Previously, the spiritual power Bai Jiao had placed on Le Zhuo had only been to track his movements. This was the first time he had entered Le Zhuo’s body, even coming into contact with his spiritual force to soothe it.
Closing his eyes, Bai Jiao directly entered Le Zhuo’s mental domain.
Countless bubbles floated within, each playing fragments of scenes, all entangled in red threads. The background was a thick, suffocating darkness, reflecting Le Zhuo’s inner unrest.
Bai Jiao did not touch the bubbles that symbolized Le Zhuo’s memories. Instead, he began to carefully untangle the knotted red threads one by one.
These threads represented Le Zhuo’s spiritual power, currently in a chaotic state.
Bai Jiao was two levels higher than Le Zhuo, with an immense gap between them. Handling this required little effort and he finished quickly.
When he withdrew, he realized that the person in his arms was gone. In his place was a robust snow leopard.
Its fur was sleek and glossy, a beautiful blend of black and white. Its slightly folded ears gave it an unexpectedly adorable appearance.
“……”
Bai Jiao immediately understood, this was Le Zhuo’s beast form.
If he hadn’t been physically strong enough, holding a snow leopard weighing over seventy five kilograms might have crushed him.
For most people, simply having a leopard in their arms would have been enough to scare them senseless.
【Ah! Zhuozhuo is so comfortable he revealed his beast form, such a cute leopard! Much cuter than the ones you used to kill, Host!】 886 rolled from the top of the snow leopard’s head like it was sliding down a playground slide.
The beast form didn’t last long, indicating instability in the owner’s spiritual power. Soon, Le Zhuo reverted back to human form, while the leopard flickered to the side, remaining as a conscious entity. It trotted over and rubbed against Bai Jiao’s leg.
This was Le Zhuo’s spirit form.
At the sight of the snow leopard, an unexpected fondness rose within Bai Jiao.
He carried the unconscious Le Zhuo to his bed. The snow leopard followed closely, rubbing against him repeatedly. Even when it touched him, it kept its claws carefully retracted, never pouncing on him.
After settling Le Zhuo under the covers, Bai Jiao turned around and pulled the snow leopard into an embrace, holding its head.
Soft, fluffy fur, very pleasant to touch.
The snow leopard seemed aware that its tongue had barbs, so it didn’t try to lick him. Instead, it kept pushing its head into Bai Jiao’s arms, even rolling over to expose its soft belly, clearly asking to be petted.
“Let’s go to the sofa.”
Without using any spiritual suggestion, the snow leopard still obeyed him. It quickly leapt onto the large sofa, waiting for Bai Jiao.
“Awoo…”
“Don’t make noise. Your main body is asleep, don’t wake him,” Bai Jiao said. Somewhere deep down, he felt that if Le Zhuo woke up, he might no longer be able to see this adorable snow leopard.
The snow leopard pressed a paw over its own mouth, its round eyes looking at Bai Jiao pitifully, softening his heart.
He walked over, kicked off his shoes and reached out to rub the snow leopard’s soft belly.
So cute.
It was the first time he had ever found a snow leopard adorable.
The snow leopard let out a low, rumbling purr of contentment, tilting its head to nuzzle against Bai Jiao’s hand.
“You’re quite clingy.”
Bai Jiao murmured softly, lowering his face to bury it against the leopard’s belly.
The snow leopard’s long, fluffy tail curled around Bai Jiao’s calf. With its sharp claws carefully retracted, it gently patted Bai Jiao’s back with its soft paw pads, as if coaxing him to sleep.
Closing his eyes, Bai Jiao allowed a faint smile to linger on his lips. In that position, leaning against the snow leopard, he gradually drifted into sleep.
Used as a pillow, the snow leopard was not bothered in the slightest, in fact, it was delighted. The tip of its tail lifted and swayed unconsciously.
So happy… it had found a human it liked!
…
When Le Zhuo woke up, he felt dizzy and disoriented. It took quite a while before the world before his eyes came back into focus and the memories of the previous night surged back like a tide.
He remembered pretending to be foolish and drinking a whole bottle of Bai Jiao’s fine wine. At first, he had felt nothing, his thoughts were clear but gradually, his behavior had slipped out of his control.
He had leaned close to Bai Jiao, complaining about a headache, saying that the back of Bai Jiao’s neck smelled nice and could ease his pain and then…
He had been coaxed a couple of times by Bai Jiao and then he fell asleep!
Only now did Le Zhuo truly understand what it meant to wake up and feel like the sky had collapsed.
Heavens! What on earth had he been doing?!
Le Zhuo pulled the blanket over his burning face, writhing around on the bed and twisting himself into a knot, unable to recover from last night’s mortification for a long time.
Only when he noticed how soft the bed beneath him was, different from the one he was used to, did he suddenly sit upright.
“……”
This wasn’t his room!
Le Zhuo looked around. The unfamiliar surroundings carried a strange sense of familiarity.
He got out of bed and walked out of the bedroom. At a glance, he saw a person and a leopard lying on the sofa and only then did it fully dawn on him, he had spent the entire night sleeping in Bai Jiao’s room.
At some point, his spirit form had come out on its own, using its belly as a pillow for Bai Jiao, even sticking out its tongue in a foolish, happy expression.
Sensing his awakening, the snow leopard’s gaze turned sharp as it looked over. Its paws shifted into a guarded stance, faintly positioning itself in front of Bai Jiao.
Meanwhile, the person in its embrace slept peacefully, his expression gentle and serene. If not for the snow leopard’s movement, the scene would have resembled a perfect painting.
“A’Yue, come here.”
Le Zhuo called softly to his spirit form but it stubbornly shook its head. Resting its chin lightly on top of Bai Jiao’s hair, every strand of its fur seemed to express its refusal.
“……”
Whose spirit form was this, exactly?
This creature had always been indifferent toward guides in the past, so why was it acting so strangely around Bai Jiao?
Le Zhuo conveniently ignored what he had once learned in class: that every action of a spirit form reflected the true feelings of its host.
“A’Yue, come here.”
In the past, Le Zhuo had endured his berserk periods on his own. His spiritual power was extremely unstable, making it impossible for him to control his spirit form as easily as others.
Now, the snow leopard didn’t even bother responding with body language. It simply ignored him completely, refusing to leave Bai Jiao’s side.
Le Zhuo could clearly sense that his spirit form was in an unprecedentedly good mood, practically bubbling over with happiness.
It didn’t just like Bai Jiao, it liked him very, very much.
“Mm…”
Bai Jiao stirred from his sleep, unconsciously nuzzling against the snow leopard’s soft belly.
It felt far better than any plush toy, clean, warm and faintly fragrant. He had slept longer than usual because of it.
He sensed Le Zhuo standing nearby but didn’t move. Instead, he shifted slightly and continued lying there, curious to see what Le Zhuo would do.
Le Zhuo stood stiffly like a wooden board. Seeing that Bai Jiao didn’t move for a while, he gradually relaxed, though his anxiety only grew stronger.
“A’Yue, stop messing around. We should go.”
A’Yue remained steadfast in its act of playing dead, continuing to nuzzle Bai Jiao instead of even glancing at its own host.
Le Zhuo was nearly driven mad by it.
Seeing no sign that Bai Jiao would wake, he quickly stepped forward and unceremoniously grabbed A’Yue’s ear. “Hurry up. Come with me.”
“Don’t pull it, it’ll hurt.”
Bai Jiao lifted his head, brushing Le Zhuo’s hand aside before gently rubbing A’Yue’s ear.
Le Zhuo: “……”
He hadn’t expected Bai Jiao to be awake. For a moment, he didn’t know what to do with his hands, touching his nose, rubbing his face, before finally regaining his composure.
“It won’t hurt. It’s my spirit form!”
“It will hurt,” Bai Jiao said, holding A’Yue’s head. “Right?”
A’Yue nodded obediently, tilting its head and rubbing affectionately against Bai Jiao in his arms.
The coordination between the man and the leopard was so seamless that even Le Zhuo, its actual owner, felt inferior. He even forgot to act foolish, focusing entirely on taking his spirit form back.
Unable to find a solution, he began silently repeating the command to retract his spirit form and then, something miraculous happened.
The spirit form he had never been able to control properly before returned to his body the instant he willed it.
His previously chaotic spiritual power had somehow returned to its original state.
Bai Jiao’s hand, which had been resting on A’Yue’s head, suddenly found nothing there. The large snow leopard vanished into thin air.
“It really doesn’t feel pain… it’s just my spirit form…”
Meeting Bai Jiao’s suddenly cold gaze, Le Zhuo felt an inexplicable sense of guilt.
“Mm. You can go back now.”
Bai Jiao could easily summon A’Yue again but doing so would cause significant harm to Le Zhuo.
He stood up from the sofa and walked straight into the bathroom, not mentioning a single word about what had happened the previous night.
Le Zhuo felt that something about Bai Jiao’s attitude was off but after hesitating for a long time, he quietly slipped away.
…
【Host, guides also have spirit forms. What’s yours?】886 asked curiously.
“I don’t know.”
Bai Jiao didn’t think it mattered. To him, such things held little significance.
【Show it to me.】
“No. It’s a hassle.”
Bai Jiao brushed his teeth and with his other hand flicked 886 away.
886 slammed into the bathroom mirror, bounced down with a thud and wailed, “Wuwuwuwu! If you won’t show it, then fine but why did you hit me?!”
“You’re too noisy.”
886 immediately fell silent.
What a terrible host! It was going to go play with the cub!
Le Shan came looking for Bai Jiao several times but each time Bai Jiao sent him away under various pretexts.
In Le Shan’s world, he spent several muddled days entangled with Bai Feng.
In Bai Feng’s eyes, Le Shan acted reluctant but honest about his desires and seemed to enjoy role playing, though the roles he chose were always rather strange.
Still, Bai Feng treated it as nothing more than one of Le Shan’s hobbies and never questioned it.
Because of this, Le Zhuo secretly recorded a great deal of evidence of their affair.
As for Bai’s parents, no one knew what they had been busy with lately. They only contacted Bai Jiao through their optical brains every day, sending gifts to his room like a flowing stream, not daring to show their faces at all.
Since Bai Jiao had previously been gravely injured and on the brink of death, he was granted a month of leave. Now that half of it had passed, he found staying at home unbearably dull, so he simply decided to end his leave early and return to the military academy to resume his post.
That day, Le Shan insisted on seeing him off. Bai Jiao didn’t refuse, after all, free labor was not something to waste.
“Zhuozhuo wants to go too!”
The moment Le Zhuo heard they were heading to the military academy, he immediately played dumb and squeezed up next to Bai Jiao.
After several days had passed, the earlier awkwardness had already been talked away by himself. After all, he was a fool, anything a fool did could be justified.
“What are you going for?” Bai Jiao patted his head. “Be good and stay home to play with mud.”
“No, Zhuozhuo wants to go!”
Le Zhuo had an inexplicable fixation on the military academy. Ever since regaining clarity, he had been thinking about one day revealing his recovery and returning to serve as a soldier.
“Brother, stop fooling around. Mom and Dad miss you a lot lately. I’ll have the driver take you home to spend a day with them.”
Le Shan maintained the image of a good younger brother in public, his attitude toward Le Zhuo appearing considerate and gentle.
“No, I want to go to the military academy with Jiaojiao!”
Thinking that he was, after all, a fool, Le Zhuo simply threw himself onto Bai Jiao and clung to him, refusing to let go as he made a fuss. “I want to go! Zhuozhuo wants to go! Wants to go, wants to go, wants to go!”
【Let him go! Let him go! Let him go!】886 chimed in from the side.
“Come on,” Bai Jiao said, pinching his waist lightly. “Get in the car.”
Le Zhuo clutched his waist and quickly bent over as he scrambled into the car.
He really wasn’t very convincing at pretending to be a fool.
Le Shan didn’t want his private time with Bai Jiao to be disturbed and tried to dissuade him. “Jiaojiao, if he goes, he’ll only cause trouble for you…”
“It’s fine. I’ll take care of him,” Bai Jiao said, looking directly into his eyes. “You’ll agree.”
“…Mm.” Le Shan nodded.
“Get in. Sit in the passenger seat.”
Bai Jiao didn’t argue further. After getting into the car, Le Zhuo, as expected, was already pressed against the window, counting the birds outside.
“Sit properly,” Bai Jiao pulled him back. “Do you like the birds outside that much?”
“Little birds fly fly.” Le Zhuo shook off his hand and insisted on leaning toward the window.
Bai Jiao followed his line of sight and narrowed his eyes.
There were indeed many birds in this city, especially around them.
“Want me to catch one for you to play with?”
Bai Jiao rolled down the car window. His long, well defined fingers rested on the edge of the window, looking especially pale and refined under the sunlight.
What happened next stunned Le Zhuo.
A nearby bird suddenly darted over, landing steadily on Bai Jiao’s finger.
The gray, scruffy little sparrow stayed completely still, not even making a sound, as it was brought right in front of Le Zhuo.
“Here. For you.” Bai Jiao kept his word.
Le Zhuo’s pupils shrank sharply and he said in a fluster, “Zhuozhuo doesn’t want it. Zhuozhuo likes when the little birds fly.”
He reached out to grab the bird and set it free. Bai Jiao didn’t stop him; instead, he took out a clean white handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his hand.
“Little bird… the little bird isn’t moving.” Le Zhuo said anxiously.
He poked at the dull, dusty sparrow again and again but it didn’t react at all.
Bai Jiao snapped his fingers and with a sudden whoosh, the sparrow flew away.
Le Zhuo: …
“How did you do that?” Le Zhuo moved closer to Bai Jiao. “Teach Zhuozhuo.”
“First like this, then like that,” Bai Jiao replied perfunctorily.
“…Which ‘like that’?” Le Zhuo persisted, clutching his hand.
“You’ll need to figure it out yourself. Once you understand, you’ll know,” Bai Jiao pushed his head away. “Go watch your birds.”
He wasn’t a tool. This guy only stuck to him when he needed something and struggled to avoid his touch when he didn’t. Too opportunistic.
Failing to get an answer and seeing Bai Jiao ignore him coldly, Le Zhuo dejectedly went back to leaning against the window.
But this time, no birds gathered around anymore, they all seemed to have been frightened off by Bai Jiao.
“We’re here.”
Le Shan had been controlled by Bai Jiao the entire way. After getting out of the car, he immediately went to help carry Bai Jiao’s luggage.
“You’re going to live at the military academy from now on?” Only then did Le Zhuo notice the luggage.
He had thought Bai Jiao was just going to report in for the day.
“Mm.”
“Then… I won’t be able to see you at home anymore?”
“Mm.”
Over the past few days, the two of them had seen each other fairly often. When they stayed together, Le Zhuo would mutter to himself or play with toys, while Bai Jiao did his own things nearby. Their coexistence had been unexpectedly harmonious.
It was just that sometimes Le Zhuo couldn’t help but talk to Bai Jiao and Bai Jiao’s responses were always as indifferent as they were now, though he did reply every time.
“Y… you… don’t get holidays?” Le Zhuo felt an unexpected trace of reluctance.
“We’ll talk about it when the time comes.”
Bai Jiao had already shifted his focus. Now, he was determined to build his achievements.
Once he held power in his hands in the future, marrying whoever he wanted would be nothing more than a single sentence from him. Besides, Le Zhuo had already agreed before to changing the fiance.
“Alright.” Le Zhuo pouted slightly, staring at Bai Jiao with expectant eyes.
“Let’s go. I’ll take you inside for a look around. Later, Le Shan will send you home.” Bai Jiao didn’t even glance at Le Shan, who was currently struggling while carrying a large pile of luggage and simply walked ahead.
Le Zhuo, upon hearing this, subconsciously reached out and placed his hand into Bai Jiao’s.
Only after reacting to his sudden and somewhat abrupt action did he freeze for a moment, feeling embarrassed as he tried to pull his hand back but it was held firmly in place.
“Just hold on. Don’t get lost.”
Le Zhuo didn’t say anything and obediently let himself be led along by Bai Jiao.
The two of them attracted a lot of attention along the way. After all, both of them were extremely well known on the Capital Star and just seeing them walking hand in hand was enough to spark hushed discussions.
After all, everyone on the Capital Star knew that Le Shan was Le Zhuo’s younger brother and Bai Jiao was Le Shan’s fiance.
Bai Jiao’s residence at the military academy was a small villa. Le Shan dutifully went to help Bai Jiao organize things, while Bai Jiao took Le Zhuo around to look at everything, never once letting go of his hand.
Within less than half an hour, the entire military academy had already heard that their esteemed Lieutenant General was personally taking his future brother in law on a tour while holding his hand.
However, no one truly thought there was anything between them. Most people believed that the “foolish” Le Zhuo was unworthy of Bai Jiao, assuming Bai Jiao was simply treating him like a child while walking him around.
“Why is everyone looking at me?” Le Zhuo asked unhappily, glaring at a passing sentinel.
“Because you’re good looking,” Bai Jiao replied without changing his expression.
“Really? Zuo Zuo is good looking?” Le Zhuo clearly didn’t take the answer seriously.
Unexpectedly, Bai Jiao responded very earnestly, “Yes. Really. Zuo Zuo is good looking.”
Le Zhuo’s features were deep and striking. Even when deliberately pretending to be foolish, he looked like a silly, adorable fool, there was nothing remotely unattractive about him.
Bai Feng’s disdain for Le Zhuo was simply because he was blind; it had nothing to do with Le Zhuo himself.
Le Zhuo became shy from the compliment and quickly changed the topic. “Zuo Zuo is tired.”
Bai Jiao glanced at the time. “Let’s go back. Le Shan should have finished tidying up by now.”
Le Zhuo had never once suspected that there might be anything unusual about Le Shan, after all, everyone in the family knew how much Le Shan liked Bai Jiao and how obedient he was toward him, it was perfectly normal.
“Can Zuo Zuo come visit you in the future?” Le Zhuo asked.
Deep down, he felt that he simply wanted to come to the military academy often, not that he truly wanted to see Bai Jiao.
“Yes but next time you come, bring out your mental body to play with me.”
“…Zuo Zuo doesn’t know how!”
“Then drink another bottle of alcohol. It should come out on its own.”
“Do you really like Zuo Zuo’s mental body that much?” Le Zhuo asked, his tone slightly sour.
“Yes. I like it very much.” Bai Jiao admitted without hesitation.
This left Le Zhuo momentarily at a loss for words.
Why did Bai Jiao like his mental body so much? And what kind of mental body did Bai Jiao have?
Curious, Le Zhuo circled around Bai Jiao, looking him up and down.
“What are you looking at?” Bai Jiao asked.
“Zuo Zuo is curious about your mental body!” he answered honestly.
“Don’t be curious. Let’s go back quickly.”
Bai Jiao took his hand again and led him away.
【Host, host, I’m also curious. Show it to us.】
“No.”
【Why not? Are you afraid your mental body is weak?】
Mental bodies of guides were usually small animals, while sentinels typically had fierce birds or beasts.
“Even if it were an ant, it wouldn’t affect me in any way.”
Bai Jiao simply wasn’t interested. He felt there was no need to release it.
【Then just release it and let the little one see!】
“Only those close to me can touch a mental body. With our current relationship, it’s not appropriate.”
【……】
886 finally understood, its host was still holding onto resentment over the little one’s identity.
………..
When they returned to the small villa, Le Shan had indeed followed Bai Jiao’s instructions and completely renovated the place, transforming it entirely into Bai Jiao’s preferred style.
Le Zhuo stubbornly refused to leave and was forcibly dragged away by the now clear headed Le Shan.
Finally, Bai Jiao got some peace and quiet. He napped for a while and when he woke up, the sky was already filled with glowing sunset clouds.
Cleaning robots diligently swept the floor, while watering robots tended to the white roses in the courtyard. Everything felt as if it had returned to the end of the previous world, when technology was advanced and he and his lover had lived together in a quiet home.
It was just a pity that there was no longer that clingy figure beside him.
【Host, do you miss the little one?】886, bored, tried to strike up a conversation.
“Yes.”
He did miss that little fool.
【Then why didn’t you stay at home?】
At home, he could go back and forth like going to work.
“That place is too messy. It’s annoying.”
At home, he would be constantly disturbed by various people. It was better here, at least the frequency of interruptions was reduced.
Just as he finished speaking, a call from Bai Jiao’s mother came in.
After briefly asking about his new place, she finally got to the point.
“Jiao Jiao, Mom has a friend whose son just entered the military academy. Since you’re a instructor there, could you take care of him a bit? His name is Lan Tingxue. He’s already gone to register and should be at your dorm soon. You should meet him first. He’s a good kid…”
After listening to Bai Mother’s long winded explanation, Bai Jiao calmly responded with a simple “Mm,” and hung up directly.
The next second, Bai Father called.
He similarly began with concern about Bai Jiao’s living arrangements before getting to the point.
“Jiao Jiao, we have a distant relative whose son is also entering your academy. I used a bit of influence to get him assigned under you. His name is Bai Xiu Zhu. He’s already gone to report in and should be at your dorm soon. Meet him and recognize his face.”
“Mm.”
Bai Jiao hung up again.
This time, no more calls came in but there was a knock at the door.
Through the visual doorbell, Bai Jiao checked the situation outside.
Two tall, strong sentinels were glaring at each other, neither giving way, their expressions sharp and hostile as if they were ready to tear each other apart.
And moreover, one of them resembled Bai Father, while the other resembled Bai Mother. Their identities were obvious beyond doubt.
“Are they treating my place like some kind of illegitimate child boarding house?”
Bai Jiao lazily lowered his eyes, showing no intention of going out to greet them yet from the corner of his vision, he caught sight of a white paw with black speckles.
“Awuuu!”
A snow leopard appeared at some point, letting out a call toward the entrance. However, it did not immediately leap into Bai Jiao’s arms. Instead, it stayed in place, scratching at the carpet with its claws, looking somewhat embarrassed.
But this snow leopard was not A’Yue.
Bai Jiao recognized it at a glance, this was clearly Le Zhuo, who had secretly transformed into his beast form just to come find him.