Everyone else was even more convinced, this... is probably not really a cat.
What kind of cat makes a squeaking sound?
Cheng Xiaoxiao laughed it off, "Do you think your sister would keep an ordinary cat? It’s definitely the most special entity, a one-of-a-kind cat in the world."
The adults all twitched their mouths in unison; that might fool a three-year-old.
Cheng Xiaoxiao saw everyone’s indescribable expressions and got a bit unhappy, "If I say it’s a cat, then it’s a cat. No rebuttal accepted. From now on, it’s a mber of our family. Please call it Xiao Li."
"Sister, whatever you say goes!" Erya, seeing how much her sister liked it, didn’t care about the breed anymore.
"Can I touch Xiao Li?" Dahua couldn’t contain her eager little hands.
Cheng Xiaoxiao hesitated for a mont, then nodded, it was all family after all, so a touch wouldn’t hurt!
Little did they know, as soon as Dahua’s hand reached midair, Xiao Li started squeaking.
Its back arched, ready to attack, leaving everyone dumbfounded.
Cheng Hao pulled his sister’s hand back from midair, "Alright, Xiao Li might be shy; once it gets familiar over ti, you can touch it. No rush."
Dahua was very disappointed. Didn’t Xiaoxiao just et Xiao Li too?
Cheng Hao patted his sister’s little head, "Now go to bed!"
Knowing Cheng Xiaoxiao is out of the ordinary, he didn’t really believe it was a cat.
Even though it was dark, he clearly saw it looked more like a fox.
But, there’s plenty of ti ahead to figure it out.
On the fourth day of departure, they entered Yin County without any mishap. Apart from a few poisonous snakes they encountered randomly along the way, there were only rotting, stinking corpses, and not a single living person, as if the world was left only with fallen branches and leaves and their scant hundred people.
At noon, they reached a rock face on a mountain, where the mountain protruded into a huge boulder, forming a natural shelter from the wind. The area beneath it was an excellent, spacious open space.
There was also a natural mountain recess ahead, both perfect places to rest.
The villagers were optimistic about the site, preparing to camp there and rest for the afternoon.
These few days of travel left them so grimy even they disliked themselves, reeking of sweat, with their feet full of blisters—new and old—causing both pain and itch.
If it weren’t for Xiao’s thods being effective, they’d be feeling much worse; haven’t you seen those who laughed at them eting with misfortune, so falling ill, others incapacitated, their feet swollen they couldn’t walk?
Later, those families shalessly pleaded with everyone, kneeling to admit their faults and swearing oaths. The two uncles, being soft-hearted, decided that since they were one clan, they couldn’t leave them to die, so they lent them an ox-drawn cart otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to keep up with the group.
After autumn ca, the sun only occasionally peeked out, yet everyone still shed a layer of skin from the sunburn, with cracked lips and pale faces, looking unwell.
With several days of cooperation, everyone had a clear division of labor, so collecting firewood and others setting up pots. Soon, thin threads of smoke rose here and there.
That evening, Brother Jia and Brother Ran fell asleep, unaware, and woke up to find a new pet cat at ho, making them overjoyed.
The children in the group had been circling Xiao Li these days, but the proud Xiao Li wouldn’t let anyone but Cheng Xiaoxiao touch it; any touch made its fur stand on end.
Even so, the little ones still chased after Xiao Li eagerly.
In a mont of inattention during the chase, Xiao Li climbed up a tree again.
It was only recently Cheng Xiaoxiao learned that Xiao Li was a vegetarian, and not just any vegetarian; it was very picky.
It only ate the tender leaf tips at the tops of trees.
With everything desolate, Xiao Li had to climb very tall trees to get food.
As Xiao Li vanished from view, Cheng Jia got anxious, "Sister! Sister! Xiao Li ran over the mountain."
Cheng Xiaoxiao wasn’t worried about Xiao Li’s safety. Since that night, she tried cutting a strand of Xiao Li’s fur with her knife that could slice iron like mud, but it couldn’t even cut a hair.
As expected from an Ancient Divine Beast, it’s far superior to the species of this world.
She still didn’t know how to use those two auxiliary functions of the little creature, since they hadn’t been unlocked yet.
When everyone had their fill and most of the day’s fatigue had worn off, Xiao Li still hadn’t returned, and Cheng Xiaoxiao started to worry.
No matter how powerful Xiao Li was, it was still a cub!
"Leng Qi, co with to find Xiao Li!"
Cheng Xiaoxiao couldn’t rest easy—it was better to be safe than sorry.
Suddenly, there was another figure beside her, "I’ll go with you!" Dongfang Xu volunteered.
"Hmph! No, thanks."
With that, she stord off with Leng Qi.
Leng Qi even turned his head to give Dongfang Xu a provocative look.
Watching their receding figures, Dongfang Xu was extrely frustrated. It wasn’t his fault; the little girl hadn’t spoken to him for three days. How long was she going to stay mad?
Besides, he had apologized, and that little kitten wasn’t hurt, was it?
Did it really warrant such a big reaction?
Straight-shooter Dongfang Xu thought the little girl’s thoughts were quite hard to grasp.
anwhile, Cheng Xiaoxiao, on the backside of the mountain, saw plenty of green; no wonder the little one ran over here, probably looking for food.
By now it should have eaten its fill. She looked around but couldn’t see Xiao Li, so she shouted loudly, "Xiao Li, Xiao Li, co back quickly! It’s getting dark! Watch out or an eagle might carry you off!"
She shouted for a long ti but there was no response.
Until a black shadow appeared from within the blue and white clouds on the horizon, getting closer and closer...
A long screech pierced the tranquility of the sky.
Oh my! Why did she have to jinx it!
It really was an eagle coming!
"Xiao Li, Xiao Li, co out quickly! This ti it’s really an eagle coming to carry you off."
The black figure in the sky beca clearer.
Hmm!
Why does it look familiar?
System: "Of course it’s familiar! Isn’t that Yanlan’s ssenger eagle?"
Beside her, Leng Qi showed a friendly smile, extending his arm to greet the envoy.
Cheng Xiaoxiao patted her chest in relief. Luckily it was a friendly face...
Wait! I an, a familiar eagle, otherwise her Xiao Li would really be in danger. Although the eagle couldn’t harm Xiao Li, it could carry Xiao Li away!
Right! This must be guarded against, and she’ll have to watch out for aerial threats in the future.
System: "Host, rest assured, it’s a small matter."
"Hmm, thank you for your labor!"
At this mont, Leng Qi’s expression turned very serious.
"What’s wrong?"
She realized her question was inappropriate as soon as she asked it. How could she casually inquire into soone else’s secrets!
Even though she guessed that each ti ssages ca, they were mostly related to her, it wasn’t her place to pry, how casually she had beco with Leng Qi after spending so much ti together.
Leng Qi didn’t intend to keep it a secret, "Great Xia has breached Lie Dong City, King Qi has perished in battle, and more displaced citizens have beco holess refugees, swarming to various places. Yanzhou County is in complete chaos. The master wants us to pick up the pace."
Cheng Xiaoxiao’s mouth hung open, unable to speak for a long ti.
She’d occasionally heard about King Qi’s achievents from Second Brother, which were mostly praises—King Qi was bold, generous, courageous in battle, and beloved by the people.
It’s just that in recent years, he hasn’t been very involved. Overall, he was pretty good, so how could he suddenly have died in battle?
It didn’t quite add up, did it?
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