Chapter 74
After nodding a greeting to Secretary Ser, Lin Ran looked curiously at the unfamiliar guest who entered.
As an adult male, he was tall and had very handsome features, with long, wolf-tail styled hair that reached his shoulder blades, and he wore a feather earring.
At this moment, because he had rushed over, it was slightly ruffled by the wind.
The moment Anvers arrived, Little Feather, sensing something, stopped in his tracks and continued to hide in the conference room, unwilling to go out.
Sootball turned and glanced at Little Feather’s strange behavior, then cleverly looked at Anvers, guessing that perhaps Little Feather had some past history with him?
Although Sootball had never met Anvers, he had indeed heard his mother, Ms. Oni, talk about the Feather Clan’s patriarch.
“Cheep?”
Seeing Little Feather’s hesitation and resistance, Sootball touched him and asked what was wrong, but Little Feather remained silent.
Could it be that A-Ran had called Anvers over?
When he escaped from the sealed land, Anvers had personally led the team to capture him.
Actually, his first reaction now should be to disappear and run away, or return to “Demon World” and vanish into the vast mountains and forests, continuing to wander like before, making it impossible for the Feather Clan to catch him.
But…
Little Feather sullenly hugged the gloves he bought for A-Ran. If A-Ran wanted to give him to Anvers to be captured, Little Feather suddenly didn’t want to struggle anymore.
For the first time, he felt a sense of sadness and dejection.
He even thought it would be better to be captured if A-Ran also thought he was bad.
Although A-Ran had never said anything harsh to him, Little Feather could see from the reactions of the people around him that the surprise he had prepared had actually caused A-Ran quite a bit of trouble.
The memories of following A-Ran flooded back, and Little Feather realized that he had almost forgotten those long past experiences.
Lin Ran in the living room didn’t know that Little Feather had so many emotions after seeing Anvers arrive. He was simply trying to communicate with this suspected leader of the Feather Clan demons.
“Hello, are you Mr. Anvers?”
After greeting him, Lin Ran looked back at Shao Mian, as if asking Yuanbao if he had found the right person.
Why was there no reaction from him?
Shao Mian was about to lose his temper when Anvers reacted.
The Feather Clan leader quickly stepped forward, tightly grasped Lin Ran’s outstretched hand, and elegantly bent down, intending to give a kiss on the hand.
“?!”
Lin Ran had never encountered such a scene before in his life, and his eyes widened slightly in shock.
Shao Mian: “…”
“Mmm!?!”
However, the next second, a golden demonic aura “slapped” and covered Anvers’ mouth, preventing him from bending down.
Instead, he straightened up and started to struggle against the demonic aura on his mouth.
Shao Mian pulled Lin Ran’s wrist and brought him behind him, looking at Anvers with disgust.
He had indeed been mistaken, the Feather Clan was indeed very flashy and utterly impractical.
“Did you do this?”
Lin Ran, pulled to Shao Mian’s side, glanced at the struggling Anvers and looked up at Yuanbao.
“Mm. Don’t be fooled by him, it’s not that troublesome.”
Shao Mian didn’t let go of Lin Ran’s hand, but was a little worried that Lin Ran would be deceived by Anvers’ performance.
He hadn’t placed any restrictions on that demonic aura.
“I also think that Mr. Anvers doesn’t seem to be really hurt, he’s just playing around.”
Because Lin Ran noticed at a glance that there was no urgency in his expression, but instead, he was paying close attention to his reaction.
Shao Mian looked down at the human with a smile in his eyes, and the strange throbbing sensation in his heart surfaced again.
Shao Mian even felt that he also wanted to transform back into his original form, pounce over and be hugged, and be called “Yuanbao” with a helpless yet amused tone.
Actually, Shao Mian felt that this name didn’t suit his temperament and status at all, but it inexplicably sounded good when Lin Ran called him that.
“Sigh… how could you do this? Such a grand gift upon meeting.”
Anvers realized that he couldn’t deceive him, so he waited obediently for a few seconds, letting the golden demonic aura gradually dissipate, and regained his ability to speak.
However, Anvers’ gaze sharply landed on the hand that Shao Mian hadn’t let go of.
Heh, interesting.
Not letting others touch him, but holding his hand himself?
“You know the reason very well. Come and see what’s going on.”
After Shao Mian’s attention was called back by Anvers, he motioned for him to sit down and talk in detail.
Anvers finally looked away from Lin Ran’s face and towards the milky white wings behind him.
To be fair, even the Feather Clan demons themselves rarely grew such perfect wings, as if they were flawless, each feather blooming with light.
It made Anvers inexplicably feel like he was seeing the Feather Clan’s initial creation.
“However, have you heard of… A-Ran?”
But before examining the wings, Anvers couldn’t help but ask.
He still had a reward interaction card in his backpack, but the crappy “Demon World” still hadn’t updated the subsequent interaction mechanism, like an unfinished game.
He really wanted to complain, crappy game, refund!
[If the player cannot wait for the version update, please call 000281762 for a refund. A specialist will handle it for you and retrieve all corresponding reward content.]
Of course, “Demon World” was also very straightforward. Whenever Anvers complained, they would readily send a refund processing form.
Clearly stating that a refund was possible, but the rewards had to be returned as well.
Then Anvers would say forget it, he could wait a little longer. What if!?
Unexpectedly, Shao Mian, this Demon King, had actually found an identical human!
Was there a connection between the two?
Hearing Anvers’ probing question, Lin Ran looked at Shao Mian inquiringly.
Could he tell him?
To be honest, the “Demon World” game seemed to have many taboos and restrictions, but it had never restricted him.
Lin Ran even always felt that this game was very friendly to free-to-play players, but now it seemed that things weren’t so simple.
“Tell him as much as you want.”
Shao Mian was silent for a moment. Those rules and restrictions regarding demons had nothing to do with Lin Ran.
Essentially, it was him who had violated the rules. He shouldn’t have taken the initiative to approach him from the beginning.
So if there were any consequences, Shao Mian felt that he should be responsible, and it had nothing to do with Lin Ran.
Moreover, “Demon World” hadn’t given any warning notifications.
After hearing Shao Mian’s response, Lin Ran thought for a moment and decided to tell Anvers: “Actually, I am A-Ran.”
“Because the little cubs who haven’t learned to speak properly find it easier to call me A-Ran, so it’s been like this ever since.”
Lin Ran thought of the scene of Sootball learning to call him “A-Ran” at the beginning, and his smile deepened.
After hearing Lin Ran admit it himself, Anvers was completely shocked.
The NPC in the “Demon World” game actually existed in real life!?
No, he should have thought of it earlier. With the style of “Demon World,” how could it create a character like A-Ran!?
“But I grew wings yesterday after Little Feather shared his magic power with me. I wanted to ask if you know how to retract these wings.”
Lin Ran still asked the question he was most concerned about. With an extra pair of wings on his back, he felt like he could only sleep on his side.
And he didn’t know how to fly.
“Little Feather?”
Anvers repeated the soft nickname with surprise and uncertainty. They actually gave that cursed egg such a name, and he hadn’t gone berserk with anger yet?
“Yes, Little Feather, the little cub hatched from the Feather Clan egg I found. Do you perhaps know Little Feather’s parents?”
Lin Ran originally wanted to look for Little Feather, but found that the little guy and Sootball hadn’t followed him?
Were they still playing in the conference room?
Anvers didn’t expect that all of Lin Ran’s questions were about clan taboos. No matter how much he wanted to tell him, he couldn’t help but hesitate.
“If it’s difficult, you don’t have to tell me.”
Lin Ran didn’t intend to make things difficult for Anvers.
“I apologize. Perhaps you can understand part of it, but I think it would be more appropriate for you to visit the clan personally one day. Regarding whether you should continue raising that cub, you can also make a more accurate judgment then.”
Anvers’ final answer surprised Lin Ran.
Could he personally visit the Feather Clan?
[Ding——Activated Cub Exclusive Quest: Visit the Feather Clan’s Secret Realm, Search for the Magic Rune Antidote!]
A quest notification from “Demon World” instantly sounded.
It seemed that it was necessary to take the little guy there?
[Detected Demon World Kindergarten activation conditions: Collect five Affection Tokens from different races. The stronger the race’s reputation and power, the stronger the effect of the token, and the quest rating will be correspondingly increased, unlocking a new expansion! Currently obtained tokens (3/5)]
[Can obtain from the demon “Anvers” in front of you: Feather of Truth (proxy).]
Looking at these notifications, Lin Ran felt that “Demon World” was clearly encouraging him to pluck a feather from Anvers.
But what did “proxy” mean?
Did it mean that this “Feather of Truth” wasn’t truly held by Anvers?
“However, if you want to retract your wings, you can try this scroll.”
After glancing at Shao Mian, Anvers handed Lin Ran a milky white scroll.
Lin Ran tried to take it, but the moment his fingertips touched the scroll, it turned into a ray of light and was quickly absorbed.
A mysterious and strange feeling surfaced again, and Lin Ran quickly realized that this scroll was similar to a crash course textbook, instantly teaching him how to circulate magic power.
He tried closing his eyes and, following the scroll’s instructions, withdrawing the magic power Little Feather had shared with him…
“Cheep?”
Lin Ran opened his eyes blankly and found that he seemed to have withdrawn too much power and had transformed back into a small bird ball.
“This?!”
Anvers was also startled, thinking that he had taught him wrongly.
He stood up anxiously and saw that Lin Ran had actually transformed back into a Feather Clan cub, struggling to turn his head out from a pile of clothes.
Oh, my god.
Although Anvers quickly realized that considering human lifespan, in the demon world, this would indeed be the appearance of a cub!
But, wasn’t this a little too cute!
Was there really not even a tiny bit, even a billionth, of our Feather Clan bloodline!?
Anvers suddenly wanted to invite the oldest elder in the clan, Gu Li, to come over and appraise him. Could he still fight for custody?
“Don’t be afraid, I can demonstrate it for you. Wait for me to transform my wings out too…”
Anvers hadn’t personally taught a cub how to retract their wings for a long time.
“Wait a minute, Mr. Anvers, I think I’ve figured it out. Could you go out for a moment?”
However, Lin Ran had already realized that there was a slight deviation in the way his magic power circulated just now.
But having to change back into human form and put on clothes again… was really troublesome.
It felt like it would be more reasonable to go back to “Demon World” to study these skills in the future.
Before Anvers could respond, he was swiftly and expressionlessly carried out of the room by Shao Mian, holding his newly sprouted wings, and the door was closed.
With a “bang,” the office door was closed, and Shao Mian and Anvers, who hadn’t had time to put down his hand, looked at each other speechlessly outside the door.
“I swear, I didn’t teach him wrong… it’s just that these two methods are indeed easy to confuse. Many cubs have to try hundreds of times before they can use them correctly.”
Anvers, faintly sensing danger, immediately began to explain.
Fortunately, after a few dozen seconds, Lin Ran, who had breathed a sigh of relief, finally solved the wing problem and also rescued Anvers at the door.
“But you haven’t met Little Feather yet, have you? I actually wanted to ask you about some basic common sense regarding Feather Clan cubs. Do you have any scrolls like that?”
After overcoming a major difficulty, Lin Ran tried to find Sootball and Little Feather in the conference room.
And Anvers, absent-minded, was full of the image of the cub he had just seen, his mind filled with the words “custody.”
So cute, he really wanted to have him!
Why didn’t he take a picture just now?!
Hurry up and take out your phone, you useless hand!?
“Cheep cheep!”
Hearing A-Ran’s movements, Sootball couldn’t sit still any longer. He originally wanted to pull Little Feather out from the central air conditioning duct, but Little Feather refused to come out no matter what.
Sootball thought that Little Feather was injured, otherwise why would he curl up into a ball and not move?
“Sootball, Little Feather? Are you two here?”
Lin Ran stood by the table, a little confused. Both of them were gone?
“Cheep!”
Sootball still couldn’t resist and flew over first, pouncing into A-Ran’s arms and being caught.
“Baby, have you seen Little Feather? Isn’t he with you?”
Lin Ran lifted Sootball and asked.
“He’s in that direction, just hiding.”
Anvers easily smelled the cub’s scent and looked at the air conditioning duct.
Anvers was very wary of this cursed egg. Not only did his expression turn cold, but his demonic aura also rose, habitually wanting to cut off the escape routes in the surrounding space.
“…”
Little Feather, clinging to the duct, saw that A-Ran had actually brought Anvers over. He pursed his lips, lowered his eyes, and touched his eye mask.
Every time they caught him in the past, it was like this, first blocking the space, then closing in.
“Mr. Anvers, are you using your magic power to lock this place?”
Unexpectedly, Lin Ran found that he could actually see the rune chains flowing in the space.
“You can actually see these chains?”
Anvers was greatly surprised and paused his actions.
“Could you stop first? The little guy might just be playing hide-and-seek. Little Feather liked to hide before, he likes to be found by his guardian personally.”
Lin Ran frowned, trying to get Anvers to stop. He felt that something was wrong.
There was definitely a reason why a cub would hide and not want to see his guardian. Using the power difference between an adult and a cub to force the cub to come out was subtly a form of violence from a superior.
“No, he won’t come out otherwise…”
Before Anvers could finish speaking, he saw Lin Ran walk under the air conditioning vent and look up inside.
“Little Feather, are you really not coming out? There’s so much dust inside, your wings are white, it will be very difficult to wash them if they get dirty.”
Lin Ran knew that Little Feather could hear him, so he directly handed Sootball to Yuanbao.
Shao Mian was suddenly handed Sootball by Lin Ran, and the two demons, one big and one small, looked at each other.
Sootball blinked, shifted his body, and felt that Shao Mian’s hold wasn’t as comfortable as A-Ran’s, but he didn’t dare to say anything.
Shao Mian awkwardly held the cub, not knowing whether to hold him or put him down.
“…”
Little Feather hesitantly hugged the gloves in his arms. Upon closer inspection, he realized that there was dust on the gloves, which had been stained by the air conditioning duct.
The gloves for A-Ran were dirty.
He tried to blow on them, but was choked by the dust and started coughing.
“Little Feather? Why are you suddenly coughing?”
He seemed to need a ladder.
But it would be even better if he could fly.
As soon as this thought came to his mind, Lin Ran found that he was actually flying. The wings on his back had reappeared at some point!
Was it because he had learned from the scroll, so he could gradually control them now?
“I can see your wings, Little Feather… Eh!”
But just as Lin Ran reached out to hold Little Feather’s hand, he found that the shared magic power had finally been exhausted after all the commotion, and his wings were about to disappear, sending him back to the ground.
Fortunately, the height wasn’t too high, and Yuanbao was still below.
Lin Ran inexplicably felt that Yuanbao should be able to catch him.
“Ee!”
However, a small hand grabbed his hand first, flapping its wings frantically to slow Lin Ran down, like a small parachute.
Just as Lin Ran’s toes touched the ground, Little Feather also flew over and hid directly in A-Ran’s arms.
“It’s best not to touch him! This cursed egg is very strange…”
Before Anvers could finish his words, Little Feather turned to look at the Feather Clan leader.
But before this sharp and violent demonic aura could rush towards Anvers, Little Feather was rubbed on the cheek by Lin Ran:
“Tomorrow, I’ll take you back to the clan to have a look, okay?”
Hearing this, Little Feather looked back at A-Ran blankly, and his previous hostility and anxiety disappeared completely.
A-Ran was going back with him?
He wasn’t going to send him back to Anvers alone?
“Yes, we have to find the antidote that can completely cure you. We have to treat you the same way you were injured.”
Lin Ran recalled the quest prompt from “Demon World” and carefully examined Little Feather in his palm.
He didn’t know if it was an illusion, but since he started completing the series of quests, the scar seemed to have faded a little, at least the edges weren’t spreading as much as before.
“A-Ran.”
Little Feather held A-Ran’s fingertip and tried to speak haltingly for the first time.
“Sowwy…”
When Lin Ran heard the little guy’s words, he thought he had misheard.
Was he saying sorry?
“Why did you suddenly think of apologizing, baby?”
Lin Ran touched Little Feather’s head and asked incredulously.
“…”
Little Feather didn’t speak this time, but pointed to his wings.
He shouldn’t have suddenly changed the plan without telling A-Ran in advance.
During the rehearsal, he was only supposed to fly out of the hat and circle the stage.
Would A-Ran abandon him because he had done something wrong?
Unexpectedly, Lin Ran, sensing the cub’s unease, chuckled softly.
“Our Little Feather actually apologized.”
To be honest, Lin Ran always felt that Little Feather’s personality was a bit unreasonable. His behavior was very different from ordinary cubs. He did some things that clearly violated basic social rules without any psychological burden.
He even felt that it was all natural.
It was still slightly better during his cub stage, because most of the time, Little Feather’s power wasn’t enough to support many of his ideas.
What Lin Ran was worried about was that after Little Feather grew up, if no one could control him, he might end up hurting himself.
Perhaps Patriarch Anvers could tell him the answer, what Little Feather had experienced before.
“But you’ve already done a great job. You worked so hard to help A-Ran perform, right? If you discuss it with A-Ran next time and ask him if it’s appropriate to do this, it would be even better, Little Feather.”
Lin Ran seriously explained and comforted Little Feather.
Little Feather looked into A-Ran’s eyes and pursed his lips for a long time.
No, Little Feather wasn’t good enough yet, he could do even better.
He wanted to make A-Ran feel that he was really, really great, because he wanted to make A-Ran proud!
[Ding——Virtue Quest (2) Humility Completed!]
[From this moment on, Eno Gard realizes that he is not the absolute truth, but a little cub who needs to improve and work hard! He wants to become even more powerful and make A-Ran feel that he is truly amazing!]
[Cub Affection Level increased to 85! Series quest rewards are being distributed…]
Lin Ran hugged Little Feather in surprise and found that lines appeared on the scar on Little Feather’s face, trying to fade while also being hindered by some kind of force.
Finally, after pulling and resisting each other, the scar shrunk a little, but still stubbornly occupied most of his face.
“Ee…”
Little Feather slightly closed his eyes, letting A-Ran’s fingertips caress the scar on his face, in a state of complete trust.
Anvers, who had watched the whole process from the side, was completely speechless.
He even suspected that he was hallucinating.
Actually, there was once a time when the helpless clan had tried to use a rather drastic method and almost succeeded in capturing this constantly escaping cursed egg.
But what happened later was something no one could have predicted.
