Chapter 21 Green Chirp-Chirp Gui Banjing

　　Those introductory books made Wei Yin’s head hurt. In the end, he simply went “wooden” again and pretended his foolishness had relapsed.
　　Seeing Wei Yin like this, Luo Mengmeng really did misunderstand. She sighed, gently coaxed Wei Yin over to the recliner by the floor-to-ceiling window, and had him sit down while she began tidying the books scattered across the rug.
　　Wei Yin sat in the chair, looking melancholy as he stared at the scenery outside. Taowu lay at his feet. The big cat did not notice the shift in Wei Yin’s mood at all. Instead, it enthusiastically watched Shangyang, who was “asleep” in Wei Yin’s arms. Every so often it stretched out a paw as though wanting to touch Shangyang, then seemed to get embarrassed and pulled back. Coy and bashful, it was a giant cat with the soul of a burly man and the heart of a maiden.
　　Wei Yin: “I think we’ve gone down the wrong path.”
　　Shangyang: “What wrong path?”
　　Wei Yin: “The An family’s notes—even their introductory material is probably ‘An-family-level,’ right?”
　　Shangyang: “Being stupid isn’t your fault, but being stupid and refusing to admit it is a problem.”
　　Wei Yin: “…I’m serious.”
　　Shangyang: “Oh. Fine. What were you saying? Right, the An family. There’s no helping it. They still haven’t figured out your situation. You have two choices: jump out and honestly tell them you’re not stupid, or secretly enroll in online courses on the Star Network. Honestly, with Major General Sain’s attitude toward you now, even if you told him the truth, I don’t think he’d kill you.”
　　Wei Yin was silent for two seconds before saying, “I’ll secretly study on my own.”
　　If he really told Major General Sain the truth, Wei Yin had a premonition—the relationship between him and Major General Sain would probably end there.
　　Wei Yin could not explain what that premonition was based on. Perhaps it came only from fear—he was afraid that once Major General Sain knew the truth, he would no longer treat Wei Yin as a “descendant of the An family.” All that gentleness and indulgence would vanish like bubbles.
　　That feeling…
　　Wei Yin was suddenly enlightened as if struck by a thunderbolt. “Holy shit! Yangyang, I’m in love with him!”
　　Shangyang: “I know. You want to sleep with him too.”
　　Wei Yin: “I’m serious!”
　　Shangyang: “So am I.”
　　Wei Yin: “…” Fine. He really did want to sleep with the Major General.
　　Shangyang was obviously uninterested in its host’s idiotic love life. It pulled the conversation back on track. “If you want to study secretly on your own, there’s one hidden danger we urgently need to deal with.”
　　Wei Yin thought about it. “Kalida?”
　　Shangyang: “Exactly. First, there’s something wrong with your medicine. We already discussed that. If Kalida acted on her own, then she definitely won’t let you go. Second, I think this new deployment order for Major General Sain is connected to Kalida too, not just the Cabinet and Parliament reshuffle.”
　　Wei Yin: “How so?”
　　Shangyang: “By marrying you, Major General Sain indirectly compromised with the alliance between the Hera family and several others. On top of that, the medicine Major General Sain currently depends on is controlled by Mike. Without absolute certainty, Major General Sain won’t make a reckless move. Mike obviously understands that balance too. He isn’t stupid enough to keep pushing his luck and repeatedly provoke Major General Sain. So this deployment decision is very likely because Kalida leaked information about you to Mike.”
　　Wei Yin was startled. “Didn’t Charlie have her under surveillance?” The Major General had even hinted that eliminating her was an option.
　　Shangyang: “Kalida doesn’t need to explain everything clearly. She only needs to make Mike suspicious. Mike needs to guarantee that Major General Sain’s ‘medicine’ remains under his control alone, so he absolutely does not want to see you recover. The moment he becomes suspicious, he’ll act.”
　　Wei Yin suddenly felt the future turn pitch-black. “So they want the Major General to leave, then make a move against me?”
　　Shangyang: “Yes. Mike may control Major General Sain’s ‘medicine,’ but he is clearly still afraid of Major General Sain. That’s why he needs to lure the tiger away from the mountain—of course, everything above could also just be my judgment being wrong.”
　　That was one terrifying possible mistake.
　　Wei Yin frowned and thought for a while. “Just in case, we need to eliminate this hidden danger before Major General Sain leaves.”
　　Shangyang laughed. “Hehe. I have an idea. Want to hear it?”
　　Wei Yin: “…” Honestly, not really.
　　Shangyang: “Stage an accident and frame her!”
　　Wei Yin: “…” What?
　　※
　　Wei Yin stayed in the study for a little over an hour before Charlie knocked on the door and came to relieve Luo Mengmeng.
　　Charlie did not take Wei Yin back to Major General Sain. Instead, he led Wei Yin out from the study corridor into the garden and strolled around the grounds with him.
　　Wei Yin had only just realized that his feelings for Major General Sain went beyond “a fan wanting to fuck his idol,” so now that he could not see Major General Sain, he inevitably felt a little disappointed.
　　But there were only Charlie and Wei Yin in the garden right now, which made this the perfect time to carry out the plan.
　　Wei Yin followed Charlie for a while, then suddenly stopped in place. He stuck out his lower lip, looking unhappy.
　　Wei Yin had now been promoted to treasured darling of the Sain estate. How could Charlie possibly bear seeing him unhappy?
　　Charlie smiled kindly and coaxed him like a child. “Madam, shall I take you to the plantation to play? There are lots of recreational facilities there, and many little beastfolk too.”
　　Wei Yin still pouted. He shook his head and mumbled, “Lanser.”
　　Charlie understood. Madam was unhappy because the Major General was not accompanying him. Charlie, however, was delighted—judging from the way Madam and the Major General got along now, even after Madam recovered his mind, surely the two of them could still progress smoothly.
　　Charlie smiled even more kindly. “The Major General still has things to do. How about this—tell me what Madam wants to play with, all right?”
　　Wei Yin looked at him, thought for a moment, then pointed toward the foot of the mountain.
　　Charlie froze and looked troubled. He tried to persuade him. “Madam, you can’t go down the mountain. Shall we choose somewhere else?”
　　The moment Wei Yin heard Charlie refuse, his pout became even more dramatic. Tears glittered in his eyes as he called aggrievedly, “Lanser.”
　　He was calling for his parent.
　　Charlie’s heart nearly broke. With absolutely no principles left, he immediately changed his answer. “Madam, don’t cry. I’ll go get the car right now. We’ll drive down the mountain to play. No crying, all right?”
　　Wei Yin’s tears stopped instantly. He nodded obediently. “Mm~”
　　Seeing the tears disappear, Charlie also breathed a sigh of relief and had someone send a small transport vehicle to stop outside the garden.
　　The vehicle arrived quickly and was thoroughly prepared—a picnic basket sat inside, filled entirely with snacks for Wei Yin.
　　After they got in, Wei Yin and Taowu sat in the back while Charlie controlled the vehicle from the front. Charlie drove slowly the whole way and explained the layout of the estate to Wei Yin as they went.
　　The Sain estate occupied almost an entire mountain. Quite a few people lived there, all descendants of those who had remained after the Battle of Ten Thousand Beasts. There were no especially strict noble ranks or rules here. On the contrary, the place was more like one large family, because that was how Earl An had once taught them to live.
　　Besides the plantation and orchards, the estate also had farmland and livestock areas. It could easily be completely self-sufficient.
　　But after looking around, Wei Yin noticed another problem—the estate was harmonious internally, but had almost no interaction with the world outside. It truly was an isolated paradise.
　　He simply did not know whether this was the Sain family voluntarily “keeping a low profile,” or whether someone else had deliberately isolated them.
　　The vehicle soon reached the foot of the mountain. Charlie had obviously made preparations too. Their current location was on the exact opposite side from Kalida’s residence. There were no houses nearby, only a grassy slope outside a small wooded area.
　　The grassland sat slightly higher than the surrounding ground, just high enough to see over the wall at the foot of the mountain toward Ansenst City in the distance—or more accurately, New Ansenst City. This “outskirts” area around the Sain estate had once been the city’s most prosperous central district.
　　Charlie spread out the picnic blanket. When he turned around, he saw Wei Yin staring blankly at the distant cityscape, so he coaxed him in advance. “Madam, you can’t go outside to play.”
　　Wei Yin was surprisingly obedient. He nodded and even gave Charlie a smile.
　　Charlie’s heart immediately melted under that smile. He sat down with Wei Yin on the picnic blanket and proceeded to feed him a sample of every snack.
　　Wei Yin greatly appreciated the Sain family tradition of expressing affection through feeding people.
　　Wei Yin’s mouth never stopped eating, but he did not neglect what needed to be done—Shangyang had been monitoring Kalida’s movements all along. That was also how Wei Yin knew they were on the opposite side from Kalida’s residence.
　　Shangyang: “She really did sense that you came down the mountain. She’s already entered the little woods behind us. But the Founder’s Personal Guard is posted outside, so she won’t come too close or they’ll discover her.”
　　Listening to Shangyang, Wei Yin swallowed the snack in his mouth. “Distance isn’t a problem. Guide Yang, your turn.”
　　Shangyang: “??”
　　Wei Yin picked Shangyang up from his arms, swung his arm backward, and tossed it away while calling happily, “Yangyang fly~”
　　Shangyang: “!!” This wasn’t in the script, you bastard!
　　Charlie: “!!” Madam, that’s a spirit form!
　　Wei Yin had actually thrown with considerable force. The little hill they sat on was a raised mound, sloping down both in front and behind. Wei Yin knew perfectly well that with Shangyang’s decorative little wings and bean-like short claws, there was no point expecting it to fly or run. The most efficient method was—rolling.
　　And Shangyang rolled. It turned into a furry ball and rolled smoothly down the grassy slope straight into the little woods.
　　Charlie and Taowu were both terrified. Charlie did not dare leave Wei Yin’s side, so only Taowu leapt up and chased after Shangyang. Charlie opened his terminal to call for backup.
　　Amid the sudden chaos, Wei Yin silently counted ten seconds—time.
　　“Ah!” The calm Wei Yin suddenly gave a terrified shriek, tears pouring down. “Yangyang come back! Kalida, Kalida!”
　　The moment Charlie heard that, he understood the situation—they had been discovered.
　　He had no time to determine whether Wei Yin had sensed Kalida’s presence, or whether Kalida had discovered or even harmed Shangyang. But he could not gamble on the possibility of “what if.” Charlie immediately ordered through his terminal, “Seize Kalida.”
　　At the same time, Taowu returned carrying Shangyang on its back. Shangyang put on the appearance of being unconscious, and Taowu anxiously placed it into Wei Yin’s arms.
　　Wei Yin hugged Shangyang and cried out Major General Sain’s name through his tears. “Lanser, want Lanser…”
　　Shangyang, held in his arms, said darkly, “I’m remembering this.”
　　Wei Yin’s sobbing caught in his throat and turned into a hiccup.
　　Wei Yin: “…Guide Yang, the plot required it.”
　　Shangyang: “Heh.”
　　Author’s Note:
　　————————
　　[Setting]
　　Spirit forms and their hosts.
　　1: The lower the rank, the more similar the spirit form is to its host. The higher the rank, the more relatively independent the spirit form becomes from its host.
　　2: Spirit forms and hosts share a consciousness cloud and synchronize mental states. They do not instantly share everything they see and hear.
　　3: Through physical contact or recalling the spirit form, the host can learn what the spirit form has seen and heard.