Deep affection knows no origin; remember the polar bear's love for you.

Chapter 49 Sleep
Guo Mi divided the seal meat into three portions, and the two bear cubs hugged their portions and ate them with relish.

They even sucked the bones off the salmon.

As Guo Mi chewed the meat in her mouth, she began to plan how to pick up her swimming lessons again, which had been neglected because of Caesar's harassment.

It's not that we've already decided to go to the ice floes.

Even if she doesn't go up this year, she'll have to go up someday. Swimming is a skill that polar bears rely on for survival, and she must master it.

The two bear cubs ate the seal, leaving only a little fish.

Guo Mi originally intended to eat it directly, but thinking of Caesar's unusual behavior earlier, she inexplicably left it behind.

After emerging from behind the snow hill, Guo Mi found that Caesar had returned to normal. She paused for a moment, then decisively went back behind the snow hill and ate the fish.

After finishing her meal, she sat by the lake, using the water to groom her blood-stained fur, only to find Caesar sitting behind her, watching her furtively. His burning gaze moved from her ears to her paws, and finally to her rump, or more precisely, to the area where her tail was.

Guo Mi felt uneasy under Caesar's gaze and couldn't help but slap him.

Under Slok's astonished gaze, Caesar raised his paw and touched the spot where Guo Mi had slapped him, shook his fur, and revealed a strange sense of satisfaction.

Guo Mi felt a chill and lashed out at him with her claws several more times, until Caesar's suffocating bear-like state was gone.

As dusk fell, Caesar sat by the lake, ignoring Guo Mi's glaring eyes, which nearly popped out of her head. He even asked her a question:
"It's getting late, shouldn't we go back?"

Guo Mi was exhausted; that was her hole!

What do you mean by "Let's not go back yet"? Why did you say it so casually? They have no relation at all, so stop trying to get close to them!
Also, does he really think she would let the two male bears follow her back to the cave with the bear cubs?

Night finally fell completely, and Caesar, seemingly having suddenly realized the key, turned and approached Slok, who had been amusing himself by the lake, his voice cold and hard:
"when are you leaving?"

Slok stopped what he was doing and looked up at his cold-blooded older brother with a puzzled expression:

"what?"

Caesar, growing impatient, asked again:
"When are you leaving? We're going back."

Slok was stunned:

"Go back? Go back where?"

Polar bears sleep wherever they go, so why would they need the word "go back"?

Caesar bared his teeth and threatened him:

"Hurry up, don't delay us."

Slok looked at him, and almost instantly her eyes welled up with tears. Then she grabbed his paws and, repeating her old trick, cried her heart out.
"I'm not leaving unless you bite me to death!"

Caesar tried to shake him off but failed. A chilling aura emanated from him. Suppressing his temper, he said:
"Just like before, go and stay wherever you have fun."

Slok used to cling to him, but they weren't inseparable. Slok would live alone nearby, and if he was hungry or smelled blood, he would come over to share some food. Sometimes he would even playfully invite him to play together.

Caesar now just wants Slok to continue living the way he used to!

Slok acted as if he couldn't understand bear language, arguing and making things up:

"I used to be with you."

Just kidding, we finally found something interesting, how could we leave now?
Slok clung tightly to Caesar's paw, refusing to let go even at the cost of a beating.

Guo Mi stood there for a while, then turned and secretly led the two bear cubs away, leaving the two male bears by the lake to continue their entanglement. With the weather warming up and the bear cubs growing much larger, the original den had become somewhat cramped.

Guo Mi took the two bear cubs to a larger cave, but it still wasn't enough, so she simply sat by the cave and directed the two cubs to go down and dig.

The two little fur balls that followed her in digging the hole were already very skilled, and dirt was constantly being thrown out of the hole. In no time, the entire hole was enlarged.

Guo Mi crawled into the cave and got used to it. She was very satisfied and nestled inside with the two little bears, letting out a big yawn.

Caesar didn't know she changed holes, and it would take a long time for him to find her by following the scent after realizing she wasn't in the original hole, enough time for her to get a good night's sleep.

The three bears, one large and two small, quickly fell asleep.

I don't know how much time passed, but suddenly I heard a faint, sparse sound, followed by the scent of a male bear entering my nostrils.

Guo Mi opened her eyes sleepily, looked at the cave entrance, and saw that it was still dark.

She waited a while before mustering her strength to peek her head out of the hole.

Caesar had been waiting at the cave entrance for some time now, and Slok had long since disappeared.

The male bear lay fast asleep in the snow, a few crystal-clear ice flowers condensed on its nose, its paws curled up in front of its chest, its massive body blocking much of the cold wind that was blowing into the cave.

Guo Mi was stunned for a while, staring blankly at Caesar for quite a long time before she came to her senses. She couldn't help but glance at him a couple more times before finally retreating back into the cave.

The two bear cubs, still half asleep, noticed her lying back down and unconsciously moved closer to her. Soon, however, they couldn't stand the heat and shrunk away in a corner.

Guo Mi looked up at the cave entrance again, only vaguely seeing a few white hairs, and mostly just a small framed sky and stars. Sleepiness came over her again, and she finally closed her eyes.

Guo Mi was woken up by a snoring sound when it was dawn.

It was Caesar snoring.

Normally, the male bear would have woken up by this time, either throwing snow into the cave or running around outside, which would soon wake up Guo Mi. Then the four bears would go to the lake one after the other.

Today is quite unusual, but it makes sense, since Caesar arrived very late yesterday.

Guo Mi poked her head out of the cave again and saw the male bear sleeping sprawled out, paws outstretched, snoring softly.

The two bear cubs inside the cave had woken up. They were no longer as afraid of Caesar as before, but they still dared not run out of the cave on their own.

Guo Mi sat in the cave for a while, lost in thought. When she climbed out again, Caesar had already woken up and was lying on the snow, staring at her with his eyes, seemingly lost in thought.

She was startled, and pressed her paw against Caesar's nose with a hint of annoyance. It wasn't very forceful, but it felt like she had flipped a switch.

Caesar immediately let out a howl, raised his paw to cover his nose, and prepared to throw a tantrum.

The strange atmosphere from before had completely dissipated, and Guo Mi breathed a sigh of relief. As usual, she kept tugging at Caesar, signaling him to stay away from the cave entrance.

As usual, Caesar lingered at the cave entrance, and finally, with a mischievous swipe of his claws, tried to hook Guo Mi's tail. Guo Mi gave him a good beating and kicked, and he obediently left.

Sitting not far away, watching Guo Mi bring the bear cub out and lead it towards the lake, he shook his fur and slowly followed behind.

Upon arriving at the lake, Guo Mi saw a polar bear sitting on the shore. She blinked. Was it summer?

The next second, she dismissed the thought, because the bear was already waddling over, barking happily as it ran:

"I'm here again—"

(End of this chapter)