Chapter 26: A Giant Egg

When Fu Shuxing arrived on the second floor of the Ji residence, he saw the little guide barefoot and turning the place upside down in search of something.

The small bedroom, already modest in size, had been ransacked into a chaotic mess. Ji Xun dove under the bed, then climbed onto a stool to grope the top of the cabinet, calling out for someone named "King."

Fu Shuxing leaned against the doorframe, watching Ji Xun’s frantic, aimless search. He recalled his father’s words: "It’s just a bit strange, nothing major."

Strange, indeed. But when asked what was so strange, his father would simply avoid the subject. Why the sudden need to investigate who Ji Xun had interacted with at the banquet last night, or what had actually occurred?

Either the person or the event—something had gone wrong that even Chief Staff Officer Gao could not comprehend.

"What are you looking for?"

The voice that suddenly sounded from behind startled Ji Xun. He lost his footing, and the stool he was standing on tipped over!

Ji Xun did not hit the ground. Fu Shuxing had caught him just in time.

"Is it really that scary?"

"Of course it is! Can you make some noise when you walk next time?!"

Fu Shuxing released the little guide, stepped back two paces, and shoved his hands into his pockets while looking at Ji Xun. "What are you feeling guilty about?"

Whenever one feels guilty, their volume unconsciously rises in a show of bravado.

"...Guilty? I am not! You just suddenly spoke up and scared me..." Ji Xun avoided Fu Shuxing’s gaze, bent down to steady the stool, smoothed out the bedding, and folded the scattered clothes on the floor again and again before putting them into the cabinet.

Fu Shuxing gave a light sneer. "The 'strongest guide' is afraid of being startled?"

If this had happened an hour ago, Ji Xun would have been beaming with pride at such a remark. But after the blow of being told "secondary awakening simply doesn't exist," he was certain he caught the mockery in Fu Shuxing's tone.

That was fair. In Fu Shuxing's eyes, he was just a fool. Perhaps that night at the Sentinel building, Fu Shuxing had already decided as much.

And Stone!!

Back at the Sanctuary cafeteria, Zhao Zhanlei suddenly let out a loud sneeze! He wiped his nose, wondering if Ji Xun was thinking of him.

Ji Xun said, "I was seriously tidying up my room. Of course I’d be startled if you suddenly spoke."

Fu Shuxing said, "Tidying? You were clearly rummaging through everything looking for 'King'."

Ji Xun felt a jolt in his heart. *It’s over,* he thought, *he heard me.* How long had he been standing at the door?

Just as Ji Xun folded the clothes in his hand, trying to change the subject, he heard Fu Shuxing ask, "A spirit beast?"

Ji Xun’s heart turned cold. The next moment, Fu Shuxing laughed—a mocking chuckle. "Yours? Don't tell me you actually succeeded in a secondary awakening and have a spirit beast?"

Ji Xun gritted his teeth. What did that mean? What did that mean?! Could he stop with the constant sarcasm? I’m going to get angry, I’m really going to get angry! What kind of demeaning tone is that? I’ll have a spirit beast sooner or later! Maybe it’s just early!

*No... I must hold it in.* Ji Xun took a silent, deep breath.

Fu Shuxing, however, continued to pour oil on the fire, unhurriedly: "Or did you steal someone else's spirit beast, lose it, and now you're looking for it?"

*No, I can't take it anymore!* Ji Xun threw the clothes in his hand into the cabinet and glared at Fu Shuxing indignantly. "You're the one who stole someone else's spirit beast!"

Fu Shuxing replied, "I have General; why would I need to steal one? Only those without a spirit beast would want to steal someone else's."

Ji Xun shouted at the top of his lungs, "I didn't steal anyone’s spirit beast! King is mine to begin with!!"

A flicker of amusement crossed Fu Shuxing’s eyes; he knew it would be easy. He leaned casually against the desk and said airily to the furious Ji Xun, "So it really is a spirit beast."

Ji Xun: "............"

***

*Damn it, I got baited by that bastard.*

"Where did it come from?"

Ji Xun went silent.

Fu Shuxing said, "I was actually going to help you look for it."

Ji Xun’s eyes lit up! But having just been tricked, he became cautious and looked at Fu Shuxing suspiciously. "How would you help me look?"

Fu Shuxing said, "If a high-dimensional creature is lost, let another high-dimensional creature find it. I’ll let General out."

Ji Xun immediately wanted to refuse: "That won't work, General will definitely scare King."

Fu Shuxing said, "Then I’ll help you look. Spirit beasts are condensed from spiritual power; I can sense where it is."

Ji Xun was skeptical. "You can sense that? How come I didn't know?"

"People with low spiritual power wouldn't know, of course."

"..."

"If you won't tell me, then keep looking slowly yourself." Fu Shuxing picked up the clock on Ji Xun’s desk. "There are thirty-six minutes left before afternoon classes at the Sanctuary. I’ll wait twenty-four minutes for you."

Ji Xun: "............"

Having spent over half an hour searching with zero results, Ji Xun hesitated and said, "You better not lie to me."

Fu Shuxing looked up at him and countered, "When have I ever lied to you?"

Hearing this, Ji Xun’s heart sank. It was true. This guy was the type to say, "You’re a piece of trash who doesn't even have a spirit beast," right to his face. He truly wouldn't lie. He didn't care enough to.

*What a jerk!*

"Fine, I’ll tell you." Ji Xun decided to strategically surrender to the enemy. "It was raining that day, and it appeared downstairs at my house for the first time."

"What day?"

"Just..." Ji Xun stammered for a second, looked at Fu Shuxing cautiously, and said in a faint voice, "The day I took your umbrella..."

Fu Shuxing had been smiling, but when he remembered that incident, the smile vanished instantly. The surrounding air pressure seemed to drop. He looked at the little guide and scoffed coldly, "Are you sure you 'took' it?"

Ji Xun knew what he meant and argued, "I’m your younger brother. What’s wrong with a brother using his older brother’s things?"

The more Fu Shuxing heard, the worse his mood became. He sneered, "That day, and then?"

"That day I got caught in the rain, and I came home to shower."

Fu Shuxing interrupted, "Didn't you have an umbrella? Why were you caught in the rain?"

Ji Xun said, "I lent the umbrella to a classmate in the next class..."

Fu Shuxing’s eyes were cold, as if mixed with ice shards. "Was that classmate a girl named Sun Shuangjiang?"

Ji Xun was amazed. "How did you know, Brother Xing?"

Fu Shuxing was expressionless. "Lending an umbrella to a girl and getting soaked yourself—you really are noble."

"It wasn't... I thought Stone had an umbrella."

"He didn't?"

"He lent his to someone else too."

Fu Shuxing let out a cold laugh. "Continue."

Ji Xun briefly explained what happened that night. "...At first, I thought it was a stray cat, but Mom said it was a spirit beast."

Fu Shuxing asked, "How would someone else's spirit beast end up at your house?"

Ji Xun said indignantly, "Because it’s mine! It’s not someone else’s! It came to find me!"

Fu Shuxing: "."

Fine. So that was it: Awakened spirit beasts were just wandering around, and the reason he didn't have one yet was that his spirit beast hadn't found its way home.

Ji Xun continued, "King is very close to me! It loves to be cuddly and is very clingy. It’s a very beautiful and majestic little white lion..."

Fu Shuxing interrupted, "Didn't you say it was a cat?"

"I thought it was a cat at first, but later I realized it was actually a lion."

"How did you figure that out?"

"It told me itself!"

Fu Shuxing raised an eyebrow, finally caught off guard. "You can actually communicate with it?"

"Yes." Ji Xun said righteously, "I found pictures on the internet for it to recognize, and it chose the little lion itself."

Fu Shuxing: "..."

As expected, he had been surprised too early.

"I even held it while I slept that night, but when I woke up the next day, it was gone. Mom said it went back, but it’s my spirit beast—where could it go?"

Fu Shuxing thought to himself: *Because it’s not your spirit beast, of course it went back to its master.* He said, "After it disappeared, you’ve been searching like this for half a month?"

"Of course not! I’m not stupid!"

"You're not stupid."

"..." Ji Xun pouted and said, "I woke up this morning and tripped when I got out of bed."

"Tripped? Did you hurt yourself?"

"No, not really."

"So you are clumsy; you can even trip just getting out of bed."

"No, it’s because I was tripped by something for no reason! I’ve been sleeping in this bed for over a decade, why would I trip? That thing was soft, and it felt a bit warm. When I looked back, I didn't see anything. If it’s not a spirit beast that can suddenly disappear, what is it?"

Fu Shuxing said, "But there is no spirit beast in your bedroom."

Ji Xun: "????"

Ji Xun: "Impossible!!"

Fu Shuxing: "I don't sense any spiritual fluctuation." Not from the very beginning.

Ji Xun pouted, looking dejected in an instant. His expression was aggrieved, on the verge of tears.

Seeing this, Fu Shuxing stood up, patted his head, and said, "Let’s go."

Ji Xun followed Fu Shuxing out of his bedroom, looking miserable. He whispered, "You must be lying to me."

Fu Shuxing: "I don't lie to you."

After saying that, he didn't hear a reply from Ji Xun. Fu Shuxing paused for a moment and added, "What does the little lion look like? I’ll keep an eye out for you."

Ji Xun whispered, "It’s white..."

"."

"But it’s not completely white; it has stripes."

"Stripes?"

"Yes, kind of like General."

Fu Shuxing, who was walking in front, stopped abruptly!

Ji Xun was caught off guard and almost bumped into him. "Why did you stop suddenly!!"

Fu Shuxing looked back at Ji Xun. "What kind of lion looks like a tiger?"

"They look very similar when they are little!"

Fu Shuxing pressed his thin lips together. "Then how can you be sure it’s a lion?"

Ji Xun had his logic: "It told me itself!"

Fu Shuxing, thinking of that communication method of his, fell silent. He didn't speak and started walking downstairs.

Seeing that Fu Shuxing was ignoring him, Ji Xun became dejected again, his head drooping low.

Fu Shuxing walked downstairs, saw a fruit basket on the table, and reached out to take two "Xianpi" fruits. Looking back at the little guide walking down the stairs looking miserable and wronged, he lowered his gaze and began to peel them, bit by bit.

"Sigh," Ji Xun muttered to himself, "Maybe this is just fate. It’s just not my turn yet."

Fu Shuxing chuckled at that, having wondered what he was so sad about.

Sure enough.

Guides all possessed powerful emotional regulation abilities, even the little underachieving fool was no exception.