"Shocking! General Lu Qi spotted at Ika Grand Restaurant, his psychic power seems to have stabilized?"
"Drunk Singing Snake demolishes Ika Grand Restaurant! Brutish and rude behavior!"
"Esteemed General uses beast form flight in the capital and gets stopped by air traffic control? Truly disgraceful to the Singing Snake clan's reputation!"
"Rumors of the General disliking feline beastmen debunked! Click to see General Lu Qi's beloved cat!"
The internet was abuzz, with most links containing words like "Lu Qi" and "General".
Lu Qi expressionlessly clicked on the last link, finding that the photos and videos were blurry and didn't clearly show Yun Manman's appearance. He breathed a sigh of relief.
Then he exited and clicked "Report" in the bottom right corner, citing "false advertising" as the reason.
At that moment, a message from Lu Xi popped up: "General, there are too many reports, we can't suppress them all."
Lu Qi tapped on the screen to reply: "Don't worry about it. Just delete any images and videos with Yun Manman in them."
Lu Xi quickly responded: "Understood."
Lu Qi tossed the communicator aside and draped his arm over his eyes, revealing his pouting lips.
He lay listlessly on the bed, his loungewear open halfway down his chest, exposing pale skin. His long snake tail hung limply off the edge of the bed, motionless.
The tip of his tail still bore faint red marks from being twisted and bound for a long time.
His whole demeanor was as depressed and lifeless as if he'd been dragged out of water.
Lu Qi swore he would never drink alcohol again.
No matter how good it tasted, it wasn't worth it.
Just thinking about what happened after he got drunk last night made him want to die on the spot, not even willing to live on another planet.
Why couldn't he black out when drunk like people said online?
Instead, his memories were exceptionally clear and vivid, even recalling the sensation of the cat's paw pads as she tried to untie the knots on his tail.
And the tense, horrified expressions on Yuan Ci and Lu Xi's faces, the bewildered curiosity of passersby, the suppressed laughter of the air traffic control team...
It was a complete social death.
He wanted to die. But his psychic power had already stabilized considerably.
Singing Snakes were notoriously difficult to kill.
Maybe he should find some medicine to take?
His head still felt dull and achy from the hangover.
Lu Qi rolled around on the bed without a care for appearances, wailing internally and wildly imagining ways to die peacefully.
After thrashing about for a while to vent his frustrations, Lu Qi lay spread-eagled on the bed, his chest heaving violently, the tip of his tail swaying irritably.
Then with a "poof", he transformed back into his beast form, coiling dejectedly on the bed.
Yun Manman sat atop the little robot, curiously examining the ordinary-looking door before her.
She poked the robot's tip with her tail: "Is this General Lu Qi's bedroom?"
The robot's electronic screen displayed round eyes: "Yes, yes it is."
They were supposed to do a psychic power guidance session for Lu Qi this morning, at the regular time they had agreed on a few days ago.
But now it was already over an hour past the appointed time, and Lu Qi still hadn't come out of his room.
Yun Manman had asked Shou Ren, who just smiled and told her to go to Lu Qi's room to find him.
She had been hesitant at first, since Lu Qi had instructed her to "absolutely never go into his bedroom."
But Shou Ren repeatedly assured her it was "fine" and to "go ahead."
Naturally, such a curious and adventurous little cat wouldn't miss this opportunity.
The room was completely silent, without a hint of movement.
Could Lu Qi still be asleep due to his drunkenness, not yet awake?
Thinking of the big snake's drunken state last night, Yun Manman couldn't help but feel amused again.
At the same time, she couldn't help worrying a bit. Lu Qi didn't seem to be able to hold his liquor, so would he be suffering from a headache or feeling unwell now?
The little orange cat twitched her ears and reached out a paw to knock on the door.
"General Lu Qi? Are you up? It's time for the psychic power guidance session!"
After several seconds, Lu Qi's muffled voice came from inside: "Not doing it."
His voice sounded dull and weak, the discomfort in it immediately apparent.
Yun Manman tilted her head, her emerald cat eyes rolling.
She asked quietly: "Little robot, can you open the General's bedroom door?"
The robot's mechanical hands patted its chest proudly: "I can! I have access to the entire mansion!"
Oh ho, so this wasn't locked?
Did Lu Qi forget?
He remembered to order her to use his title but forgot to lock his room.
Yun Manman watched as the door clicked open with an amused shake of her head.
The Singing Snake's room was ridiculously large, but considering it had to accommodate such a big snake, it made sense.
Even though it was broad daylight, the room was very dim because the curtains were drawn, with only a warm yellow bedside lamp illuminating one corner.
The Singing Snake's jade-white body was especially noticeable in the darkness, seeming to emit a faint glow.
Yun Manman piloted the little robot, trying to find the light switch:
"Lu Qi? Qiqi? I'm turning on the lights, okay?"
"Don't you dare!"
Lu Qi's voice rang out, breaking the silence of the room.
But Yun Manman had already found the light switch, and with a soft click, the entire room lit up.
Yun Manman's cat eyes widened in shock at the photos covering the walls and the shelves full of mechanical toys.
The room's walls were a soft yellow that completely contradicted Lu Qi's cold demeanor, and hanging on them were childhood photos of Lu Qi.
Some photos showed a couple, both with phoenix eyes identical to Lu Qi's, their features delicate and fierce, but their gaze towards the camera was gentle and doting.
These must be Lu Qi's parents.
Some of these photos showed Lu Qi's parents in stern military uniforms, but most captured casual, warm moments of daily life.
One showed a young Lu Qi in an oversized military uniform, fallen on the ground with a red face and teary eyes, while behind him a gentle woman smiled with crescent-moon eyes.
Whoever took this photo must have been filled with love to capture such a tender and adorable scene.
Next to the wall of photos was a shelf full of mechanical action figures and weapon models, even covered with many posters.
The robots were characters from a famous Kashida anime.
To put it in perspective, their status in children's hearts was comparable to that of Ultraman for Earth children.
Yun Manman couldn't help but laugh, surprised at how rich General Lu Qi's inner world was.
Hmm, the room had a very adolescent feel to it, no wonder he wouldn't let her in.
Was he afraid she'd see this childish, dramatic side of him?
Lu Qi's embarrassed voice rang out: "Seen enough?"
"Mm-hmm, seen enough..."
Yun Manman laughed as she steered the robot to turn around, but unexpectedly tripped over an ornament on the floor. The whole cat lost control and fell out of the basket.
In the moment of falling, a cool, smooth tail wrapped around her body, preventing her intimate encounter with the floor.
Lu Qi placed her at the foot of the bed with resignation: "Unlucky cat."
Yun Manman smelled the faint lingering scent of alcohol and pine wood on the big snake: "Drunk Qiqi!"
One nickname triggered two extremely awkward memories, and the Singing Snake no longer wanted to speak, turning his head away.
No one helped the little robot though, as it had flipped over and lay on the ground chirping: "Save me, save me!"
The Singing Snake silently used his tail to pick up the small robot, opened the door and tossed it out: "Stupid clumsy robot, go find Shou Ren and have him add an anti-fall arm for you."
Thrown out of the room, the little robot spun in circles, its display flashing between "crying", "wronged", and "angry" expressions, finally settling on an angry pout.
"Robot angry! Robot not stupid!"
The small robot slid away, grumbling.
The cat sitting on the bed looked at the big snake taking out his frustrations on the robot, then noticed the communicator on the bed that hadn't yet gone dark.
She immediately understood.
So it was the online comments. Yun Manman had seen them this morning too.
Hmm... it was indeed quite embarrassing. If it had happened to her, she'd want to die on the spot too.
The cat gently patted the big snake's body with her paw pads, comforting him: "It's okay, a lifetime will pass quickly..."
Lu Qi remained silent.
"Don't worry too much about your image. People out there don't really know you or understand the whole situation, so their comments are all biased."
"Only you and those close to you know what kind of beastman you truly are."
At least to her, Lu Qiqi was a tsundere, soft-hearted, nagging big snake.
From the soldiers' respect for him and the medical team's words, Lu Qi was clearly not a brutal, cold, or callous beastman.
Had Lu Qiqi been living amidst such rumors for many years?
Yun Manman moved her head a little closer to the big snake's, her touch becoming increasingly gentle as she stroked its scales.
Hmm, the enlarged scales felt nice to touch too.
Hearing the kitten's soft, comforting words, the Singing Snake's crimson vertical pupils flickered in the darkness. After a long moment, it spoke.
Its voice was gloomy: "...They can insult me, I've never cared about that."
"But they brought the Singing Snake tribe into it. Have they forgotten how my father and mother fought and killed on the battlefield for Kashida?"
"Have I brought shame to my father and mother?"