Chapter 61
The leaders from the capital were coming, and the small house was once again thrown into a flurry of activity. After a quick tidying of the living room, which had been left in a mess from last night’s pursuit, Xia Anran opened the portal’s access. Soon, the blue ripples of the portal began to fluctuate rapidly, and the leaders stepped through one by one, arriving at the prairie cabin.
Several high-level leaders and professors from the Academy of Sciences had come, making the already not-so-spacious cabin feel even more crowded.
“The portal is really convenient. A journey of tens of thousands of kilometers is completed in a single step.”
Marshal Yue had also come along this time. Ever since his leg had been healed, he looked several years younger. Like a playful old man, he was always smiling and looking for fun. And right now, the biggest fun in the Hua nation was Xia Anran’s interstellar livestream. So, the moment he heard about this, he had volunteered to come along and see. Especially since Ren Yi and the others had just assisted in cracking a major poaching case.
So, the moment he landed, he pulled Ren Yi aside and eagerly asked for details.
The top leader let him be and looked straight at Xia Anran and Professor Qi. “Little Xia, how is Professor Qi’s condition now?”
The leaders were all in formal attire today. When they appeared in front of her, she truly felt the pressure of their authority. After all, when they had met before, they had all been in casual clothes, very friendly and approachable. The moment they put on their formal suits, she felt like she was watching the national news.
The leaders sat down on the rather small sofa. A few of them had no place to sit, so the production team brought over some chairs.
“Professor Qi is fine. She can now communicate with animals,” Xia Anran said, briefly explaining the situation. The rest would be reported in detail by Professor Qi herself.
With someone to take over, Xia Anran secretly slipped to the side to slack off. Marshal Yue and Ren Yi were talking by the window. She also went over and listened in on their conversation.
“Whoa, this place of yours is really nice. Blue sky, white clouds, and a sea of green,” the Marshal said, sighing at the scenery outside the window.
Ren Yi reminded him, “This is a prairie. There’s no sea.”
“Isn’t that it in the distance? I can even see the reflection on the water. What’s that idiom again? Bo guang lin lin (shimmering waves)!”
“…That’s a lake.”
The Marshal waved his hand nonchalantly. “Close enough, close enough.”
Ren Yi smiled helplessly. The Marshal turned to look at him again. “How long are you staying here? This is a good place to relax. You can rest here for a while.”
“I’ve been fine for a long time. You don’t need to worry about me,” Ren Yi said, opening the window. A gentle breeze, carrying the fresh scent of grass, blew into the room.
The Marshal’s face immediately fell. “How can I not worry? Your father entrusted you to me before he passed. I have to take good care of you. Your father and I were old comrades for so many years, we’ve been through thick and thin…”
“Uncle Yue, I can almost recite your words by heart.”
“But you haven’t taken them to heart!” the Marshal glared at him. “It was one thing for you to insist on being on the front lines before. Now that you’ve finally retired, hurry up and find a girlfriend, get married, and have a child. You’re your parents’ only son; you have to continue the Ren family line.”
“Pfft.” Xia Anran, who was eavesdropping on the side, couldn’t help but laugh. She never thought she would witness Ren Yi being pressured into marriage, and with such classic lines.
The Marshal turned and saw her. He said gloomily, “Little Xia, what are you doing here? Are my words that funny?”
She waved her hand. “I just didn’t expect you to be pressuring him into marriage too. What era is this? Don’t be so anxious. Senior Colonel Ren knows what he’s doing.”
Ren Yi nodded in support.
The Marshal gave each of them a flick on the head. He was a playful old man. Ever since he had added her on WeChat, he would occasionally chat with her, so the two of them were quite familiar. So, seeing her come over, he decided to kill two birds with one stone and pressure them both. …As expected, the older generation just loved to do this kind of thing.
“We have a great responsibility on our shoulders now. I’m busy as hell, and Senior Colonel Ren is currently the only psychic on the entire planet. His responsibility is immense. We have no energy for that,” Xia Anran said, trying to bluff her way through.
Ji Minghui, who had come over at some point, had been listening to them bicker for a long time. He suddenly said seriously, “My plan is to have children after I retire, if my body allows it. I’ll have a pension and time to raise them. By the time they grow up, I’ll be about ready to die.”
Xia Anran burst out laughing. The Marshal, looking at his serious expression, was choked speechless. Only Ren Yi thought about it with interest and then said, “Isn’t having children at an advanced age bad for both the mother and the child?”
Ji Minghui said matter-of-factly, “According to the current speed of our technological development, by the time I retire, there should be technology to solve this problem.”
Ren Yi raised both hands in agreement. “That makes sense! I support you!”
This time, it was Director Huang who came over and gave them a flick on the head. What kind of nonsense were these kids spouting all day?
…
After a bit of banter, the leaders had also more or less finished their discussion. According to Professor Qi’s account, there had always been some animals among them who had awakened their intelligence and were called “Spirit Beasts.” They had intelligence and special abilities. Because of the appearance of this special ability user, they were now inviting them for a meeting.
This could be said to be a cross-era meeting between two species.
They had to go, and they had to show their sincerity. So, almost all the high-level leaders had come. After a general discussion of the content, they followed Professor Qi’s instructions and set off in a grand procession.
On the way, everyone was a little nervous, but the leaders were like they were on a spring outing, always smiling and occasionally commenting on how well this nature reserve was managed. Xia Anran walked beside the top leader, who chatted with her with a smile. “Little Xia, what do you think of this matter?”
“We’ll know when we get there. It’s unclear for now,” she said honestly. “But it feels a lot like the predecessor of the interstellar Beastman race.” With intelligence and special powers, besides not being humanoid, they were really very similar.
“After our discussion, we also think they are very similar,” the top leader said. “In that case, the interstellar era is like a magnified version of Earth.”
Xia Anran agreed. She had noticed this a few days ago. The connection between the interstellar era and Earth was getting closer and closer. She didn’t know if it was a good thing or a bad thing.
As they were chatting, Professor Qi, who was leading the way, stopped. In front of them was a forest, and behind it, a continuous mountain range. This was the northern natural boundary of the nature reserve.
“The lion king told me this was the place yesterday,” she said. “And it’s about time.”
The moment she finished speaking, a sound came from the forest. The lion king emerged with an elegant gait. The wounds that Professor Qi had simply treated last night were already almost healed. On its head sat a small squirrel with a big tail, its beady eyes looking at them. Xia Anran recognized it at a glance; it was the same squirrel that had appeared in the livestream. It had a small tuft of white fur on its forehead, making it very easy to recognize. So they had been watching them since then?
“Dear human guests, hello.”
Xia Anran: !!! Holy crap! The squirrel is talking!
The squirrel speaking made everyone present’s pupils shrink in shock. Seeing their reaction, the squirrel raised a paw and scratched its chin, a little unconfident, and then switched back to the beast language.
In Professor Qi’s ears, it was anxiously asking the lion king, “Did I say the human language wrong? Why aren’t they reacting?”
“It’s over, it’s over! So embarrassing!”
“I told you we should have hired some professional humans to teach us! You can’t learn well just by eavesdropping!”
Professor Qi: “…”
“Hello, we can understand you.”
The squirrel’s complaining voice came to an abrupt halt. Then, its black-bean-like eyes blinked, and it quickly switched back to a proper posture. It cleared its throat. “Welcome to the beast race. Our elders are already waiting for you.”
The top leader stepped forward and said with a smile, “Alright, this… little comrade, please lead the way for us.”
The squirrel nodded haughtily and then tugged on the lion king’s mane, signaling it to set off. The lion king glanced at it and, thinking of the elders’ instructions, temporarily swallowed its anger.
The moment they entered the forest, they saw many small animals—birds, rabbits, deer, and so on—secretly observing them, gathered in small groups, chattering away. The whole scene was very dreamlike, just like in an animal movie. It made her feel like Alice in Wonderland. It was a pity that Ji Minghui and Director Huang hadn’t come. Otherwise, they would surely have had a lot of creative inspiration.
They hadn’t walked far before she saw a waterfall cascading down in front of them, surrounded by blooming flowers and plants. It was very beautiful. As she got closer, she saw an animal the size of a sheep sitting by the waterfall. It had smooth, black fur, a single horn on its forehead, and its round eyes were wide open, looking at them intently.
A unicorn!
Her eyes instantly went wide. Unicorns actually exist?!
“Is that a unicorn?” she asked in a low voice.
Professor Gong’s eyes were fixed on this very majestic-looking animal. “That’s a Xiezhi. A mythical beast from our Hua nation’s ancient times. It can distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil, loyalty and treachery. It is a symbol of justice.”
Having frequented the courthouse recently because of her parents, she suddenly remembered the lion-like statue at the entrance. Comparing it now, it was exactly this animal.
“Elder, we have brought the humans,” the little squirrel said, standing up from the lion king’s head and even imitating a human bow.
She couldn’t help but laugh. This little thing really loved to imitate humans.
The Xiezhi nodded and also stood up, walking over to them and stopping, then lifting a front hoof.
The top leader was, for a rare moment, a little stunned.
The Xiezhi tilted its head. “Isn’t the human etiquette to shake hands? Or has it gone out of fashion since I last went out?”
The leaders looked at each other and then laughed. The top leader shook hands with the Xiezhi. “Hello, you are a Xiezhi, right?”
It nodded, very noble and aloof. “My name is still very famous in your human society.”
“Indeed,” the top leader said, playing along.
“Many of the seniors in our clan are still in seclusion, so I will be receiving you today. The Qilin will be here later. He went out hunting,” the Xiezhi said.
Xia Anran was stunned. “Mythical beasts also have to hunt?”
“Of course. We also have to eat,” it glanced at her. “There is no oppression among our beast race. We all hunt our own prey.”
Xia Anran: “…” I feel like it’s being passive-aggressive about something.
And a Qilin! The mythical creatures of ancient China actually existed! This news made everyone present extremely excited. The professors from the Academy of Sciences, in particular, were almost moved to tears of joy.
While waiting for the Qilin to return, everyone’s hands were itching. They would either give the Xiezhi a couple of pats or go up to it and ask about topics they were interested in. The Xiezhi was also very generous, answering every question and allowing them to touch it.
A few minutes later, they suddenly heard a sound of something cutting through the air, and a red Qilin came running over.
“Damn it! I don’t know where these humans popped up from, patrolling everywhere! It took me forever just to catch a wild chicken!”
“I’m back! I’m not late, am I?!”
“…”
It seemed that the government staff searching for the poachers’ accomplices had delayed the mythical beasts’ dinner.