Part 2
The guard returned to the palace to report. When the Crown Prince found out, he was filled with guilt and bestowed many gifts, sending them on another trip to the Ning family.
When the Ning family’s door closed again, Big Brother Ning and Professor Ning looked grim. Yunyi was right; these people truly wouldn’t give up. Specifically, they didn’t know which of the visitors was the Second Prince’s spy.
Ning Yunyi was in the process of restoring Mrs. Ning’s breathing. A moment after he removed the silver needles, Mrs. Ning took a deep breath and slowly opened her eyes. Only then did the family relax.
After a simple dinner that evening, Ning Yunyi carried Ning Little Meow toward the rear building. Zong Hao followed closely behind, wagging his tail and stealing glances at Ning Yunyi ahead. He felt that Ning Yunyi was ignoring him todayāwas he tired?
If not for the fact that Ning Yunyi had just agreed to let him stay, Zong Hao would suspect he wanted to kick him out again.
Ning Yunyi first took the cub to wash up. After coaxing the little guy to sleep, he glanced at the Big Cat squatting at the door. “Go to the study. We need to talk.”
Although he had made his choice, thinking about the Big Cat’s concealmentsāone after anotherāhe couldn’t smooth out his irritation without getting some payback.
The Big Cat’s little heart thumped. He didn’t change his mind, did he?
As long as he wasn’t being kicked out, he was fine with anything.
Ning Yunyi led the Big Cat to the study. Once the door was closed, he sat in his chair. He had intended to let the Big Cat sit on the low stool beside him, but when he turned around, he saw the Big Cat squatting exceptionally obediently at his feet, looking up at him eagerly. Those gray beast eyes were filled entirely with him, as if he were truly just his adorable pet beastāthe kind that would never betray its master!
Ning Yunyi’s expression became incredibly strange for a moment.
It was like seeing someone who was outwardly aloof, arrogant, and untalkativeāfull of prestigeābut at home, ran wild, carried his food bowl, snatched food, and occasionally acted cute. This contrast made Ning Yunyi inexplicably uncomfortable, and he looked away.
It’s over. I absolutely cannot connect this cat with that person. I can’t imagine they are the same individual.
Ning Yunyi simply touched his nose. “Looking at you is an eyesore. Shrink a bit.”
Zong Hao suffered another critical hit to his heart. I’m already an eyesore in his eyes?
He wasn’t any different from before. Sure, he could turn into a human, but he didn’t plan to do it in front of him. Why did his attitude change so drastically?
Despite his internal monologue, Zong Hao obediently shrank his body bit by bit. Now his presence was lower, but Ning Yunyi had to look down to speak to him.
Ning Yunyi hadn’t forgotten his plan to “scare” him. The first move was to be direct, both to startle the Big Cat and to confirm his suspicions one last time.
“Big Cat, you’ve been in this house for so long. Speaking of which, regarding you being a shifter… didn’t you deceive me first?” Ning Yunyi asked in an exceptionally serious tone.
Zong Hao stopped wagging his tail. Is he settling accounts after the fact?
He could only steal a glance at Ning Yunyi before nodding his small head.
Ning Yunyi propped his chin on one hand, tilting his head to look down. “So, I’m quite curious about what your human form looks like. Shift for me to see?”
Zong Hao: “??”
His beast eyes froze instantly, the light in them dimming. Really… is that necessary? Let’s not, right?
Ning Yunyi stared at him fixedly. “What? You’re unwilling? Or is your human form unseeable? Or… don’t tell me you’re some kind of wanted criminal?”
Zong Hao: “…” How am I supposed to answer that?
He could only lower his head, silently gesturing with his paws, crossing them over his chest, and glancing up at Ning Yunyi bashfully to indicate: If I shift, I’ll be naked. It’s not appropriate.
Ning Yunyi’s expression grew even stranger. His guess… was it really correct? Why did it feel so jarring? Help!
He stiffly averted his gaze and grabbed a blanket from the side. “It’s fine, I prepared a blanket for you. I’m just curious about your face. You can cover the rest however you want.”
Zong Hao tried to paw the blanket off his head. This wasn’t a question of covering up; it was a question of… whether he could.
Zong Hao’s fur stood on end. He was genuinely worriedāwhat if Ning Yunyi was determined to see his face? What should he do?
Show him, or not?
Just as Zong Hao’s heart was in turmoil, Ning Yunyi finally let him off. “It seems you can’t be seen. You shed so much and you’re all gray… your human form wouldn’t happen to be seventy or eighty years old, would it?”
Zong Hao choked, thinking of his actual age.
Ning Yunyi stroked his chin, saving face for him. “But I heard shifters don’t change much in appearance after adulthood, so you should be quite young. At least, at first glance, right?”
Zong Hao silently pulled the blanket around himself. He figured it outāNing Yunyi was unhappy about being deceived and was teasing him on purpose.
Having vented his frustration by scaring him, Ning Yunyi finally moved on to business.
“Before, I didn’t know you were a shifter, nor did I know the situation in the palace. But now that I do, I have an idea. I don’t know if you’re willing to cooperate.”
Ning Yunyi had decided on the second option not only to allow Marshal Zong to recover from his spiritual riot as soon as possible but also to prepare for future crises in advance.
The plight faced by the Shifter Alliance had existed for decades; it wasn’t something that could be changed overnight. Combined with the fact that Ning Yunyi had the cub to care for and the Ning family was facing crises on all sides, he naturally hadn’t been able to affect change.
But now it was different. Since he couldn’t even protect the Ning family by staying silent, he might as well spare some effort to do something else. This included addressing the entire galaxy’s attitude toward shifters. From the beginning, because of their special genes and formidable combat power, plus their half-beast genetics, they automatically fell into a lower class.
Or rather, from the moment they appeared, they were forcibly categorized as inferior citizens.
After so many years of subtle influence, people didn’t view shifters as real humans in their bones. They felt that since they retained most of their beast genes, they could be auctioned off or captured for inhumane potential training, euphemistically called “stimulating maximum potential.”
Now, there were even people capturing shifters to use as spiritual power blood bags, simply because they felt shifters were beneath themāif they needed it, they could take it.
But what if shifters were just like ordinary peopleācapable of emotions, sadness, grief, and pain?
When he didn’t know Marshal Zong was a shifter, the Ning family’s voice was slight; a single sentence from above could spell death for them. But if… Marshal Zong himself was a shifter, as long as it was kept secret, combined with some maneuvering, they would have enough to fight against the high-and-mighty nobles and royalty of the galaxy.
What lay before them required just one thing: changing the public’s impression and understanding of shifters. And he currently possessed naturally convenient conditions to do so.
Ning Yunyi pulled out his wristband, opened the backend homepage of his [Star Stream] account, and showed it to the Big Cat. “Do you see anything?”
Zong Hao looked up in confusion. Because he had shrunk, his altitude was too low; he had to stand on his tiptoes to see. Regretting making him shrink, Ning Yunyi bent down and scooped him onto the table. With his vision elevated, the Big Cat curled up uncomfortably, causing Ning Yunyi’s mouth to twitch. “What does that mean? What could I possibly do to you? With all your shedding and your tail being a different color from your body?”
Zong Hao glanced at him. Wasn’t it because you just asked me to turn into a human? I imagined the scene and got uncomfortable.
Zong Hao quickly looked forward. Seeing the follower count had reached 5 million didn’t surprise him. After all, [Sect’s First Blade] streamed cooking with rare or extinct Ancient Blue Star ingredientsāunique in the entire galaxy. After so many days, even if the “Food Section” had a small audience, nothing could block the appeal of excellent taste.
It was just that Ning Yunyi had been busy saving the Ning family recently and hadn’t streamed seriously. Most broadcasts featured previous dishes. The fan count was stuck at a critical point; with a few new dishes and a trending topic, it would accelerate again.
However, why was Ning Yunyi showing him this?
Zong Hao looked at him curiously. “Meow?” What’s up?
Hearing the soft, thin meow, Ning Yunyi’s body stiffened. He truly couldn’t reconcile this Big Cat, currently looking up at him and meowing obediently, with the aloof Marshal Zong. He gave him a weird look before turning to his wristband projection.
Zong Hao: “…” Is he starting to hate my voice now? Doesn’t even want to listen?
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