Chapter 234
That morning, Lu Li woke up a little late.
It was already past six, but he was still lying in bed, dozing in a hazy state of semi-consciousness.
At 6:10, the nanny robot 4586 floated into the room. It approached the bed and immediately noticed something unusual about Lu Li.
“Liu Liu, my little darling, what’s wrong?”
Lu Li lay there, his eyes barely open to a narrow slit. He parted his lips as if to speak, but no sound came out. He looked weak and unwell.
4586 measured Lu Li’s temperature and found it slightly elevated. It quickly fetched an ice pack, gently placing it on his forehead to reduce the fever. At the same time, it reported the situation to the caretakers.
Soon, Wen Yan arrived.
As she stepped into the room, she saw Lu Li lying on the bed. His bangs were damp with sweat, and his little face was flushed red, clearly showing signs of discomfort.
“Is Lu Li sick?”
In the months since arriving at the cub house, the children had suffered injuries but had never fallen ill. These cubs were as robust as little bulls. Seeing one of them ill for the first time, Wen Yan couldn’t help but feel alarmed.
“Current body temperature: 37.9°C. Cause unknown. Physical cooling measures are being applied,” 4586 reported. Then, its voice turned soft and filled with concern. “Liu Liu is sick. He looks so miserable… boohoo…”
The nanny robot’s digital eyes transformed into a crying emoji, complete with teardrops.
Despite being a robot, its emotions seemed richer than those of humans. This made Wen Yan unconsciously treat 4586 as if it were a real living being. She reassured it, “It should be okay. That temperature isn’t too high.”
Wen Yan carefully examined Lu Li but found no other abnormalities. She asked, “Has Lu Li ever been like this before?”
Although 4586 hadn’t worked at the cub house for long, it could access past records from the main intelligence system. At Wen Yan’s question, it quickly retrieved the data.
“Instances of elevated body temperature have occurred twice before. The cause was unknown,” the robot reported. “After his temperature normalized, Liu Liu experienced noticeable emotional instability, likely related to the eruption of his bloodline power.”
Wen Yan nodded. Due to her daughter’s condition, she had extensively studied how to raise beast-blood cubs. She was aware that cubs of certain species might experience elevated temperatures when their bloodline powers surged.
Since settling at the cub house, Wen Yan hadn’t witnessed any cubs losing control due to bloodline-induced frenzy. Even her daughter, Lai Qiqi, had shown significant improvement, possibly due to the soothing presence of her father and the nurturing environment. This progress had made Wen Yan lower her guard.
That’s right—the cubs in the house were all beast-blood cubs, many of whom were troubled by bloodline frenzies. How could she have overlooked this?
“We’ll keep an eye on him and wait for Caretaker Su to wake up. We can ask him for advice then.”
When it came to handling cubs experiencing bloodline frenzies, Caretaker Su was undoubtedly the expert. Seeking his guidance was the best course of action.
With that, Wen Yan sent 4586 off to the dining hall while she stayed behind to watch over Lu Li.
Even though a cub in frenzy might harm her, as a caretaker, how could she let a sick cub remain unattended in the room just because of such a possibility?
She fetched a basin of warm water, dampened a towel, and began gently wiping down Lu Li’s body.
Her movements were soft and tender, treating Lu Li as if he were her own child. “Baby, you have to get better soon, okay?”
From an angle she couldn’t see, the room held more than just her and the young boy lying in bed. Two faint, translucent figures were present.
A nearly nine-year-old boy floated lightly in mid-air, watching the woman tenderly caring for him. His clear red eyes reflected her figure, but in the depths of his mind, a blurry shadow of someone else began to take form.
“Mom…”
Lu Li murmured softly.
The other boy beside him suddenly let out a light chuckle.
Lu Li turned to look at him. This boy looked exactly like him—same beautiful golden hair, with even the strands flowing in the same direction.
The golden-haired boy smiled at him, his expression pure and innocent.
“Liu Liu…”
Lu Li called out softly. In response, the boy reached out, pinching Lu Li’s cheeks and tugging them to either side.
He giggled, seemingly amused by his own antics.
Lu Li sighed slightly but didn’t push his hand away. After all, in this spirit form, he didn’t feel any pain.
Liu Liu was a fragment of Lu Li’s soul—a part of himself. But his experience as a playful little monkey had long made Lu Li regard Liu Liu as his little brother.
A little brother who never grew up and always had the intelligence of a three- or four-year-old child.
“We can keep meeting like this from now on,” Lu Li said. “You can take the form of the little monkey. It’s cuter that way, and I can protect you.”
Though the light, weightless sensation was familiar and almost comforting, Lu Li had already made his decision—he would take charge of the body while Liu Liu transformed into the little monkey. It was the right choice for both of them.
“Liu…Liu…”
The boy tried forming a sound, making Lu Li pause in surprise before breaking into a smile.
“Yeah, I’m Lu Lu, and you’re Liu Liu. In this world, we’re the closest to each other.”
As if understanding, Liu Liu’s grin grew even brighter.
Then, under Lu Li’s gaze, his body began to shrink until he transformed into a palm-sized little monkey.
“Gah gah! Gah gah!”
The little monkey hopped in place, its round eyes darting around, filled with curiosity for everything.
Lu Li reached out to pat its head and said, “You have to behave. Don’t be as mischievous as before, or Su Su will be unhappy.”
Initially, the little monkey grabbed Lu Li’s hand, trying to push it away. But upon hearing the name “Su Su,” its body froze momentarily. Then, it picked up Lu Li’s hand again and placed it back on its head.
It was clear—only Su Su could truly keep this little troublemaker in line.
Lu Li chuckled softly and played with the little monkey for a while before turning his attention back to his body.
Wen Yan had finished wiping him down, adjusted his clothes, and tucked him in. After all this, she didn’t leave immediately but instead sat quietly at his bedside, keeping him company.
This was a truly unfamiliar experience for Lu Li.
Perhaps because of his quiet personality, his presence in the nursery was not very noticeable. Aside from meal times, he rarely interacted with the new caretakers, let alone had such close contact with them.
He observed for a moment and finally chose to walk forward.
As he approached, the shadow of the boy slowly disappeared, and the little monkey behind him simply watched silently, not attempting to wrest control of the body.
Wen Yan had just finished sending a message to her husband, asking him to take care of the other children, when she suddenly sensed something and turned toward the small bed.
The boy lying there with his eyes closed slowly opened them.
“Lu Li, you’re awake?” Wen Yan said excitedly. “Are you thirsty? Do you want some water?”
She removed the ice pack from his forehead and checked his temperature, finding that it had dropped significantly. “That’s great, your fever is going down.”
She got up to pour some water and helped Lu Li sit up, intending to feed him.
“I-I can do it myself…”
Unaccustomed to such attentive care, Lu Li was a little at a loss. However, after splitting his soul, his body was temporarily weak, his hands soft and powerless.
“It’s okay; you’re sick and need to be taken care of,” Wen Yan said with a gentle smile, once again bringing the cup to his lips.
Lu Li glanced at her and ultimately obediently drank the water.
“That’s a good boy. Our Lu Li has always been the most well-behaved baby,” Wen Yan said with a smile.
Lu Li’s cheeks flushed slightly from the praise.
It was just drinking water—such a simple task—was it necessary to praise him so much?
Despite thinking this, his lips couldn’t help but curl into a small smile, and his eyes showed a hint of newfound closeness toward Wen Yan.
Wen Yan continued observing Lu Li. Seeing that he showed no signs of emotional instability and was instead softer and more obedient, she concluded that he was probably just genuinely sick this time.
“You’re not fully recovered yet, so you need to rest more,” Wen Yan said, gently laying him back down. “Are you hungry? I’ll go see if there’s something suitable for you to eat.”
Just as she stood up, a small hand tugged at the hem of her clothes.
Wen Yan looked down and saw the boy’s fragile, dependent expression. Her heart softened immediately. She sat back down, held Lu Li’s hand, and said, “I’ll ask 4586 to bring it over.”
Lu Li’s hand stiffened for a moment before he slowly withdrew it.
He didn’t know why, but when he saw Wen Yan preparing to leave, he instinctively reached out to stop her. Fortunately, she didn’t say anything to make him feel awkward.
Soon enough, 4586 delivered some food.
The nanny robot was visibly overjoyed and excited to see Lu Li awake.
Looking at the robot waving its arms in excitement, Lu Li felt as if he could sense the emotions emanating from it.
How strange… It was clearly just a lifeless robot, yet he could perceive its feelings. Could it be that 4586 had truly gained a semblance of life?
Lu Li had no answer for now. He managed to eat a little food with difficulty before lying back down to sleep.
When the nanny robot appeared, the little monkey had already scurried off. Lu Li didn’t worry about it. After all, the little monkey was still in its spirit form following the soul split—it couldn’t cause much trouble.
Gradually, he drifted off to sleep.
During his rest, the spirit form created from his soul separation began to absorb nourishment and recover. When he woke up again, the sky outside the window was already bright.
Inside the room, he was alone.
Lu Li glanced at the clock and realized it was already afternoon. He propped himself up and felt much better—his strength was returning.
Had it not been for the months he’d spent diligently practicing the physical refinement technique, who knows how long it would have taken him to recover from this soul separation?
Thinking of this, Lu Li felt deeply grateful to Su Su.
He pulled back the covers, ready to find Su Su and share the news of his successful soul separation. But as his gaze fell on the bedside table, he froze.
The once-empty surface was now filled with items—small packets of snacks, fruits, toys, and even a grasshopper woven from straw.
Lu Li picked up the little grasshopper with delight. He recognized it as Lai Qian Qian’s work—she was skilled at weaving these small trinkets. Su Su had even praised her for her dexterous hands.
Then, he noticed a small note tucked beneath the pile.
Lu Li picked it up and saw a message scrawled in crooked handwriting:
“Liu Liu, get well soon! Let’s play together once you’re better!”
Beneath the message were signatures in various handwriting styles, clearly written by each of his friends.
Looking at the little note and the table crowded with thoughtful gifts, Lu Li suddenly felt his eyes grow warm.
