As the big one and the little one walked down the street, neither knew what the other was thinking.
Halfway down the street, Huo Qinwu looked down and asked the little one, “Is there anything you want to buy? If there is, just tell me.”
“Yeah!”
The little one said as he patted his little money pouch, “I’ll buy something for Ah Wu.”
Since finding his money pouch, he hadn’t spent a single coin from it.
Ah Wu had bought the inn, and with a cook on staff, meals were delivered to them every day.
He didn’t need to spend any money on food or lodging, so his little money pouch was still full.
In fact, he had even counted it—
It seemed like the money in his little pouch was only increasing.
He had asked Ah Wu, “Did you put more money in my pouch?”
Ah Wu shook his head and said no.
The little one looked at his money pouch, then at Ah Wu, and finally got confused himself.
Huo Qinwu didn’t let him stay confused for long and offered an explanation, “Your money pouch has always had this much money; maybe you miscounted before.”
If someone else had said that the little one miscounted, he might have pouted and refused to admit it.
But since Ah Wu said he had miscounted, he obediently blinked and accepted the explanation.
“Zai Zai will count carefully next time.”
“Mm.”
Now, with his bulging little money pouch, the little one felt quite generous. He shook Ah Wu’s hand and insisted that Ah Wu pick something he liked; he would pay for it.
Seeing him so enthusiastic, Ah Wu picked a few small items from a roadside stall.
The little one happily paid for them, but after doing so, he looked at the items and suddenly realized, “Ah Wu, these are toys that Zai Zai likes.”
Huo Qinwu: “Are they?”
Huo Qinwu: “We can play with them together.”
The little one looked at the toys, not too pleased.
He wanted to buy something for Ah Wu, but no matter what he bought, it always ended up being something he liked.
“Ah Wu, you need to buy something you like.”
The little one, with a serious expression, looked at Ah Wu and asked sternly, “Think carefully, what do you really like?”
Huo Qinwu: “…”
Huo Qinwu silently looked at the little one.
He had no particular hobbies or things he wanted.
Since birth, he had known he was a fierce beast, disliked by all other creatures.
In his eyes, there was only survival, not likes or dislikes.
His only “hobby” was raising the little one he had brought back to his nest.
Other than that, there was nothing else.
The little one looked into his eyes and instantly understood the emotion in them. He sniffed and held Ah Wu’s hand again.
“Ah Wu, you can’t just like me.”
“There are still many things in this world worth liking. There are fun toys, delicious food, and we can even make friends with good kids.”
The little one rambled on, but Ah Wu let the words go in one ear and out the other.
What the little one said didn’t affect him.
He had no interest in developing hobbies. What he wanted was to grow up quickly, become strong quickly, and—
Quickly build his own power.
He wanted power and territory.
“Ah Wu, did you hear what I said?”
“I heard.”
As they walked along the road, the little one stayed close to the edge, thinking that walking with Ah Wu like this wouldn’t draw attention.
Little did he know that from the moment he left the inn, many eyes had already noticed him.
They strolled for quite a while.
The little one encountered several people who greeted him, including Zhai Bai in red and Ye Xiaoxiao with a silver collar around her neck—both of whom made a strong impression.
After greeting him, both invited him to come and sit with them.
The little one shook his head without hesitation.
He hid behind Huo Qinwu, sticking out just his little head: “No, no sitting.”
He bluntly said, “We’re not familiar.”
He was already three years old and wouldn’t be easily tricked.
These two, after casually inviting him and seeing his refusal, didn’t insist.
After being turned down, Ye Xiaoxiao even gave the little one a silver bracelet.
“I’ve heard people say you’re the most beautiful child to come in this time.”
Ye Xiaoxiao’s crescent-shaped eyes and delicate, innocent features made her look naturally sweet. She blinked at the little one and said in a clear, melodious voice, “Now that I’ve seen you, it’s true—you’re very beautiful.”
“I like beautiful children, so this is my meeting gift to you.”
She gave the little one the bracelet as a meeting gift and, not giving him a chance to refuse, turned and walked away.
After taking a few steps, she waved her hand without looking back and said, “See you next time; there’s plenty of time ahead, and I’m looking forward to playing with you.”
These people only greeted him without showing any malice.
Huo Qinwu frowned and tossed Ye Xiaoxiao’s bracelet into a large bin labeled “Trash” as if throwing away garbage.
After discarding the bracelet, he frowned again and looked at the little one.
He had held back from intervening when these people talked to the little one.
He knew the little one hadn’t interacted with these people before. If they were just saying hello and he stopped them, the little one might feel puzzled or think he was being overly controlling.
So he tolerated these people greeting the little one but couldn’t tolerate them giving him things.
Having witnessed too many schemes in the palace, Huo Qinwu had seen enough to know how items could be tampered with.
He didn’t want to gamble, nor did he care to.
“Zai Zai, about that person just now—”
“Throw it away if you want to throw it away.”
The little one’s expression didn’t change much; he trusted Ah Wu completely. If Ah Wu wanted to throw something away, it must not have been good.
Between the people greeting him and Ah Wu, he naturally chose to trust Ah Wu.
Whether it was the greetings or the gifts, they didn’t affect the two of them at all.
After wandering the streets for almost half an hour, Jiang Yan and Chen Zhou still didn’t show up. Unable to find them, the little one held onto Ah Wu’s hand and asked to go back.
Huo Qinwu had only brought him out to relieve his boredom, so when he wanted to go back, they returned immediately.
After getting back, Huo Qinwu fed him half of the food they had bought on the street, and the rest he ate himself.
There was a lot of food, so the little one couldn’t finish it all.
After eating and washing up, Huo Qinwu started coaxing the little one to sleep.
Only then did his intention for taking the little one out for a walk finally become clear.
He wanted the little one to get tired from walking outside so that he would sleep better when they got back.
The little one also had things to do, so as soon as Huo Qinwu started coaxing him, he closed his eyes.
“I’m so sleepy.”
The little one looked very sleepy, and after closing his eyes, he turned over, lying face down to sleep.
Huo Qinwu didn’t lie down with him but watched him sleep from the side.
Who knows how long he watched.
When he saw that the little one wasn’t moving on the bed, Huo Qinwu quietly got up and left the room.
As soon as he walked out, the little one sat up, intending to go out as well.
But after putting on his clothes and opening the door,
The little one looked up and saw Ah Wu standing at the door, guarding it.
The little one: “…”
The little one opened his mouth, his little face blank as he looked at Ah Wu.
Ah Wu looked down at him, without a trace of surprise in his eyes.
The little one looked up at Ah Wu for a few seconds, then blinked and tried to save face, “Zai Zai sleepwalking.”
The sleepwalking little one turned around, ready to climb back into bed.
But Huo Qinwu placed a hand on his small shoulder, “Come on, where did you want to go?”
“I was sleepwalking.”
“You weren’t even asleep.”
Huo Qinwu exposed the little one’s fake sleep, saying calmly, “If you were really asleep, you wouldn’t be lying so still.”
When the little one was pretending to sleep earlier, he didn’t move at all, completely unaware that when he truly slept, his little hands and feet would be flailing as if practicing martial arts.
The little one had no more excuses. He drooped his little head and confessed honestly, “I wanted to find Jiang Jiang and Zhou Zhou.”
Huo Qinwu: “…”
Huo Qinwu: “If you want to go out, just tell me. I’ll take you by carriage.”
The places where Jiang Yan and Chen Zhou were staying were relatively safe.
Huo Qinwu didn’t have any intention of stopping him from going.
In the end, the little one got into the carriage and was taken over there.
But after being dropped off, the little one watched Ah Wu’s departing figure and thought to himself.
Something didn’t feel right.
Ah Wu had coaxed him to sleep and then brought him here, even saying he could stay the night.
It felt very suspicious.
“Jiang Jiang, Master Sui, I—I just remembered I have something to do.”
The little one hurriedly said, not even bothering to formally greet Master Sui, “I’ll come back tomorrow.”
After saying that, he followed after Ah Wu, looking like he wanted to catch up with him.
Jiang Yan and Master Sui watched as he chased after the carriage. Jiang Yan casually remarked to Master Sui, “Little Seven and Qinwu have such a good relationship. Master Sui, can you go easy on all of us during the assessment the day after tomorrow?”
Master Sui glanced at him and replied, “I only promised to go easy on Little Seven.”
As for the others, he hadn’t agreed to anything.
Jiang Yan’s eyes widened at his words, “Master Sui, you won’t even go easy on me? I’ve been taking care of you for days, even feeding you during meals.”
“But I never asked you to feed me.”
Master Sui knocked on his head and said coldly, “Besides, you eat my food, live in my house—pouring tea and water for me is the least you should do.”
Jiang Yan pouted, “I’ve poured so much tea for you, and you won’t even go easy on me a little.”
While the two of them were arguing, the little one had already transformed back into a fluffy little ball to chase the carriage.
He trotted on his four little legs, his paws hitting the ground as he ran forward with all his might.
After who knows how long, the carriage finally stopped. Ah Wu’s figure was hard to distinguish in the darkness.
But the little one’s bright black eyes could still see in the night. He accurately spotted Ah Wu’s figure.
He cautiously followed behind Ah Wu, his pink paw pads getting a bit sore from all the running.
He really needed Ah Wu to blow on them.
The two little ones, one big and one small, wandered around, twisting and turning until Ah Wu finally reached his destination, just as the little one’s head was starting to get dizzy.
Hiding in the bushes, the little one saw a very beautiful house—unlike any other house he had seen before.
His house had paper windows, but here, the windows were transparent and solid.
After Ah Wu climbed over the wall to get in, the little one dug his way in.
He had quite a talent for finding strong holes.
This time, the lucky little one didn’t get stuck. He smoothly made it inside and then saw the transparent, solid windows.
He transformed back into his human form. Though he hadn’t gotten stuck while digging the hole, one of his paws had accidentally scratched too hard, making it painful to walk.
But once he transformed back, the paw became a hand, and since he didn’t need to walk on it, it no longer hurt.
“Where’s Ah Wu?”
The house was so special, and while he was looking around, the little one lost track of Ah Wu at the door.
He looked around, confused, before finally finding a window that wasn’t fully closed. The edge of the window was covered in dust, suggesting it hadn’t been closed for a long time.
In the dust, the little one saw Ah Wu’s handprint.
He climbed in through the window, then reached out his small hand to wipe away the handprint in the dust.
Once inside, the little one quickly began looking for Ah Wu.
He didn’t find Ah Wu, but he did get quite a few scares.
He groped his way to the corridor, and accidentally stepped on something. Suddenly, the corridor lit up.
There were no candles, no lanterns, yet the bare corridor just brightened on its own.
The little one was so scared that he slapped a hand over his mouth, his eyes brimming with tears. He didn’t dare make a sound, and his short legs didn’t dare take another step.
After waiting for a while, the light returned to darkness.
Seeing that it was dark again, the little one continued to walk forward, eyes still filled with tears. But after taking just a couple of steps, he was so frightened that he hiccuped, and with that, the surroundings lit up once more.
The little one: “…”
The little one: “Mmh.”
There were ghosts.
The little one, who wasn’t afraid of the dark but was terrified of ghosts, couldn’t hold back his tears this time.
He didn’t dare stay still any longer and began to run with his short legs.
He had to find Ah Wu!
This haunted house was simply too scary.
The little one ran so fast inside the house that he tripped and fell. But even after falling, he didn’t dare check his little knee—he just got up and kept running.
After running for a while, he finally heard some noise.
The noise was coming from a room. The room was lit, and faint voices could be heard from inside.
The little one heard Ah Wu’s voice.
Upon hearing Ah Wu’s voice, he rushed over with large strides.
At the door, he stopped and didn’t dare go in recklessly.
The door was slightly ajar.
The little one peeked in, his two eyes scanning the room. Inside were many books, and in an area cleared in front of the bookshelf was something that looked like a couch, where a tall man was sitting.
The man had his back to the little one.
The little one could only hear his voice, saying, “This group of children has really surprised me.”
Standing beside the man was Ah Wu.
Ah Wu’s posture toward the man seemed somewhat threatening.
The little one didn’t know what was happening inside or how things had developed.
He just instinctively felt danger.
The man was casually leaning against the couch-like object, his tone somewhat cold: “You may surprise me a bit, but coming to disturb me at this hour is very rude and disrespectful.”
“My habit is to teach impolite children to become polite.”
“Do you think I’ll let you teach me?”
Huo Qinwu neither confirmed nor denied his words.
The man chuckled softly. Though his tone was cold, somehow his laughter didn’t seem out of place.
His hand slowly reached toward his waist, and at the same time, he spoke to Huo Qinwu, “Little friend, since I took in all of you unwanted children, I naturally have ways to control you. Today, I’ll show you—”
Before the man could finish his sentence, the little one, who had quietly sneaked in, picked up a vase and, just as the man was about to pull something from his waist, smashed it over his head.
The little one had received special training before coming here.
This kind of hit could knock a person out but wouldn’t kill them!
The little one’s strike completely caught the man off guard.
He was small, and when he walked over, he hardly made any sound, so the man hadn’t noticed him.
Now, after hitting the man, the little one was so scared that he plopped down on the floor.
