Chapter 46: It’s Not Ordinary at All!
Lì Héng felt the texture of the little chick. His gaze drifted to the cub’s hair, and his finger paused. He asked tentatively, “Is this made from Little Bear’s fur?”
Shěn Lín nodded.
His original form shed a lot of fur, especially as he grew. The soft downy fluff would fall out naturally, replaced by brighter, tougher fur.
A-Mei had collected all the shed fur.
Once, he had accidentally seen the box A-Mei used to store the fur—it was nearly overflowing. A spark of inspiration hit him.
With A-Mei’s help, the cub made his very first toy.
His hands had been swollen for several days during the process.
Fortunately, he healed quickly, otherwise his Third Brother would have noticed something was wrong.
Even Shěn Zéxī had been peeking at him during dinner for those few days.
“It must have been very hard work, wasn’t it?”
The red-haired youth took the cub’s chubby hand, gently feeling the palm. There was a very, very thin layer of calluses.
He knew the cub had healing powers, but he hadn’t known he could heal himself.
When the cub first started, he had gotten blisters on his palms.
The blisters would pop, heal, and then pop again. This cycle repeated until he was left with these faint calluses.
Even so, the youth couldn’t help but feel a pang of heartache, gently stroking the thin calluses over and over.
He lowered his eyes, hiding the darkness within.
Shěn Lín had only felt a bit of itchy discomfort when the blisters popped. Once they healed, the feeling was gone.
So he honestly shook his head, indicating it wasn’t hard at all.
Lì Héng pulled the cub into a tight hug, burying his face in the cub’s neck. His voice was muffled as he said, “Thank you.”
This was the first time the young King had received a gift, and it was handmade by his best friend.
His heart felt strange—warm, full, and slightly tight.
Lì Héng’s emotions took a long time to settle. He couldn’t stop playing with the pink chick, which was smaller than his palm.
As he played, his movements were incredibly careful, as if he were afraid of rubbing a single hair out of place.
Shěn Lín was happy to see the toy he made being so cherished.
Actually, he had been nervous about giving it.
Little Chicken Brother gave him such expensive things—even the bamboo leaves he ate were Golden Bamboo.
Little Chicken Brother had given him so much, but he felt like he had nothing to give in return.
He thought about giving from his private collection, but those were things meant for his future wandering and were only suitable for himself to eat.
Little Chicken Brother didn’t have his “iron stomach”; he wouldn’t be able to digest most of it.
Shěn Lín had gone through his collection over and over but felt everything was lacking.
Until he saw his shed fur.
Red pandas shed every year. Sometimes he’d wake up and find pink fur flying all over the nest, the room, and the air. It was a nuisance.
Having too much fur was a burden.
Fortunately, the shedding period was short, and the shed fur was still vibrant in color.
Glancing at the wall of trinkets in his room, Shěn Lín’s eyes lit up.
Since his Third Brother loved the trinkets he made, maybe Little Chicken Brother would like them too?
No sooner said than done.
Shěn Lín rolled up his sleeves and worked hard until he had finished the pink chick.
He had intended to find a chance to give it to him.
He hadn’t expected the opportunity to come so soon.
Sensing a trace of unease in Little Chicken Brother, Shěn Lín felt it was the right time to give the gift.
Sure enough, the moment he gave it, he was hit by a wave of pure joy from the boy.
Shěn Lín gave himself a mental pat on the back.
(机智如我.jpg – Smart as I am)
Shěn Lín let out a yawn. He was feeling sleepy and decided to look for his little blanket, which had been tossed aside somewhere.
Lì Héng was still playing with the chick, but his gaze couldn’t help but follow the cub.
He watched the little one dragging his blanket, yawning as he looked around. He spotted a pillow nearby and waddled over to pick it up.
A plume fell from under the pillow, catching Lì Héng’s eye.
The red-haired youth’s long arm reached out, and the plume landed in his hand.
Shěn Lín’s sleepiness vanished instantly. He rushed over to snatch it back.
But Lì Héng dodged easily, holding the cub back with one hand.
Shěn Lín’s arms were short, his legs were short, and his whole body was tiny.
Even with both hands and feet moving, he couldn’t reach the plume Lì Héng was holding away from him. He puffed out his cheeks.
“Little Chicken Brother… mine~”
Lì Héng smiled. He pulled the cub toward him, and the plume lightly brushed over the cub’s skin.
Everywhere the plume touched, it left a trail of ticklish sensations.
Shěn Lín couldn’t take it. He pressed his head against the youth’s hot palm, his body squirming uncontrollably.
“Tickles~”
The cub looked at Lì Héng with watery eyes.
Lì Héng couldn’t withstand that piteous look and stopped teasing him.
With a flick of his wrist, a tiny flame erupted from the tip of the crimson plume.
“Whoa~”
The cub forgot to complain. His attention was immediately captured by the tiny flame on the plume.
Shěn Lín was genuinely amazed.
He had been holding that plume to sleep for so long and never knew it could do that. He watched, fascinated, as Little Chicken Brother made a flame appear—as if by magic—that matched the color of the plume.
Lì Héng shoved the plume back to the cub. The flame slowly flickered out until it vanished entirely.
Shěn Lín touched the plume. It wasn’t singed at all. The sight made Lì Héng laugh.
“The flame only appears because I’m maintaining it with my bloodline energy. Without that, it’s just an ordinary feather.”
Shěn Lín tucked the plume into his chest.
It wasn’t ordinary at all!
He thought to himself.
Lì Héng pulled the cub closer, pinching his cheek. “Still want to sleep?”
Shěn Lín was about to nod when he let out another yawn.
“Alan.”
“At your service, Majesty!”
The star-computer on his wrist flashed, and a screen of dense data popped up. The text reorganized itself into a translucent, flickering silhouette. You couldn’t see a face, but the figure was clearly male.
He wore a robe bearing the Ikaruosi Royal Crest, a red jade earring in his right ear, and a ring carved with a phoenix on his hand.
His voice was gentle, and he looked like an elegant scholar.
He stood tall, bowing respectfully to Lì Héng with perfect grace.
Shěn Lín tilted his head in curiosity, staring at the sudden holographic figure.
In the next second, the figure seemed to look back at him.
“Oh, what a cute little friend. Hello there! My name is Alan. Most people like to call me the Intellect. May I have the honor of knowing your name?”
“Ni-hao~”
“Me… Shěn Lín~”
“Oh~ Shěn Lín, how can you be so cute even when you talk?”
As Alan approached, the cub immediately hid behind Lì Héng, only poking out a fluffy head to peek.
Alan clutched his heart, acting as if he were about to faint from the cub’s cuteness.
Lì Héng was a bit annoyed, his tall frame shielding the cub as he explained, “His name is Alan. He’s my Intellect. He’s not dangerous; he just can’t control himself around cute things. To put it simply, he’s a bit of a pervert.”
“Oh~ my dear Majesty! You shouldn’t talk that way about an elegant Intellect. I strongly protest your attempt to ruin my image in front of this little cutie!”
“Alan, what time is it?”
Alan reluctantly pulled up a blue box showing the current sky over the Federation’s main star.
A crescent moon hung in the sky.
The sky was clear, and you could see the faint golden planetary ring orbiting the nearby Gemini star.
Occasionally, a starship would fly through the star-track like a shooting star.
Further out were massive nebulae. Passing through them would lead to another star system entirely.
“It is currently 6:00 PM, Galactic Standard Time.”
Lì Héng nodded and waved his hand. Alan retreated back into the star-computer.
Before disappearing, he blew the cub a theatrical kiss.
Shěn Lín had never seen such a human-like artificial intelligence.
The robots he’d seen before were either stiff or just followed their programming.
Seeing an Intellect that acted more human than humans was a total eye-opener for this little “country bumpkin” cub.
“What are you thinking about, Little Bear?”
“Nothing~”
Lì Héng didn’t believe him for a second; everything the cub was thinking was written on his face.
“Mechanical Star is full of robots with independent thought. They’re a bunch of shut-in geeks who love research. They don’t leave their planet easily, and Intellects are very hard to create. Currently, there’s only one Super Intellect Core on Mechanical Star, so your concerns are unfounded.”
Shěn Lín nodded, though he only half-understood.
“Alright, you should be awake now. Let’s go eat.”
Shěn Lín suddenly felt himself being lifted.
He was startled, his eyes wide, and his fluffy hair exploded even further.
Shěn Lín finally realized.
He’d only summoned Alan to help him wake up!
Evil Little Chicken!
Lì Héng smirked, slinging the cub over his shoulder as he strode toward the dining room.
As soon as he opened the door, he saw A-Mei standing there.
A-Mei gave a professional smile, lifting her skirt in a bow to Lì Héng. “Good evening, Majesty.”
Lì Héng nodded.
A-Mei turned to the cub and said gently, “Does Young Master wish to wash up?”
Shěn Lín immediately reached up and felt his hair. It was a total mess. He nodded.
Even the messy fluff on his head bobbed along with the nod.
He didn’t know if this body naturally had curly hair or if it was a side effect of his past self-detonation.
As he grew older, his hair became more and more curly.
If it wasn’t groomed, it would stay exploded all day.
Fortunately, he had a skilled head maid like A-Mei.
Shěn Lín washed up and was carried to dinner by Lì Héng.
At the table, he saw his Second Sister in the seat below the head of the table. He greeted her obediently and sat in his high chair.
Looking around, he didn’t see Shěn Zéjué and asked about him.
Shěn Zéxī said, “He caused trouble, so he’s being punished at the Beast Blood Pool.”
“Shern punished~”
The cub sometimes made these strange, garbled sounds that made Shěn Zéxī struggle to hide her smile.
“It means he did something wrong and is being penalized. Don’t worry about him; he’s thick-skinned. This little punishment won’t hurt him. Let’s eat.”
Hearing his sister say it was only a small punishment, Shěn Lín didn’t ask further.
Besides, Second Sister wouldn’t hurt Third Brother.
If she said he did something wrong, then he did.
People who do wrong should be punished.
Poor Third Brother, he was going to miss all this good food.
He’d have A-Wei (Shěn Zéjué’s head maid) bring some to him later—consider it a treat from his little brother~
Because they had such an esteemed guest today, the chef had gone all out.
Shěn Lín looked at the table full of food and began to drool.
He instinctively wiped away the suspicious moisture from the corner of his mouth, quietly observing the other two. Seeing that they hadn’t noticed his embarrassment, he let out a sigh of relief.
Shěn Lín had no idea his guilty little look had been seen by both of them. In a place where the cub couldn’t see, they both smiled at the same time.
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