Chapter 73
However, at this moment in the office, after Shao Mian had settled Lin Ran, his gaze fell upon the three cubs beside him.
The three little ones blinked their eyes in unison, looking at Shao Mian, especially Sootball, who momentarily forgot about questioning Snowball and Little Feather.
To be honest, according to the rules of the demon world, adult demons rarely allowed cubs of other races to approach them.
Driving them away was already the best-case scenario; in more serious cases, they might even kill or eat them on the spot.
Now that A-Ran was asleep, the three little guys realized that they were facing a dangerous and mysterious great demon. Even though the aura on him was very similar to the big lion’s, they had never actually seen him transform back into a lion.
At this moment, Shao Mian frowned slightly and tapped the desk, motioning for the three to come over one by one.
“Cheep?”
Sootball, being the first to be pointed at, stared wide-eyed at Shao Mian, wanting to hide beside A-Ran.
“Keep a low profile in human form, and don’t cause trouble.”
Unexpectedly, Shao Mian was lecturing them, his tone unyielding.
But when had Sootball caused trouble for A-Ran…
Sootball felt wronged.
Snowball, who was hesitantly looking around, had his head pressed down by Shao Mian the next second. The little guy instantly froze as if he had been hit by a pressure point.
After all, as a fellow large feline in beast form, Snowball felt the unfathomable depth of Shao Mian’s demonic aura the most.
“Keep an eye on those people around you.”
Shao Mian had long found those guys around the mutated demon extremely annoying, but he didn’t have a good reason to directly intervene.
Although the little guy in front of him was smart, his claws clearly hadn’t fully grown yet, and there would be some oversights.
“Otherwise, it’s a sign of incompetence.”
Shao Mian didn’t even consider whether it was a bit harsh to demand this from a juvenile cub.
An Xun was instantly irritated. He didn’t expect the man in front of him to know so much about his affairs.
But before An Xun could bare his teeth and ask how he knew, he found that Shao Mian’s lazy gaze had already shifted to Little Feather.
And this time, Shao Mian’s attitude clearly changed from his previous casualness to something more serious.
“As for you…”
Shao Mian tapped his fingers rhythmically on the desk, seemingly lost in thought.
“Ee?”
Little Feather, holding the gloves in his mouth, still looked confused and aggrieved. He was suddenly stared at by the big lion guardian with an indiscernible expression, and after sensing danger, he wanted to go find A-Ran, only to remember that A-Ran was asleep.
Was he going to take advantage of A-Ran’s absence to eat him?
“Go to school.”
After pondering for more than ten seconds, Shao Mian finally made his decision.
After all, this Feather Clan cub in front of him had no complete logic or worldview at all, he was entirely a product of the law of the jungle.
Sending him to school to make up for his knowledge was definitely the most reasonable arrangement.
Except he had to find a way to get Lin Ran’s agreement.
Shao Mian, who was used to making decisions on his own, might not have even realized that he subconsciously knew he had to discuss it with Lin Ran.
Otherwise, if he just sent him away directly, he felt that when Lin Ran woke up, he wouldn’t have a good time.
“Ee…”
School again?
Little Feather covered his head, which had been tapped, and felt aggrieved. He almost had a psychological shadow from the word “school.”
However, Snowball and Sootball looked at Little Feather curiously, suddenly realizing that Little Feather seemed to have never been to school.
After all, he hatched beside A-Ran.
After announcing that he had finished dealing with the three cubs’ matters, Shao Mian finally sat back in his chair and looked down at the small white bird ball sleeping in the towel nest.
He looked really good with wings.
For felines, this kind of beautiful creature with wings that could fly was indeed very attractive. The more he looked, the more he wanted to reach out his paws and pounce.
Although this was a bit dangerous.
Recalling the wings on Lin Ran’s back on the rooftop, Shao Mian felt that the roots of the wings should be quite fragile and easily injured.
After all, it was common knowledge that the biggest weakness of the Feather Clan was also their wings. Once their wings were torn during battle, their combat effectiveness would almost be reduced to zero.
Therefore, Shao Mian always felt that the Feather Clan was somewhat flashy and didn’t pay enough attention to practicality, which was quite similar to Anvers’ personality.
But after Lin Ran grew wings, Shao Mian inexplicably felt that the Feather Clan’s wings weren’t completely useless. At least they looked very suitable on the young human’s back.
There was a gentle, divine quality to them.
“Ee…”
Little Feather finally couldn’t resist. Seeing that Shao Mian was just looking at him without objecting, he took the gloves in his mouth and covered A-Ran’s beautiful tail feathers with them.
This way, A-Ran would be warm all over.
Rubbing against A-Ran, Little Feather wanted to groom A-Ran’s feathers.
“Cheep…”
Only Sootball finally realized that he hadn’t prepared anything for A-Ran!
Humans were easily frostbitten in winter.
Sootball looked around anxiously, and finally could only look at the only adult demon present, Shao Mian, for help.
Shao Mian: ?
“What are you looking at?”
Shao Mian was indeed the most familiar with Sootball, after all, he was the first fluffy creature Lin Ran picked up, and he had even made an exception to personally teach him how to hunt.
“Cheep cheep cheep!”
Sootball even forgot the vigilance he usually felt when alone with an adult demon and subconsciously started to chatter to Shao Mian as if he were the big lion guardian.
Shao Mian looked at Sootball with a subtle expression, then glanced at the other two.
Just at this moment, Secretary Ser returned, holding the suit Lin Ran had worn for the performance.
However, because of the wings, the back of the suit had been completely torn and damaged.
“Should I send it for repair? Or buy a few new sets?”
Secretary Ser asked.
“…Repair it?”
It wasn’t like they didn’t have money, why be so stingy?
“Just buy new ones directly.”
Shao Mian decided without much thought.
Since Lin Ran was sleeping, he could just take the three of them out shopping!
Such a simple matter.
“Cheep cheep!!”
Sootball was the first to cheer. Snowball also blinked his eyes, realizing that they were going out to buy things for A-Ran together.
Even Little Feather, who was a little scared, flapped his wings happily.
Facing the cheering three little ones, only Secretary Ser glanced at the still sleeping Lin Ran, feeling that if Shao Mian personally took care of the cubs, the consequences might not be so simple…
But the only one who could persuade him was asleep, and it seemed no one else could.
And the three who followed Shao Mian out truly experienced the wonderful feeling of shopping without looking at the price.
Only when they were leaving, Little Feather thought of something and hesitantly wanted to say that he wouldn’t go.
His demonic aura had been used up during the performance, and now he couldn’t use it to cover the scar on his face.
The next second, however, Shao Mian motioned for him to come over, pinched the back of the cub’s neck, and infused him with an exceptionally pure and gentle golden demonic aura.
Little Feather was startled at first and almost bristled, assuming an aggressive posture.
After all, demonic aura couldn’t be randomly transferred between individuals, the consequence would be death by explosion.
But the next second, Little Feather realized in a daze that after this demonic aura flowed into his body, it didn’t have any attributes and was immediately absorbed by his body.
“By removing the attributes from the demonic aura, it becomes pure source demonic aura. Theoretically, you should be best at this.”
After all, his talent was devouring, he just needed to eat the other elements in the demonic aura.
Shao Mian looked at the cub. Although he wasn’t very attentive and his explanation was very brief, he was indeed teaching some basic magic power usage techniques.
“…”
Little Feather slowly relaxed and looked at Shao Mian blankly, then at the still sleeping A-Ran.
This time, he successfully used the demonic aura to slowly conceal the scar. With the small eye mask A-Ran gave him, it was completely covered. At least from the outside, he simply looked like a little cub who had just undergone eye surgery.
“Let’s go.”
Tsk, this little guy was really troublesome.
How did that human have the patience to pay attention to every detail?
Before Little Feather could react, Shao Mian had already started walking.
This time, Little Feather only hesitated for a second before following.
Lin Ran had a very comfortable sleep, except for being a little hot.
It felt like he was covered with too many blankets.
It wasn’t even winter.
His eyelids trembled a few times, and Lin Ran finally opened his eyes. He looked around at the environment for a long time, wondering if he was still dreaming.
Was he sleeping in a warehouse? Why were there so many boxes?
“Cheep——!!”
Sootball, who had been staring at A-Ran, suddenly cheered, indicating that A-Ran had woken up!
After seeing Sootball, Lin Ran realized that he wasn’t dreaming, but after crawling out of the scarf, he found that a fluffy earmuff had been placed around his scarf.
A pair of gloves was also placed on his tail.
In addition, the blanket had been rolled up and placed around him.
No wonder he felt hot?
Who covered him with so many things…
Lin Ran was speechless.
“Awake?”
Shao Mian also rushed to the lounge after hearing the noise.
This room was designed according to human habits, a separate lounge next to the top-floor office, luxuriously and fully furnished with all kinds of furniture and appliances.
But Shao Mian had never used it.
After all, he could just return to the Demon World if he needed to rest, there was no need to sleep in the lounge in the office.
But it was quite suitable for Lin Ran to rest, so after returning from the big shopping spree, Shao Mian simply carried the scarf and moved the warm little ball Lin Ran from the desk to the bed.
He didn’t expect him to sleep for so long. Shao Mian almost went to grab Anvers and ask if sleeping for so long was normal.
“Cheep…”
As soon as Lin Ran opened his mouth, he found that he could only make bird sounds, so he immediately closed his mouth and blushed, refusing to speak.
Seeing this, Shao Mian couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth, then forced it down.
If he laughed, it would probably be over.
“It might be different outside of ‘Demon World.’ Try circulating your magic power to transform back.”
That little guy Abyss had been working hard all night, his magic power should have been fully restored.
But Lin Ran tried to explore, but found that he still hadn’t mastered the trick.
“It’s okay, there’s no rush, there’s nothing urgent right now.”
Shao Mian comforted him.
That mutated cub had to leave reluctantly early in the morning because of the movie’s press conference, and Sootball, after informing Oni and Yorke, had stayed by his side the whole time.
As for Little Feather, he was currently being instructed by Shao Mian to choose a kindergarten in the small conference room.
He had a stack of materials in his hand, all kindergarten options for his age group found by Secretary Ser, although Shao Mian hadn’t considered that Little Feather couldn’t read…
This led to Little Feather flipping through the brochures blankly, only able to look at them like comic books.
Because the big lion said that if he went to kindergarten properly, he could also get a bonus on the salary card A-Ran held. If he successfully attended school for one day, Secretary Ser would give him a bonus of 10,000 yuan!
Although Little Feather didn’t want to go to kindergarten, he really wanted to save money on the card.
“You let Little Feather choose a kindergarten? But he can’t read, he can’t understand anything even if you show him the brochures.”
After hearing Shao Mian’s words, Lin Ran subconsciously explained, only to find that after a while of trying, he could speak normally again.
“Tsk, so troublesome?”
Shao Mian then realized that things weren’t so simple.
“And how could Little Feather consider everything so clearly when choosing a kindergarten by himself? We still have to help him choose, especially considering Little Feather’s special situation, will he be treated as an outcast by other children if he goes to school?”
Seeing Shao Mian’s completely thoughtless look, Lin Ran couldn’t help but sigh.
Although the idea was good, it was too simple and crude.
Shao Mian, being told off and not daring to reply, rarely conceded and extended his hand.
Lin Ran: ?
“Fly up, I’ll take you to help choose a kindergarten?”
Shao Mian had ulterior motives, he still wanted to experience the feeling of the limited edition little bird ball lying in his palm.
“…”
Lin Ran didn’t want to tell Shao Mian that his thoughts were written all over his face.
Nevertheless, he flapped his wings and lightly landed in Shao Mian’s palm, letting him take him to find Little Feather.
Was this a thank you for him taking care of the three fluffy creatures for a whole night?
Lin Ran was quite surprised that after he fell asleep, everything was taken care of so well.
“But why did you pile so many boxes in the room? There’s no space to walk.”
Squatting in Shao Mian’s palm, Lin Ran asked curiously.
“They’re all yours. Your outfit from last night was damaged, so I took them to buy a batch of new ones.”
Shao Mian’s casual answer made Lin Ran fall silent.
“Why didn’t you ask me before going? Snowball just sent four big boxes over yesterday! There’s no space left at all, this is really wasteful, Yuanbao.”
Lin Ran was almost questioning his life choices.
“They’re young, so it’s fine, but you’re an adult, don’t you know?”
Was he some kind of clothes rack spirit? Did he need so many clothes??
“How is it a waste? A new outfit for each day, how is that a waste?”
Shao Mian started to stubbornly defend himself.
Lin Ran wanted to peck his hand.
Although if he really pecked, Lin Ran suspected that this guy might even find it amusing.
“Cheep cheep!”
Unexpectedly, it was Sootball who was the first to become anxious after hearing that too many clothes were a waste.
The little guy, holding the newly bought earmuffs in his mouth, followed Shao Mian’s hand and showed A-Ran his new gift.
Could this be a waste?!
He had chosen it for a long, long time.
“Sigh, you three really are…”
Lin Ran almost laughed in exasperation.
To be fair, when he accepted Snowball’s scarf, he should have thought that the other three would definitely have their own gifts to give.
“It’s beautiful, it’s beautiful. I’ll wear it every day on my way to class, okay?”
Seeing Sootball’s slightly disappointed and droopy fur, Lin Ran quickly comforted him.
“Cheep.”
Sootball was still a little disappointed, feeling that A-Ran was just perfunctory.
“Come here.”
Lin Ran motioned for the little guy to also fly onto Shao Mian’s hand.
Sootball: ?
Sootball hurriedly landed in front of A-Ran and was rubbed by the little bird ball Lin Ran the next second: “I really like the earmuffs Sootball gave me. They’re really practical and beautiful, so my ears won’t be cold, right?”
Sootball: O///O!
Sootball was completely speechless now. A-Ran was so soft and fragrant after transforming into a little bird…
The dazed little cub had no objections at all.
Lin Ran’s eyes were full of smiles.
His Sootball was so cute.
“Tsk, don’t spoil him too much.”
Shao Mian really wanted to wag his tail. It was him who swiped the card, okay? Why didn’t he get this treatment?
This was unfair, this was age discrimination.
“Ee——!”
However, Little Feather in the conference room suddenly found that the door had been opened, and Shao Mian had actually brought A-Ran to find him. He instantly felt the joy of seeing the light of day again.
A-Ran was awake!
He finally didn’t have to continue reading gibberish. To be honest, in Little Feather’s eyes, these kindergartens seemed no different from each other.
This relieved expression made Lin Ran laugh.
“Now you know how hard it is not to be able to read, right? Sootball can read.”
Seeing Little Feather’s disbelieving look, Lin Ran motioned for Sootball to go over and take a look.
Although Sootball had been tired of studying for quite some time, the tutors arranged by Oni and Yorke had never stopped, and he had even attended an international school.
The few words in this brochure were naturally no problem for Sootball.
After the little guy seriously read them out in front of Little Feather, Lin Ran couldn’t help but want to hug Sootball and praise him for being “so smart.”
Although not very fluent, he had indeed read them all correctly!
It was a pity that he was a small bird now and couldn’t hug Sootball.
“…Ee!”
But Little Feather was clearly greatly shocked and looked at Sootball incredulously.
Perhaps because they played together every day, Little Feather really didn’t think there was anything different between him and Snowball and the others.
But now he suddenly discovered that Sootball actually knew so much more than him, and Little Feather really panicked.
Was he really the dumbest cub in A-Ran’s family!?
Sootball looked at the panicked and helpless Little Feather, wagged his tail, and wanted to comfort him that there was no need to be so nervous.
It was actually very easy to learn…
[Ding——Triggered new main quest: Demon World Kindergarten!]
Just then, a new quest notification unexpectedly popped up on the “Demon World” app.
“Wait a minute, I think I’m going to transform back, Yuanbao.”
Lin Ran, who was about to speak, suddenly held Shao Mian’s wrist and muttered hesitantly.
“Transforming back?”
Shao Mian still felt a little regretful.
He didn’t know when he would see it again next time.
“Clothes, Yuanbao, where did you put my clothes?”
But Lin Ran clearly realized what would happen if he transformed back into human form in the conference room. He wasn’t in “Demon World” now, his clothes wouldn’t appear automatically.
“The previous outfit was damaged, Ser has already… clothes?”
Shao Mian froze for a moment, then instantly realized what Lin Ran was talking about.
He immediately started to search for clothes he could wear temporarily.
He had clearly bought a pile of new ones last night, but the white light of transformation couldn’t be controlled.
Subconsciously hugging the weight that fell into his arms, Shao Mian directly took off his jacket and wrapped it around him, but the soft wings still rested on his arms.
He hadn’t fully transformed back?
The moment Lin Ran looked up and met Shao Mian’s gaze, he blushed and reached out to cover his slightly widened golden eyes.
Help, he finally understood how offensive his previous action of lifting Yuanbao’s tail to see if he was a male or female lion was!
Lin Ran didn’t dare to recall how much embarrassing history he had made before.
As for Little Feather and Sootball, before they could react, no one was left in the conference room.
A-Ran had been taken away by the big lion!
Little Feather and Sootball suddenly realized that growing up might actually be very good, because they could hug A-Ran?
A few minutes later, Shao Mian waited obediently outside the lounge door, not daring to move.
Until a knock came from inside the door.
“Do you have scissors, Yuanbao?”
“Yes.”
Shao Mian quickly found the scissors and handed them through the crack in the door. A few minutes later, Lin Ran finally changed his clothes and opened the door.
“Because the wings didn’t transform back, I had to cut the back of the clothes a little.”
Lin Ran awkwardly flapped the white wings on his back. This feeling was strange.
It was like carrying a wing-shaped backpack.
If he couldn’t transform back, he wouldn’t be able to return to school.
“It looks good.”
Shao Mian looked at Lin Ran and noticed at a glance that the randomly chosen outfit was one of the new ones he bought last night. As expected, it suited him very well.
“Is that what I’m talking about?”
Lin Ran was stunned, wondering if he had said something wrong.
“Ahem, well, don’t worry, I’ll find someone to take a look at you, he should know.”
Shao Mian quickly changed the subject.
Anvers was already on his way, but he wasn’t in Country C, and the distance was still a bit far.
“Is it a demon of Little Feather’s race?”
Lin Ran quickly guessed what Shao Mian meant and asked curiously.
“Mm.”
Shao Mian nodded.
“Then can I ask him if he knows about Little Feather’s origins? Little Feather should also be a Feather Clan cub, right?”
Thinking that the matter concerned Little Feather’s secret, Lin Ran even temporarily forgot about his wing troubles.
“…If he’s willing to talk.”
Of course, that’s what he said, but Shao Mian regretted calling Anvers over.
With that guy’s temper, Shao Mian suspected that he would blab everything upon seeing Lin Ran.
Coincidentally, the next moment, Secretary Ser knocked on the door with Anvers, who had rushed over.
What was so urgent that he had to rush over like this?
Anvers dared to be angry but didn’t dare to speak. He felt that after flying for so long, the luster of his feathers had been dulled by the wind.
He couldn’t tolerate feather loss, the Feather Clan valued their wings as much as their lives!
And all these complaints came to an abrupt end after Secretary Ser opened the door.
Anvers looked at the human beside Shao Mian, wondering if he had been hallucinating from playing “Demon World” too much recently.
