Author: hoenimochi (Page 3 of 67)

       At the beginning of July, a large temple fair would be held near a century-old temple in the city, which would last for a week.

       Xi Anling came to find Song Jun, hoping to invite him to the temple fair over the weekend. After some hesitation, Song Jun agreed to Xi Anling’s invitation but also invited Feng Junyuan to join them.

       Song Jun thought of taking this opportunity to visit the temple, offering prayers for Xia Hongshen and burning incense. He hoped that Xia Hongshen would recover soon, as he couldn’t stop worrying about it every day, and his sleep was restless every night.

       They went there in the afternoon that day, planning to stop by the temple fair to have some snacks for dinner.

       After arriving, Xi Anling couldn’t help but wander around. She had to go to almost all the stalls to take a look before she felt satisfied.

       Song Jun stood in front of a small stall, picked up a bell, and jingled it in his hand. Suddenly, he had the idea of giving this bell to Xia Hongshen. Ideally, he thought, he could first take it to the temple and have a master bless it. Then, Xia Hongshen could wear it around his neck. No, wait, it was meant for the little cat to wear…

       “What?” Xi Anling suddenly came over, reached out, snatched the bell from Song Jun’s hand, and said, “The bell.”

       Song Jun then remembered that Xia Hongshen already had a bell. Although he sometimes seemed a little disgusted with it, it was an immortal weapon at least, and it was far inferior to his own.

       Feeling a little frustrated, Song Jun turned around and walked towards other stalls.

       There were too many people at the temple fair. After Song Jun bought fried crepes in front of a small stall, he turned around and found that Xi Anling and Feng Junyuan were gone.

       Song Jun grabbed the crepes and squeezed into the crowd. He had only walked a few steps when he saw a woman blocking him.

       The woman was wearing Hanfu¹Hanfu are the traditional styles of clothing worn by the Han Chinese., and her hair was in a bun. It didn’t look very strange in this kind of temple environment, but she still attracted a lot of attention from the people around her.

       Song Jun was slightly surprised when she stopped him.

       The woman smiled at Song Jun and said, “Little Brother, would you like to have your fortune told?”

       Song Jun was stunned for a moment, thinking it was a scammer from somewhere, but refused immediately, “No need.”

       The woman was not angry. She had a beautiful smile and an elegant posture. This dress suited her perfectly. She said, “I won’t charge you any money. I just want to give you a message. Those born under an inauspicious fate may inadvertently harm themselves by harming others.”

       Song Jun looked at her in shock when he heard this.

       After the woman finished speaking, she smiled gently, turned and left the crowd.

       However, Song Jun looked at her fading figure, feeling bewildered and at a loss for a long time. He thought the woman’s words seemed to be directed at him – born under an inauspicious fate? Harming oneself by harming others? What did it mean? Was she implying that Senior Brother Xia’s injury was a consequence of his involvement?

       “What’s wrong?” Xi Anling suddenly slapped him from behind.

       Song Jun shook his head, saying there was nothing wrong. However, even when Feng Junyuan and the others came to call him into the temple later, he still couldn’t shake off the lingering unease from the woman’s words.

       After returning from the temple fair that night, Song Jun just stepped onto the second floor of the dormitory and found that Xia Hongshen’s door was open.

       “Senior Brother Xia!” Song Jun couldn’t hide his excitement and ran towards Xia Hongshen’s room.

       In the end, it turned out that when he ran over, he found that apart from Xia Hongshen, Long Xing was surprisingly there as well, and immediately felt embarrassed.

       Xia Hongshen sat beside the bed and waved to him.

       Song Jun hurried over and asked, “Is the injury healed?”

       Xia Hongshen raised his trousers slightly and said, “It’s okay.”

       Song Jun squatted at his feet and looked down and saw that the injury on his leg had indeed healed.

       “What happened?” Song Jun couldn’t help asking.

       Long Xing looked at Xia Hongshen.

       Xia Hongshen touched Song Jun’s head and said, “It was eroded by the demonic energy.”

       “Demonic energy?” When Song Jun heard what Xia Hongshen said, he immediately thought of what Xiang Wenxi had mentioned when she came to see him earlier. Unable to contain his fear, he said to Xia Hongshen, “I heard from Xiang Wenxi that the owner of that Demon Market has quite a background. He warned us to be cautious, as he might seek revenge.”

       “Owner of Demon Market, huh,” Xia Hongshen said thoughtfully upon hearing this.

       Long Xing reminded him, “The wound on your leg was bitten by those demonic beasts guarding the Demon Market.”

       Xia Hongshen nodded, “I understand. The owner of the demonic market should indeed be a demonic being. But why would tamed demonic beasts carry demonic energy?”

       When he asked this, Long Xing and Song Jun were even more at a loss as to how to answer.

       Unable to figure things out immediately, Long Xing stood up and took his leave. These days had been challenging for him, and with Yun Po still not returning to the temple, he had taken Xia Hongshen to seek assistance from the abbot. They stayed in the temple for some time until the abbot helped cleanse the demonic energy from Xia Hongshen’s wound.

       Once the demonic energy was dispelled, the wound began to heal on its own. Long Xing hurried back with Xia Hongshen. He had taken several days off, and now he was anxious to return and officially end his leave to resume work.

       With Long Xing gone, only Song Jun and Xia Hongshen remained, and he felt a bit awkward, especially after learning that Xia Hongshen was the little black cat.

       Song Jun said, “You can rest. I’ll go back first.”

       Xia Hongshen suddenly called out, “Chunjun.”

       Song Jun turned to look at him in surprise. Ever since he took him away from the demon market that day, Xia Hongshen had been drowsy due to injuries. Song Jun also firmly believed that he was not Chunjun, so he didn’t ask him about it, but he didn’t expect that Xia Hongshen would take the initiative to mention it now.

       “I’m not Chunjun,” Song Jun shook his head.

       Xia Hongshen asked him calmly, “Why aren’t you?”

       Song Jun was momentarily stunned by the question. He couldn’t quite understand why he was so certain that he wasn’t the one, but a voice in his head kept insisting that he wasn’t. He could only say, “If I were, why am I still just an ordinary student? I haven’t felt any special powers within me, and I don’t have any memories of the past.”

       Upon hearing this, Xia Hongshen simply told him, “You are Chunjun, there’s no need for doubt.”

       Song Jun shook his head. He didn’t know what to say, so he said, “You can rest. I’m going back.”

       It was almost nine o’clock in the evening when Long Xing returned to his rented house. Long Xing lived in a shared apartment. His roommate was not a policeman but a boy who was still in college. He often stayed at home playing games and rarely went out.

       When Long Xing returned, his roommate was already asleep, and the room’s door was tightly shut. Long Xing took a shower, then went back to his own room, closed the door, and spent some time playing on his phone while sitting on the bed.

       Just when he turned off the lights and was about to go to sleep, he suddenly heard a slight movement from next door. The college student seemed to have suddenly opened the door and kept making small noises.

       At first, Long Xing thought he was looking for something to eat and didn’t pay attention. However, the noise lasted for a long time, and Long Xing finally couldn’t help but get up and open the door.

       The room was pitch black, with no lights on in the living room or the bedroom. Only a faint silhouette sitting on the sofa could be vaguely discerned.

       “Ma Yang?” Long Xing called the college student’s name.

       The other party did not respond to him.

       Long Xing walked to the door and fumbled to turn on the ceiling light in the living room. The moment the light enveloped him, he saw the college student sitting on the sofa with blood all over his face.

       At first, Long Xing thought he was injured and hurriedly went to take a look, only to find that his face was covered with red spots. The blood on his face was clearly caused by scratching the skin with his nails. At this time, he was still scratching his chest, raised his head as he looked at Long Xing and said, “It’s so itchy.”

       Long Xing felt his scalp numb and said, “Stop scratching it; it’s already broken!”

       He sent the roommate to a nearby hospital overnight.

       After arriving at the hospital, Long Xing discovered in the emergency department that many people came to the emergency department because of skin problems. First, they developed red spots and rashes, and then due to severe itching, the patients scratched the spots with their hands and started to bleed. It was like some terrible infectious disease, and the cause was unknown for the time being.

       Since that day, there had been reports in the city about a new infectious disease, and the citizens were advised to be cautious of early symptoms, seek medical attention promptly, and avoid crowded places.

       Song Jun saw the news on the TV in the campus cafeteria while having lunch. However, due to the summer vacation, there were not many people on campus, and the news didn’t elicit much reaction. It was only the next day, when Song Jun returned to the appraisal centre, that he found out his senior sister had taken a leave of absence.

       The teacher at the laboratory told Song Jun that the senior sister was infected with a new infectious disease and asked Song Jun to be careful and it would be best to go to the hospital for a check-up.

       Song Jun nodded and said he understood.

       That night, when Song Jun took a shower in the water room, he checked his whole body and found no red spots. But he still felt a little worried. After taking a bath, Song Jun ran to knock on Xia Hongshen’s door and asked him to help him check if there was anything growing on the back of his neck.

       Xia Hongshen checked him carefully and asked him to take off his T-shirt, saying that he wanted to check his back.

       So Song Jun hesitantly took off his T-shirt and stood in front of Xia Hongshen with his back to him to let him see.

       After looking at it, Xia Hongshen said, “There is nothing.”

       Song Jun put the T-shirt back on and, at the same time, heard Xia Hongshen say, “You won’t catch it easily.”

       “Huh?” Song Jun was a little surprised that he said this.

       Xia Hongshen sat in front of the computer desk, one leg propped up, and, in a rare occassion, wearing glasses. He said, “This is not an ordinary infectious disease; it seems like it’s been affected by demonic energy.”

       Song Jun’s eyes widened in disbelief.

       Xia Hongshen supported his chin with one hand and seemed to be thinking about this issue as well. He said, “The spread of demonic energy…how could this happen?”

       Song Jun was even more confused and sat down beside Xia Hongshen’s bed.

       Xia Hongshen seemed to be talking to himself, “It seems to have happened after we went to the Demon Market. I don’t know where it started to spread. Could it be related to the owner of the Demon Market?”

       Song Jun asked softly, “Erosion by demonic energy? What will happen to these people? Will they… die?”

       Xia Hongshen tapped his arm lightly with his left hand, “For now, it hasn’t happened, but if left unchecked, it might lead to demonic transformation.”

       Surprised, Song Jun stood up abruptly. “What kind of joke is this?” he exclaimed. He felt like Xia Hongshen had probably read too many fantasy novels. Even though he had accepted the existence of immortals and supernatural beings in this world, the idea of a city-wide demonic transformation and a bio-hazard sounded too unreal.

       Xia Hongshen seemed to know what he was thinking and said, “Of course, it won’t happen like you are worried about. There is still a balance in the natural order. If this city were completely infected by demonic energy, the celestial being above would abandon the city, burying it along with the demonic energy. After destruction, there is always rebirth. Humans have a powerful ability to propagate, and the heavens show no mercy.”

       Song Jun’s face changed because he felt that what Xia Hongshen said might be the truth.

       Xia Hongshen thought for a moment and asked Song Jun, “Can you still find the wolf demon and the little fox?”

       Song Jun recalled the house that Ling Xiao and the others took back from that old building. Xiang Wenxi once said that it was Ling Xiao’s home.

       “Maybe,” he said uncertainly.

       “I want to meet them. Please come with me,” Xia Hongshen said to Song Jun.

       Song Jun looked at Xia Hongshen’s expression and guessed that he might want to find out the source of the spread of demonic energy. He nodded quickly and said, “Okay.”

       The next evening, Song Jun came out from work at the laboratory and saw the little black cat that was Xia Hongshen sitting in front of the Forensic Medicine building, waiting for him.

       Song Jun walked up to him and asked in silence for a while, “You want to go like this?”

       The little black cat answered him, “Meow~”

       Song Jun picked him up and took a taxi to the school gate.

       The street looked very bleak these days. Because it was close to the hospital, there were slightly more pedestrians coming and going, but they were also in a hurry, and most of them were wearing masks.

       After finally stopping a taxi, the driver repeatedly warned Song Jun not to let his cat scratch the seat and not to urinate indiscriminately.

       Song Jun was a little embarrassed and said, “He won’t.”

       After getting in the car, Song Jun saw the little black cat lying on the car window looking out, so he went over and saw a man suddenly fall to the ground on the side of the road, desperately reaching out to scratch his face, and everyone around him ran away and didn’t dare to get close.

       “Ah—” the driver suddenly sighed and said, “If this continues, I won’t dare to do work tomorrow. I’d better go home and rest for a few days.”

       When Song Jun heard this, he lowered his head to look at the little black cat. The little black cat also raised its head and looked at him.

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       There was no news from Long Xing and Feng Junyuan for a while. After being rejected by Xia Hongshen, Xi Anling refused to come over but would occasionally call Song Jun from time to time to ask how Xia Hongshen was doing.

       In fact, Xia Hongshen’s condition had been very stable; the wound had not worsened, nor had he recovered.

       It was just drowsiness, unexplained drowsiness. Sometimes, he could sleep all day long in Song Jun’s arms. However, when Song Jun asked him to get up and eat, he was not entirely unresponsive. He was only willing to eat cat food, with the addition of Whiskas food pouch.

       Song Jun always felt that Whiskas pouch was not healthy for the injured Xia Hongshen, so he refused to give it to him. He just let him eat some cat food and drink some milk.

       As summer approached, Song Jun’s first year of graduate school came to an end. All his courses would conclude after this semester, and he would be exclusively engaged in lab experiments from the next semester onwards. With this, his schedule would become more flexible. Additionally, his advisor arranged for him to assist at the identification centre in the institute, earning a monthly salary of 1,200 yuan. Hence, he no longer had to take time off to work in a milk tea shop.

       But before that, he still had to deal with the final exam of this semester.

       Two days before the exam, Song Jun went to the classroom to borrow last year’s test papers and spent the afternoon studying in the classroom. Xia Hongshen refused to stay in the dormitory alone and insisted on going out with Song Jun.

       So Song Jun packed him up in a backpack and took him to the classroom.

       Fortunately, Xia Hongshen was not a real cat. He would not run around or meow at inappropriate times.

       Due to various chaotic events recently, Song Jun felt he was falling behind in his studies. Holding photocopies of exam papers, he spent almost two hours in the classroom, flipping through books and studying.

       Xia Hongshen lay down in his backpack at first, then crawled onto Song Jun’s lap and slept on his stomach.

       A girl sitting in the front row of Song Jun passed by his seat and noticed the black cat on his lap. She whispered, “You brought the cat to self-study?”

       Song Jun raised his head and smiled in acquiescence.

       The girl reached out and scratched the little black cat’s head, then returned to her seat and sat down.

       Xia Hongshen raised his paw and scratched the touched area.

       Song Jun then scratched him for a while, then raised his head to look at the girl and suddenly found several red spots on the back of the girl’s neck.

       While the girl was studying, she reached out and scratched the back of her neck.

       After a while, the red spot started to bleed. She covered it with a tissue and didn’t dare to scratch it anymore.

       Song Jun didn’t mind the distractions and spent the entire afternoon studying. Later, he returned to the dormitory, carrying Xia Hongshen with him.

       After two or three days, Long Xing and Feng Junyuan came back.

       They failed to find Yun Po, but they found the abbot master of the temple where Yun Po was located. The master had not left the temple for many years. If they took Xia Hongshen to the temple, the master might be able to try to find out what was going on.

       “Going to the temple?” Song Jun asked.

       Long Xing said, “I don’t know what else to do.”

       Several people were silent for a while.

       Long Xing said to Song Jun, “Why don’t you come with us? I’m really worried about leaving you alone.”

       Hearing what Long Xing said, Song Jun suddenly thought of Ling Xiao and Xiang Wenxi. Perhaps it was because those two people had never hurt him, and Song Jun wasn’t that afraid of them, but it was really not a pleasant thing to be caught and threatened to be sold.

       Song Jun had an exam tomorrow, and within the past two weeks, there would be three or four exams in succession. He had no way to leave, and there was no way he could let Xia Hongshen wait for him with his injury.

       After hesitating, Song Jun said to Long Xing, “You’d better bring Senior Brother Xia for treatment first. I’ll be fine.”

       Long Xing hesitated for a moment and said to Feng Junyuan, “You take Teacher Xia, and I’ll stay and watch Song Jun.”

       But Feng Junyuan said, “It’s better that I stay and you go.”

       Song Jun suddenly felt embarrassed and said, “I’m fine…” but he was only saying it and didn’t seem convincing.

       In the end, it was decided that Feng Junyuan would stay behind. Song Jun would at least have someone to help him if something happened. Long Xing took Xia Hongshen to the temple alone, and Xi Anling also stayed because he had final exams like Song Jun.

       Long Xing took Xia Hongshen away, and it was also time for Song Jun’s final exam. He was reviewing and preparing for the exam every day. In order to concentrate on reading, he simply went to the classroom most of the time.

       There had been no news from Long Xing, and Song Jun felt worried constantly.

       Just like this, the exam week was over, and Song Jun finally completed a few exams safely. He would not have to return to the classroom for the next two years.

       Many people plan to stay on the campus this summer, including Bu Hui, who was about to finish his hospital internship.

       Zhou Yingchun called Song Jun and asked him to go to the appraisal centre to help at the beginning of the summer vacation. He would have weekends off, and he would be paid at a rate of fifty yuan per day.

       Song Jun thanked Zhou Yingchun repeatedly.

       Before the exams, Song Jun had already informed the boss at the milk tea shop that once he finished the exam, he would no longer be working there. The boss was very nice and said there would be no problem at all.

       The night after Song Jun finished his exam, he went to the milk tea shop to help out for the last time.

       At around eight o’clock in the evening, he saw Xiang Wenxi, with yellow hair, walking in from outside.

       Song Jun suddenly felt nervous and subconsciously wondered if he should give Feng Junyuan a call.

       In the end, Xiang Wenxi sat in front of the counter and ordered a cup of milk tea.

       Song Jun brewed him milk tea and couldn’t help but ask, “Is Ling Xiao okay?”

       Xiang Wenxi propped up his face with both hands, looked at him and said, “Fine, he’s not dead.”

       Song Jun finished brewing the milk tea and asked, “Would you like to drink it now?”

       Xiang Wenxi nodded.

       So Song Jun helped him insert the straw and handed it to him.

       Xiang Wenxi took it, took two sips, and then said, “Ling Xiao isn’t dead, so I won’t bother with you guys.”

       Song Jun subconsciously retorted, “It was you who stole our things first. We should be the ones settling the score with you, shouldn’t we?”

       Xiang Wenxi glared at him.

       Song Jun lowered his head and wiped the counter hard with a rag.

       Xiang Wenxi said, “You killed my brother, and I wasn’t even planning to settle the score with you! Are we really going to be able to settle this?”

       In his heart, Song Jun was complaining that it was his brother who had evil intentions first, and that was why Senior Brother Xia killed him, no? But there was no point in arguing with Xiang Wenxi. After all, Xiang Wenshi had lost his life. It was normal for his brother to want revenge, so Song Jun fell silent.

       Xiang Wenxi continued, “But you have offended someone, and I am afraid that person will not let you go easily.”

       Song Jun heard this and looked up at him in surprise.

       Xiang Wenxi said, “Don’t you remember what happened that day when Demon Zhen made a big fuss in the Demon Market? I heard that the owner of the Demon Market has a very powerful background. I’m afraid he won’t let it go so easily.”

       Song Jun said, “What happened that day was obviously caused by you.”

       Xiang Wenxi’s expression immediately turned somewhat subtle. He was silent for a moment and said, “I took Ling Xiao for treatment, but many places were reluctant to accept him. I think someone might have spread the word behind the scenes.”

       Song Jun stopped wiping the counter and asked Xiang Wenxi, “Who is the owner of the Demon Market?”

       Xiang Wenxi shook his head and said, “I don’t know either. Anyway, just take care of yourself.” After that, he added, “If you are really Chunjun.”

       After that, Xiang Wenxi took the milk tea and left. After he left, Song Jun realised that he hadn’t paid at all, and he had to compensate for the money for his cup of milk tea himself.

       However, after seeing Xiang Wenxi, Song Jun could breathe a sigh of relief. At least Xiang Wenxi and Ling Xiao had no intention of kidnapping and selling him again. According to Xiang Wenxi, they might be somewhat preoccupied at the moment.

       He didn’t know who the owner of the Demon Market was, and he didn’t know what caused the injury on Xia Hongshen’s leg.

       These things were too complicated for Song Jun. He probably couldn’t figure them out clearly based on his own imagination.

       Xia Hongshen had not yet returned. Long Xing called, assuring them that they could relax as they had found a way to heal Xia Hongshen’s injuries.

       When he heard what Long Xing said, Song Jun breathed a sigh of relief.

       At the beginning of the summer vacation, he officially went to the appraisal centre to help. His job was very simple. He was responsible for receiving guests who came for appraisals and collecting blood from the persons being appraised.

       Song Jun had just started to work in this field, so it was inevitable that he would not be familiar with it. Fortunately, he had a senior sister with him who could teach him step by step.

       Their testing centre received the most customers who came for paternity testing. Generally speaking, the senior sister was responsible for reception, and Song Jun was responsible for collecting blood.

       However, it was only his second day at work. When he was collecting blood from a guest, he rolled up his sleeves and saw red sores all over the guest’s arms.

       Even though he was wearing gloves, Song Jun was still startled and subconsciously wanted to retract his hand.

       The customer also felt a little embarrassed and said, “I don’t know what I’m allergic to recently; every time I scratch, my hands end up covered in wounds.”

       Song Jun calmed down and said, “The allergy is so serious, it’s better to go to the hospital.”

       After that, there wasn’t much said. When the guests left, Song Jun returned to the computer, and his senior sister sat nearby, continuing to surf the internet.

       After a while, Song Jun noticed that the senior sister was scratching her own face. He turned around and took a look and saw many red pimples on the senior sister’s face.

       Song Jun stopped her and told her to stop scratching.

       The senior sister was stunned for a moment, ran to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. When she came back, she said, “It seems like an allergy. I don’t know what’s causing it. I’ll go buy some antiallergic medicine later.”

       Song Jun nodded and then felt something was wrong. He suddenly began to worry about whether it was an infectious disease, so he said to his senior sister, “Go to the hospital early after work. Be careful; it might be contagious. I just noticed that the arms of that customer were covered in red sores too.”

       When the senior sister heard this, she made a disgusted expression and said, “Then I’ll go to the hospital to have a look.”

       Thinking of this, Song Jun couldn’t help but go to the bathroom and wash his hands again.

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       Song Jun didn’t know when he fell asleep, or it would be more appropriate to say when he had fainted.

       It was still dark when he woke up. It was Long Xing who pushed him awake. He opened his eyes in confusion and couldn’t remember where he was for a while.

       Long Xing said to him, “Get up quickly. People will come to the park to exercise at dawn. You will be taken as perverts.”

       Song Jun suddenly came to his senses and found that Xia Hongshen was still lying on top of him, having returned to her human appearance.

       “Xia…Senior Brother Xia?” Song Jun still hasn’t recovered from yesterday’s shock.

       Long Xing knelt down beside Xia Hongshen and Song Jun and also reached out to push Xia Hongshen, “Teacher Xia?”

       Xia Hongshen slowly opened his eyes and took a look at him, then yawned tiredly and was about to close his eyes and continue sleeping.

       Song Jun came to his senses at this time and pushed Xia Hongshen hard together with Long Xing, “Don’t sleep! Get up quickly!”

       Xia Hongshen finally opened his eyes and sat up from Song Jun.

       Both he and Song Jun still had bloodstains on them. Somehow, Song Jun recalled the events of last night and felt that Xia Hongshen was somewhat frightening. Just a glance from Xia Hongshen made him quickly turn his head away.

       But Long Xing reached out and touched Xia Hongshen’s leg and asked, “Are you injured?”

       Xia Hongshen rolled up his trousers and saw that there were indeed deep bite marks on his calf. Although it was no longer bleeding, the wound was still visible. His own physical recovery ability was very strong, so he didn’t care and said, “Ignore it.”

       They left the park before dawn, and Long Xing drove Xia Hongshen and Song Jun back to the campus.

       In addition to being a little scared about what happened last night, Song Jun also thought that he knew too many incredible things at once and had complicated emotions. He found it challenging to easily distinguish what was true and what was false. Now, he struggled with how to face these things.

       The next day, Song Jun forced himself to gather his spirits. He attended classes and went to the lab as needed. Just after returning to the dormitory in the afternoon, Song Jun received a call from Bu Hui, asking him to have dinner with Xia Hongshen in the evening. Bu Hui also mentioned for Song Jun to inform Xia Hongshen after returning to the dormitory.

       Song Jun hesitated and asked, “Is Senior Brother Xia in the dormitory?”

       Bu Hui said, “He was there until I went out in the afternoon.”

       After hanging up the phone, Song Jun stood at the door of Xia Hongshen’s room and knocked on the door. After knocking for a while, there was no response. Just when he was about to call Bu Hui back and let Bu Hui call Xia Hongshen, the door opened.

       Xia Hongshen stood at the door, wearing a pair of trousers and an open white shirt, revealing his strong and smooth chest.

       Song Jun suddenly blushed.

       When Xia Hongshen saw Song Jun, he reached out and hugged him and then immediately went back to the room and lay down on his single bed.

       Song Jun was stunned for a moment, then walked in and saw Xia Hongshen lying on the bed holding the quilt, looking very sleepy. This was the first time Song Jun has seen Xia Hongshen like this.

       He hesitated for a while and finally walked to the edge of the bed, sat down, and called out ‘Senior Brother Xia’.

       Xia Hongshen didn’t respond at first, but after a moment, he said ‘hmm’ softly.

       Song Jun came closer and asked, “Are you sick?”

       Xia Hongshen suddenly opened his eyes and looked at him.

       Song Jun was startled, afraid that Xia Hongshen would suddenly jump up and bite him, so he couldn’t help but retreat.

       But Xia Hongshen just glanced at him, then closed his eyes and said, “No.”

       Song Jun’s rapid heartbeat gradually calmed down. Seeing Xia Hongshen completely wrapped in the blanket, with messy hair and an overall dispirited appearance, Song Jun couldn’t help but feel a twinge of heartache.

       It was true that he was a little afraid of Xia Hongshen now, but he also liked Xia Hongshen, and he knew it better than anyone else.

       Son Jun couldn’t help but reach out and touch Xia Hongshen’s hair. He found that it was unexpectedly soft.

       Xia Hongshen seemed to find it comforting. He moved his head slightly and rubbed against Song Jun’s palm.

       Seeing that Xia Hongshen found comfort, Song Jun gently stroked Xia Hongshen’s head, thinking that perhaps most furry animals enjoyed being petted like this.

       After a while, Song Jun heard someone knocking on the door outside. He quickly retracted his hand and blushed. He hurriedly ran to open the door and saw that the people who appeared outside the door turned out to be Long Xing and Feng Junyuan.

       Long Xing didn’t seem surprised to see Song Jun, he turned around and pulled Feng Junyuan in.

       Feng Junyuan looked unhappy.

       Long Xing pulled him to the bedside, squatted down and rolled up Xia Hongshen’s trouser legs to show Feng Junyuan.

       Only then did Song Jun realise that the injury on Xia Hongshen’s leg showed no signs of healing at all.

       Feng Junyuan glanced sideways and said, “What’s the use of calling me here? I’m not a veterinarian.”

       Long Xing said to him, “You should take a look first before talking. I think this wound may not be that simple.”

       Song Jun also quickly came closer to take a look and said worriedly, “What’s going on?”

       When Feng Junyuan saw Long Xing and Song Jun looking at him eagerly, he had no choice but to sit down by the bed, look carefully at the wound on Xia Hongshen’s leg, and even stretch out his hand to pinch it.

       Xia Hongshen woke up, raised hia head to look at them, and said, “What?”

       Feng Junyuan frowned. The person lying down was not an ordinary person, so it was meaningless to judge the progress of ordinary people’s wound healing. However, the wound on Xia Hongshen’s leg seemed to contain something that made people feel uncomfortable, and he couldn’t say what it was.

       Song Jun asked Feng Junyuan, “Do you need iodine?”

       Feng Junyuan rolled his eyes at him, “No need.”

       At this time, Song Jun’s cell phone rang. It was Bu Hui, asking if he had spoken to Xia Hongshen yet.

       Seeing Xia Hongshen’s condition, Song Jun felt that he might not be able to go to dinner, but he still leaned closer and asked softly, “Senior Brother Xia, Senior Brother didn’t invite you to dinner. Do you want to go?”

       Xia Hongshen opened his eyes and said, “I don’t want to go.”

       Song Jun quickly said to Bu Hui, “Senior Brother Bu, Senior Brother Xia seems to be sick and can’t go, and I won’t go either. Let’s try another day.”

       “Is that so?” Bu Hui said, “Then I will bring you some food in the evening.”

       Song Jun responded, “Thank you, Senior Brother Bu.”

       After hanging up the phone, Song Jun turned back to look at Xia Hongshen on the bed and was shocked to find that he was gone. Only a small black cat was left on the bed. Song Jun recognised this cat; it was the one that often came into his room to scavenge for food.

       Song Jun’s eyes widened, and he pointed at the cat on the bed.

       There was a strange silence in the room, and Long Xing said, “Ah, no, he seems to have changed back to its original form.”

       Change back to his original from? Shouldn’t it be the big scary monster from last night? Why a little black cat? And this little black cat was Xia Hongshen’s other form? So the cat that had been eating in his dormitory was actually Xia Hongshen?

       Song Jun felt that he couldn’t accept it for a while, and he said, “I’m going to wash my face…”

       He came to the water room and flushed his face with cold water. Song Jun felt calmer. Xia Hongshen first said he was a deity, and he accepted it. Later, he found out that he was a monster, and he reluctantly accepted it. Now, he was just a little black cat. Why couldn’t he accept it?

       When he went back to the room, Song Jun heard Long Xing telling Feng Junyuan that he was going to see Yun Po.

       Seeing Song Jun come back, Long Xing said, “Just in time, you can take care of Teacher Xia for the next few days. I will go find Master Yun Po and ask him to find out what happened to Teacher Xia’s injury.”

       Song Jun actually didn’t want Long Xing to leave. Perhaps because Long Xing was a policeman, Song Jun always felt that Long Xing was very reliable. He said, “I remember Senior Brother Xia has Master Yun Po’s phone number.”

       Long Xing said, “I can’t get through it. I’ll go to the temple to look for it first, hoping to find Master Yun Po.”

       Then, Long Xing looked in the direction of Feng Junyuan.

       Feng Junyuan seemed a little helpless and said, “I’ll go with you to find Yun Po.”

       Long Xing smiled.

       Xia Hongshen was handed over to Song Jun. Before leaving, Long Xing told Song Jun that if anything happened, he could contact him or ask Xi Anling for help.

       Song Jun nodded, turned back to look at the little black cat, and reached out to scratch his hair.

       The little black cat was still sleeping, looking very sweet.

       Later, Bu Hui brought them dinner. Song Jun simply told Bu Hui that Xia Hongshen was seriously ill and his family came to take him back.

       “Family members?” Bu Hui was a little surprised, “From so far away?”

       Song Jun didn’t know where Xia Hongshen told Bu Hui that his home was, so he could only smile and perfunctorily pass by.

       After receiving the dinner brought back by Bu Hui, Song Jun sat in Xia Hongshen’s room to eat. From time to time, he looked back at Xia Hongshen and always felt that it was very strange to associate this kitten with Senior Brother Xia.

       Before dinner was finished, Xi Anling came over. She even brought two boxes of milk, saying they were for Xia Hongshen.

       Xi Anling seemed neither surprised nor nervous about Xia Hongshen’s state but rather happy.

       Song Jun returned to his room and found the small bowl used by the little black cat. Xi Anling poured the milk into it and insisted on feeding it to Xia Hongshen.

       The little black cat was sleeping, but after it woke it up, she held it in her arms and put the small bowl in front of it. The little black cat stuck out its tongue and licked it twice, then refused to drink. It struggled to leave Xi Anling’s arms and crawled towards Song Jun.

       Xi Anling reached out to grab its tail, but the little black cat turned its head and tried to bite her, so Xi Anling quickly let go.

       The little black cat crawled into Song Jun’s arms, put its head on his arm and fell asleep again.

       Xi Anling was a little shocked and told Song Jun that she would come and visit when she had time, and then left.

       Song Jun gently rubbed the top of the little black cat’s head, stretched out his hand to pinch its hind legs and looked over. When he saw that the wound was still visible, he couldn’t help but feel heartache. He hugged it and kissed the top of its head.

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The author has something to say:
Sorry, I originally planned to post it by midnight, but it’s an hour late. Let’s make up for it with an extra chapter today if there’s a chance.

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