Chapter 8: Mind Your Own Business

Fu Shuxing grabbed his hand and pulled it away. "What happened to General?"

Ji Xun said anxiously, "There’s no time to explain! You open—"

Before he could finish, a white tiger appeared out of thin air behind Fu Shuxing. It had black and white stripes, a strong and powerful body, a thick, long tail, and a majestic, imposing head. Under the moonlight, General’s amber eyes turned a ghostly green, making it look noble and cold. It stood silently behind Fu Shuxing, appearing perfectly fine.

Ji Xun stared at the scene, speechless. The burning, frantic feeling in his heart remained, and the sound of General’s angry, trapped-beast roars seemed to linger in his ears, refusing to fade. Yet, everything before his eyes told him it wasn't real. Was it his… hallucination?

Fu Shuxing said coldly again, "What happened to General?"

Ji Xun stuttered, "I, I thought I heard General, it was calling out..."

Fu Shuxing’s eyes flashed slightly, but his voice remained flat and indifferent. "We just got back." The implication was that he had heard wrong.

Ji Xun looked at the unusually quiet Bengal white tiger. It didn't come over to nuzzle him, nor did it let out a single sound. This "normality" felt incredibly abnormal.

"Is General really okay?"

"It’s fine," Fu Shuxing said. "Move aside."

Ji Xun’s heart tightened, and he involuntarily stepped back, watching as Fu Shuxing took out his keys, opened the iron gate, and walked into the courtyard. *Did I really hear it wrong?* Ji Xun doubted himself. *Did I suffer such a shock today that I’m having auditory hallucinations tonight?*

He walked toward his home. Seeing her son run out in such a hurry and return looking so dejected, Mother Ji asked, "Xunxun, what happened?"

"Nothing," Ji Xun replied.

He headed upstairs, but after only a few steps, he suddenly turned and ran back down, asking his mother with some excitement, "Mom, did you hear a tiger roar just now?"

"A tiger roar?" Mother Ji said. "No."

Ji Xun asked his father, "Dad, did you hear it?"

Father Ji replied, "You’re talking about Shuxing’s spiritual beast, right?"

Ji Xun nodded eagerly.

"No," Father Ji said. "Shuxing is sensible, and his spiritual beast is just as sensible. The roar of the king of beasts can easily cause panic among other spiritual beasts, so it rarely roars. Besides, their house has thick barriers; even if it did make a sound, most people wouldn't hear it."

"Oh..." Ji Xun said.

Seeing his reaction, Mother Ji asked, "Xunxun, did you hear it?"

Ji Xun had been thinking, *I must have heard it wrong*, but hearing his mother, he immediately looked at her. "I think so! Mom, is that possible? You can’t hear it, but I can?"

"Of course it's possible," Mother Ji laughed. "Back when I was going on blind dates, your father’s wolf would howl all day long."

"Why?"

Father Ji coughed, signaling his wife not to bring these things up in front of their child. Mother Ji teased him, "What’s there to be shy about?" She told her son, "Your father was jealous. He’s not good with words and doesn't know how to express his feelings, so when he got anxious, he’d let his wolf howl from morning till night. In the end, I was so worn down by the howling that I went to find him myself."

Ji Xun asked urgently, "When Shiyue was howling, did Dad know about it?"

Mother Ji said, "You’ll have to ask your father that."

Ji Xun looked at his father. Father Ji replied, "As the master of a spiritual beast, how could I not know?"

"But Brother Hang said he didn't hear it."

Father Ji said, "Impossible. Otherwise, he’s lying to you."

Mother Ji asked curiously, "How was that spiritual beast of Xiao Hang’s calling?"

Ji Xun was confused himself and didn't dare say too much. "I don't know. I can't understand it, but I feel like it’s very sad and very angry."

Mother Ji asked, "You didn't come back with Xiao Hang today, did you?"

Ji Xun nodded. "Brother Hang had extra training, so I came back with Shitou."

Mother Ji then asked, "Then what was that about when you got home? Did you have a falling out with Xiaolei?"

"Ah, me?" Ji Xun immediately shook his head. "That’s not worth mentioning, it’s already over."

Seeing that her son no longer seemed troubled, Mother Ji turned to her husband and said, "Could it be that Fu Shen and Ming Yuan are in trouble?"

Father Ji’s heart skipped a beat at these words, and he immediately stood up. "I’ll check."

Seeing this, Ji Xun panicked and stood up, asking, "Where are Uncle Fu and Uncle Gao?"

Mother Ji said, "The area around Blue Call Star has been unstable lately. Your Uncle Fu and Uncle Gao took the fleet to maintain order half a month ago."

Ji Xun felt flustered, afraid that the two uncles really were in trouble.

Father Ji hung up the communicator and told them, "It’s fine. The two of them just won a major battle."

Ji Xun let out a deep sigh of relief. "Then it seems I must have misheard. I’ve been reading too much and haven't slept well. Mom, Dad, I’m going to bed. Goodnight!"

Mother Ji watched him run upstairs, feeling worried. Father Ji gently squeezed her shoulder. "Don't worry. You know how your son is—he acts on impulse, a child at heart. Let's not worry so much."

As soon as Ji Xun entered his bedroom, he opened his window. The lights were on in the second-floor room across the street. Ji Xun put his fingers to his lips and let out a sharp whistle.

A moment later, the window across the way was pried open bit by bit. It was the Bengal white tiger. Ji Xun smiled and waved at General.

However, the white tiger was in an uncharacteristically low mood. It stood on its hind legs, front paws resting on the windowsill, and as it looked at the young guide from a distance, its narrow green eyes looked exceptionally melancholic and dejected.

Ji Xun couldn't quite see its expression clearly. Suddenly remembering something, he rummaged through his desk drawer until he found an old pair of binoculars. Fu Shuxing had bought them for him when he was five. At that time, Fu Shuxing had said he could see the book in his hands from across the room. Ji Xun hadn't believed him until they connected via the communicator and Fu Shuxing read the storybook word for word. Once he believed it, he felt aggrieved, crying and asking why Brother Hang could see him, but he couldn't see Brother Hang. To appease him, Fu Shuxing had taken him to the market to buy these binoculars. "Use this from now on, and you can see me," the five-year-old Fu Shuxing had said.

The binoculars were small but useful. Ji Xun clearly saw General the tiger, looking aggrieved like a big cat that had just been scolded, whimpering to itself but unable to show its wounds to anyone. Ji Xun had never seen the fierce, proud white tiger like this. He felt a bit angry, and in his agitation, his hand shook, causing the lens to tilt. It drifted straight into the bathroom of Fu Shuxing’s bedroom...

Behind the frosted glass door, a tall figure was taking a shower.

"!!!"

Ji Xun dropped the binoculars as if electrocuted. *Don't look, don't look,* he thought, and slammed the window shut with a "whoosh!"

Fu Shuxing came out of the shower to see General lying lonely on the windowsill. The window of Ji Xun’s bedroom was tightly shut. Fu Shuxing walked over and closed his own window. General let out an "Awoo" to express its dissatisfaction, but it didn't dare to overstep. Fu Shuxing said nothing, turned off the lights, and went to bed.

The white tiger refused to lie down. It paced the room, deliberately letting its claws tap against the floor, making small, irritating sounds.

Fu Shuxing said nothing and simply shut General back into his own mental domain.

The white tiger was furious at being suddenly thrown in! It roared loudly within the cage of its master’s mental domain, its sharp claws leaving deep gouges on the scarred walls, its large head slamming against the iron bars. "ROAR!"

Ji Xun was so startled he jumped up! He heard it again! He heard General calling again! He grabbed the binoculars and opened the window to look, but Fu Shuxing had already closed his window and turned off the lights. He seemed to be asleep.

*If he’s asleep, why would General be calling?*

Ji Xun felt this was incredibly strange, so he took out his communicator and called Fu Shuxing. Fu Shuxing looked at Ji Xun’s name on the screen, not wanting to answer, but after three seconds of inaction, he chose to pick up.

As soon as it connected, Ji Xun shouted, "Brother Hang, I heard General calling again!"

"You heard wrong."

Fu Shuxing had felt it was impossible while he was downstairs. The cries of General, locked away in his mental domain, could never be heard by Ji Xun. Ji Xun didn't even have a spiritual beast; his mental strength was pitifully weak. He couldn't even establish good communication with low-level spiritual beasts like birds or cats, and he couldn't understand what General was expressing. Therefore, it was impossible for Ji Xun to hear any movement from his mental domain.

"I didn't hear it wrong!"

"Why are you lying to me? I asked my parents; I can hear it, and you, as General’s master, must be able to hear it too!" Ji Xun was furious. "Why don't you cherish General properly? Its emotions have become so anxious and irritable, as its master, you should be soothing it..."

Fu Shuxing interrupted coldly, "Are you lecturing me?"

Ji Xun was stunned. "I..."

"A waste of space who doesn't even have a spiritual beast wants to teach me how to discipline my spiritual beast?"

"You! I..."

"Ji Xun," Fu Shuxing said. "Stop meddling. It’s truly annoying."

The call ended.

Ji Xun went from disbelief to holding his breath, to realizing what had happened, and almost exploding on the spot!

This, this, this Fu Shuxing. This bastard! He’s not even pretending anymore, is he? Did I do something to wrong you for you to insult me like this!!!

Unable to bear such an egregious insult, Ji Xun rummaged through his drawer for the only cutting tool he had—a nail clipper—and rushed downstairs in a rage!

Does the Federation have a Spiritual Beast Protection Law? Does it?! He was going to report Fu Shuxing for animal abuse!!!

Ji Xun opened the Fu family’s iron gate and charged straight into the main house. The hall was pitch black, with no lights on. But Ji Xun was so familiar with the Fu house that he could walk through it blindfolded without tripping. He ran right up to the second floor in the dark!

In the bedroom, Fu Shuxing lay with his eyes open. He had heard it. He heard Ji Xun’s furious footsteps running all the way from downstairs. In that moment, he thought of many things. But all his thoughts were blown to ashes by something called "reason."