Chapter 500: The Group Leader Trembles in Fear

The weather in Bai City always makes one feel refreshed, suddenly making one feel as if spring has already arrived.

A group of people stood at the doorway and rang the doorbell.

"Click!"

Behind the door, Wei Lvshi had a brilliant smile.

"You're back..."

Chen Jiaoshou poked his head out from behind to look at them.

"Two old comrades."

Chen Shu rested his hand on the little cat-girl's shoulder; her shoulder was very small, easily gripped by one hand, and so soft, as if her bones had dissolved, and her skin and flesh were far finer and softer than those of a normal human child, feeling exceptionally comfortable: "Let me introduce you, this is the daughter that Qingqing and I had while we were away..."

Taozi let him hold her, tilted her head high, opened her eyes wide, looked at Wei Lvshi, and then looked at Chen Jiaoshou behind her.

Regarding this place, and these two humans, the little cat-girl was not unfamiliar.

"Taozi, is it?"

Wei Lvshi ignored Chen Shu, bent down, and stared at Taozi with a smile: "How beautiful! Can you talk yet?"

"I can~"

"Then do you know who I am?"

"Auntie~"

"So well-behaved!"

"!"

"Did Chen Shu and Qingqing teach you that? Or did you already know you should call me Auntie?"

"I knew before~"

"So smart!"

"!"

The little cat-girl's gaze quietly fixed on the floor, feeling happy inside, then she glanced at Chen Jiaoshou behind Wei Lvshi, and followed her master's lead in calling out:

"Uncle~"

"Hello!"

"..."

Was she not praised?

What was wrong?

Before Taozi could figure it out, the group had already changed into slippers and entered the house.

The master tossed a pair of small slippers to her as well, so Taozi had to quickly put them on and run in after them.

Wei Lvshi began to ask about Taozi's Transformation, why she hadn't been extradited to Dongzhou, how her identity would be resolved, when they planned to send her to school, and so on, while Chen Shu answered while eating the fruit on the coffee table.

The elderly couple wasn't too worried, though.

They both knew very well that Chen Shu had a wealth of experience in raising children, even more than the two of them.

"Taozi."

"Ao?"

"Now that you have transformed into human form, I will teach you a skill that only humans can master." Chen Shu picked up a mangosteen, handed it to her, and picked up another one for himself, "Peeling mangosteens."

"Peeling mangosteens~"

"First peel off the skin, then peel out this thing that looks just like your claws, and put it on this plate, and that's it." Chen Shu popped the peeled mangosteen into his mouth and raised his eyebrows at her, "You try."

Taozi said nothing and diligently followed suit.

Soon she had peeled several segments of mangosteen and placed them on the plate; she looked at them carefully again and again, feeling that they were peeled perfectly, then turned her head to stare at Chen Shu.

"Very good."

Chen Shu patted her head encouragingly, picked up the mangosteen from the plate in front of everyone, stuffed it into his mouth, and continued: "Congratulations, you have now mastered another skill as a higher life form. Practice more to consolidate it... It just so happens there is a basket of mangosteens here; if you peel them all, you will have mastered this skill. As for the peeled fruit, don't worry, I'll take care of it for you."

"Mm!!"

The little cat-girl picked up another mangosteen and began to peel it earnestly.

From the side came Wei Lvshi's voice:

"Do you have no shame?"

Chen Shu ignored her, pretending not to hear.

"Taozi, stop peeling." Wei Lvshi felt sorry for the little cat-girl and frowned, "He's messing with you, make him peel them himself."

"Hm?"

Hearing this, Taozi paused, turned to look at Wei Lvshi, and then looked at Chen Shu.

"Don't listen to her, she's trying to stop you from mastering the skills of a higher life form."

"!"

Taozi immediately buried her head and started peeling.

"Heh..."

Chen Shu gave Wei Lvshi a look of disdain, then leaned back against the sofa, eating the peeled mangosteen while watching TV; life was so good.

As the saying goes, raise a cat for a thousand days to use it for a moment.

Not to mention he had been raising Taozi for over ten years.

Now that she had transformed into a little cat-girl and had hands, he could finally enjoy the service of a little cat-girl.

Of course, he had to share some with Qingqing.

After all, in name, Qingqing was Taozi's owner—her former owner and current guardian—so it was only right and reasonable to give her a share. It just so happened that the mangosteen was sweet and sour, which suited her taste as well.

The two of them reached a tacit understanding.

A three-seven split, with seven parts belonging to the other party.

Although he had worked hard to persecute the little cat-girl, he was already content to be able to take three parts.

Chen Shu crossed his legs, feeling very satisfied, and looked out the window at the sun-drenched Bai City with its blue sky and white clouds, then looked at Chen Jiaoshou:

"Chen Jiaoshou, playing the stock market again?"

"..."

"The market plummeted yesterday, how much did you lose?"

"..."

"Did you enter Meng'an Power? Did you chase the highs?"

"..."

"I have some inside information, do you want to hear it?"

"Speak."

"Hehehe..."

"..."

Chen Jiaoshou stared at him expressionlessly.

Chen Shu placed his hand on the little cat-girl's back, using his fingers to play with her hair, and said: "It's a rumor, our country's Martial Artist Research Center has already developed a safe method that allows Martial Artists to advance to high stages, and many of the agents involved have collaborations with Wutong Biology."

"..."

Chen Jiaoshou silently withdrew his gaze.

"?"

Throwing him away after using him?

This person is beyond saving.

Chen Shu shook his head inwardly and continued eating mangosteen.

At this moment, his Mobile Phone vibrated.

Chen Shu took it out and looked—

Beauty with Eight-Pack Abs: I heard the Martial Artist Research Center has developed a way for ordinary Martial Artists to advance to high stages.

"What a coincidence."

Qingcai Keke: @Jiang Lai

Jiang Lai: Yes.

Beauty with Eight-Pack Abs: Congratulations, Brother Jiang, your wish has come true.

Haoran Zhengqi: Is it my imagination or what, why does it feel like everyone's wishes are being fulfilled one after another?

Zhong Miao Zhimen: Yes, I have noticed it too.

Grandma Always Says: /Your grandpa is here.

Grandma Always Says: Yes, I have noticed it too.

Grandma Always Says: /Looking honest.

Beauty with Eight-Pack Abs: What do you mean?

Grandma Always Says: You only know about their social-death wishes; you don't know they also made normal wishes.

Grandma Always Says: For example, that silly dog group owner wished for the nameless person to survive; for example, that horny Daoist wished for the Calamity-Responding Buddha and the Reed God to easily suppress the Nanzhou Calamity; for example, this one that the reticent Jiang Lai wished for; and for example, that meat-eating monk, whose second wish was to find Qingcai and Qingqing as soon as possible, and he found them immediately.

Qingcai Keke: Your typing speed is really fast.

Grandma Always Says: My typing speed depends on the response speed of my Mobile Phone screen.

Qingcai Keke: As expected of an Eighth Stage Sword Cultivator.

Beauty with Eight-Pack Abs: There is actually such a thing?

Grandma Always Says: /Shrugs.

Beauty with Eight-Pack Abs: Could it be that the Wishing Divine Dragon can really grant our wishes?

Zhong Miao Zhimen: I feel a bit excited.

Qingcai Keke: The group owner is panicking like crazy.

Haoran Zhengqi: /Expression complex.

Just Call Me Luo Huaian: /Expressionless.

Beauty with Eight-Pack Abs: Didn't they say the Wishing Divine Dragon is only responsible for listening to wishes, not for granting them?

Grandma Always Says: Who knows.

Qingdeng Gufu: A coincidence, perhaps.

Haoran Zhengqi: /Shivering.

Beauty with Eight-Pack Abs: I wonder what wish Senior Brother Chen made, and if it was fulfilled.

Haoran Zhengqi: @Qingcai Keke

Chen Shu looked at the messages and acted as if he hadn't heard them, simply turning his gaze back to Taozi:

"Peel faster."

The little cat-girl hurriedly sped up.

In the blink of an eye, it was New Year's Eve.

Just like in many previous years, the few of them still went out together to shop for clothes, eat snacks, ride bikes by Jinghai, and fly kites.

Taozi held a small firecracker in her right hand and an incense stick in her left, lit the firecracker, tossed it at the feet of Chen Banxia, who had the lowest status in the family, and immediately covered her ears.

"Boom!"

Chen Banxia shook her head, speechless.

Taozi did not mind either, continuing to pull small firecrackers from her pocket and starting to play with them in various ways.

Cats, as a species, are no less curious or playful than human children, and in fact, far surpass them; thus, Taozi had taught herself to place firecrackers in bottles and all sorts of holes they could be stuffed into, to stick them into the soil, to throw them into water, and to light them halfway before tossing them to explode in mid-air...

It was just as well that there was no cow dung around the city.

The little cat-girl was having a great time and could not stop at all, even using the firecrackers to Fear the other cats.

Chen Shu, meanwhile, could not stop shaking his head as he watched.

She had already achieved Transformation and was a Fourth Stage creature, yet she was still playing with firecrackers, and even insisted on using incense to light them.

One must know that in the ancient era, before the Xia Dynasty and the Yaoguo were established and before cultivation in the world had formed a system, a demon capable of Transformation could already be called a Great Demon and possessed the capital to wreak havoc in a region.

What a disgrace to Great Demons.

From time to time, passersby on the side would be attracted by Taozi's appearance and run over to ask if her tail and ears were real or fake, and the little girl would be responsible for answering them.

Slowly, Chen Shu and Qingqing walked ahead.

"Qingqing."

"Hm."

"Are you sure that after we go... back to the universe I came from, we can return smoothly?"

"As long as you are willing."

"I mean, can we return on time?"

"Regarding the matter of traversing universes, the New Saint has abundant experience. Furthermore, whether it is the time calculation method explored by the Shengzu or the time calculation formula researched by the New Saint, both point to the same result; the margin of error will not be too large."

"Then why did they have an accident back then?"

"That was different." Ning Qing knew what he was talking about. "That was not traversing universes; that was traversing between two parts of the same universe, which required resisting the special mechanisms of the Twin Universe, and they had not anticipated the power of the cosmic mechanism or cosmic will, which is why they made a mistake."

"I see..."

"Have you decided?"

Ning Qing turned her head to look at him, her gaze indifferent, her voice very soft: "Is it to go back before the war, or after the war?"

"What do you suggest?"

"In my view, it is all the same." Ning Qing withdrew her gaze, still indifferent. "I believe we are already foolproof and will not fail again... but for you, perhaps you will feel much more at ease if you send the Shengzu's ashes back before participating in the war."

"That's true..."

Chen Shu looked into the distance, lost in thought.

This was right by the Jinghai; on the Lunar New Year's Eve, many people had brought their families here, either flying kites, sitting and chatting, or having a picnic, while a group of children held toy guns and used the adults' bodies as cover, chasing and laughing and playing, their faces flushed red from laughing, laughing until they coughed.

"How lively."

"So?"

"When I reach the Ninth Stage, let's go take a look." Chen Shu paused. "Consider it our... a trip."

"Good."

"In the end, the wish was fulfilled..."

Chen Shu grabbed Qingqing's hand, sighing inexplicably.

While other people's wishes being fulfilled could be called a coincidence, the ability he obtained—to traverse the universe and return to the original Earth—was provided in reality by the Space-Time Energy that composed this wish-granting dragon.

Is this not it helping him fulfill his wish?