"Alright, alright. I know you're the smartest and the most capable," Song Zhan said, agreeing with Si Lu's explanation.
To be honest, what Si Lu said made sense, but they had never imagined that powerful elephant orcs could have such strange natural enemies—and something as small and outrageous as a mouse!
At the same time, they learned what the food chain really was. Everything is connected. They restrain and restrict each other.
"Lulu is still the best," Nance added with a smile.
This experience had been a lesson for him too. He never thought that a mouse could defeat an elephant.
"But don't think the mouse always wins," Si Lu warned. "The mouse dies too because it can't escape. It's more like mutual destruction."
"I just said the mouse can kill an elephant. I never said the mouse wins. If they fight, both will die. The elephant is so big that no matter how much the mouse eats, it can't finish the elephant. Eventually, it'll suffocate inside," Si Lu explained.
"Alright, let's get back to the drawings," she added. "Each of you should draw two pictures of the same animal and mark them."
"I'll help draw too so we can finish faster," Si Lu offered after thinking for a moment.
But before she could start, Cheng Mo and Hei Yao stopped her.
"No, you don't need to do anything. Just tell us what to do, and we'll take care of it. Your skin is too delicate," Cheng Mo said, concerned.
Indeed, Si Lu's skin was far too soft, and he didn't want her to get hurt.
As their mate, it was their job to handle these tasks for her, after all.
"He's right. We don't want you to get hurt. The fish bones are sharp. Let us handle this, and you can relax," Hei Yao added.
"Exactly. You should just sit back and let us handle it," Bai Di said with a frown, agreeing with the others.
"Alright, alright, I knew it would turn out this way," Si Lu shrugged helplessly, giving in.
They were so united in their concern for her that she didn't have much choice but to let them take over.
Since they insisted, she decided to just relax and watch them work.
She grabbed a handful of dried shrimp from her bag and sat back, snacking while watching the guys busy themselves. As hard as they worked, she ate just as enthusiastically.
Meanwhile, Cheng Mo was sitting next to her, patiently carving the bamboo. He had a wind blade at his fingertips, holding the small bamboo plate in one hand while his other hand gracefully moved to carve the designs.
To be honest, it was pretty impressive.
Si Lu stood up and walked over to take a closer look at what they were working on. Some of the animals, like the rabbits and foxes, were based on their own beast forms.
Cheng Mo even drew his own sika deer.
All of them had drawn their own animal forms, and Si Lu didn't interfere, just watching patiently.
Honestly, she hadn't expected them to be so good at drawing.
For their first attempts, the drawings were quite good.
Some were better than others, of course, but overall, you could easily tell which animals they were drawing.
Si Lu didn't have very high expectations, but they exceeded them.
As she watched them working so enthusiastically, she felt even more excited. Once the drawings were done, they'd have a complete food chain! How amazing would that be?
"Lulu, you must be tired from all that walking around. Just sit down. We'll show you the finished animals when we're done," Nance said, feeling a bit shy after being praised by Si Lu.
"Yeah, you've been moving around a lot. You must be getting tired," the big tiger added with a laugh.
"Why don't you sit here? You can lean on my shoulder and take a nap, or just relax and have something to eat," Cheng Mo suggested gently.
"Or you could lean on my tail. It's pretty comfortable," Hei Yao offered.
"I haven't done anything, and you're all worried about me being tired or hungry. You're so busy, but still taking care of me? Don't worry, I'm fine," Si Lu said, rolling her eyes playfully.
"I didn't do any work. How could I be tired? After what you said, I feel like a slacker!" she joked.
"That's not true," Bai Di said seriously. "You're pregnant, so it's naturally more tiring for you. Carrying cubs is the hardest job."
"Alright, alright, I can't argue with you guys," Si Lu said, pretending to glare at Bai Di. Then she sat down next to Hei Yao, reaching out to play with his tail. Hei Yao didn't say anything, letting her play with it as much as she wanted.