Chapter 179
Inside the dorm, Su Ci paused just as he was about to pop a snack into his mouth.
The little wolf pup, full of energy and bounding in like a firecracker, froze when he spotted the snacks in Su Ci’s hand. His eyes darted to the plate of delicate treats A-Yan had meticulously prepared, and whatever he had come to say was immediately forgotten.
He couldn’t help but swallow hard.
But—he wasn’t the same old little wolf pup anymore!
Lang Ze promptly reached into his spiritual storage pouch and pulled out a small bag of potato chips—something he had exchanged for with his points.
It was a tiny bag, with around ten chips inside. He had already eaten six and had about four or five left.
Clutching the potato chips, he walked over and plopped down on the sofa without hesitation. Just as he pulled a chip out of the bag, he noticed Su Ci across from him, staring at him.
Lang Ze hesitated briefly. Remembering how Su Ci had shared some taro chips with him during his last visit, he extended the bag and asked, “Su Su, do you want some?”
Su Ci glanced at him and shook his head.
Lang Ze grinned. “Great, then I’ll eat them!”
Crunching away at the chips, the little wolf pup savored each bite. Despite the current abundance of supplies, Lang Ze still cherished food deeply, finishing everything he was given, even the unpleasant nutrient gel cubes. Not a crumb went to waste.
Potato chips, being such a delicious snack, were naturally treated with the utmost reverence!
Su Ci propped his chin on his hand, watching him. Only after Lang Ze had eaten two chips to satisfy his craving and stashed the rest back in his spiritual pouch did Su Ci finally speak.
“So… you came here just to eat potato chips?”
“Of course not!” Lang Ze exclaimed, licking his fingers to clean off the chip seasoning before continuing. “Su Su, didn’t you say last time that if I mastered that… that sound illusion technique, you’d let me ride the big yellow ox?”
Su Ci: “…”
So this wolf pup only remembers the part about riding the yellow ox?
With a sigh, Su Ci reluctantly nodded.
The little wolf’s grin spread from ear to ear.
In truth, Lang Ze had managed to use the sound illusion technique during the fight against the monsters, even controlling three of them at once.
Unfortunately, it had been a lucky fluke. When he tried to replicate it back at the nursery, he couldn’t get it to work no matter how hard he tried.
Over the past few weeks, he had been practicing diligently, recalling the scenes from that battle. Finally, he had fully mastered the sound illusion technique, able to create illusions with his voice and even trick Rong Heng with it.
However, this only worked outside of actual combat.
In a real fight, he still couldn’t multitask—dodging attacks while playing his flute was impossible. For now, he was limited to stationary casting.
But Su Su hadn’t specified it had to be used in battle! As far as Lang Ze was concerned, he had fulfilled Su Su’s requirements!
Su Ci, considering what kind of illusion to craft for him, was interrupted when Lang Ze suddenly said, “Can I change the condition? I don’t want to ride the yellow ox anymore.”
This surprised Su Ci.
Wasn’t the wolf pup obsessed with riding the yellow ox? Why the sudden change?
“What do you want instead?” Su Ci asked. “Tell me.”
Lang Ze said, “Can I watch the stars?”
“The stars?” Su Ci blinked. “You mean the stars in the sky?”
“Yeah!” Lang Ze nodded vigorously. After thinking for a moment, he added, “Not stars, I mean the stars in the sky.”
Su Ci raised an eyebrow. “That’s doable, but can I ask why?”
Lang Ze scratched his head. “Because… Xing Xing can’t see them. I want to show him.”
Having learned to use mental energy after practicing sound illusions, Lang Ze understood how Xing Xing managed to live without being affected by his blindness. Xing Xing’s spiritual perception made obstacles irrelevant, enabling him to navigate the world without trouble.
But outside the range of his mental energy, there was only a vast void.
No matter how powerful Xing Xing’s mental energy became, it would never let him “touch” the sky or the stars. The stars in the sky were distant celestial bodies, impossibly far away.
For someone like Xing Xing, who was completely blind, the stars were forever out of reach…
It was just too sad!
As his big brother, Lang Ze felt it was his duty to make up for this regret. Sure, not riding the yellow ox anymore was a shame, but wasn’t there the giant panda now?
Granted, the panda was biased toward Xiao Lihua and let her ride whenever she wanted. She even got kisses, hugs, and lifts, while Lang Ze had to bargain with fruits or bamboo shoots just to get a chance.
Still, he had ridden it a few times and enjoyed the experience.
When Uncle Wei mentioned stargazing earlier, Lang Ze immediately had the idea.
“Alright,” Su Ci nodded, accepting the wolf pup’s reasoning. “So, when do you want to go stargazing?”
When Su Ci agreed, Lang Ze excitedly jumped up and asked eagerly, “Can we go now? I’ll go call Xing Xing and the others!”
Why enjoy it alone when everyone can join in? Since he was bringing Xing Xing, it made sense to invite the rest as well.
Su Ci thought for a moment but didn’t refuse.
“Go ahead. Let’s meet at the green field,” he said.
“Yay!” The little wolf pup jumped for joy, wagging his fluffy tail enthusiastically. “I’ll go ahead then. Su Su, hurry up! Brother A-Yan, you should come too!”
With that, he waved goodbye and bounded out of Room 303, his mood as high as ever.
Once the wolf pup left, peace returned to the dormitory.
Although Lang Ze was just one person, his presence felt like a group. Wherever he went, there was always noise and laughter.
Su Ci shook his head and stood up, stretching lazily.
“Heading to the green field?” A-Yan asked.
Su Ci, walking toward the teleportation array, replied languidly, “Let’s go to the riverbank first.”
A-Yan didn’t know why Su Ci wanted to go there but didn’t ask. He followed Su Ci to the teleportation array and activated it with his rule power.
Bathed in platinum light, the two of them disappeared from the teleportation array.
“Blub blub—”
At the riverbank, a water spirit, which had just finished watering the plants on both sides of the river, was bouncing toward the water, preparing to float downstream to the plains.
But as soon as it entered the river, it sensed a fluctuation from the teleportation array and immediately leaped out.
Spotting Su Ci and A-Yan, it seemed excited at first but quickly deflated upon realizing they weren’t the young ones it could tease. Letting out a few dejected blubs, it hopped back into the water and disappeared into the river.
The red tint on the water spirit’s body had faded significantly, almost disappearing completely. Once the last hint of red vanished, it would become a true water spirit, likely with a gentler personality… or so one could hope.
Recalling the temperamental little spirit garlic, Su Ci wasn’t entirely sure about that.
He turned his gaze away and walked into the bamboo grove.
The lush green bamboo had grown dense in this area. In ancient times, there was a saying: “Don’t plant bamboo in front of the door, nor behind the house.” While partly related to feng shui, it was primarily because bamboo propagated too quickly, making it unsuitable for the front yard.
Fortunately, the resurrection ferns and moss planted earlier were herbaceous and hadn’t been crowded out. The fruits and vegetables had also been carefully placed to avoid the bamboo grove.
Su Ci strolled through the grove and quickly selected a suitable bamboo stalk.
Watching him cut the bamboo, A-Yan asked, “Are you making a bamboo flute?”
“Mm-hmm,” Su Ci nodded.
“Su Su, you’re amazing. It feels like you can do anything,” A-Yan said sincerely.
Su Ci shot him a sidelong glance. As the Spirit of Rules, was it really appropriate for him to say such things?
He shrugged. “I’ve just lived long enough.”
A-Yan didn’t reply, only smiled warmly as he watched Su Ci. Eventually, Su Ci grew irritated under his gaze and tossed the half-finished bamboo stalk at him.
“You do it.”
He walked over to a nearby rock, sat down lazily, and prepared to enjoy the breeze. Then A-Yan approached, taking a flask of wine from his storage pouch and offering it to Su Ci.
“Freshly brewed fruit wine—want to try it?”
Su Ci paused for a moment before taking the flask without hesitation. He drank as he watched A-Yan tinker with the bamboo stalk. By the end of it, A-Yan had indeed managed to craft a bamboo flute.
“Su Su, give it a try?” A-Yan handed him the finished flute.
Su Ci took it and tested it.
The newly made bamboo flute had a melodious tone and excellent craftsmanship. At the flute’s end, A-Yan had added a small hole, threaded with silk string, and tied a tiny jade pendant.
The jade was finely polished, genuine stone.
A-Yan explained, “I found the jade in the rocks on the mountain. It’s not particularly useful, but it works well as an ornament.”
Su Ci traced the jade pendant with his fingers, but his attention was drawn to the platinum silk thread binding it to the flute. He raised his eyes to A-Yan. “Your hair?”
A-Yan chuckled softly. The pale gold thread of the space amulet around his neck glimmered faintly in the sunlight.
“Does it suit you?” he asked.
Su Ci stood silently, gazing at A-Yan in the backlight for a long time. He didn’t answer the question but instead raised the flask and finished the last drop of wine before heading toward the teleportation array.
“Let’s go. They’ve been waiting long enough.”
Though Su Ci didn’t respond directly, A-Yan didn’t feel disappointed. As the youth passed him, he caught sight of a faint smile at the corner of Su Ci’s lips.
For him, that smile was already a blessing beyond measure.
The two stepped into the teleportation array together, vanishing in a burst of light. When they reappeared, it was outside the nursery building. They strolled leisurely toward the green field.
When they arrived, the field was packed with people, sitting shoulder to shoulder. Lang Ze had called everyone from the nursery to join in!
