Yun Manman sniffled and lifted her head from his embrace, her emerald cat eyes as clear as if they had been washed with water.
"I understand what you mean."
"But since I have the ability to save him, I simply can't stand by and do nothing. I would feel guilty for the rest of my life."
Lu Qi gritted his teeth and messed up her hair: "Alright, Miss Counselor, lie down and get some rest."
It seemed he would need to keep a close eye on her from now on.
Yun Manman said sheepishly: "I'm not really a qualified counselor..."
Before she could finish, the hospital room door was pushed open and several heads peeked in.
Yan Xi rushed over, pulled Yun Manman to her, and anxiously looked her up and down: "Are you alright?"
Yun Manman hugged her mother's waist and said softly: "I'm fine, just mentally exhausted."
"My mental strength is too weak, otherwise this wouldn't have happened."
Yan Xi breathed a sigh of relief, embraced Yun Manman and had her lie down on the bed, lovingly stroking her still pale little face: "As long as you're okay. Our Manman is so excellent."
"You saved a beastman who was about to turn dark!"
Yan Jiao and Xiao Xiao gathered around: "That's right, that's right, as long as you're not hurt!"
"If you were hurt, we'd be so worried..."
The group quickly pushed Lu Qi to the back.
Lu Qi pressed his thin lips together, quietly standing against the wall watching them chat.
Yan Ye lazily stretched out his arm and leaned on Lu Qi's shoulder: "What's up? General Lu has a lot of free time? Still hanging around here."
Lu Qi lifted his eyelids slightly: "Won't be free for long. Even the imperial capital has Beastfiends appearing, something must have gone wrong somewhere."
"If it weren't for Manman today, the ordinary beastmen nearby would likely have suffered."
Hearing him talk about serious matters, Yan Ye's expression also turned serious: "We've been busy with this issue these past few days."
"Beastfiends have appeared in several surrounding cities as well, and the number of beastmen turning dark is increasing. If this continues, the military won't be able to handle it."
Lu Qi looked out the window at the endless rain and suddenly said: "Have someone investigate the water sources and food consumed by the darkened beastmen, as well as things they've frequently come into contact with recently, to see if there are any commonalities."
Yan Ye stood up straight, his golden pupils trembling slightly: "You mean..."
"Better safe than sorry," Lu Qi said gravely.
"Alright."
Since it was only mental exhaustion, Yun Manman was discharged after resting for a while.
On the way home, Yun Manman heard Yan Ye talk about the incident with the darkened sika deer today.
The sika deer delivery man was called Mei Yan, an ordinary delivery worker under the Flying Deer platform.
He had a daughter with his mate, but his mate had an affair when their daughter was only two years old.
An affair was one thing, they could have just divorced, and the child was given to Mei Yan.
Mei Yan worked hard every day, just so that his daughter could attend good schools in the imperial capital in the future and have a good life.
It could be said that his daughter was Mei Yan's spiritual pillar.
But somehow his ex-wife wanted to reconcile with Mei Yan, and her parents wanted to take the child to live with them.
Of course, Mei Yan disagreed, and refused to meet with them several times when they came to find him.
Unexpectedly, while he was delivering food, his ex-wife secretly went to his home and took the child away, even sending him a message saying he didn't need to take care of the child anymore.
Mei Yan exploded on the spot, and he didn't expect his mental breakdown to come so quickly, nearly turning into a Beastfiend.
Yun Manman was indignant: "His ex-wife is too much!"
"What about the child? Has she been found?"
Yan Ye's voice was calm: "She's been found. After Mei Yan woke up, he called the police."
"When the officers went to look, they found his ex-wife walking towards the train station with the child. When she heard the officers call out to her, she immediately abandoned the child and ran."
"In her panic, she ran into an oncoming hovercar."
"Ah?" Yun Manman was stunned. Was this karmic retribution?
Yan Ye continued: "She's not dead, but her leg is broken. She'll probably have trouble walking for the rest of her life."
Yun Manman patted her chest, feeling a mix of emotions: "It's good that the child was found."
The grief and anger on Mei Yan's face had deeply pained Yun Manman.
That was a father's helplessness.
Yun Manman lowered her gaze to look at her own delicate white hands and murmured: "If my mental strength was stronger, would I be able to help them better?"
By "them," she meant these beastmen on the verge of turning dark.
In the driver's seat, Yan Ye heard her words and opened his mouth, as if struggling, but finally closed it again.
Early the next morning, Yan Xi came to wake Yun Manman: "Manman? Time to get up!"
"His Majesty says he wants to see you."
Yun Manman sat dazed in bed.
His Majesty? What Majesty?
Do we still have a "His Majesty" in our socialist country??
She finally came to her senses: "His Majesty of Kashida?? He wants to see me??"
Yan Xi sat on the edge of the bed, using hands accustomed to weapons to clumsily braid her daughter's hair: "Yes."
"Don't be nervous, just treat him like an ordinary uncle when you see him, he's very friendly..."
Given the Yunzheng Clan's relationship with His Majesty, Yun Manman really didn't need to be nervous.
But! This was Yun Manman's first time meeting the country's monarch!
She felt a bit excited, a bit curious, and a bit nervous.
Would he be very majestic and serious? Or very amiable, with the air of a nation's leader?
When they arrived at the palace, Yun Manman looked up at the huge panda in front of her and blinked.
The nervousness in her heart suddenly dissipated, replaced by a sense of familiarity.
Giant! Panda!
National treasure! It's you!
Yan Xi introduced from the side: "Your Majesty, this is my daughter, named Yun Manman."
Yun Manman let go of Yan Xi's hand and stepped forward, suppressing her excitement: "Greetings, Your Majesty."
Xia Jiang sat up eagerly, his round eyes examining Yun Manman: "Not bad, not bad, this cub looks a lot like you, Xixi."
"Come, come, let me get a good look at what the kitten Lu Qiqi was looking for while drunk looks like?"
Yan Xi's eyes widened: "What?"
"Oh, you don't know yet? That day when Lu Qiqi got drunk and violated air traffic regulations and was fined, the air traffic control team recognized Manman yesterday as the kitten he was looking for everywhere that day."
"What kind of Major General are you, being so out of the loop."
Yan Xi's voice was deep: "Manman, is this true?"
Yun Manman didn't dare speak, just nodded silently.
At this moment, the giant panda said with a smile: "But I remember when that stinky brat Qiqi was little, in the garden, didn't Manman chase him around like a flying insect?"
"In the end he went around sulking, looking everywhere. It's a good thing we didn't tell him, otherwise he would have caused a huge fuss."
Yun Manman: ...Oh boy
So this was the answer to the unsolved mystery circulating online about "General Lu hates feline beastmen."
Uncle Xia Jiang's voice boomed loudly: "Didn't that brat start saying he didn't like cats from then on? That stinky kid!"
"And now he likes them again?"
"The cubs were young then, they didn't know any better." Yan Xi fastened the button on her sleeve and stood up.
"Manman, play here with His Majesty for a while, I have something to take care of. I'll come back to get you in a bit."