Chapter 77: Still Bad News

Chapter 77: Chapter 77: Still Bad News

The entire floor of the room was covered with a thick carpet. Yun Duo was wearing a cotton onesie, and the fine, soft scales on his belly wouldn’t get scraped or hurt as he moved across it, making the surface perfect for him to practice crawling.

When Feng Si first placed Yun Chi on the carpet, he froze for a moment. His tail rested against his mother’s foot as his big eyes scanned the area. Then, he realized this was the room his mother brought him to every night.

He tilted his head way back, his gaze full of adoration as he looked up at Feng Si. Feng Si sat cross-legged on the carpet, looked down, and smiled gently. "Mommy’s right here."

Her gaze never left the little one.

Yun Chi felt completely at ease. The air was filled with his and his mother’s scents. He began to explore, dragging his long tail behind him and turning back to glance at Feng Si every so often.

He knew this room well. Every night, he had to be on high alert, acting as his mother’s little security guard.

The potted plants and the table didn’t move, so they weren’t dangerous. Yun Chi’s little mind had a clear objective, and he moved quickly. In no time, he slithered over to the black ball in the corner of the room.

Yun Chi glanced back to check on his mother. When he looked again, the round black ball was resting in the middle of a box. ’Wasn’t it supposed to be floating and moving around like I remember?’

He tilted his head, and the little ears on his round bear hat tilted with him. His golden eyes were lost in thought.

Watching Yun Duo stare at the camera sphere, his little belly puffed out, and then seeing him press his short claws onto the black orb, Feng Si smiled in realization. ’The little guy likes to play with balls.’

She thought for a moment, then retrieved a ball of light-blue yarn from her storage space, deciding to make a small yarn toy for her little one.

WHIRRR—

The camera sphere whirred to life. Yun Chi pinned the black orb down with both claws, trying to keep it from escaping. His scrunched-up face showed he was using all of his baby strength.

Feng Si glanced over, the corners of her lips turning up. He was just too cute.

’Is my little one wrestling with the black orb? The more I watch him, the more I adore him...’

A wave of pure love washed over her. Her own baby was truly the one being in the entire world who could move her heart so completely. Smiling, Feng Si walked toward her little one.

A powerful force surged from beneath his claws. Little Yun Chi quickly slithered forward a bit and in his panic, tried to throw half his body’s weight onto the black ball.

HISS HISS HISS... He opened his mouth to reveal his fangs, the little black Chi letting out a naive, threatening hiss.

’Don’t follow my mommy, or I’ll bite you!’

Drool dripped from his wide-open mouth. Only two little white nubs poked through his gums. It was unclear just what this clueless little creature was trying to accomplish.

At least, that’s what the camera’s AI seemed to think. It had been activated and was trying to ascend according to its programming. Detecting its owner’s presence, it began to float up and prepare for its tasks.

The corners of Feng Si’s lips lifted. She crouched down behind Yun Duo and reached a hand over his head. She pressed a few buttons on the camera, canceling the follow and recording functions. The buzzing sphere fell silent.

Yun Chi, who had been watching this unfold with his head tilted back and eyes blinking, felt the force beneath his claws vanish. He let out a joyful hiss. ’He just knew his venom was super strong!’

Feng Si looked down at Yun Chi, her dark eyes filled with warmth.

’When I carry the baby, the black orb follows me. And every time during the livestream, Yun Duo would hiss at the camera. So he was trying to drive it away.’

She gently ran a finger along Yun Chi’s long spine. His warm little body immediately arched up to press against her fingertip.

Yun Chi let out a couple of soft, babyish coos, twisting around and wrapping his two little claws around his mother’s finger, hugging it to his chest.

The faint, rapid thrum of his heartbeat against her fingertip made Feng Si’s heart melt.

The camera sphere hadn’t been powered down completely. After a moment on standby, its AI gave an automatic prompt, and a faint green light flashed. Yun Chi, who had been snuggling against Feng Si’s finger, whipped around vigilantly, staring intently at the orb.

Feng Si picked up the camera sphere. Yun Chi flattened his body and quickly slithered after it. He came to a stop against his mother’s calf, anxiously pointing at the little black ball with his tiny claws.

’He’s still so young. I understand. He thinks the only moving thing in the house is a threat.’

She gathered Yun Duo into her arms as well and said softly, "This is Little Black. Look, it can record Mommy and Yun Duo together."

She activated the camera sphere’s built-in light screen and recording function. Pointing at the image of one person and one small, beast-form Chi, she continued with a smile, "See? It’s Mommy and Little Cloud!~"

Yun Chi was mesmerized.

It was the first time he had ever seen an image of himself and his mother. His golden eyes went wide. He carefully reached out a tiny claw, only pretending to touch the image of his mother, who was about the same size as him. He loved it so much!

’The mommy on the screen was tiny. In Yun Chi’s little baby mind, this meant that when he grew up, he would be big enough to protect his real mommy completely, just like this.’

And just like that, Yun Chi was no longer wary of the moving black orb. He absolutely adored this new toy that could show him his mother.

Seeing this, Feng Si set the black orb down next to Yun Chi, then gently placed Yun Duo back on the carpet. The orb did its best to hover about ten centimeters away from the little guy.

When he looked up, he could see the tiny mommy on the screen smiling at him. And when he turned his head, he could see his real mommy, too!

Yun Chi was overjoyed.

He began exploring the room with his new partner, ’Little Black,’ pausing every so often. Whenever his mother’s image disappeared from the screen, he would anxiously wave his little claws at it. As soon as Feng Si’s image reappeared, he would happily continue slithering. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Since the environment was safe, Feng Si didn’t interfere with her baby’s proactive exploration of his world.

She sat back down on the sofa and began making the little ball, but she kept an eye on her crawling baby out of the corner of her eye.

She held out one hand, fingers together, and began wrapping the yarn around her four fingers. When it was thick enough, she cut the yarn. After sliding the bundle off her fingers, she tied a separate piece of yarn tightly around the middle twice, securing it with a knot. Then, she cut through the loops on both sides and slowly trimmed the resulting bundle into a small, round ball.

A blue, ping-pong-sized ball was complete.

Thanks to this little handmade blue ball, when it was almost time for the evening livestream, she was able to swap it for the camera sphere with no trouble at all, even though the little one had grown so attached to it.

Online, countless Beastmen were already lying in wait.

The viewer count on the light screen was constantly climbing. The Si Shi Xiao Si stream had, without a doubt, become the fastest-growing channel on the entire network.

After receiving the blue ball his mother had made, the little guy clutched it and refused to let go. Feng Si then placed him, blue ball and all, into the nursery pouch of her work uniform.

When the livestream began that day, Yun Chi wasn’t perched on his mother’s collar keeping watch. Instead, he was sleeping soundly.

...

「Inside the Imperial Palace Main Hall in Pantian City.」

Chi Jie: "Any news?"

Xi Zhu’s figure appeared on the light screen, his head bowed. His voice was hesitant. "In Cang City, we’ve taken blood samples from every Beastman except for the minors... We haven’t found anything."