Chapter 51: I’ll be good next time [End]

Jing walked in with a lot of fruits. As a father, he didn’t know when Jiujiu was born. For their tribe, the birth of every child was worth celebrating.

So, he could only consider the day Jiujiu came to him as his birth date.

When Jiujiu arrived, a certain flower in the tribe had just bloomed. Today, when Jing took the beastmen out hunting, that same flower had just opened its first bud.

Upon hearing the chief’s plan, the beastmen all expressed their approval. When hunting, they would bring back any ripe fruits they saw.

Jiujiu sat there, pointing and gesturing to his father, asking him to stick all the fruits onto his quills. He was so happy that he couldn’t help but wiggle his back.

Jing was indeed the most outstanding beastman in the tribe. Before Jiujiu appeared, some beastmen had discussed behind his back what an excellent companion the chief would eventually have.

But when the Beast God’s Messenger called the chief “father,” that thought was suppressed by everyone.

Jiujiu stayed there, accompanying his father as he slowly aged. Later, his father’s movements when sticking fruits onto his quills became a little shaky.

But after he was full, the way he rubbed his little belly was as gentle as when he was young.

Jiujiu accompanied his father, watching all the beastmen tribes on the continent gradually move towards a more hopeful direction, already showing signs of future prosperity.

“Jiujiu, if… I’m gone, what will you do?”

Jing wasn’t worried that no one would take care of him. Even if he wasn’t there, Jiujiu, as the Beast God’s Messenger, would still be well taken care of. What he worried about was that those people wouldn’t understand this little hedgehog’s bad temper.

The fruits had to be stuck in the same direction, and his precious quills had to be wiped every day.

Jing revered the Beast God, but beyond that reverence, he found that the people in their tribe were now developing in a completely opposite direction.

The wisdom and abilities of the beastmen were becoming more and more outstanding. They no longer believed in the Beast God, but felt that everything they had was obtained by themselves.

If this continued, in a few more winters, they would probably start to find this little hedgehog troublesome and high-maintenance.

“I’ll go with father, and then we’ll go see the Beast God together.”

“Okay, we’ll go together.”

After this world ended, Jiujiu really took his father to see the Beast God. The benevolent female deity sat on a high throne in a pure white dress, smiling and waving to Jiujiu when she saw him approach.

“Thank you.”

“No need to thank me.”

Jiujiu forgot to pull his father halfway and came to play by himself first.

According to Star lord, this was Daddy’s last trial. Daddy, with his memories restored, would surely know that he was running home, so Jiujiu sat down with peace of mind.

“Beast God, do you know? They don’t seem to want to believe in you anymore.”

Jiujiu noticed that the light on the Beast God was much dimmer when he arrived. He flew to the Beast God’s throne and sat down. The Beast God held a ripe fruit, peeled it, and offered it to Jiujiu’s mouth.

“If my people are strong enough not to need to believe in me anymore, then I should be gratified.”

The Beast God gently stroked Jiujiu, who had turned into a little fat bird. With fruit to eat, Jiujiu planned to stay for a while, but before he could even warm his seat, he heard footsteps approaching.

“Aren’t you coming home with me?”

“Daddy?”

Jiujiu, sitting there, instinctively stood up. When he saw the familiar man in black robes embroidered with golden cloud patterns appear, he took another bite of fruit and quickly flapped his wings to fly over.

“Daddy, Jiujiu missed you so much.”

Shen Yijing’s gaze swept over this little fat bird who had come to nuzzle him. From his actions, one could clearly see an attempt to please. He let out a low, ambiguous “hmm.”

He let Jiujiu stand firmly on his shoulder and slowly walked towards the Beast God.

A god who loses believers will fall into a deep sleep, most likely never to wake up. Seeing that she had taken care of Jiujiu, Shen Yijing placed a jade pendant on the table.

Without saying much, he took Jiujiu back to Heavenly Realm. He could feel Jiujiu restlessly running around the whole way, his claws stepping for a while then moving to another spot. An uninformed person would have thought he was performing some mysterious ritual.

Shen Yijing was the Emperor who governed all realms, and that Beast God was just one of the gods in a realm, and they didn’t have much interaction. Saving her life was already for Jiujiu’s sake.

This tribulation, rather than Shen Yijing truly needing to temper his mind, was more about him wanting to try what he would become in desperate situations.

It was just a pity that the well-laid plan was completely disrupted by this little phoenix on his shoulder.

“Daddy, why are you looking at Jiujiu? Do you miss Jiujiu?”

The little fat bird flew over to Daddy’s face, gently rubbing his head against Daddy’s cheek. When Daddy had lost his memory before, he even dared to make a nest on Daddy’s head, but now he couldn’t.

Daddy, with his memories restored, was not to be trifled with. He would really hit his cub.

“I’m thinking about how to punish a disobedient little bird this time.”

“Which one? I’ll help Daddy!”

Jiujiu flapped his wings against his chest, then cautiously glanced at Daddy, hoping Daddy would forgive him this time, seeing how truly well-behaved he seemed.

“Jiujiu wants to help with copying books too?”

“No, no, no.”

When star lord received the news of the Emperor’s return, he was so scared that he threw the things in his hand aside. After pacing anxiously for a few rounds, he decided to leave it to fate.

The Emperor had told him a long time ago not to spoil Jiujiu too much, as it could lead to Jiujiu becoming arrogant and even more ignorant of the world.

But Star lord always remembered Jiujiu’s clan, the phoenixes who had given up their chance at nirvana for the sake of all living beings, and now only a cub whose feathers hadn’t even fully grown was left.

After much thought, he decided that if the Emperor were to blame him, he could only accept the punishment. It was indeed his fault first.

“There’s no need to say more about this matter. This Emperor understands.”

Star lord saw Jiujiu secretly running down to join him. It would be a rare thing if he didn’t help, especially since Jiujiu liked to peck people.

“Emperor, the little highness was eager to help you and had no ill intentions.”

He heard from the Emperor’s words that he would no longer pursue the matter, but Star lord was still a little uneasy, fearing that the Emperor would punish the little highness. When the little highness caused trouble before, he had to copy books until his claws and wings cramped.

Lying there feeling wronged, even when he had to be fed, he was quite pitiful.

“This Emperor knows.”

Jiujiu kept nodding in agreement while Star lord was speaking.

Yes, yes, he had no ill intentions at all. Those people were truly excessive, only knowing how to bully his Daddy. If it happened again, Jiujiu, with experience, would want to peck their heads bald.

After Star lord left, Shen Yijing sat there, opening a scroll to see what had happened after he left. When Jiujiu stood on the table trying to be a nuisance, he casually put the scroll aside and said:

“I seem to have not yet settled the score with you for secretly following me to the lower realm.”

“Huh?”

Jiujiu instinctively looked up at Daddy. He didn’t expect that even now, Daddy would still be thinking about this matter.

“Daddy?”

“I went to the lower realm to temper my mind, and you completely messed it up, rendering it useless.”

Shen Yijing calmly stated this fact. His cub was not wrong in other matters, but this one gave him a headache. It was like wasting so much time for nothing.

“Jiujiu helped too…”

The little fat bird sat there muttering softly. He clearly helped Daddy diligently in every world to ward off unwanted admirers.

“I have cultivated for tens of thousands of years, how could I be entangled in worldly affections?”

Shen Yijing was naturally suited to cultivate the path of heartlessness. He regarded his cultivation as the most important thing. With Jiujiu by his side, love was already an emotion he had discarded.

“Considering this is your first offense, I’ll let you off this time.”

“Alright.”

Although he wasn’t punished, the little fat bird still grumbled, somewhat unconvinced. Shen Yijing watched his beak open and close without making any sound and couldn’t help but laugh.

“If you want to scold, just say it out loud.”

Jiujiu snorted lightly, awkwardly turning his head to the other side.

“If I scold out loud, I’ll be punished with copying books.”

He was just a little bird, not a stupid bird.

“Never mind, help me grind the ink.”

“Oh.”

Shen Yijing had been in the lower realm for so long, there were many things waiting for him to handle. He was busy for a long time, and also took out many treasures to coax the angry little Jiujiu.

After an unknown period, Shen Yijing went to find Star lord, asking him to help take care of Jiujiu, as he planned to go to the lower realm again.

The counterattack, initiated by Jiujiu’s intervention, was not considered a success in Shen Yijing’s eyes. He wanted to try whether he could maintain his rationality and calmness when immersed in a situation after all his memories were erased.

Furthermore, the original bodies he chose for himself in those worlds mostly had difficult lives.

As a father, Shen Yijing couldn’t bear to see Jiujiu, when following him, not even being able to afford a single steamed bun.

Shen Yijing didn’t feel much about his own trial being disrupted; his main concern was that Jiujiu would suffer hardships.

“Emperor, aren’t you going to tell the little highness?”

“If I told him, he would probably make a fuss about coming with me again. Before I left, I fed him a lot, and he’s full and sleeping now.”

Star lord understood the Emperor’s meaning, which was to sneak away while the little highness was asleep. He bowed slightly.

“I will definitely take good care of the little highness for you, Emperor.”

Behind a huge pillar, a little fat bird was hiding there, listening intently.

Shen Yijing chose a suitable realm and was about to enter to begin his mental tempering. As soon as he stepped in, a little fat bird followed at the fastest speed, its small wings flapping almost creating afterimages. Even Star lord, who was guarding there, didn’t react in time.

Jiujiu struggled to flap his still-growing wings to follow, chirping in his heart for Daddy to wait for him.

The little fat bird caught up with that golden light, chirping excitedly.

Next time, he would definitely be Daddy’s good, obedient little cub!

(End)