Part 4
Fortunately, he’d had the foresight to take a sobriety pill before he started drinking.
Just as Ning Yunyi was about to fall asleep, he heard a faint sound from outside.
It was very soft—if he hadn’t been listening carefully, he wouldn’t have heard it.
Ning Yunyi wanted to ignore it and sleep, but then came a clear sound of claws scratching against the door.
It was slow and rhythmic, as if the perpetrator were moving in slow motion.
Ning Yunyi turned over, intending to use his spiritual energy to block the sound. After a moment’s thought, he got up instead.
He couldn’t really be a one-cup wonder, could he?
If something went wrong, the Star Network headlines tomorrow would be explosive: #Shocking! Marshal Zong Is a Shifter?! Why Is a Drunken Cat Raging Through the Capital Star?#.
The thought was just too humiliating.
Ning Yunyi walked slowly to the door and opened it a crack, peering out into the dim light.
Sure enough, a tiny black kitten was lying lazily at the door, belly-up.
His eyes were half-closed and glazed over. His paws seemed uncomfortable against the door, and he kept trying to move them back onto his belly.
He failed every time.
Ning Yunyi stared as the silly cat repeatedly tried to retract his paws, but because his body and brain were currently on different systems, he simply couldn’t do it.
Ning Yunyi finally couldn’t help but let out a silent laugh.
He knelt down and waved a hand in front of the drunken cat. No reaction.
He took out his wristband and recorded the scene.
He set the privacy and created a separate folder titled “Secrets That Must Be Hidden.”
Content with his work, Ning Yunyi reached out and poked the cat’s ear.
Zong Hao’s ear-tips twitched. His glazed eyes took a moment to focus.
They glazed over again, but his paw changed direction, hooking upward.
If the movement weren’t so stupid, Ning Yunyi would have suspected he was faking.
But Zong Hao would likely never do something this humiliating on purpose.
Ning Yunyi tsked. “Fine. I’ll be the good guy and help you sober up.”
He pulled out a sobriety pill and held it out.
However, Zong Hao was too far gone to even know how to swallow.
And he dared to get drunk in front of me? Is he too trusting, or too confident in himself?
Ning Yunyi simply fed it to him. As he withdrew his hand, he felt a lick on his fingertip.
Ning Yunyi frowned, feeling uncomfortable. He wiped his hand on his clothes, but the sensation lingered on his skin.
He waited for the medicine to take effect.
Nothing happened. He opened the door further, scooped up the kitten, and gave him a shake.
The tiny black kitten’s legs dangled as he swayed with the movement. He actually just fell asleep.
Ning Yunyi: Great. From now on, the first thing I do when I see a freeloader is kick them out the door.
He walked to the Big Cat’s old room, intending to leave him in his nest and go.
After a few steps, he stopped and looked back with a frown. What if he wakes up in the middle of the night and wanders out again?
He wanted to watch the show, but he didn’t truly want anything to happen to Zong Hao.
In the end, he could only carry the nest and the tiny kitten back to his own room.
Ning Yunyi placed the nest in a corner, then rested his arms on his hips as he looked down at the splayed-out black kitten. He laughed in exasperation.
If I ever soften my heart again, I’m a dog.
Ning Yunyi washed his hands again and went straight to sleep.
In the middle of the night, while he was half-asleep, he felt something fluffy beside his hand. He was too groroggy to care.
The fluff tried its best to burrow under his blanket. Annoyed by the intrusion, he reached out and tucked the fluff into his arms.
The fluff finally settled down, but soon it began squirming against Ning Yunyi’s chest, as if uncomfortable.
Ning Yunyi remembered something and snapped awake.
He threw his eyes open, kicked back the blanket, and looked down. He met two pairs of glowing beastly eyes in the darkness.
Ning Yunyi grabbed the tiny kitten, intending to throw it out. But in the next second, the clearly intoxicated kitten’s head lolled to the side, and he fell asleep right in Ning Yunyi’s palm.
Ning Yunyi: “…” He felt like a complete “fall guy.”
He raised his hand to toss the kitten back into its nest, but then the most unsettling event of the night occurred. He felt a sudden blur before his eyes. Simultaneously, mental power surged outward. In the darkness, with his perfect vision, he witnessed a literal “transformation trick.”
Ning Yunyi stared in a daze for a long time as a certain someone, sleeping like a dead man, appeared right there in his bed.
Ning Yunyi: “??”
Ning Yunyi: “…………” In all the time since his transmigration, he had never been this speechless.
A man had just appeared in his bed. A naked one.
Good. Very good.
Ning Yunyi slapped a hand over Zong Hao’s face.
Zong Hao, perhaps feeling suffocated in his sleep, gripped Ning Yunyi’s wrist and pulled it toward his chest. He pulled the blanket over his head and settled back in, all in one smooth motion.
His reward was an intolerable finishing move from Ning Yunyi.
A clear, sharp slap echoed in the darkness. Even so, the man didn’t wake up.
Ning Yunyi, however, got out of bed. He watched as Zong Hao rubbed his face in his sleep, frowning as if it hurt, but unable to resist the pull of sleep. He drifted off again a second later.
The large movement had exposed a significant amount of skin.
Ning Yunyi grabbed the blanket and “peacefully” covered him up.
Ning Yunyi spent the rest of the night in the guest room. Because he had slept so late, he woke up a bit behind schedule.
When he heard Ning Xiaomiao’s voice in the hallway, Ning Yunyi snapped awake. He vaulted out of bed and caught the little guy just as he was about to open the door.
Ning Xiaomiao’s eyes lit up at the sight of his father. “Father, why did you come out of the guest room today?”
Ning Yunyi patted his small head. “How about we have wontons, heart-shaped fried eggs, and potstickers for breakfast?”
As expected, Ning Xiaomiao’s attention was diverted. “Yes! Yes!”
Ning Yunyi took him to the first-floor bathroom to wash up.
Then he began preparing breakfast with the little guy.
Upstairs, in Ning Yunyi’s room, Zong Hao woke up the moment he heard the commotion from the cub.
Initially, he didn’t realize where he was. It was only when he heard Ning Yunyi’s voice that the memories of last night came flooding back.
He rubbed his head. His memory stopped shortly after he finished the wine. What happened after that?
He sat up. In the next instant: “!!!”
The person on the bed vanished, replaced once more by a Big Cat.
He stared blankly ahead, his world turning upside down. Did I… did I have a drunken encounter with Ning Yunyi last night?
No, impossible. He was drunk, but Ning Yunyi clearly wasn’t.
Ning Yunyi had just come out of the guest room. That meant… he had gone wild in his drunkenness and then run into someone else’s room to perform a “transformation” for them?
The “naked” kind?
Zong Hao felt as though all the dignity of his entire life had been lost last night.
And because he had blacked out, he couldn’t even remember how he ended up in Ning Yunyi’s bed.
Downstairs, Ning Yunyi had finished breakfast. Just as he emerged with the wontons, a blur flashed past him.
It was so fast it kicked up a small whirlwind.
Ning Xiaomiao, holding the potstickers, stared in shock at the departing Big Cat. “Waa, it’s Mao-Mao. Father, has Mao-Mao gone mad?”
Why else was he running like that?
He didn’t even stop for the delicious potstickers!
Ning Yunyi was perfectly calm, as if he hadn’t seen a thing. “He has. So stay away from him when you see him.”
It seemed the cat realized how humiliating his behavior had been.
Tsk tsk. He had been quite angry last night, but thinking about how Zong Hao probably wanted to die of embarrassment right now, his anger vanished instantly.
He finished his meal with great satisfaction, his mood excellent.
On the other side, Zong Hao—who had vanished for the night—returned silently to his own room. He changed his clothes and reverted to human form, only to see a faint palm print across his face in the mirror.
Good. It seemed he really had done something extraordinary during the parts he couldn’t remember.
The mark hadn’t faded after a whole night; it was clear how angry Ning Yunyi had been.
Zong Hao felt even worse. After a half-day of mental preparation, he sent a message to Ning Yunyi:
[Did I… go wild last night? Did I do something bad?]
[White Yanyu: Did you? I didn’t notice. (Iris access deleted. Don’t come back.)]
Zong Hao snapped into a straight sitting position. If not for that last sentence, he might have believed the first part.
He had even deleted his iris access. Exactly how heinous was his crime?
But thinking about it, Ning Yunyi’s strength was equal to his own. He likely just embarrassed himself by transforming. Still, it was enough for a total social death in front of Ning Yunyi.
For the next few days, Zong Hao didn’t dare show his face to Ning Yunyi, nor did he dare visit the Ning house.
He didn’t even dare ask questions.
Ichi observed the Marshal for several days, finding it quite bizarre. “Marshal, did you have a falling out with Mr. White?”
Zong Hao didn’t speak. He sat there behind his mask, quietly reviewing the documents placed before him.
Ichi rubbed his nose and changed the subject. “We’re the only ones here. There’s no need for the mask, is there? Does it not block your vision?”
Zong Hao’s body stiffened. Finally, he spoke, his voice sounding even stranger than usual. “It doesn’t.”
Ichi grew more curious. “Really?”
Zong Hao: “Since you have so much to say, have the military arrangements been finalized?”
Ichi immediately felt his skin tighten. He didn’t dare ask more, but after a moment’s thought, he circled back to the first topic. “Marshal, are you sure you don’t want to know about Mr. White’s situation?”
Zong Hao didn’t speak, but he didn’t say no either.
Ichi raised an eyebrow and spoke with feigned intent. “In that case, since the Marshal is working so hard, I’ll take a half-day leave and visit the Ning house myself.”
Zong Hao looked up. “What’s going on? What are you trying to say?”
Ichi shrugged. “Nothing much. I just received a report that Zong Ling is being persistent. He’s been kneeling at the Ning house gate for some time now, claiming he wants to see Second Young Master Ning to apologize.”
Mu Jiayi had been ruined previously, but in the public eye, Zong Ling had not.
With his “deeply affectionate” persona still intact, his current scene had informed many people that the Second Young Master was alive.
Crowds were already gathering to watch the drama.
Zong Hao’s brow furrowed. “And you didn’t stop him?”
Ichi: “On what grounds would I stop him? He’s kneeling at the gate. Who knows when Mr. White might soften his heart and go out to see him? Now that he has nothing left to lose, do you think he’ll resort to pestering to win Mr. White back?”
Zong Hao stood up abruptly and shot him a glance. “What are you waiting for?” He strode out, his pace getting faster and faster, causing Ichi to let out a chuckle.
“Marshal, didn’t you just say you didn’t want to know? Why are you going personally now? I could’ve gone for you.”
The only response was a man walking even faster.
Ning Yunyi had known Zong Ling was kneeling at his gate from the start.
The Money Turtle rubbed his palms together. “Master, if he’s an eyesore, I’ll just throw him out right now.”
Ning Yunyi: “Let him kneel if he wants.”
He wanted to see how long the man could last. If he actually stayed for seven days and nights, Ning Yunyi might have a shred of respect for him.
But given Zong Ling’s soft nature, he likely wouldn’t last that long.
The Money Turtle gave a hum. “Then I’ll go keep an eye on him. I won’t let him ruin Master’s reputation.”
A short while after leaving, he scurried back. “Master, the Second Prince is here!”
Recommended Reads
