Chapter 100
The Golden Eagle’s five cubs were shattered and Huo Ranchuan placed them into a large basin. Inside were pieces of soil and fragments of the basin, including five plants with budding flowers.
The plants were wilting a bit. Huo Ranchuan was still contemplating whether to water them or something, but now that Chen Min had returned, he took the basin and placed it into Chen Min’s arms, saying, “During this time, you continue staying here. Teacher Bai found a chubby bird and wants the Golden Eagle to take care of it.”
Chen Min: “……”
Chen Min looked at the potted plants in his arms and then at Huo Ranchuan’s departing figure, “Wait a minute, why do I still have to stay here?”
This place wasn’t his home, and it was still small. He wasn’t used to living here, plus letting the Golden Eagle take care of that chubby bird?
Chen Min frowned. the Golden Eagle was so crazy—how could he possibly take care of a student?
Huo Ranchuan didn’t give Chen Min a chance to back out. He strode out of the house.
Meanwhile, the Golden Eagle, who had just returned to Chen Min’s spiritual sea, heard that his five cubs had been shattered. Instantly, he emerged from Chen Min’s spiritual sea, clutching the large basin containing his cubs, and cried loudly in pain.
Chen Min: “……”
Chen Min could only buy five new small flower pots and comfort the Golden Eagle, saying, “Look, the leaves aren’t wilted yet. The cubs aren’t dead; they just need new pots. Don’t cry.”
The Golden Eagle was still crying and even complained about Chen Min within the spiritual sea. Chen Min had a headache, “Oh, it’s not that I don’t want to pursue Teacher Bai. Teacher Bai is now Huo Ranchuan’s companion, aren’t you the one who personally delivered him to the cave entrance? I’ve never seen you so foolish.”
He liked Teacher Bai but ended up personally sending him to his rival’s side. What else could Chen Min say? And now that the Golden Eagle was crying, what was the use of crying?
As Chen Min changed the five plants’ pots, he spoke to the Golden Eagle, “Although Teacher Bai Nuosi does like humans, both of our lives were saved by Huo Ranchuan. How can I compete with him for a wife?”
The Golden Eagle became furious and yelled at Chen Min a few times. Chen Min covered his ears, unfazed, “No, no, I said no. Oh, by the way, Teacher Bai has a bird cub. Why don’t you go take a look? It’s best for your kind to have companions. Maybe that little bird is your destined mate.”
When Chen Min said this, he was purely trying to soothe the enraged the Golden Eagle. He hadn’t considered what would happen after the spiritual beasts merged, but his words did have an effect.
Bird cub?
Many people who awaken as bird spiritual beasts, but their spiritual levels are generally not high. Raptors like the Golden Eagle are rare.
Even the captains of the aerial patrol teams don’t have avian spiritual beasts.
Upon hearing this, the Golden Eagle immediately quieted down. He ran back to his room and sneaked onto the balcony, peeking towards the next balcony.
His demeanor was somewhat sleazy.
After Bai Nuosi finished bathing the little chubby bird and drying its fur, the little chubby bird was plump and round like a white cotton ball—extremely cute.
As Bai Nuosi came out with a small blanket around it, he happened to see Huo Ranchuan organizing ingredients in the living room.
Teacher Bai Nuosi had taken care of so many cubs before and often didn’t have time to organize these things. Seeing that the fridge and kitchen cabinets were nearly empty, Huo Ranchuan had arranged for someone to deliver a lot of supplies.
Various fresh ingredients and meats, as well as baby formula, adult milk, snacks, and even daily necessities were delivered. There was a lot of stuff, filling up half the living room. Huo Ranchuan was placing the ingredients into the freezer.
Bai Nuosi came out and was surprised, “Commander, this is…”
Huo Ranchuan saw him and immediately put down what he was holding, somewhat awkwardly saying, “These are from logistics. How should I store them?”
Huo Ranchuan placed a large chunk of lamb ribs into the freezer.
Bai Nuosi walked over and took a look: “No, you should cut them into strips, then absorb the surface moisture, wrap them with plastic wrap for preservation. Director, you leave it here, I’ll organize it later.”
Food storage also has its expiration dates and preservation methods; you can’t stuff everything into the freezer. Bai Nuosi generally prepares ingredients once a week; he makes snacks and cookies for the babies, also in weekly amounts.
Huo Ranchuan was a bit embarrassed. He just wanted to help Teacher Xiao Bai take on some work, to show initiative, but unfortunately, he had no knowledge of these life skills.
Bai Nuosi looked at the embarrassed Huo Ranchuan, and couldn’t help but want to laugh. After returning, he noticed Director Huo was a bit cautious, and didn’t dare to speak casually.
Originally, Bai Nuosi was a bit embarrassed, but seeing Director Huo like this, he relaxed a bit.
The Teng Snake coiled on the sofa, eagerly watching Bai Nuosi.
Bai Nuosi poured a basin of milk for the little bird, then placed the milk on the table next to the sofa, also placed the it on the table, and tied a small bib around its chest: “Come, little bird, drink your milk, then sleep well after.”
The Teng Snake lay on the sofa, sadly watching the chubby bird drink milk.
Once upon a time, it was also Teacher Bai’s prized treasure. Teacher Bai gave it three meals of milk a day!
But now, Teacher Xiao Bai doesn’t hold it anymore, sobbing.
Perhaps because the serpent’s sad look was too obvious, Bai Nuosi smiled and also gave it a box of milk: “Big Black, you drink this.”
Teng Snake: “……”
Although it’s not basin milk, having milk to drink now is already good. The snake, excited, looked at Teacher Bai, crawled next to Teacher Bai, cautiously rubbing against Teacher Bai’s arm.
Bai Nuosi sighed internally, reached out to pat the snake’s head, and softly said, “Drink, then go sleep with Director.”
Teng Snake: “……”
Huo Ranchuan was also a bit embarrassed, squatting on the ground and starting to organize the ingredients.
Bai Nuosi also walked over and helped him organize, first categorizing daily necessities like wet wipes and soft towels, placing them on dedicated shelves, then putting some baby-specific items like bottles, utensils, and bibs into the kitchen’s dedicated cabinets.
The babies have many daily necessities. Bai Nuosi generally purchases over a dozen animal-shaped bottles, cups, bowls, plates, and chopsticks. After all, they are beast-person babies, and they love animal shapes.
After finishing these, he then handled the food. Meats need to be cut into small pieces, then absorb moisture with paper, wrap them with plastic wrap for safety, and then place them into a large preservation box.
Fresh beef was treated similarly, cut into meal-sized portions for storage. Fruits were washed clean, cut into chunks, and placed in preservation boxes, which Bai Nuosi stored directly in his own storage terminal. During outdoor activities, he could directly take them out for the babies to eat.
Huo Ranchuan had been helping him by his side, quietly assisting without speaking.
He had only known that Bai Nuosi was thorough, caring for the babies meticulously, no matter where they were or what happened, he could always prepare formula, homemade lunchbox, and never run out of fruits.
Turns out, being thorough and meticulous required so much preparation work.
Huo Ranchuan helped Bai Nuosi wash the fruits, while Bai Nuosi used cartoon molds to cut the fruits into cartoon shapes, placing them into small preservation boxes. In each preservation box, he would place three to four kinds of fruits.
After a while, Huo Ranchuan suddenly blurted out, “Xiao Bai, you’ve really worked hard. After tomorrow, I’ll arrange an assistant for you.”
Nursery teachers are supposed to have assistants. Initially, because the black panther rejected strangers, later, Teacher Xiao Bai didn’t want one himself, and these few S-level chicks were also difficult to get along with. Later, Huo Ranchuan, with his own selfishness, came to be the assistant.
But now, Huo Ranchuan felt that this couldn’t continue; Teacher Xiao Bai’s work was indeed too strenuous. Huo Ranchuan felt a bit sorry.
Bai Nuosi looked at Huo Ranchuan a bit surprised: “Assistant?”
Huo Ranchuan silently nodded. If Teacher Xiao Bai still wanted that nursery teacher named Yali, Huo Ranchuan would agree.
Bai Nuosi indeed said, “That Yali is also okay?”
Huo Ranchuan’s expression was grim. He silently washed a basket of cherries clean. After a few seconds, he nodded, “Yes.”
Huo Ranchuan thought, Teacher Xiao Bai wouldn’t accept him because he has Teng Snake, but that man named Yali doesn’t have a spiritual body. So, Teacher Xiao Bai, having interacted with him for a long time, might develop feelings. After all, Yali’s eyes when looking at Teacher Xiao Bai weren’t quite right.
Huo Ranchuan’s face wasn’t looking good, but he remained silent, not showing it.
The Teng Snake on the sofa wasn’t in the mood as well, it even stopped drinking it’s favorite milk. It had heard the conversation between Teacher Bai and Huo Ranchuan, and felt very upset inside.
Teacher Xiao Bai wouldn’t accept Huo Ranchuan because of it. If it weren’t for it, would Teacher Xiao Bai have no reservations?
It didn’t want Teacher Xiao Bai to find another companion.
But fortunately, after preparing all the food, Bai Nuosi, while drying his hands, said, “If we’re really going to hire an assistant, I’d like to hire Mr. Golden Eagle.”
After all, Mr. Golden Eagle could help take care of the little bird.
Huo Ranchuan still nodded, “Okay.”
As long as Bai Nuosi likes it, anyone can be the assistant.
Bai Nuosi looked at Huo Ranchuan, “Thank you, Director. I’ll take little bird to sleep now. Good night, Director.”
Huo Ranchuan pressed his lips, “Good night.”
Watching Bai Nuosi close the door, Huo Ranchuan and Teng Snake met eyes. The Teng Snake shook his head with a heavy heart, sadly lying on the sofa.
In fact, Huo Ranchuan hadn’t thought about encountering such a problem in finding a companion. The Teng Snake is his spiritual body, always one with him. He had never thought that his companion would refuse him out of fear of the Teng Snake.
In fact, when he was intimate with his companion, he could just retract the Teng Snake into the spiritual sea. They are one. Teng Snake’s experience in the spiritual sea is the same, but he didn’t know if Teacher Bai would mind.
Huo Ranchuan sat on the sofa with Teng Snake, staring at Teacher Bai’s door.
The Teng Snake sighed, expressing great disappointment in his host.
Huo Ranchuan was also somewhat silent, “I don’t know if that eagle still has improper desires towards Teacher Bai.”
While Huo Ranchuan relationship with Bai Nuosi was still awkward. These past few days he still had to quickly handle the matter of the little bird because of the intelligence obtained from this captured mercenary group. It seemed like those old aristocratic families had already allied with a certain vice-captain commanders, attempting to wage war on the planet belonging to the Huo family.
Of course, they were targeting Huo Ranchuan. If Huo Ranchuan fell, the military status of the main star would be greatly reduced, and those vice-captain commanders who had long wanted to replace him would seize the opportunity to attack.
Huo Ranchuan and His Highness the Crown Prince had long made various plans for this matter. Now that the day had come, Huo Ranchuan was determined to lead the team to the battlefield. At that time, leaving a little bird by Teacher Xiao Bai’s side, he couldn’t feel at ease.
The Teng Snake also knew about this, its emotions were even lower.
Huo Ranchuan said softly, “It might be a good thing that he doesn’t accept us. This mission is too dangerous. It’s hard to say if we can come back with all limbs intact…”
Chen Min had just recovered from a serious illness and had to start adjusting with the golden eagle again, so for this mission, Huo Ranchuan didn’t plan to take him. Instead, he would let Chen Min and Mons stay here to take care of Bai Nuosi, while he would go with a few newly awakened S-levels for training.
After all, they also lacked experience.
If this time turns out to be perilous, having the golden eagle by Bai Nuosi’s side would reassure Huo Ranchuan.
After all, the golden eagle truly liked Teacher Bai and had enough ability to protect him.
Huo Ranchuan and the Teng Snake sat on the sofa, thinking for a long time.
He had to admit, entrusting his companion to a rival didn’t feel good.
Huo Ranchuan felt very conflicted inside. If only he could keep Teacher Xiao Bai in his pocket, he’d take him wherever he goes.
Bai Nuosi brought the little bird back to the bedroom. He actually felt very conflicted inside.
Perhaps due to the temporary mark, he now had a sense of dependence on Huo Ranchuan, even when working together in the kitchen earlier, just smelling that scent of ancient wood after rain made his heart soft and tender, and he couldn’t help wanting to get closer to Huo Ranchuan.
Bai Nuosi was not a traditional omega. He never thought of being an alpha’s dependent canary. He had feelings for Huo Ranchuan, not because of Huo Ranchuan’s abilities or conditions, but because Huo Ranchuan as a person fit his aesthetic. His personality was mature and steady, and he was decisive in his actions.
In appearance, Bai Nuosi admired him greatly; in personality, he complimented him. Having a passionate job and finding time to have a relationship with a suitable man was actually quite good.
After all, he had no family since he was young and sometimes fantasized about finding a suitable companion and having two children of his own.
But he didn’t have a spiritual body, and he couldn’t accept the Teng Snake.
Bai Nuosi sighed, holding the chubby little bird, shaking his head, “Never mind, can’t figure it out, don’t want to think about it.”
Let’s talk about it later.
Bai Nuosi held the listless chubby bird, softly asking, “What’s wrong, birdy? Why do you feel so down after the bath?”
The chubby little bird lay pitifully in Bai Nuosi’s arms, weakly making a “chir chir” sound.
Its host, a boy named Adean, was currently confined in a water cell by Huo Ranchuan’s deputy.
His spiritual power was suppressed; the water in the cell always covered his neck. The water was icy. He was weak and injured. Being confined here was like losing half his life.
But he just wouldn’t bow down, wouldn’t swear allegiance to the empire in the name of the beast god.
If he died, drowned here, he would still never eat a single bite of the empire’s food!
Because of his host’s weakness, the fat bird also became weak.
Bai Nuosi could roughly guess that the little bird’s host was being punished. After all, he was a member of the mercenary group, previously attacking Huo Ranchuan. On such a major matter, even if Bai Nuosi was kind-hearted, he wouldn’t be blind.
He felt sorry for the little bird, but he wouldn’t go to Huo Ranchuan to plead without knowing the full situation.
He turned off the lights, turned on the bedside night light, held the little bird, wrapped it in a small blanket, sighed, and softly said, “Poor thing, why don’t you talk to your host and let him cooperate with Director Huo? He’s young and just recently split his spiritual body. Director Huo shouldn’t be too hard on him.”
Although Adean was confined in the water cell, he actually cared about his spiritual body. In the cold water cell, he wanted Teacher Bai to gently embrace him.
So, while he had already synchronized with the little bird. But because his body was too weak, his consciousness was unable to speak.
Now, hearing Teacher Xiao Bai say this, the little bird looked up at Teacher Bai with a stubborn look, remembering Huo Ranchuan making him swear, and angrily made a “chir chir” sound. This determined little appearance vividly expressed an unwavering resolve to die rather than surrender.
Bai Nuosi: “……”
Bai Nuosi couldn’t help but shake his head, pinched the little bird’s round face: “Birdy, if it’s like this, Teacher Bai can’t help you.”
Of course, the little bird knew. It lay in Teacher Bai’s arms, waiting for Teacher Bai to tell it a bedtime story.
Adean used to work in the mercenary group. As the lowest servant, he was often beaten. Those people beat others without reason—whether being scolded by superiors, tasks not going well, or just on a whim, they would beat people at will.
After Adean finished his work, he would quietly hide in the storage compartment at the bottom of the warship, then open his smart system to secretly watch Teacher Bai’s live broadcast.
Perhaps every person without an awakened spiritual body would fantasize about waking up one day, having a spiritual body, and being taken care of by Teacher Bai.
He saw in the live broadcast Teacher Bai preparing plush toys for the cubs, making sweet honey milk for them, making number cookies, cuddling them to sleep, and telling them bedtime stories.
At that time, Adean didn’t know how much he envied those cubs.
If only he could also get into a military academy, if only he was born on the main star empire, with superior family conditions.
Young people always have many unrealistic fantasies.
Who would have thought that he would be picked up by Teacher Bai?
Bai Nuosi searched through his storage terminal; his bookshelf had many children’s picture storybooks. He thought of the little bird’s host and felt he should tell him a story about persistence, about change, about how to find oneself.
Bai Nuosi said to the little bird “Before we go to sleep, let’s listen to a bedtime story first, okay?”
The sluggish bird, upon hearing the bedtime story, its eyes suddenly lit up.
“Chir chir!”
The chubby bird excitedly nodded.
Good, it was looking forward to Teacher Xiao Bai’s bedtime story session!
Great, Adean was soaked in the water cell, thinking that having Teacher Bai tell bedtime stories would greatly reduce his physical pain.
Bai Nuosi selected a book, finally picking out a picture book. On the cover was a green caterpillar, lying in a dark cave, surrounded by nothing but countless shiny eyes in the dark night.
Bai Nuosi read the title aloud: “The Caterpillar in the Tunnel.”
The fat bird saw the caterpillar immediately, its pointed mouth pecked: “Chir chir!”
Caterpillar, that’s food!
Bai Nuosi: “……”
Bai Nuosi held it, “Don’t make a fuss. Let’s see what this story is about.”
Bai Nuosi opened the first page. On the page, a plump caterpillar, looking panicked, was lying on a small stone, and it was in a dark, pitch-black cave where you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.
Bai Nuosi softly begins, “Cabi is a caterpillar born not long ago. As soon as it was born, it was in darkness, everything around was pitch black; the world was like chaos, invisible and intangible. It was scared and lying on a hard stone, not knowing what to do or where to go.”
“But in the haze, it remembered a voice telling it to go to a place with light, where its mother is.”
“The scared caterpillar thought, what is light? Where to find my mother?”
Bai Nuosi turned to the next page and continued “The caterpillar crawled a few steps forward, and some strange, uneven eyes began to appear around it.Those eyes emitted scary light in the darkness.”
“One day, a small voice said to the caterpillar: ‘Oh, dear little thing, where are you going?’”
On the page, a black slug was lying on the wall, tilting its head, curiously looking at the caterpillar.
“The caterpillar was so scared that it stood still, nervously said, ‘I want to go to a place with light.’ The slug laughed and said, ‘Fool, there is no light in the world.’ They were born into this dark world; the dark world has no light.”
“The caterpillar didn’t believe it. Its mother is in the place with light. The mother wouldn’t lie to it.”
“It continued to move forward, walking and walking. Suddenly, a fierce beast breathed beside it, sticking out its long tongue, warning the caterpillar, ‘Hey, if you keep moving forward, I’ll eat you!’ The caterpillar asked, ‘Then is there light in your stomach?’”
Bai Nuosi turned the page. On the next page was a bat hanging upside down from the tunnel ceiling. The bat opened its pair of red eyes, viciously said, “‘Of course not, there is no light in the world.’ The caterpillar then turned around and left, muttering, ‘Then you can’t eat me. The light is still waiting for me.’”
“The caterpillar continued to walk and walk. Walking for a very long time, exhausted, and those strange, uneven eyes all mocked it, ‘Look, that’s the little fool, looking for light, hahaha. There is no light in the world, poor little guy, he doesn’t know.’ The caterpillar listened to these voices, feeling very upset inside.”
“Just when it wanted to give up, one day, on the wall of the dark tunnel, it saw a sparkling thing!”
“That thing had two beautiful, colorful wings with intricate patterns, sparkling in the dark tunnel.”
“The caterpillar thought it was extremely beautiful. The caterpillar envied and crawled over, ‘Are you light? Are you my mother?’”
Bai Nuosi flip to the next page and continued, “A gorgeous butterfly was laying eggs on a plant leaf. It heard the caterpillar’s voice, so it said, ‘Poor thing, when you don’t know where the light is, just follow your heart.’ The caterpillar didn’t understand, ‘What is the heart? Is it light?’”
Bai Nuosi had read here and turned to the next page, looking down, watching the little bird, “Birdy, what is light?”
The chubby little bird looked up at Teacher Xiao Bai, pointing with its short, round wings, “Chir chir.”
Next to Bai Nuosi was the night light. He thought the little bird was pointing to the night light and smiled, “Birdy’s light is here.”
Bai Nuosi also pointed to his own heart, “But Teacher’s light is here.”
The little bird retracted its wings, admiringly looking at Teacher Bai. Meanwhile, Adean also thought, although his life was dark, now, Teacher Bai was his light.
Bai Nuosi looked at the butterfly on the page and continue with the story, “The butterfly said to the caterpillar, ‘Poor thing, the heart is your dream, your goal, your everything; If light is your dream, then light is in your heart; If you value light as your everything, then light is your heart; The heart is very spacious; it can be everything.’”
“The caterpillar heard this, became anxious and troubled, ‘Ah, then what should I do to reach my heart?’”
“The caterpillar only wanted to find a place with light, but now, it also has to find its heart?”
“After leaving the butterfly, looking at the surrounding strange eyes, it suddenly understood a bit. It can’t always listen to others’ negations, nor can it always ask others for directions. It must overcome fear on its own and find the direction.”
“So, the caterpillar closed its eyes, blocked its ears, didn’t listen or look, and didn’t pay attention to the surrounding strange monsters. The caterpillar firmly said to itself, ‘I’m not afraid of this darkness, I’m not afraid of these monsters, because the light is in my heart!’ Now, it wants to reach my heart.”
“The caterpillar closed its eyes and walked and walked, this time, walking for a very long time, so long that it almost couldn’t walk anymore.”
“Until one day, it heard a different voice in its ears, felt a different temperature, hesitantly opened its eyes, and found that at this moment, it had already left the dark tunnel, lying on green leaves! Around it were groups of butterflies.”
At the end of the story, a butterfly stood on a blooming flower. Not far away in the garden was a drainage canal. Inside the drainage canal, one could see slugs lying in the darkness, bats hanging from the top, and various strange little bugs. Another butterfly, just having laid eggs inside, was flying out from the canal.
Bai Nuosi looked at this last page, somewhat emotionally said, “Light is within reach. Endure all this, and everything will change.”
Bai Nuosi put down the picture book, rubbed the little bird, and softly said, “Birdy, sometimes people need to make changes. You can’t always stay in the darkness of the past.”
