Chapter 32

The snake egg was long and round, a lustrous, snowy white, and incredibly smooth. It looked like a large, beautiful piece of jade. However, it seemed to be breathing, ever so slightly.

Is the Great King still asleep? Still not awake?

Ji Xun held his breath, staring at it without blinking, and then pinched his own thigh hard!

Ouch! It hurt! The pain snapped his brain wide awake.

After confirming he wasn't dreaming, Ji Xun suppressed the wild joy in his heart, sat up with the lightest of movements, and picked up the Great King with both hands.

As soon as he lifted it, the egg gave a sudden jolt!

The snake egg moved so unexpectedly that Ji Xun, who had been holding it with the utmost care, almost dropped it. Fortunately, the large egg was heavy enough. Ji Xun failed to toss it the first time and managed to steady it firmly on the second attempt.

"Don't, don't be afraid. It's me, it's just me," Ji Xun stammered, terrified. He hurriedly stroked the trembling egg and said, "I know you're my spirit beast now. Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you again..."

The snake egg slowly stopped moving, like a little white rabbit whose emotions had been soothed. A soft, white bundle.

Ji Xun stroked it gently twice more. The shell beneath his palm felt smooth and warm. He let out a soft breath, and the feeling of finally having a spirit beast slowly turned from surreal to real. Ji Xun felt a lump in his throat, and he almost wanted to cry. The feeling of bitterness turning into sweetness was, truly, truly... both poignant and wonderful.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

Mother Ji: "Xunxun, are you up? Mom is coming in."

Ji Xun reacted with lightning speed, pulling the quilt over the Great King and turning to look at his mother.

Mother Ji looked surprised. "Xunxun, what are you doing?" Why were you in that position?

"Ah? I was just about to get up." Ji Xun displayed superb acting skills, lifting his arms to yawn. After tucking the egg between his legs, he stretched his arms out in a grand gesture. "Ugh—I slept so well last night!"

"As long as you slept well." Mother Ji smiled. "It's so late, Xiao Xing is already waiting downstairs."

"Ah? Xing-ge is there so early??"

"What do you mean early? It's already seven o'clock."

"Seven o'clock?!!" If he hadn't had the Great King egg between his legs, Ji Xun would have leaped out of bed. He hurriedly said, "Mom, go on out! I'll change and brush my teeth, I'll be down in a second!"

"Alright."

Mother Ji went downstairs and saw Fu Shuxing standing in the living room. The weather had turned cold, but Fu Shuxing was still wearing only a thin, long-sleeved cotton shirt, which accentuated the young man's broad shoulders and straight posture. Though his expression was indifferent and calm, he possessed a refined air. One could tell at a glance that he was a well-bred youth.

"Xunxun just woke up." Seeing Fu Shuxing look over, Mother Ji greeted him with a smile. "Xiao Xing, have a seat. He finally had a good night's sleep last night."

Fu Shuxing sat down on the sofa. Hearing this, his fingertips twitched slightly. His expression remained unchanged as he replied casually, "Does Xiao Xun often have trouble sleeping?"

"Sigh!" Mother Ji sighed. "He has nightmares. Just yesterday morning, he was so scared he ran downstairs, which gave both his father and me quite a fright."

Fu Shuxing recalled how Ji Xun looked yesterday morning, pursed his lips, and said, "Auntie Ji."

"Yes?"

"I have something I'd like to ask you."

***

Fu Shuxing's thin lips moved, and he stood up. He was very polite. "Auntie, I took Xiao Xun to the Appraisal Building for a check-up yesterday morning. The doctor said his mental power had been traumatized, but because he received timely mental guidance, nothing serious happened."

Mother Ji nodded calmly and asked in return, "And what of it?"

Fu Shuxing: "It seems you were aware of this, Auntie."

"I am aware," Mother Ji said. "I was the one who provided the mental guidance for Xunxun."

It matched what Ji Xun had said. Fu Shuxing felt a sharp pang of unease in his heart. He clenched his fist slightly and asked, "May I ask when this happened?"

Mother Ji did not hide it and told Fu Shuxing, "It was on the night of the celebration banquet, the night you brought him home."

Fu Shuxing was stunned. This unexpected answer caught him off guard. "What did you say, Auntie?"

Mother Ji repeated, "It was the night of the celebration banquet when you brought him home."

Fu Shuxing's thoughts were thrown into chaos! Didn't Ji Xun say his mental injury was due to Xu Yuangui's affair? Was Ji Xun lying? Why would Ji Xun lie? And what on earth happened that night after the banquet? His father had grilled him about who Ji Xun had contact with at the banquet, and now Auntie Ji was saying that Ji Xun had an incident when he got home, and she was the one who helped him.

An incident? What kind of incident?

Fu Shuxing was certain that Ji Xun hadn't encountered any problematic people or unusual events at the banquet. And once back at the government compound, it was even less likely that anyone could have harmed Ji Xun.

Fu Shuxing asked Mother Ji, "Does Ji Xun know about this?"

Mother Ji's expression didn't look relaxed, but she shook her head and said, "Xunxun doesn't seem to remember what happened that night. Your father went into his mental realm to check and said there was no issue, so your Uncle Ji and I didn't tell him. We wanted to spare him from overthinking and becoming afraid."

Fu Shuxing understood what she meant and promised, "Don't worry, Auntie. I won't tell him either."

Mother Ji smiled at him.

***

The two talked downstairs, but upstairs, Ji Xun still wasn't ready.

Ji Xun planned to take the Great King to the Sanctuary, but his original school bag was too small. Although the Great King egg was a being from a higher-dimensional space, it would suffer damage in the third dimension. Just as Zhou Xiaoyun's oriole had its leg broken, and Xu Yuangui's Tibetan Mastiff had a leg bitten by Jason's spirit beast, spirit beasts could not only harm each other, but Awakeners could also harm them.

Not to mention, the Great King was still just an egg. A fragile egg. If someone were to hit it with a hammer before it could dodge, it would surely die.

Ji Xun couldn't leave the Great King egg at home; it wasn't safe. After all, his mother knew about the "big egg"—what if they clashed? The Great King egg wouldn't have time to dodge, and even a small rabbit like Qiuqiu could crush it.

It wasn't good to let the Great King egg hide back in the higher-dimensional space either; it had obviously encountered some difficulty or an insurmountable bottleneck in that dimension, which was why it kept appearing to find him. Perhaps someone in that dimension was hunting the Great King egg, or wanted to eat it?

Ji Xun thought to himself that he would never just stand by. He had to protect the Great King egg. After thinking it over, Ji Xun found a large bag. He lined the bottom with thick towels, carefully placed the Great King egg inside, and covered it with one of his thin jackets.

***

With that, he shouldered his school bag, carried the bag, and walked downstairs.

Fu Shuxing was sitting below. Hearing the movement, he looked up. The little Guide looked quite good today. Compared to the listless look he had yesterday, Ji Xun was much more spirited today. He pursed his lips slightly, his dimples deep, and his round, almond-shaped eyes seemed to hide a smile even when simply open. He seemed to be in a very good mood. It appeared he had indeed slept well last night.

"Sorry, Xing-ge! I woke up late!" Ji Xun apologized first.

Fu Shuxing didn't speak and stood up. Time was tight. Ji Xun called out to his mother, "Mom, I'll eat breakfast on the way!"

"I've already prepared it for you." Mother Ji handed her son the meal in a box and gave him a bottle of warmed milk. She then said to Fu Shuxing, "Xiao Xing, there's still time. Take it slow on the road, no rush, stay safe."

"I will, Auntie."

Once they were out of the Ji house, Fu Shuxing looked at the extra bag Ji Xun was carrying. "What's in there?"

"Clothes!" Ji Xun had prepared his excuse while packing. "We have a physical training class this afternoon. I'm afraid of sweating, so I'm bringing a change of clothes."

Fu Shuxing didn't press, but he seemed to believe it. Ji Xun felt a wave of relief as he hadn't raised any questions, secretly glad he had prepared in advance.

"Have you seen that strange python egg again?"

This topic caught Ji Xun off guard! He was so startled that the hand holding the bag shook!

Fu Shuxing saw his reaction and frowned. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing..." Ji Xun stammered. He thought Fu Shuxing had noticed something and was so nervous he felt like breaking into a cold sweat. He gripped the bag's handles tighter.

Ji Xun thought: If Fu Shuxing gets suspicious, I'll have the Great King egg hide immediately!

Fu Shuxing said, "I heard from Auntie Ji that you had a nightmare yesterday morning and were so scared you ran downstairs. It wasn't a nightmare, was it? You saw that strange egg again."

"Ah!!!"

So that's why he asked!!

Ji Xun's eyes lit up. His brain raced to find a counter-strategy. He let out a long "Ah" as he spoke, and once he found his answer, he stopped abruptly and said firmly, "No! It really was a nightmare yesterday. I dreamt I was being chased by bugs all night!"

Fu Shuxing: "Why would you dream of being chased by bugs for no reason?"

Ji Xun said, "Because I was looking up pictures of bugs the night before!"

Fu Shuxing glanced at him, obviously not believing it. Someone so afraid of bugs would be foolish enough to look up pictures of them at night?

Ji Xun, however, wasn't afraid of his skepticism and said righteously, "Because I told my mom and dad I wanted to go to military academy, and they said if I couldn't overcome my fear of bugs, they wouldn't let me go. So I decided to try!"

That actually sounded plausible. But Fu Shuxing hadn't expected that after so long, Ji Xun would still be thinking about the military academy. He said, "Now that you've tried and know it doesn't work, you're finally willing to give up."

"Of course not!"

Ji Xun now had the Great King Snake; he didn't fear bugs anymore. He could walk sideways even if he saw them! How could he give up?

Ji Xun hummed triumphantly. The word "give up" didn't exist in his dictionary!

So, Ji Xun said proudly, "Protecting the Empire and resisting interstellar invasion is such a great and dangerous task—it must have a share of my strength!"

Fu Shuxing looked at the boy's thin arms and legs and scoffed, "Wait until you have a spirit beast before you talk about that."

In the past, this would have dealt maximum damage. But now, Ji Xun stood still and stuck his tongue out at Fu Shuxing's back.