Golden light flared more and more intensely around Lu Ran’s body.
“Mmph… ptoo…” Shen Rong struggled for a bit and finally managed to spit out the napkin stuffed in his mouth. Only then did he realize that his hands were not tied at all and that he could have simply pulled the napkin out himself. His face flushed red and green in turns.
“Don’t talk!” Lu Luoluo whispered as a reminder to her cousin, eyes wide open, her gaze fixed unblinkingly on Lu Ran.
In his inner turmoil, Zhao Jin had no time to think further. In an instant, he threw open the window and appeared in front of the three of them.
“A cat…” a cat glowing with golden light.
Shen Rong involuntarily opened his mouth wide, then remembered his cousin’s napkin tactic and hurriedly shut it again.
When Lu Luoluo saw the orange kitten, her eyes lit up. Lowering her voice and speaking at lightning speed, she asked, “What’s going on?”
Then the cousins watched helplessly as the orange kitten ignored both of them. Amid the all too familiar golden light, it transformed into a young man, swiftly hoisted Lu Ran onto his shoulder, and leapt out through the window.
…
The room fell back into silence. Shen Rong and Lu Luoluo stared at each other.
“Lu Ran… the cat…” Shen Rong spoke incoherently. “Aliens?”
Lu Luoluo was just as stunned and replied with the same lack of logic. “…No, no, not science fiction. It’s fantasy. No, wait, it’s also science fiction…”
A divine cat helping a human travel through time and modify his body. Should that be classified as fantasy or science fiction, anyway?
“Lu Ran and the cat… are cats all like this?” Shen Rong sank deeper into his own imaginings. “Aliens? Spies? Trisolarans? What do they want?”
Lu Luoluo said, “From Earth!”
“Then from overseas? Imperialists never give up on destroying us—”
Lu Luoluo said, “Native-born, from A City!” Her son. Her family’s cat.
Shen Rong said, “Then, then is this some kind of metaphysical thing?”
Lu Luoluo said, “More or less…” There was no way a glowing human body could be explained scientifically.
Shen Rong’s legs went weak and he collapsed back into the chair, letting out a long breath. “Ah, then it’s fine.”
As long as they were not aliens. Local monsters grew up under nine years of compulsory education, so they should be kind, right? And the relevant authorities probably had all the monsters under management, making sure they did not break the law, right?
Lu Luoluo: How is it fine? Zhao Jin took her son away! That cat can actually transform into a human form… Where would he take her son? Could he have directly sent him back to more than twenty years in the future?
In a few years, she would have to give birth to Lu Ran… She had not even asked Lu Ran who his father was before. The more she thought about it, the more she regretted it. What if she picked the wrong person? No, even if she asked, he probably could not say anything. Madam Lu Mingzhu had asked before. There were restrictions.
“Knock knock.” A knocking sound rang out, interrupting the two of them in their chaotic thoughts. From outside the door came Old Madam Shen’s gentle voice. “Are the three kids in there? I brought over some fruit.”
Lu Luoluo sucked in a sharp breath.
The door was twisted open. Old Madam Shen smiled as she looked around the room. Seeing Lu Luoluo standing and Shen Rong sitting, both looking tense, she could not help asking in confusion, “What’s wrong? Where’s Lu Ran?”
“He went to the bathroom!” Lu Luoluo and Shen Rong said in unison.
“Oh, oh.” Old Madam Shen set down the fruit plate. Seeing the messy playing cards on the table, she said kindly, “Then don’t play too late. Remember to go to sleep before twelve.”
Lu Luoluo and Shen Rong nodded repeatedly.
Then Old Madam Shen… left. No, she sat down instead and said tentatively, “Since Xiao Ran went to the bathroom, how about Grandma keeps you company for a few rounds?”
What could Lu Luoluo and Shen Rong say? They could only nod again and again.
Old Madam Shen was advanced in age, but her poker skills could truly be described as undiminished with time. Moreover, she was calm and composed, planning each move with ease. Lu Luoluo and Shen Rong, on the other hand, were both distracted and unsettled, yet still had to pretend nothing was wrong. Naturally, they suffered a crushing defeat.
“Why hasn’t Xiao Ran come back yet?” After winning a few rounds, Old Madam Shen asked with concern. “Could it be that he’s having a bit of… indigestion? Should we call a doctor to take a look?”
“No, no need!” Lu Luoluo hurriedly said. “It’s the New Year, we can wait a couple of days before checking. Grandma, let’s play a few more rounds. I’ll definitely win this time!”
Old Madam Shen said, “That’s true, but stomach and intestinal issues need to be taken seriously. You must go to the hospital to have it checked.” As she spoke, her hand reached for the playing cards again.
Lu Luoluo thought to herself that this could not go on like this.
After two more rounds, she took out her phone and opened the messaging app, putting on a surprised expression. “Ah, Lu Ran said he suddenly remembered he had an assignment from winter camp that he hadn’t turned in, so he went back to his room to do homework. The message was sent twenty minutes ago. I was so busy playing cards that I didn’t even notice.”
“Oh, oh, as long as it’s not a stomach problem.” Old Madam Shen let out a sigh of relief, then smiled and complained, “You young people don’t know. If it’s something like hemorrhoids, it’s really miserable… Your winter camp too, honestly, making you do this during the New Year.”
Lu Luoluo gave a dry laugh, thinking that she had probably used up half a lifetime’s worth of acting skills today. “There’s nothing we can do.” She yawned again. “I suddenly feel a bit sleepy.”
“Then let’s stop playing for today.” Old Madam Shen immediately put down the cards and said with concern, “Luoluo, go rest early.”
“Okay. Good night, Grandma. Good night to you too, Cousin,” Lu Luoluo said politely.
“Good night, Luoluo.” Old Madam Shen smiled.
Shen Rong said, “…Good night.”
No, seriously, he still had so many questions that had not been answered yet!
…
While Lu Luoluo and Shen Rong were brushing off Old Madam Shen, Zhao Jin had already carried Lu Ran back to the Lu residence.
In a moment of impulse, he had hoisted Lu Ran and rushed out. Once the cold wind hit him, he calmed down and realized he had nowhere else to go. Left with no choice, he used a concealment technique and a divine movement technique, carrying Lu Ran as he sped all the way back to the Lu residence.
“I should have realized it earlier…” Zhao Jin muttered. Only power of the same origin could see through his spells.
The abnormalities in Lu Ran’s body before were not some senior’s magic at all. They were signs of a bloodline awakening.
There was no senior to begin with.
That Da Ju cat Lu Ran described… was him.
How could he have a child with a human…?
How was a child even born… was there reproductive isolation?
Why send the child back to the past…?
How could this be…!
Oh my god!
The young man’s gaze was tangled to the extreme.
Meanwhile, the golden light surrounding Lu Ran illuminated the entire living room, gradually reaching its peak. At the very instant it reached that peak, it sank back into his body.
The awakening was complete.
Lu Ran opened his eyes amid a warm, comforting sensation and realized he was lying on the sofa in the living room of the Lu residence.
Standing in front of him was a young man with a deeply conflicted expression.
Lu Ran tested the waters and said, “Zhao Jin?”
The young man before him had long brows, phoenix eyes, vermilion lips, and skin so pale it carried a chill, yet he possessed a pair of amber-colored eyes.
Perhaps because of the special sense of familiarity surging in his heart, Lu Ran called out Zhao Jin’s name the moment he saw him.
Zhao Jin nodded stiffly.
Half confused and half relieved, he thought to himself: Since Lu Ran’s awakening was complete, why had he not turned into a cat?
“Did you bring me back?” Lu Ran asked thoughtfully. “Do you know what’s going on with my body?”
Zhao Jin thought to himself that he did know. In the next moment, he nodded and spoke a lie. “It’s the effect of a spell. Try it. You should be able to feel the power flowing through the blood in your body. This kind of power has already stabilized now.”
He could not let Lu Ran know that he was his father, at least not right now.
First, build an emotional foundation. Then, cautiously test the waters by telling Lu Ran that his father might not be that awful after all. Finally, look for the right opportunity to come clean.
Zhao Jin quickly settled on a simple three-step strategy.
Lu Ran carefully felt it out and indeed sensed a difference. That feeling of something being brewed inside him was gone, replaced by his entire body being filled with a strange sense of power.
He nodded and asked, “Zhao Jin, you can transform into a human form?”
Zhao Jin nodded with a stiff expression.
How was he supposed to get along with his son? Was there still time to go find some human books to read now?
Lu Ran smiled and said, “Then next time we go paying New Year visits, Zhao Jin can transform into human form and go with us. There’s no need to stay invisible. You’re family to us, right?”
Zhao Jin thought to himself that with his son already this grown, even if he were not originally part of the Lu family, he had to be now. He nodded stiffly again, then asked, “When I use invisibility spells… you can see me?”
Lu Ran admitted frankly, “Actually, I heard your conversations with Mom earlier too.”
At the same time as the bloodline awakening, concealment-type spells from the same origin would lose their effect. However, Lu Ran did not know this. He simply assumed it was because of the so-called spells.
“Don’t tell Mom about this.” Lu Ran placed a finger against his lips in a gesture for silence and smiled gently. “If Mom finds out, it’ll be a little awkward.”
Zhao Jin said, “…Okay.”
Thinking of the girl who had brushed his fur before, Zhao Jin’s expression stiffened again. A faint blush quietly crept up at the corner of his cold, pale eyes.
Very soon, golden light flashed around Zhao Jin’s body, and he swiftly transformed back into an orange kitten.
Lu Ran took out his phone from his coat pocket and sent his mother a message to let her know he was safe. When he saw the young man in front of him turn back into a kitten, he did not say anything about it. He blinked and continued typing.
Lu Luoluo replied very quickly. She was probably not asleep at all and had been watching her phone the whole time.
【Okay, then come back quickly. Quietly. Don’t alert the security guards or the surveillance cameras.】
Lu Ran turned the message screen toward the orange kitten. Since Zhao Jin had been able to read his Investigation Report before, he should be literate as well.
Sure enough, the orange kitten twitched its fluffy orange ears and nodded. “I’ll use invisibility and divine movement to send you back.”
The city late at night was filled with neon lights, the glow from billboards, and the headlights of cars coming and going.
An orange kitten perched on Lu Ran’s shoulder, a layer of golden light floating around them as they sped forward. Before his eyes stretched a riot of colorful night scenery, and beside his ears was the whooshing sound of wind caused by their speed.
But the golden light blocked out the cold wind, and Lu Ran’s physique had also changed. He did not feel cold at all.
Lu Ran lowered his head to look at the orange kitten on his shoulder. Suddenly remembering Zhao Jin’s youthful human form from earlier, he asked, “Zhao Jin, how old are you now?”
“Sixteen,” the orange kitten twitched its ears and answered truthfully.
Counting from the moment he was born between heaven and earth and gained self-awareness, it had been sixteen years.
Lu Ran’s current age should be a bit older than his… but that was not important.
So young? Lu Ran was taken aback.
He had heard that after the founding of the nation, monsters were not allowed to cultivate spirits. Zhao Jin probably could not be counted as a monster?
“Then how have you lived all these years, Zhao Jin?” Lu Ran asked thoughtfully. “Can you tell me about it?”
“Kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, high school… actually, it’s pretty much the same as humans,” the orange kitten said. “During holidays, I go out for a bit.” That was to look for others of his kind.
Lu Ran was momentarily stunned and thought to himself that Zhao Jin was actually quite diligent about studying. Curious, he asked, “Do you always use a cat form?”
Zhao Jin nodded. “Most of the time.”
At the very beginning, when learning human knowledge, Zhao Jin also followed the rules and completed his teachers’ homework. Writing was inconvenient with paws in cat form, so he needed to transform into human form.
But very soon, Zhao Jin grasped object-manipulation techniques, using his power to control tree branches to slide across the ground, then erasing them with spells.
Later on… he simply stopped doing homework. He would read it, complete it in his head, and that was enough. If he did not know something, he would just skip it.
“Does transforming into human form consume a lot of energy for you?” Lu Ran asked.
“Not much,” the orange kitten shook its head. At this moment, Zhao Jin had not yet grasped the intent behind Lu Ran’s question.
“Then do you want to go to school with us?” Lu Ran’s eyes flickered. “We can ask Grandma to help you get a household registration.”
Zhao Jin stared at Lu Ran with eyes wide open. He thought to himself that would mean daily morning reading, attending classes, completing homework, and even having to take exams?
So tiring.