Chapter 104

Li Ao wasn’t a kid who loved to cry. Even during the period right after his rebirth when he was the most lonely and helpless, aside from missing his grandma, he rarely shed tears.

Even if he did cry, it was just silent tears streaming down, then he’d pull over his tail to wipe them away himself.

After knowing each other for so long, this was the first time Xun had seen the little cat cry like this. With a meow, he straightened up and bolted outside, leaving Xun momentarily stunned and unable to give chase.

He ran all the way crying, so frantic that he forgot he could walk on four legs, startling the guards into nearly kneeling and crawling after him to ask what was wrong.

Crying meow after meow, he finally made it to the gates of Isiris’s place. He wanted to slip in through the familiar little side door but forgot he was still standing upright. With a thud, he crashed into the doorframe and bounced to the ground. Squatting there, he rubbed his forehead, then sniffled and switched back to four legs, squeezing through the door crack while choking up.

Isiris was in the middle of talking with Zane when he heard the little cat’s cries. He frowned and stood, going to meet him before the cat had fully wriggled in. “What’s wrong? Crying like this?”

Zane’s projection hovered behind him, his magnificent voice soothing. “Baby, what’s wrong with our baby? Who bullied our baby?”

Li Ao flopped against Isiris’s chest, choking so hard he couldn’t speak at first. The blond monarch kept rubbing the back of his neck without saying a word of comfort, quietly waiting for the child to calm down. Once the little cat’s trembling eased, he asked softly, “Missing grandma?”

Li Ao was still hiccuping, and in his hoarse gasps, he said disjointedly, “N-not… Xun, Xun…”

Xun? That xenoid had upset him? A chill flashed in Isiris’s eyes as he already had the Sun God Sword in hand. Then he heard the little cat choke out, “Not leaving… Xun not leaving, not going to the Federation.”

“…”

Now knowing the reason, he sheathed the sword again. Isiris gave a faint glance at the red-eyed youth who had entered, then turned with the cat in his arms and sat down. “Don’t cry. He’s not leaving you.”

Isiris had indeed spoken with Xun about going to the Federation to take over Bai Yunjun’s family affairs. The child was growing up, and what the prophecy said was self-evident. Isiris had no opinion on who the little cat’s partner would be—after all, love couldn’t be eaten or used for survival, so it didn’t matter who. But he couldn’t tolerate the other party being weak.

Yes, that’s right. In Dad’s view, Xun was useless.

He didn’t earn as much as the little cat, relied on the little cat for food and board—what use was just killing xenoids? If he wanted to integrate into human society, he had to learn everything: martial prowess, schemes, interpersonal relations—none could be lacking. Delphi wouldn’t be his stage, so Isiris sent him out for training. The little monster had promised readily at the time, but turned around and made the little cat cry.

Isiris shot the little monster a cold glare. He’d told him to learn scheming, and instead he’d used it on Li Ao.

Xun stood at attention with hands behind his back, meeting the gaze fearlessly. He couldn’t defy Isiris’s decision right now, nor did he want to leave the little cat, so he could only let the little cat handle it. He was the little cat’s dog; naturally, his staying or going was up to the little cat. The more he thought, the clearer it became. The more he thought, the more joy quietly crept into his red eyes.

He was happy, thrilled that Li Ao cared about him. This kind of care from the little cat made his non-human heart feel like it was soaking in warm water—so cozy.

But the little cat’s pitiful crying also made his heart ache a bit. He let his hands drop to his sides, no longer looking at Isiris, and pursed his lips as he fixed his gaze on the little cat on Isiris’s chest.

Isiris also withdrew his icy stare. These two little things were still young. Li Ao had a straightforward personality; you could see his brain right through his eyes. The little monster was still a beast at heart, not fully learned in human pretense—his reactions were plain to see.

The blond monarch wasn’t good at comforting, but luckily there was someone who was.

“Baby, how about we stop crying, okay? Crying too much hurts the body and makes your throat uncomfortable.” Zane activated Astral Projection, wanting to scoop the cub plastered to Isiris’s chest into his arms.

Li Ao wouldn’t have it. His claws hooked into Isiris’s clothes, face buried in the man’s chest, letting out a sob now and then.

Amusement flickered in Zane’s eyes. His two hands gripped the chair arms, enclosing father and son in his embrace, and he pressed his side against the little cat’s back, softening his voice to comfort, “Little treasure, you don’t want Xun to leave, right?”

Li Ao nodded, mumbling a stuffy “Mm.”

“But if Xun doesn’t go to the Federation to study, he can’t get stronger.” Zane grinned and pecked at the base of the cat’s tail twice.

The spots made the cat flesh itch terribly. Li Ao tensed his butt and scrabbled his paws to hide in Daddy’s arms. Isiris pinched Zane’s chin and pushed him aside, stopping the harassment. He said lowly to the cat, “You don’t want Xun to get stronger?”

Li Ao shook his head, his voice still tinged with crying. “I promised… to take care of the puppy.” His meaning was, no matter how strong Xun got or not, he was still Li Ao’s puppy. He’d be happy if his puppy got strong, but he wouldn’t abandon him for not being strong.

“Don’t go… Xun don’t go… Daddy, don’t make Xun go…” He hiccuped again, looking like he might cry once more.

“Alright, then he won’t go.” Isiris yielded to his child once more. “I promise you, I won’t make Xun leave you again.”

The child was still too young and couldn’t bear separations. He’d only just reunited with his grandma after so long, and now making his puppy leave had indeed hurt the little guy’s heart.

“Sorry, Daddy didn’t consider your feelings.” Isiris gently touched the little cat’s ear.

“N-no problem.” Li Ao calmed down, nuzzling softly against Daddy’s neck. “Thanks, Daddy.”

“No need to thank me.”

Once all was quiet, embarrassment flooded back over the fierce cat. He figured he was already a macho cat like Dong Xixi—how could he still cry like this? Ears flicking, he felt shy and didn’t dare look at anyone. He whispered softly by Isiris’s face, “Like Daddy.”

“Aww, baby!” Zane’s big hand rubbed the cat body vigorously. “How come baby doesn’t say he likes Susu? Susu’s so sad—it’s been ages since baby said he likes Susu!”

Rubbed all over till itchy, Li Ao laughed “haha” and clambered all over Isiris to dodge Zane’s tickling assault. “U-Uncle—”

“Say it! Does baby like Uncle?!”

“L-like, like Uncle.” The little cat was delighted, yowling happily as he leaped down to run toward Xun.

Mid-jump, Zane intercepted him, pinching his chest fluff and pulling him close for a big smooch on the face. “Uncle likes our Leo too.” The suave and handsome man straightened up, eyes crinkled in a smile as he placed the cat into Xun’s arms. “Alright, little ones, go play. Now it’s grown-up time.”

Li Ao sniffed and waved at the two.

Once the two little ones left, the room fell quiet again. Zane smiled and returned to the monarch’s side, crouching down with a hand on Isiris’s knee, looking up adoringly. “The little guy’s gotten much livelier—now he knows how to cry loudly.”

“Mm.” Isiris propped his handsome face with two fingers, a rare warmth in his golden eyes. “Good thing.” Being able to cry and laugh, daring to show his emotions—it meant he’d raised the little cat well.

Zane gazed at his brother’s face, colder and more divine than a god, and sighed softly, his voice laced with feigned complaint. “I’m so jealous. I want to act spoiled with you like that too.”

Laughter held endless meanings. But crying was a release of one’s own emotions—if the one listening to your cries didn’t love you, it meant nothing. Zane couldn’t even remember if he’d ever cried; that memory was too distant. Showing weakness wouldn’t earn the monarch’s pity, so he could only smile, grow strong, and fantasize about making his brother feel a sliver of pride for him.

Zane gazed up at the sun, his lips still curved in a smile.

Isiris lowered his eyelids slightly. His lashes were long, fanning out like sunlight, filtering most of the emotion in his eyes. His broad palm covered Zane’s eyes, and as the man’s smile stiffened, he moved it to the back of his head, patting soothingly twice. “You’re dozens of years old—acting spoiled isn’t cute.”

He pushed Zane’s head away and stood. “Report on your diplomatic affairs in the Federation.”

Zane snapped out of it like waking from a dream, his blue eyes sparkling with childlike joy. “Oh, my brother, I’ll tell you every little detail of my life.”

The same blue eyes—now the little cat was squatting on the washstand, staring eagerly at his puppy. He’d cried for a long time, leaving his throat hoarse, his voice noticeably rougher when he spoke. “You’re not leaving, okay.”

“Mm, I’m not going anywhere—just staying with Li Ao.” Xun wrung out the towel, his voice also duck-like from changing. “Eat with Li Ao, sleep with Li Ao, grow up with Li Ao.”

Little ducky Li Ao gave a soft “Mm,” lifting his face for the puppy to wipe it. “From now on, your stuff—you gotta tell me first. Can’t decide on your own and tell me after.”

Big ducky Xun also “Mm”ed, wiping the little cat’s face and hands before murmuring an apology. “Sorry.”

“Why say sorry?” Li Ao put his paw into the hand, tilting his head in confusion.

“Because I made you sad.” Xun bent halfway down, moving the little paw from his palm to his own face. “I didn’t want to leave you, so I thought you’d go find Isiris and get him to take back the decision. This is probably what humans call manipulation—I used that trick on you. You can hit me or scold me. I’m really sorry.”

Li Ao paused for a moment, then placed both feet on the young man’s face, stepping lightly as he said, “It’s fine, that’s all because you didn’t want to leave me, right?” He wasn’t the type to be tsundere; his thoughts were straightforward and simple, and he didn’t dwell on things too much. He knew the little dog wanted to stay with him—that was enough.

Xun had a high nose bridge, and the little cat playfully prodded it with his paw pads. After playing for a bit, he remembered to get serious: “But for things like this in the future, you can just tell me directly! Just say to me, ‘Xixi wants me to go study at the Federation, but I don’t want to go, I want to be with you,’ and then I can go straight to Xixi and tell him!”

“Instead of crying all the way and even crashing into the door…” Fierce Cat muttered this super quietly, clearly trying to save face.

“You’re the little dog that Li Ao is raising, so of course your matters are under my control! Even if Xixi tells you to go and you want to go, if I don’t agree, you can’t go!” At this point, he knew how to be domineering, stepping on the young man’s handsome face with a stern expression as he said, “Got it? Even if you want to go, you can’t if I don’t agree!”

“Mm.” Xun nodded obediently, pulling back slightly before pressing his face against the little cat’s belly again: “The little dog leaves all his matters to the little cat to decide.”

The little cat was delighted, squinting his eyes and flicking his tail twice.

Ignoring the fact that both little ones had voices like ducks, the scene looked and sounded heartwarmingly sweet.