Chapter 62: Dou Wanqin and Ran Yao Mother and Daughter Reunion (Part Two)

While on the airplane, Yun Zhi sent the video documenting the entire process of capturing Su Man to Bai Miao.

At that moment, Bai Miao had just finished watching it, gave a five-star review, and the task was officially settled.

Looking at the balance, which had increased to a total of 7800 points, Yun Zhi was extremely satisfied.

Moreover, the time had recently arrived for her third batch of transactions with the group members she had initially traded with—Tang Panpan, Cen Junfei, and Qin Tianlei had all refreshed their trading opportunities. By also conducting a trade with Bai Miao afterward, her points would reach 8200, putting her not far from the 10,000 points required to upgrade to Level 3.

Yun Zhi had originally assumed that the reward fee promised by Bai Miao would take some time to be delivered.

During this mission, because she had repeatedly activated the level 7, 8, and 9 mental defense barriers, she had used quite a few attribute-less energy stones, but only a few dozen of them.

In short, the 15,500 primary energy stones previously given by Bai Miao were more than enough for Yun Zhi to use for quite a while.

To her surprise, while giving the five-star review, Bai Miao also used the physical red packet function to attach a very generous reward fee.

A laser gun, and a laser sword.

In addition, there were 100,000 primary energy stones, 10,000 intermediate energy stones, and 1,000 advanced energy stones. Among them, the attribute-less, water-wood, and lightning-attribute ones were the most numerous, with small amounts of other types as well.

Furthermore, there were some nutrient solutions of various flavors, and several large crisper boxes of fruits in several varieties that Yun Zhi had never seen before.

All of these were packed inside a brand-new spatial button.

Yun Zhi was taken aback when she saw that Bai Miao had paid her so many things all at once.

Although Bai Miao had previously said that she would trick energy stones from her cheap host to support her, Yun Zhi had thought she was just talking big.

Besides, to that major general, Bai Miao was merely a cat raised as a pet, and he didn't even like her very much...

Even if he were willing to give Bai Miao more energy stones, it was impossible for him to give this many all at once!

The energy exchange rate for high, middle, and low-tier energy stones was 1:10:100.

What Bai Miao gave was equivalent to depositing 300,000 energy stones into her account at once.

Not to mention the laser guns, sword, spatial button, nutrient solutions, fruits, and so on.

Therefore, although Yun Zhi had gotten into the car sent by Ziji to pick her up, she temporarily had no time to chat much with Ziji, as she was busy asking Bai Miao: "Miaomiao, you didn't secretly empty your cheap feeder's private treasury and refrigerator, did you?"

"This absolutely must not happen!"

Bai Miao replied very quickly.

"Sister Yun Zhi, you can rest assured and keep them. I really didn't steal from home! [Cat covering face.jpg]"

"After you helped me complete the commission task, the good deeds system on my end determined that I had done an A-grade good deed and rewarded me with 10,000 points. My mental power successfully upgraded from F-grade to E-grade! That means I can transform into a human form for 1 hour every day!"

"So I sneaked into my cheap feeder's room, climbed onto his bed, and performed a magic show of turning into a human right when he came out of the shower and was getting ready to rest!"

"Rest assured, it wasn't running naked. After the beastmen in this world transform, there will be a set of form-fitting clothes materialized from their fur on their bodies."

"Then I threatened him, saying he had to give me energy stones, or else I would report him for sexual harassment against an underage cat-clan maiden..."

Yun Zhi: "???"

Yun Zhi: "He didn't throw you out?! Or simply spank your bottom?"

Oh my god, Bai Miao, you are truly brave! There is nothing you dare not say!

Bai Miao: "Ahem, that trick really didn't work on my iceberg of a feeder. Do you know what his first sentence was when he saw me transform into a human?"

Yun Zhi: "What did he say?"

Bai Miao: "Change back! _(:3」∠)_"

Yun Zhi: ......

Hahahaha!

Yun Zhi: "He must be an extreme straight-arrow alpha male."

Bai Miao: "Yes, a twenty-eight-year-old forever-single old man."

Yun Zhi: ......

Uh, Ziji around her was also twenty-eight, and also forever-single, but he wasn't old.

However, this wasn't the main point.

Yun Zhi asked: "Then how come he was willing to give you so many good things?"

Bai Miao: "I refused to change back, and grabbed his arm tightly while wailing loudly, saying that if he didn't give me energy stones, I would sexually harass him every day."

Yun Zhi: ......

If the cat in her family dared to say something like this after turning into a human... a severe beating would definitely be inevitable.

Bai Miao: "Then, he easily pried me apart, pinned my hands behind my back in three or five moves, tied me into a zongzi with a bedsheet, leaving only my head exposed. He asked me if I could speak properly now?"

"What could I do? I was also quite desperate, and said very obediently that I could."

"He then asked me why I could suddenly turn into a human and what I wanted energy stones for?"

"I... I stammered at first and refused to say, but his mental power was exceptionally high, and I couldn't resist his mental suppression at all. It didn't take long before I confessed everything. _(:3」∠)_"

"Now, all my details are known to him crystal-clear, including the good deeds system, the fact that I am a transmigrator, my experiences in my past life, me giving you the commission task, and also that I wanted energy stones to give you a reward fee..."

"Damn it, I've been stripped down to nothing left! Wuwuwu! qaq"

Hahahaha, although it was a bit miserable, why was the process still quite hilarious when she thought about it?

Moreover, since this major general was ultimately willing to help Bai Miao pay such a generous reward fee, it showed that he still valued her a lot. He didn't want to abandon her or send her to a laboratory just because she was a transmigrator carrying a system.

Yun Zhi: "Couldn't your system help you resist his mental coercion?"

Bai Miao complained: "Don't even mention it. My system is just as useless as me. After it subsidized me with all the energy it had hoarded so I could upgrade my mental power and transform into a human, it had zero energy left. Resist? Not even a tiny bit."

Yun Zhi: "Later on, now that you can turn into a human, how is he arranging you?"

Raising a cat that could never transform into a human and raising a cat-clan maiden were completely different concepts.

Bai Miao said: "In the Beastman Empire, because I have genetic defects, I am also an abandoned orphan, and he knows that."

"If he abandons me, it would be hard to guarantee the character of any adopter I might find in the future. There are quite a few powerful nobles and wealthy people in the Human Federation who love to keep beautiful beast-clan youths in captivity..."

"Those dozens of beast-clan youths sent over as exchange students from the Beastman Empire—the ones with outstanding talent and prominent backgrounds can find proper boyfriends and girlfriends, while those with poor talent and those selected from orphanages... are basically abandoned pieces, and almost all of them are kept by the noble, wealthy, and upper classes, not in the way of proper partners."

"There's no way around it. Who asked the Beastman Empire to be weak, and the current Beast Emperor to be a mediocre and incompetent ruler!"

"My cheap feeder is cold on the outside and warm on the inside. Well, mainly he's very rich, and raising one more of me doesn't cost much. He also couldn't bear the thought that after being resold, I would most likely become a plaything for the privileged class."

"In short, he agreed to continue raising me and be my guardian until I graduate from university and start working. When my mental power reaches C-grade and the time I can stay in human form exceeds 8 hours a day, he will send me to school."

"For now, I'm self-studying at home."

"In return, he wants me to trade with you, Sister Yun Zhi, for a batch of books on Earth-era history, humanities, planting, and breeding, as well as a batch of seeds."

"Natural food in the interstellar world is scarce simply because our spacetime's human mother planet, Blue Star, was on the verge of extinction three thousand years ago. When humans explored the starry sky to find new living planets and entered the interstellar era, the number of seeds brought from Blue Star was limited, and most of them had undergone cosmic magnetic storm radiation and mutated. Not all mutated plants were suitable for consumption, and the edible productivity became much lower. Now, there are only a dozen or so kinds of natural fruits that can be eaten."

"He knows that the Earth environment where I lived in my past life is very similar to the environment of Blue Star, the mother planet of our interstellar world, so he wants these things."

Yun Zhi had also been thinking earlier that she could do a transaction with Bai Miao.

Now that there was a clear demand on Bai Miao's end, it was naturally even better.

Yun Zhi: "No problem. We still have one trading opportunity left. What type of seeds do you want, and are there any other things you want? You can make a detailed list for me later."

Yun Zhi: "If you have the chance, you should still test what your feeder's attitude is toward you having a system. I'm afraid that after he gets what he wants, he will..."

Cross the river and break the bridge, kill the donkey after it's done grinding the mill.

Being generous with gifts right now might simply be because the system on Bai Miao's body could help him trade for the things he wanted.

Bai Miao said: "Sister Yun Zhi, I know what you mean. You're worried that once he gets the things he wants—the things from Earth—and I'm no longer useful to him, he'll send me to be dissected, right? It shouldn't come to that."

"The system is soul-bound to me, and even if they dissect me, they can't take the system apart. Besides, the things he wants can be exchanged with you through me; he doesn't necessarily have to bind with the system himself. In fact, he wasn't too at ease with the system staying in my spiritual sea all the time, and carefully asked how to unbind it, only feeling relieved after confirming repeatedly that the system won't harm me. Therefore, it's impossible for him to covet my system."

Yun Zhi: "Ah, that's because he is strong enough on his own and completely doesn't need the system's help."

It was also because that major general was indeed the type to be cold on the outside and warm on the inside. Although he usually looked indifferent toward Bai Miao, when Bai Miao ran into trouble, he cared for her like his own junior.

Seeing Bai Miao reply like this, Yun Zhi felt much more relieved.

The two of them ended their chat for now because Bai Miao had to enter her mini holographic cabin to attend classes and study—in her cat form.

To have to study even after turning into a cat was truly miserable.

Yun Zhi asked the chat group system.

"Ah Tong, to what extent do I need to reach before I can unbind with you?"

Chat group system: "???"

"You heartless thing! Do you already despise me for being useless and want to abandon me?"

"Wuwuwuwu! [Crying.gif]"

Yun Zhi: "No such thing, I was just asking out of curiosity! Anyway, you won't force me to accept missions, and when I have nothing to do, I can still chat with you to relieve boredom. You give me early warnings when danger is encountered, and there is a spatial safe house to take refuge in... Ah, I really want you to accompany me until I grow old and die! Even if I die, it would be best if it could be inherited by my children and grandchildren..."

Chat group system: "......"

"That's hardly necessary, thank you! I'm also very picky when choosing hosts. Just because I fancy you doesn't mean I'll fancy your descendants!"

Confirming that Yun Zhi didn't despise it and didn't want to unbind with it, the system felt relieved.

The chat group system said: "I have to wait until I accumulate enough merit to regain a physical entity. By then, my true body will be the Immortal Artifact 'Heaven-Reaching Mysterious Mirror', and my consciousness body will be the Myriad Realms Chat Group System. The two won't interfere with each other."

"After gaining a physical entity, my consciousness body can unbind from you at any time and look for a new master!"

Yun Zhi: ......???

"What? You rely on me to help you accumulate merit to regain an immortal artifact entity, and yet you still want to abandon me and look for another master? You have no heart!"

Chat group system: ......

"I... I was just thinking about it casually! Rest assured, as long as you don't despise me, I won't despise you either. I'll change masters after you die, alright?"

For the consciousness body and the host to forcibly unbind, the system would also have to pay a not-so-small price, requiring it to at least fall into a deep sleep for several hundred years before waking up again, though it wouldn't have too much impact on the host.

Unless there was a massive conflict with the host, the Heaven-Reaching Mysterious Mirror wouldn't do such a thing.

After bickering for a while and confirming that they still had a very long time to spend together in the future, the human and the system piped down.

Yun Zhi turned around and saw that Ziji was looking at her with a resentful gaze.

Yun Zhi: "What's wrong?"

Ziji: "Just how many good friends do you have?"

Yun Zhi: ......

Why was this sentence so full of sourness?

Ziji: "If I had known you didn't even have time to say a few more words to me, I would have just let the driver pick you up."

Yun Zhi: "I'm sorry! I got too carried away chatting with Bai Miao just now and momentarily ignored you."

Ziji: "If Bai Miao and I fall into danger, would you save me or save her?"

Yun Zhi: ............

Save me! Why would she be asked such a life-and-death question when they were just good friends?

Ziji's soul wasn't a modern person, so he might not know that this kind of question was generally asked by girlfriends to their boyfriends.

However, Yun Zhi still answered with a very strong desire to survive: "Save you!"

Bai Miao and she weren't even in the same world, what was there to save?

Everyone had a system; if the good deeds system didn't want to change hosts before earning back its energy capital, it would definitely give Bai Miao an early warning if she encountered danger that was hard to resolve.

Besides, Bai Miao's true form was only a weak and cute little kitten!

As long as she didn't run into a perverted cat-abuse fanatic, who could bring themselves to be ruthless toward a little kitten?

Ziji had no idea that while Yun Zhi was saying she would save him out loud, she was thinking entirely of Bai Miao in her heart.

Ziji said with satisfaction: "It seems I am still your best friend. Alright then, I forgive you."

Yun Zhi: ......

She had a stomach full of complaints she wanted to air.

Ziji's strength was so much greater than hers; it was basically impossible for him to encounter a situation where he needed her to save him, right?

Of course, if he really encountered such a situation...

She would still choose to save Ziji.

Because she had indeed spent more time with Ziji, and Ziji had helped her a lot.

She could still tell apart who was close and who was distant.

Ziji was also satisfied that Yun Zhi's words came from sincerity rather than perfunctoriness, and only then did he become happy.

When they arrived at the Lu family residence, the two got out of the car.

Ziji said: "I don't know why, but clearly I knew that you could handle the situation in City X by yourself, and if you couldn't handle it, you still had the spatial safe house as a fallback without any major danger—yet I still wanted so badly to do the mission with you!"

Yun Zhi: ......?

Ziji: "Perhaps it's because I really want to accumulate a bit more merit quickly! And I'm not that familiar with the other people in the Supernormal Bureau, so I don't really want to go on missions with them. Therefore, the next time you encounter a mission with a certain degree of danger, bring me along, and don't exclude me just because you're afraid of troubling me."

Yun Zhi earnestly agreed: "Okay, the next time I go on a mission, I'll definitely bring you along."

Before this, she was indeed worried that if she got too close to Ziji, it would implicate him into over-exhausting his body again like last time in the Pastry Country...

Also, because Ziji had wanted to watch a movie alone with her previously, which made her misunderstand that he had feelings for her and felt awkward, she had intentionally distanced herself from Ziji somewhat during this period.

Yet Ziji remained completely oblivious to this and still regarded her as his best friend.

Whenever she needed help, a single phone call brought him rushing from thousands of miles away.

During this mission, had it not been for Ziji's help in taking care of her grandmother and completely shielding against the effect of the fortune-seizing Gu inside her grandmother, she would have had a fatal handle held by those evil cult leaders, making the mission much more troublesome and difficult.

Yun Zhi had nothing she could use to repay Ziji, as he lacked nothing.

Energy stones were only temporarily useful to him; sooner or later, he would return to the Cultivation World in the future.

Ziji truly didn't like interacting with strangers, and without her accompanying him, he basically wouldn't take the initiative to accept missions from the Supernormal Bureau.

If she didn't bring him along on missions, no matter how much longer he stayed here, he would just be wasting time and squandering the God-suppressing grass that Lu Zijixian had nurtured with his own blood.

The best way to repay Ziji turned out to be bringing him along on missions as much as possible!

Ziji reached out and ruffled Yun Zhi's head.

He had wanted to do this for a long time.

The texture was indeed very good!

"Let's go, Grandma is waiting for us."

The action of rubbing her head was a bit intimate, but not excessively so. Doing this between good friends should... probably be fine, right?

Yun Zhi muttered an "oh" and followed behind him.

After that, Yun Zhi had a very sumptuous and delicious, yet slightly awkward dinner.

Because this dinner included not only her grandmother Dou Wanqin, but also Elder Lu Dezhang...

Anyone unaware might have thought this was a young couple coming home to "meet the parents"!

Fortunately, Grandma and Elder Lu were people who had roamed the business world for many years and were great at chatting, so they completely did not misunderstand her relationship with Ziji.

Elder Lu regarded Yun Zhi as Ziji's savior, while Dou Wanqin regarded Ziji as her own savior, keeping the atmosphere thoroughly harmonious.

Yun Zhi's mood also shifted from slight awkwardness to naturalness.

She even told the three people at the dinner table about her experiences in City X. Of course, she simplified and concealed some parts, greatly lowering the level of danger and recounting it in as relaxed a tone as possible so as not to worry the elders.

She didn't mention the spatial safe house to the two elders either, though Ziji knew about it.

After dinner, Yun Zhi and Dou Wanqin bid farewell to the Lu family grandparents and returned to Jin Yuan.

Because Dou Wanqin couldn't wait to see her daughter Ran Yao earlier, and now that everything in City X had settled down, she could finally acknowledge her mother-daughter relationship with her.

Ziji insisted on driving them to the entrance of the Jin Yuan residential compound.

Yun Zhi told him there was no need for that, but Ziji replied: "I'm not sending you off, I want to send Grandma off."

Dou Wanqin: "That's right, these past two days Ziji often came over to keep me company, and we got along so well. Now, we're soulmates and good friends."

Ziji said triumphantly: "Right, I now have more than just you as a friend."

Yun Zhi was left between laughter and tears, and had no choice but to let him drive them.

In the car, Yun Zhi and Dou Wanqin sat in the back seat while Ziji drove.

Dou Wanqin feigned casualness and asked: "Zixian, you're already 28 this year. Have you started considering lifelong matters?"

Ziji answered without hesitation: "Not considering it. Grandma, I am a single, non-marriage advocate! Please don't urge me to find a partner, and don't introduce anyone to me either, otherwise, otherwise..."

Seeing him think for a long time without coming up with the rest, Yun Zhi laughed and asked: "Otherwise what?"

Ziji: "Otherwise, I'll urge you to find a second spring as well, Grandma!"

Dou Wanqin's mouth twitched: "I won't urge you. I definitely won't urge you to find a partner anymore, alright?"

She was already 67 years old, what second spring was she looking for?!

This kid was sometimes just as unruly as her granddaughter, which explained why they could play together.

Observing their completely non-romantic interaction model...

Dou Wanqin secretly shook her head; neither child had quite figured it out yet.

Ziji liked someone without realizing it, while Yun Zhi only regarded him entirely as a good friend.

So be it, matters of fate were predestined and could not be forced; let them be.

Before long, they returned to Jin Yuan.

Ziji said: "Let's go out for a meal together once you're done with your busy schedule."

Now, he also knew that it wasn't very appropriate for a man and a woman to go watch a movie alone together, but going out for a meal or going on a mission together was completely fine.

Yun Zhi: "Okay, I'll look for you another day!"

Yun Zhi and Dou Wanqin went together to Building 1 of Jin Yuan, the apartment where Ran Yao and Yun Xibo lived.

Before returning, Yun Zhi had made a phone call in advance.

By this time, both Ran Yao and Yun Xibo had finished dinner, washed some fruit, and were waiting at home for Yun Zhi to return.

Ran Yao chatted with her husband, saying: "That child Yun Zhi said she'd bring someone back for me to meet later, and I don't know who she's bringing. Her tone was so mysterious, and no matter how I asked, she wouldn't say, only mentioning that it's someone I knew before, but you don't know."

"Do you think this dress I'm wearing is okay? Is it too casual?"

Yun Xibo: "Looks good!"

Ran Yao was speechless: "Is that the only phrase you know how to say?"

Yun Xibo: "Hehe, my wife is pretty, so whatever she wears looks good."

Yun Xibo was also fretting, "Uh, Xiao Zhi wouldn't have gone and found a boyfriend, and is bringing him back for us to see, right? But that doesn't sound right either. That Lu Zixian kid I've met before, but he doesn't fit the description of someone you know and I don't."

Yun Zhi, who had just returned to her parents' doorstep and, due to her exceptionally sharp hearing, had clearly heard her parents' conversation: ......

It was one thing to misunderstand that she was bringing a boyfriend home, but what did this have to do with Ziji?

Her parents and grandmother didn't know the name "Ziji", making it hard to explain the origin of it to them; they had always referred to Ziji as "Lu Zixian".

Fortunately, Grandma's hearing was normal and she didn't hear that!

Yun Zhi hurriedly pressed the doorbell.

Ran Yao came to open the door not long after.

Misled by her husband, Ran Yao really thought Yun Zhi had brought back a boyfriend. At first glance, seeing a woman in her fifties standing beside Yun Zhi with an elegant, refined appearance and a poised, generous temperament, she froze in a daze for quite a while.

Looking closely, she always felt a bit familiar, but she truly had never met this lady before!

"You're back."

"Quick, quick, come on in and sit down, Xiao Zhi and your friend."

Yun Zhi affectionately linked arms with Dou Wanqin and walked into the house.

Yun Xibo also stepped forward, looking in surprise at Dou Wanqin, turning to look at Yun Zhi, and then looking at Ran Yao.

Yun Xibo: "Xiao Zhi, how come this older sister here looks a bit like your mom, and you as well?"

He turned his gaze back to Ran Yao: "Wife, do you happen to have an older sister who went missing for many years?"