an eye, the seeds sprouted, shot up, flowered, and turned into golden, ripe grain.

Lin Mo was stunned. “That’s incredible! Can I learn that?”

“Do you remember what I taught you last time?” Mo Jin asked.

Lin Mo closed her eyes, gathered the glowing green energy she had sensed before, and funneled it into a seed. It worked! Soon, she was treatng the field like a game of Super Farm, her fingers acting like instant fertilizer.

However, after ripening a whole patch and grinding it into flour with Mo Jin’s help, Lin Mo suddenly felt a wave of dizziness. She leaned against the wall.

“You’ve overused your mental energy,” Mo Jin whispered, her cool fingertips touching Lin Mo’s forehead. The touch was soothing, but it sent Lin Mo’s heart racing for a different reason.

As Lin Mo’s “bamboo” essence responded to the proximity, a sweet, refreshing fragrance filled the air. Mo Jin’s eyes grew misty again—the “bamboo-craving” instinct was kicking in. She leaned closer.

Lin Mo, seizing the chance, stood on her tiptoes and cupped the furry panda head that Mo Jin had shifted into. She gave it a good squeeze. The panda, distracted by the scent of bamboo, didn’t resist the “groping.”

The Mystery of the Poisoned Well

The peaceful moment was broken by a frantic knocking. It was She Bai. “Teacher! Something happened! Many lynxes collapsed after drinking from the well!”

Lin Mo and Mo Jin rushed to the well. One lynx, She Er Hei, was in critical condition—limbs stiff, face turning black.

“I’ll try,” Lin Mo said, applying her newfound healing skills. It helped the color return to his face, but the poison remained. She looked at Mo Jin for help.

Mo Jin stepped forward. With a flick of her finger, purple light threaded into the lynx’s forehead and pulled out a glob of pitch-black essence. When she tossed it onto a nearby plant, the plant withered instantly. “Snake venom,” Mo Jin noted. “The well water is contaminated. You can’t drink from it anymore.”

The village elders were in despair. “Without the well, we have to beg the Lion Tribe for water. But after yesterday’s fight with Shi Tian…”

“Did Shi Tian do this?” Lin Mo wondered. It felt like a high-intelligence move to force a trade, which didn’t fit the “muscle-brained” Shi Tian she knew.

They headed to the Lion Tribe’s territory to confront him. They met Shi Tian halfway, who was leading a group of lions for a “group fight.”

“Shi Tian, did you poison the well?” the Lynx Chief roared.

“I don’t do sneaky things!” Shi Tian huffed, standing atop a rock. “If I want to beat you, I’ll do it to your face!”

Lin Mo poked Shi Tian’s leg with a stick. “Is there anyone else in your tribe? Someone… not a lion?”

Shi Tian paused. “Well, there is a very smart fox. She came to us with a broken leg, saying her own tribe bullied her. We took her in out of pity.”

Lin Mo sighed. These lions were too gullible. She decided to test them. “What a coincidence! I am an orphan with an 80-year-old grandmother and a starving baby to feed. I’m also terminally ill. Can I live in your cave?”

Shi Tian burst into tears. “That’s so sad! You can have my cave!”

Lin Mo facepalmed. “I made that up. I don’t have a baby or a grandma. I was proving a point: don’t believe everything you hear.”

The Vixen’s Scheme

They followed Shi Tian to a lush cave where the fox lived. Inside, they found a charming female fox with heterochromatic eyes (one blue, one purple).

“The poison was me,” the fox admitted shamelessly. “I was helping Shi Tian. He wanted the water, didn’t he? This was the fastest way.”

Shi Tian roared in frustration. “I never asked for this!”

When Lin Mo called her out for polluting the groundwater and harming living things, the fox just laughed. “What does that have to do with me?”

Mo Jin didn’t waste words. With a wave of her hand, she sent the fox tumbling to the ground. “If you can’t speak properly, shut up.”

The fox tried to flee in her beast form, but Mo Jin trapped her in a glowing sphere of spiritual energy. To find the antidote, Shi Tian volunteered to test the fox’s various potions himself. After a grueling process of foaming at the mouth and bleeding from his nose, he finally found the right one.

A Confession of Sorts

As Lin Mo and Mo Jin walked back to their cabin, the silence felt heavy. Lin Mo summoned her courage.

“Mo Jin… have you been avoiding me because you’re angry?”

Mo Jin stopped. Her lashes fluttered. “Why did you comb my fur?”

“Because… it was tangled?” Lin Mo ventured.

Mo Jin remained silent, her aura turning icy. Lin Mo realized she needed a better answer. She blurted out the truth: “Because I like giant pandas. I like combing your fur.”

Mo Jin’s ears turned bright red. Without a word, she turned and hurried toward the cabin, leaving Lin Mo behind.

Inside the cabin, Mo Jin leaned against the door, her heart hammering. She really likes me. She isn’t repulsed by a clumsy bear. She shifted into her panda form and covered her burning face with her paws. She felt bad for leaving Lin Mo outside. She must have worked up so much courage to confess, and I just ran away. She must be hurting.

Mo Jin made a silent vow: Tonight, I won’t sleep on the other side of the ‘galaxy.’ Mates are supposed to sleep together.