Claude's original plan was to let Daju stay with Kong Xiuwen for one night and bring him back after the night patrol was over. After all, he had already dealt with the hell cats detained within the Twenty-Eight Mansions, and there wasn't much to do for a while. He could responsibly play the role of a good cousin, taking Daju out to eat, play video games, watch movies, and maybe even get to touch some of the handsome combat aircraft of the Twenty-Eight Mansions.
After all, playing alone was fun, but playing together with two personas was double the fun! And when they got tired, they could eat double portions of ice cream and snacks together, doubling the joy even more!
However, his happy thoughts turned to nothingness during the emergency meeting after the end of the night patrol.
The meeting was convened in a particularly hurried manner, and even Tang Aibai hadn't heard about it beforehand. After receiving the notice, he hastily changed out of his combat uniform
Perhaps it was the legend of the Hell Gate here, or perhaps the weighty historical accumulation nurtured countless psychic sects. Suzhou City was often the most chaotic center of the Chinese psychic world, and this year, Suzhou was particularly restless.The appearance of the dog demon, explosions in residential areas, the resurrection of deities, and the eradication of the Dog Deity Sect... In recent weeks, the Twenty-Eight Constellations seemed to have gone mad, indiscriminately attacking all psychic sects. It was said that this was because members of the psychic sects had tortured and killed Yun Dong, a key member of the Southern Constellation team. The Twenty-Eight Constellations sought revenge for him.The fanatical believers who heard this news were completely bewildered. Who was Yun Dong? For heaven's sake, how come they had never heard of such a figure in the Twenty-Eight Constellations!Feigning innocence as his reason for contributing his physical educ
Claude soon had no time to worry about the sweet trouble of someone wanting to adopt the little dog. Ever since the Southern Palace Team found the location clues of the Evil God Sect, the Northern Palace Team had swiftly snatched back a lot of secret information. Finally, the various superpower sects in Su Fang City began to wake up belatedly.This was far from seeking revenge for the fallen members! It was just a casual excuse, even if it was just to target the superpower sects!Perhaps it was a case of mutual fear, or perhaps certain organizations were stirring up trouble in Su Fang, but in any case, the superpower sects, which had previously been cowering and fearing to act, began to actively unite and resist the Twenty-Eight Constellations. This resulted in considerable losses, and the headquarters' medical room became overcrowded once again.Fortunately, this time both the Southern Palace Team and the Northern Palace Team were mobilized simultaneously, and
With a guilty look, Lihua glanced around, and Kong Xiuwen gave him a stern look before turning and walking away in anger."Did he hear us?" Lihua whispered softly.Tang Aibai shrugged.He definitely heard it, but given Kong Xiuwen's serious demeanor and his usual leniency towards minors, even if he heard, he probably wouldn't say anything. Walking away without a word was probably the extent of his expression of anger."Don't mind him," Tang Aibai said, putting his arm around Lihua's shoulder and leading him towards the cafeteria. His voice was equally subdued, with a hint of nostalgia. "He wasn't like this before. If it weren't for six years ago—"Tang Aibai paused, seeming hesitant about whether to continue. Lihua scratched his ear and sensed the underlying turmoil in Tang Aibai's calm tone, so he didn't press.He didn't ask, but Tang Aibai seemed willing to continue: "Back then, I was still in the Northern Palace team, assisting the
When Kong Xiuwen returned to the lounge, his demeanor remained calm, seemingly unaffected by the covert discussions of his private matters by Lihua and Tang Aibai. He simply walked to the balcony and sat down, taking the Chihuahua doll from the dog bed into his arms.The Chihuahua lazily yawned, gradually awakening, and turned over in Kong Xiuwen's embrace, tilting its head up to look at him groggily. "When did you come back?" it mumbled."Just now," Kong Xiuwen pursed his lips, looking down at Daju in his arms. After a moment of silence, he spoke again, "Daju, do you like living with me?"Daju tilted his head, momentarily bewildered. "Huh?"Kong Xiuwen continued, "I mean, if you'd like to be formally adopted by me."Completely caught off guard by Kong Xiuwen's straightforward proposition, Daju's pupils dilated in shock. He instinctively fluffed his tail in embarrassment, lowered his head to lick his paws, and then remembered to feign ignorance, as
With the concerted opposition from Daju and Lihua, the adoption ceremony was simplified into a gathering of the Twenty-Eight Mansions, even the food was provided by the headquarters canteen. Everyone happily enjoyed a meal, processed the adoption certificate, and then Kong Xiuwen and Daju were officially considered a family."I have a gift for you."On the first night in the new lounge, Jiawawa knocked on Kong Xiuwen's bedroom door, holding a delicately wrapped gift box, looking shyly at Kong Xiuwen.It was a gift he had prepared for several days using Lihua's avatar, which he had finally managed to sneak into the lounge while Kong Xiuwen took Daju out, just to surprise Kong Xiuwen.Kong Xiuwen was indeed surprised.Taking it in his hands, seeing Jiawawa's eyes wide and his dog tail wagging expectantly, he couldn't help but laugh, carefully unwrapping the package and neatly setting aside the wrapping paper before solemnly opening the box.In
Kong Xiuwen is extremely efficient. After Daju agreed to attend classes, he quickly contacted the home tutor to prepare for learning.For safety reasons, these home tutors, even if they are not superhumans, are ordinary people closely connected to the Twenty-Eight Mansions. However, even so, they cannot enter the headquarters without permission and surveillance. Therefore, Kong Xiuwen thought about letting Daju live in his house in Su Fangcheng for the convenience of the tutors to teach.Chihuahua didn't want to leave the headquarters with free cupcakes and an ice cream machine. He persistently pestered Kong Xiuwen until he reluctantly agreed to bring Chihuahua back to the headquarters to rest every day. Only then did Chihuahua happily return, bouncing back to pack his things."Do we need to bring pillows? Oh, I must bring my woven dog bed! And the snack cabinet!"The two rummaged through the rest area, discussing what to bring back to live with.Kong Xiuwen stopped Daju from trying t
With a crisp sound, the partition in the basement of the small western-style building opened, and a stiff wooden puppet crawled out, patting the sticky blood off its feet onto the tiled floor of the first floor.The wooden puppet's carved, pallid eyeballs protruded high, only a small piece of wood connecting them to its face, as if they could fall to the ground in the next moment. Nonetheless, they continued to rotate stubbornly, its gaze shifting from the blackboard to the gloomy corner of the small western-style building where the curtains were drawn.The brush was broken in half, with one half thrown back into the drawer where chalk was stored, and the drawer was slammed shut. The other half was held in the wooden puppet's hand, solemnly adding another stroke to the blackboard.This marked the one thousand two hundred and forty-third year of the Abyssal Sect's presence in the mortal world. It was also the five hundred and thirty-seventh year of its assignment
As Daju leaped into the basement, he immediately calmed down from his embarrassed state and cautiously observed his surroundings with his pupils dilated into straight lines. Although he had been chatting with Kong Xiuwen just now, his professional instincts as a member of the Southern Palace team made him notice the sticky blood stains on the puppet's feet. Combined with the vague footprints on the floor, the source of this blood must be in the basement.Therefore, Daju was fully prepared to see a scene of horrifying violence in the basement, assuming it to be the place where this puppet carried out its tasks. However, he was surprised to find that the basement was much more normal than he had imagined. It was filled with gourd-shaped dolls, mostly dyed in bright red, with some unfinished ones placed in wooden boxes.Two paint buckets were placed in the center, next to a dirty paintbrush. The spilled paint on the floor left several footprints, apparently what they had