Bo Yutong was obviously not afraid of Lu Yingzhu.
He stood right at the entrance of Lu Yingzhu’s house and, in an open and swaggering manner, picked all the peaches from his tree.
That appearance—so arrogant, so domineering, so utterly dismissive of everyone else…
So handsome.
Ruan Tao worried that Lu Yingzhu would come over and start fighting with him. She also worried that if Lu Yingzhu didn’t come soon, Bo Yutong might become like Sun Wukong from Journey to the West, knocking down all the ginseng fruits from the tree—and if that still wasn’t enough, uprooting the entire fruit tree.
No matter what, fruit was extremely valuable these days. Ruan Tao truly felt heartache over it.
Ruan Tao had guessed one thing wrong.
On Lu Yingzhu’s side, everyone was in complete chaos—people running around frantically—just to search the enormous base for someone who had suddenly appeared and then suddenly disappeared.
Her.
Because of this, even though Lu Yingzhu knew something had happened to the peach trees, he had no time to come over personally.
The person who came instead was Gao Yang.
Although compared to his own younger sister, everything else seemed unimportant—Bo Yutong, a living person, was still not unimportant enough for Ling Xing to handle.
Gao Yang’s attitude was extremely respectful.
Even though he couldn’t help widening his eyes when he saw the tragic state of the peach trees.
He cupped his hands toward Bo Yutong and said in a deep voice, “District Chief Bo, if you need fruit, you only had to say so. Our Regional Warehouse has plenty. Why make things difficult for a tree that doesn’t bear many fruits?”
Those words were far too modest.
Which of the two mutated peach trees at the entrance wasn’t heavy with fruit? How could they be described as “not bearing many fruits”?
Bo Yutong’s expression did not change. “Where is Lu Yingzhu?”
—He didn’t ask about his hamster.
That little thing had probably already slipped back.
Gao Yang did not reveal anything on his face and only replied softly, “Mr. Lu encountered some matters and truly cannot spare the time. District Chief Bo may—”
Bo Yutong moved one finger.
A tree branch was neatly sliced into two pieces by a blade of wind, falling to the ground with a crisp snap.
Gao Yang: “…………”
In a single second he weighed the pros and cons at lightning speed and immediately decided to go find Lu Yingzhu.
The base had already been sealed. If his sister had no special means, she would never escape anyway. And if she did have the means, she would have already escaped. There was no urgency at this exact moment.
The tall man stepped back two steps, pressed a hand to his temple, and used his psychic ability to call Lu Yingzhu from afar.
Ruan Tao was lying inside Bo Yutong’s pocket and had no idea what was happening outside.
Actually, there were many things she wanted to do.
For example, meet Lu Yingzhu and scold him, then ask why he had appeared in this kind of place. Had he also transmigrated into the book and even become the book’s male protagonist? That would make him far too much of a chosen one.
But she did not want Bo Yutong to know so quickly that she was actually human.
Bo Yutong clearly didn’t like humans. One look at his expression was enough to tell. A person like him didn’t even seem to like himself.
And there was also Ba Ye’s place. She really liked the smell there—it was fresh and pleasant like a great forest, giving her the feeling of home. She wanted to go play there.
The snow leopard she encountered while escaping was also adorable. She wanted to ask Ba Ye how much that snow leopard cost… Even if she couldn’t afford it for now, she could at least reserve it so he wouldn’t sell it to someone else.
Ruan Tao lay in his pocket aggrievedly, counting her fingers while thinking about how many things she couldn’t do.
And Bo Yutong, after staring at Gao Yang for several seconds,
suddenly realized something.
He lowered his head and pulled open his pocket slightly, looking at the little mouse curled into a ball inside.
Ruan Tao was currently depressed and didn’t want to pay attention to anyone.
But suddenly a familiar voice appeared in her mind.
It said, “Tao Tao.”
Ruan Tao: “…!!”
She lifted her head in shock and looked at Bo Yutong in front of her.
Bo Yutong smiled again. His mouth did not move, but Ruan Tao heard his voice once more.
“You can hear me?”
Ruan Tao: “…I—I think so?”
Her throat suddenly felt a little dry.
Bo Yutong had used his psychic ability to communicate with her directly inside her mind.
She felt as if she hadn’t spoken to anyone for thirty thousand years and became nervous for the first time like this.
But it was also the first time she had directly heard her own voice.
It sounded a little… strange?
Bo Yutong looked at her with a full smile, reached out a finger, and rubbed her head.
“So it really is a little girl.”
The moment Ruan Tao began communicating directly with Bo Yutong, the courage she previously had—relying on the fact that she wasn’t human to act recklessly—completely disappeared.
She didn’t dare hug his finger anymore.
Ruan Tao shrank toward the corner, looking at Bo Yutong with some fear.
The smile on Bo Yutong’s face suddenly disappeared.
The change startled Ruan Tao even more. The little hamster tucked her two pink paws against her chest, her small pink nose twitching in a pitiful way.
“Bo—Mr. Bo,” Ruan Tao asked softly. “May I call you ‘Sir’?”
She didn’t mind calling him Master either.
But calling him Master felt a little too suggestive. It would be embarrassing once she turned back into a human.
According to current customs, people working in the Administrative District addressed their own Regional Chief as “Mr. X,” while chiefs from other regions were called “District Chief X,” which served as a distinction.
Being able to call Bo Yutong her “Sir” made her very happy.
And when she called him that, she wouldn’t include his surname, which made it feel unique—very special.
Bo Yutong’s expression softened slightly.
“You may.”
Ruan Tao immediately pushed her luck. “Then can I come out?”
Bo Yutong unilaterally cut off the conversation.
Ruan Tao: “……”
Psychic abilities could be detected by other ability users. If the other person’s ability was stronger, they could even intrude into the conversation.
Gao Yang considered his psychic ability to be among the best in the world, yet he could only detect that Bo Yutong was communicating with the hamster.
He had no way to interfere in their exchange.
Only after Bo Yutong ended the conversation did Gao Yang begin trying to establish a connection with Ruan Tao.
Ruan Tao was holding her face in embarrassment when she suddenly heard another voice.
“Hello.”
The other party was very polite and spoke softly, as if afraid of frightening her.
However, Ruan Tao was still startled. She grabbed Bo Yutong’s pocket and was just about to respond—
when she felt Bo Yutong move.
“Let Lu Yingzhu stay busy,” he said to Gao Yang. “I’m leaving.”
Gao Yang said, “Our base is currently under full lockdown searching for someone. I’m afraid you cannot—”
Bo Yutong: “Why?”
Gao Yang: “……”
Why? What kind of question was that?
Why couldn’t he leave?
He really wanted to say, “Because our base is under lockdown!”
But in truth, Bo Yutong had always moved freely in and out of their base. Whether this level of lockdown meant anything to him was still debatable.
Gao Yang said nothing more and silently stepped aside to make way.
His mental communication with the hamster had been blocked by Bo Yutong.
Even Gao Yang felt he was going crazy—trying to establish communication with a mouse.
Yet in this urgent situation, when there was no time for careful analysis,
his intuition told him that the little hamster in Bo Yutong’s pocket was very likely the key to today’s chaos in the base.
Because he was concentrating fully on using his ability, the dark red strands of hair by Gao Yang’s ears trembled slightly, and his golden vertical pupils shone brightly.
“Can you hear me?”
Suddenly he heard a girl’s voice.
The voice was delicate and sweet, soft and tender, extremely young, as if it still carried a milky tone.
Gao Yang did not move at all, focusing completely, afraid the conversation might be invaded or cut off.
Ruan Tao knew he could hear her and quickly delivered a string of explanations.
She said that she knew Lu Yingzhu’s younger sister. The girl’s name was Ruan Tao, and she was currently living well. She asked Lu Yingzhu not to worry and not to bully Bo Yutong anymore. Otherwise Ruan Tao would become very angry and show him what a real Godzilla invasion looked like.
Finally, afraid she had forgotten something and with no time to think carefully, Ruan Tao added,
“Five days later, at twelve noon, at A9 District Jinghua Avenue 103—”
Before she finished speaking, Bo Yutong stopped walking and glanced at Gao Yang.
Their psychic abilities collided fiercely in the air. Gao Yang stepped back half a step, and the light in his golden pupils gradually dimmed.
Bo Yutong turned his head and continued walking forward as if nothing had happened.
Only after he left did Lu Yingzhu arrive belatedly.
“What is that Bo Yutong causing trouble for again?” Lu Yingzhu complained with a frown. “I’m busy here. If he wants to chop trees then let him chop. It’s not like we can’t grow more.”
Gao Yang was silent for a few seconds before speaking.
“Mr. Lu, your sister has been found.”
Lu Yingzhu froze. “What!?”
“That hamster knows your sister,” Gao Yang said. “It brought a message from her, telling you not to worry. She is very safe. And… you should stop bullying Bo Yutong.”
In fact, Gao Yang had never supported Lu Yingzhu provoking Bo Yutong.
Almost all of the finances and operations within the Residential Area were managed by him personally.
Compared to Lu Yingzhu’s emotions, he cared more about peace and stability within the Residential Area.
This suddenly appearing “sister” had thrown Lu Yingzhu into chaos, making him run around like a headless fly.
Someone had to stay rational.
Therefore, Gao Yang ultimately did not mention that Ruan Tao wanted to meet him.
“Is she sick or something?” Lu Yingzhu cursed. “Why won’t she come see me?”
After saying that, his eyes actually reddened.
Gao Yang paused. “What’s wrong?”
Lu Yingzhu closed his eyes briefly and returned to his usual expression. Only his voice still trembled slightly.
“I’m not sure if it’s really her. When the apocalypse first arrived… I saw her being…”
At that point he couldn’t continue speaking.
“Forget it. Let’s just continue with what we were doing. I’ve lived alone all these years anyway. If she really needs something, she’ll come find me herself. There’s no rush.” Lu Yingzhu patted Gao Yang’s arm. “Sorry about that. What were we rushing to do earlier?”
Gao Yang lowered his gaze and looked at the man in front of him.
He had already returned to the calm, composed demeanor he used with outsiders—steady and rational, with a maturity beyond his age.
Perhaps the immature person who lost control when searching for his sister was the real Lu Yingzhu.
But the leader needed to maintain stability in a Residential Area was not that Lu Yingzhu.
It was the one standing here now.
Ruan Tao felt certain that Bo Yutong must have known about her conversation with Gao Yang.
Yet he didn’t question her about it and even looked as though he hadn’t taken the matter to heart at all.
As soon as she got home, Ruan Tao was surrounded by plump, juicy peach flesh.
The sweet fragrance left her dizzy with happiness. She blinked her eyes expectantly, hoping to talk with Bo Yutong again.
So Bo Yutong used his ability once more.
“Sir,” she said, “why aren’t you eating?”
Bo Yutong gently rubbed her head with his finger.
“It’s enough for Tao Tao to eat. If you need anything, just tell me. I have everything here.”
He chuckled softly. His dark eyes were unfathomable.
“You don’t need to go asking at other people’s houses.”
Ruan Tao: “Ah…”
Bo Yutong clearly treated her as if she were a six- or seven-year-old child.
That wasn’t strange. Even intelligent magical beasts usually had the intelligence of children around six or seven years old.
And because of Ruan Tao’s round, plump body, every action she made looked silly and adorable.
Added to that was her childish, milky voice.
After realizing this, Ruan Tao finally regained the carefree feeling she had when she acted spoiled as a hamster.
When Bo Yutong teased her with his finger, she hugged it and tilted her head.
“Papa?”
…The sense of committing a crime.
It seemed almost on par with calling him “Master,” didn’t it?