The journey from Lili Town to the imperial capital required half a day on the maglev train.
The beast tide on the frontier had been resolved, and the army was returning as well.
This was Yun Manman's first time seeing so many soldiers. Beast-person soldiers.
Perhaps because they had just finished a battle and were able to return home, every soldier's face bore a relaxed expression, occasionally whispering and joking with their companions.
Normally, for ease of movement, the soldiers kept their beast features hidden.
But now, with the relaxed atmosphere, many had let their tails and ears out to get some air.
Who could understand? The whole car was full of uniformed beast-people! A furry fan's dream come true!
The male soldier sitting next to Yun Manman had a pair of pointed, upright dark gray ears, and behind him, a long, fluffy tail swayed lazily. Perhaps he was a gray wolf?
The soldier sitting in front couldn't be seen clearly, but that head of hair shimmering with blue-green luster reminded Yun Manman of a peacock.
Diagonally in front, there was one with round ears and a long, nimble tail, scratching and fidgeting with long limbs - probably a monkey?
At this moment, a petite female beast-person soldier with short hair and slender but powerful limbs passed through the aisle. She had large, pale yellow triangular ears on the sides of her head, and a fluffy tail of the same pale yellow color with a black tip.
Her ears were truly enormous, almost as big as her face, and combined with her large, bright eyes, she looked like a cartoon character come to life.
As if sensing Yun Manman's gaze, she tilted her head and winked at the orange cat as she passed by.
Yun Manman: !
The cat stretched out her injured paw.
Cute big sister! I'm available!!
The female beast-person was amused by the cat's behavior and let out a small laugh.
She stopped, about to chat with the little cat, when she felt a deadly gaze that made the fur on her tail stand on end.
She stiffly turned her head to find Lu Qi sitting next to the little cat.
So she quickly turned and walked back to her own seat.
After sitting down, she patted her chest, still shaken, and hugged her tail, soothing its bristling fur: "That was scary. Why does General Lu Qi have a feline beast-person with him?"
"Wasn't it said that the general hates feline beast-people the most?"
That warning look didn't seem like hatred though? It was more like he was guarding a treasure in his territory.
The friend sitting next to her shared some of her jerky: "I heard it's General Lu Qi's partner."
Another beast-person in the seat behind snatched the jerky from her hand: "I said it's the general's love interest! They're not partners yet! Don't spread rumors."
"Oh, well that's almost the same. They'll be partners soon enough."
Yun Manman stretched out her paws, watching the cute big-eared sister flee as if something was chasing her, and tilted her head in confusion.
"Still looking? You're about to fall out of your seatbelt." A cold voice came from above.
Yun Manman sheepishly withdrew her paw and asked curiously: "Are there female beast-persons in the army too?"
She had thought they were all male beast-persons.
Lu Qi frowned as he refastened the cat's loosened seatbelt, and after a while, he said: "Anyone with the ability and willingness can join the army, regardless of gender."
"Fenny is a fennec fox, with exceptionally good hearing. She belongs to the reconnaissance team."
Fennec fox!!!
So that's why those big ears looked so familiar!
Aww, can I cuddle with the excellent and cute big sister?
Yun Manman's bright cat eyes were full of longing as she kept craning her neck, trying to spot the fennec fox lady among the crowd.
Lu Qi looked at the fickle cat and felt his teeth itch. He said coolly: "If you keep squirming around, I'm going to have to find you a child-specific seat."
He had figured it out - once Yun Manman saw fluffy ears and tails, she couldn't take her eyes off them.
He had no doubt that if Fenny had transformed into her beast form just now, this fickle cat would have jumped into the fennec fox's arms without hesitation.
Yun Manman's attention was drawn back by his words: "Do they have child-specific seats here?"
Lu Qi secretly pinched the tip of his tail behind his back and answered: "They do. Very suitable for beast-persons of cub size who are naughty and restless, like you."
"If you keep moving around and end up taking a big fall, I won't be responsible for you."
The cub-sized, naughty, and restless Yun Manman snorted, took out her communicator, and started browsing videos. At least she had quieted down.
She didn't believe Lu Qi wouldn't catch her.
That big snake with his words not matching his heart.
Seeing that she was no longer fidgeting, Lu Qi's furrowed brow finally relaxed.
So exhausting.
Taking this cat along was like looking after a child. He felt like if he didn't keep an eye on her for a moment, she'd be snatched away.
And except for being respectfully distant towards him at first, now she wasn't afraid of him at all.
Even though she had gotten up early this morning to do a mental power guidance for him, she was still full of energy, unwilling to take a nap.
What a worrisome feline beast-person.
Lu Qi's peripheral vision caught the chat interface on Yun Manman's communicator, which showed she was replying to Jin Luo's messages.
After Jin Luo's confession, he still messaged Yun Manman like nothing had happened, sharing interesting daily occurrences with her.
Now he was asking if she had safely boarded the maglev.
Yun Manman lowered her head, troubled, using her paw to poke at the keyboard as she replied.
Not replying would be impolite, and Yun Manman still valued Jin Luo as a friend.
If only he hadn't developed feelings for her and could have remained just her good buddy.
Lu Qi suddenly asked: "You've been out of university for quite a while now, haven't you? Don't you have anyone you're dating?"
Yun Manman didn't even look up: "This cat is of pure heart and few desires, focused solely on her career of making desserts. No time for dating."
Truthfully, whether in her past life or now, Yun Manman's mind was filled with thoughts of making money. The red thread of love in her head had long been covered in dust.
Lu Qi nodded in agreement, the corners of his mouth lifting: "Indeed, career comes first."
The nearly six-hour maglev journey quickly came to an end. Yun Manman awoke to the gradually increasing noise, and in her half-asleep state, she heard Lu Qi saying:
"Right, don't mention it yet, we don't want to alert them... We'll act tonight."
"Are we there?" The cat rubbed her face with her front paws, the small blanket on her body sliding off with the movement.
Lu Qi put away his communicator, unfastened the cat's seatbelt, and pushed over a stroller.
"Here you go, Miss Guide. Your exclusive seat has been prepared for you."
Yun Manman looked at the little stroller in front of her, which seemed to be mocking her, then at Lu Qi with his teasing and casual tone.
For a moment, she felt a surge of boldness: "I don't want to sit in that."
"Can you carry me?"
Lu Qi seemed shocked by her words, his eyes widening in disbelief as he looked at her.
The air was filled with nothing but silence.
A few seconds of quiet made the cat's courage shrink, and Yun Manman began to regret her actions.
She had overstepped! Lu Qi's complete compliance over the past two days had momentarily made her forget the fact that they weren't actually that close.
Her cat's courage had inflated too much, and for a moment, she had forgotten that General Lu Qi disliked cats.
The orange cat laughed awkwardly: "Haha, I was just joking. The little stroller is fine..."
She was about to jump into the stroller as she spoke.
Before she could finish her sentence, Yun Manman felt her body lighten as she was gently scooped up into an embrace filled with the scent of pine.
"Lie still."
So impressive!
But also so embarrassing!
When Yun Manman was carried off the maglev in Lu Qi's arms, she felt gazes from all directions falling on her.
She inexplicably sensed the meanings behind those gazes - admiration, amazement, speculation...
Mortified, she buried her head in Lu Qi's sturdy arm, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz: "General, why don't you put me back in the stroller..."
The cat knows she was wrong, boo hoo!
But she only received Lu Qi's light refusal: "This is the 'exclusive seat' that Miss Guide personally chose. How can you give up halfway?"
"How is it? More comfortable than your baby stroller, right?"
Seeing the cat in his arms unable to lift her head, Lu Qi, who had been a bit awkward at first, became increasingly cheerful.
Hmph, that'll teach you to tease me.
As long as someone feels more embarrassed than me, I don't feel embarrassed anymore.
Lu Qi's mood inexplicably improved.
He carried the light and soft bundle in his arms towards the hover car that had already been parked and waiting, and drove off towards the Singing Snake Mansion.
The nights of the rainy season always seemed to come especially early. The sky transformed from a hazy grey to an all-encompassing inky darkness in what felt like a very short time.
The heavy rain continued to fall relentlessly, carrying away some of the day's heat, and finally, a cool breeze blew through.
Fu Li stood by the window, peering through the thick curtain of rain towards the direction of the border. For some reason, he felt his heart racing unusually tonight.
There was still no news from the vampire clan.
The spies sent to gather information hadn't reported anything amiss either.
Yet, Fu Li couldn't shake off a feeling of unease.
He closed the window, deciding to go to Xiong Xiong's house again to check on the situation.
Every rainy season, Xiong Xiong would become unreachable for days on end, never answering any communication attempts.
Fu Li couldn't understand it. It wasn't winter, so why would a brown bear need to hibernate during the rainy season?
Xiong Xiong's large villa wasn't far from Fu Li's home, just across one street.
He hurried through the alley with an umbrella, his urgent footsteps splashing in the puddles, making distinct "plop-plop" sounds that stood out in the quiet.
Suddenly, he stopped, warily scanning his surroundings.
Something was off. It was too quiet.
Not even a single delivery rider was in sight.
"Whoosh!" A long pink tongue shot out from the wall to Fu Li's upper left, attempting to wrap around his body.
Fu Li rolled forward on the ground, evading the tongue's grasp, and looked up at the wall awkwardly. "Who's there!"
A chameleon's silhouette gradually shifted from grey to green: "Oh my, I missed."