The little white creature had been searching for three days. He was sure he had returned to the world of mountains and seas, but the unfortunate thing was, only he had made it back. Ah Wu seemed to have not returned.
“Chirp, chirp-ow.”
The little white creature sat dazedly on the grass, thinking that he must have messed up when making his wish during the ritual.
He shouldn’t have wished for only himself to return.
It seemed he had forgotten to bring Ah Wu along!
Unable to find Ah Wu, the little white creature collapsed lifelessly onto the grass, completely out of energy.
As he laid there, a white nine-tailed fox leisurely approached.
The fox, as if blind, provocatively stepped on him as it passed by.
The little white creature: “?”
In a flash, the little white creature jumped up and headbutted the fox without thinking.
The fox, not one to give in, retaliated.
Soon, fur flew everywhere, with the white creature’s and the fox’s fur filling the air, causing passing rabbits to sneeze repeatedly.
“Chirp!”
Stupid fox!
“Chirp chirp ow!”
I’ll let Ah Wu eat you!
The little white creature wasn’t the same as before. Ah Wu had taught him how to fight, and now he attacked fiercely.
Although he was still small, he managed to claw the much larger fox into a mess.
“You just wait! I’ll call my older sisters to come!”
The fox, seeing it was at a disadvantage, shamelessly threatened before fleeing.
As it ran, it shouted back at the little white creature, “That fierce beast has been missing for a long time. Don’t think I don’t know—you came back alone this time.”
If it weren’t for the fact that the fierce beast wasn’t around the little white creature, the fox wouldn’t have dared to provoke him so brazenly.
The little white creature, though hit right in the truth, refused to admit it. He angrily retorted, “Nonsense, Ah Wu will be back any minute now.”
“I don’t believe it!”
The fox licked its paw and called over its siblings, forming a group to gang up on the little white creature.
Although the little white creature was fierce, he couldn’t win against several foxes at once.
After getting beaten up by the foxes, the little white creature watched their retreating figures, pounding the ground angrily with his paws.
“Just you wait! When Ah Wu comes back, he’ll pluck all your fur and turn you into bald foxes!”
“Hahaha, we’re so scared! If he were coming back, he would’ve returned by now. Little Auspicious Beast, you’re doomed.”
The foxes’ laughter echoed in the little white creature’s ears.
“That fierce beast offended many creatures before. Now that he’s gone, you’re sure to become a target for venting anger.”
The foxes left, laughing, while the little white creature chirped furiously.
After a while, the little white creature calmed himself, smoothing his fur, stubbornly continuing to search through the forest.
Then, he got beaten up again.
After several days of this, he finally curled up in the nest Ah Wu had once made, covering himself with a blanket of grass, and quietly shed tears.
“Ah Wu…”
He was miserably upset. “Why haven’t you come back yet?”
Feeling wronged, the little creature decided to lay low, no longer wandering around outside. He mostly went to places where there were few beasts to find food.
When he couldn’t find any food, he resorted to chewing on grass.
As the little creature pitifully ate grass in his nest, in another time and place, the babies in the capital’s royal palace were still trying to feed him chicken legs.
“Uncle, this chicken leg is so tasty. You should eat it.”
“Uncle, have some candy.”
The babies, worried that their uncle would starve while lying there, thoughtfully brought their favorite foods to feed him.
But no matter how much they tried, nothing went in.
“Brother, will Uncle starve and die?” Anan asked, raising her round little face in concern when she saw their uncle not eating.
Pingping frowned and shook his head. “I don’t know.”
The babies surrounded their uncle, which also indicated that Uncle Ah Wu wasn’t around.
Uncle Ah Wu had been busy with something and hadn’t been competing with them for Uncle’s attention lately.
“Brother, what should we do?”
Anan was extremely worried about their uncle’s condition.
Pingping was also concerned.
He pursed his lips and looked at their sleeping uncle, deep in thought for a while.
Finally, he went and fetched his secret stash of gold. After packing a pouch full of gold, he patted the pouch and said, “You all stay here and watch Uncle. I’m going to find someone to help.”
Pingping was restless by nature and didn’t like staying in the palace. He loved to play in the capital.
During his previous outings, he had heard a storyteller mention a tale about a daughter of a wealthy man who had slept for a long time and wouldn’t wake up. The man was very worried, but one day, a Taoist passed by his house and gave him a talisman. After the talisman was dissolved in water and fed to the daughter, she woke up.
The storyteller was actually telling a love story about the wealthy man’s daughter meeting a scholar in her dreams…
But before the story reached the parts about grown-up dreams, Pingping’s ears were covered.
Having his ears covered frequently, Pingping only remembered the edited version of the story.
Naturally, the part he focused on was the Taoist.
Now, seeing his uncle sleeping for so long, just like the daughter in the story, Pingping decided to find the magical Taoist the storyteller had mentioned!
“Brother, come back soon!”
“Mm! I will.”
With his little money pouch, Pingping rushed out the door.
As he left, he saw Uncle Ah Wu and two men talking with him.
The two men also saw Pingping.
Normally, Pingping would have gone up to greet them, but today he had something important to do, so he didn’t stop.
With short little steps, followed by attendants and maids, he ran off.
“Young master, slow down.”
The maid jogged behind him, trying to keep up with the young master.
If the young master tripped and fell, she couldn’t bear the consequences.
Fortunately, though the young master was running fast, he was steady on his feet.
Soon enough, the young master reached the street.
Finding a Taoist on the street was easy, but finding a reliable one was hard.
Pingping found three Taoists in a row, but they were all frauds.
His little pouch of gold slowly flattened, but his uncle remained the same.
Unwilling to give up, Pingping went to seek a bald monk instead.
But there were frauds among monks too.
A well-dressed young master like Pingping was, to con artists, a perfect little fat sheep.
After being scammed repeatedly, the little fat sheep finally felt his empty money pouch and burst into tears.
The Fourth Wangfei wasn’t back at the palace, and since Pingping and Anan had to stay with their uncle, they were living at Ling Rui’s residence.
The only adult in charge at Ling Rui’s residence was Ah Wu.
Ah Wu’s entire mind was preoccupied with his little one, so he had no time to care for the babies.
Unaware that his little child had been scammed to the point of crying, Ah Wu was currently discussing with Big Boss and Lian Qing how to send him back to his original world.
“The little one may have already gone back,” Ah Wu said. “I need to return and check.”
Lian Qing had returned before, so they were now figuring out how to send Ah Wu back the same way.
“Ah Wu, if you leave, who will you entrust Great Qing to?”
“I have someone in mind.”
“Alright, as long as you have a plan.”
They were preparing to send Ah Wu away, and Ah Wu made a promise to the people in the palace, who were anxiously awaiting Ling Rui’s return.
He promised he would do everything in his power to bring the little one back.
Now that Ling Rui was in a deep sleep, the people in the palace, including Emperor Ling, Noble Noble Consort Yi, and Ling Chen, were all deeply worried.
They were terrified that they might never see the lively Ling Rui again.
After many days of planning, Ah Wu finally got his chance.
On the 7th day of the 7th month, an unusual celestial event occurred.
On this day, Ah Wu had the opportunity to return to his original world.
A lot of effort had been put into making this moment possible by the adults, who sent Ah Wu off, holding on to a glimmer of hope.
With Ah Wu gone, perhaps he could bring the little one back.
While the adults were busy, the babies were still being taken care of by attendants and maids.
Since the little ones were noble children, the caretakers didn’t dare be too strict with them at times.
Pingping, the little troublemaker, was particularly difficult to manage.
Having been scammed several times over the past few days, Pingping, on his last attempt, gathered the other babies’ pocket money and, in a final effort, sought out an old Taoist dressed in tattered clothes.
The old Taoist didn’t seem to have good eyesight, and Pingping often had to jump up and down in front of him to get his attention.
After taking Pingping’s money, the old Taoist slowly said, “You want to see your uncle awake? That can be arranged.”
“But, have you thought it through? What you’re about to do might be dangerous.”
“I’ve thought it through!”
Pingping’s chubby little face was firm. “I’m not afraid of danger!”
His uncle had been asleep for such a long time, and Pingping missed him terribly.
Speaking loudly and confidently, Pingping’s voice made the old Taoist rub his ears in discomfort.
“Alright, alright, go on. Tonight at midnight…” The old Taoist slowly gave him a location and a time, telling Pingping to go there at the appointed time.
“When you go, you’ll see him.”
After giving his instructions, the old Taoist handed Pingping a dirty, yellow talisman and stuffed it into Pingping’s pocket. “Take this.”
In exchange for his last bit of money, Pingping received a dirty talisman and the old Taoist’s instructions.
He patted the talisman and left.
Night fell, and thunder rumbled again.
Amid the thunder, Ah Wu disappeared.
Just a moment before his disappearance, the adults present were left speechless as they watched Pingping, like a little cannonball, dash forward as well.
“Pingping!”
Perhaps because Pingping was smaller, he seemed to disappear even faster than Ah Wu.
By the time they tried to pull him back, it was too late.
The fastest to react was Ling Fu, who shouted, “Ah Wu, don’t forget Pingping!”
Fourth Brother and Sister-in-law hadn’t returned yet. If Pingping went missing, Fourth Brother and Sister-in-law would surely go mad.
As the group watched, everything quickly returned to silence.
Ling Fu slapped his forehead and exclaimed, “Since Pingping could follow along, does that mean we can go too?”
His question prompted Lian Qing to experiment again.
Unfortunately, the result was a failure.
Perhaps Pingping had been able to follow because of Ah Wu’s influence.
The thunder in the sky rumbled, hidden in the clouds, but never returned.
The group stood in place for a long time before finally dispersing.
There was nothing more they could do. All that remained for them was to wait.
The longing and waiting in the capital could be felt by Ling Rui.
In his nest, Ling Rui sniffled and rolled over.
He missed everyone too, but there was no point in dwelling on it.
What mattered now was keeping track of the time and waiting until later to find something to eat.
The annoying foxes, tigers, and mountain spirits had been bullying him ever since Ah Wu left!
He had already declared that he and Ah Wu were partners, and that Ah Wu would definitely come back to get him.
But those foul-mouthed beasts, having not seen Ah Wu, spread rumors that Ah Wu was gone for good, and that if Ling Rui really was Ah Wu’s partner, he’d be left widowed!
These nasty remarks made the little white creature’s fur puff up in anger every day.
After lying in his nest for a while, the little white creature saw that it was late enough, so he crawled out.
He stretched, then padded off in search of food.
Though it was late, it didn’t mean he wouldn’t run into any other beasts. Some only came out at night.
After wandering for a while, the little white creature only found some fruit to eat. He held the fruit in his mouth, intending to take it back to the nest.
Before he could return, he heard a familiar cry.
“Pingping?”
The little white creature rubbed his ears with his paws, thinking he must have heard wrong.
But the crying grew louder and more real, so, unable to resist, he ran toward the sound with the fruit still in his mouth.
When he arrived, he saw a cub being pinned down by Taotie’s paw.
It really was Pingping!
The little white creature spat out the fruit and urgently shouted, “Stop! That’s my little one!”
