Chapter 36
After returning to the estate that day, Anxius got Yomi an old-fashioned computer. The special thing about this model was that its keyboard was especially sturdy and could take a serious pounding.
Now that Yomi had turned into a sheep, he could not use his optical brain anymore. With a computer, it became much easier for him to type and communicate, and to contact his friends.
The moment he logged into his private account, Yomi saw a huge number of unread messages.
Most of them were from Lynn, asking what on earth had happened to him.
Lynn watched his show every day. This morning, after seeing the livestream clip of him being carried away by Louis, he thought Yomi had fallen ill. And because his calls would not go through no matter how many times he tried, he had been worried sick.
The little sheep immediately raised a hoof and replied:
[Lynn, I just woke up. My body is not in any serious trouble, it is just that my throat cannot speak for the time being, so I can only keep in touch by message during this period… I need to stay on my employer’s side for a while to recover. Do not worry.]
When Lynn saw the part about him being unable to speak, he immediately assumed his condition was severe. He sent a whole string of messages asking for details and insisting on coming to see him.
If this were an ordinary illness, Yomi would naturally have wanted him to come. But the situation was special now. He still could not return to human form, and the estate was heavily guarded…
After racking his brains, he typed:
[Only staff are allowed into the employer’s base here. A colleague is taking care of me now, and I will recover very soon. Really, do not worry.]
While he was chatting, Anxius seemed to have guessed he would contact his friend, and brought over several forged hospitalization certificates for him.
Yomi looked at him gratefully, then quickly lowered his hoof again and continued staring at him with his pitch-black eyes.
Um… hooves could not take photos.
Anxius restrained himself from hugging him, crouched down, and took the picture for him instead, then sent it to Lynn.
Only then did Lynn finally feel relieved. Before ending the chat, he told him to message right away if anything happened.
After replying to Lynn, Yomi used his hoof to shut the computer and let out a soft breath.
Meanwhile, Anxius went to the cloakroom. Very soon, a tall man walked out from inside. His features were sharp and distinct, and he stood ramrod straight.
Anxius had put on his human skin suit.
Seeing the Crown Prince’s human form so suddenly, Yomi still felt a little unaccustomed to it.
Just like before, Anxius naturally went over and picked him up, then carried him downstairs, only setting him down after they reached the main hall.
Anxius said in a low voice, “I will be back soon,” then turned and instructed Karl to take good care of him.
Karl was very surprised to see that he was going out. “Where are you going, Your Highness?” There had been no scheduled plans these past two days.
“The palace.” As he spoke, he lowered his eyes and glanced at the little sheep once more.
The little sheep also tilted his head up to look at him, but Anxius suddenly turned his face aside, and Yomi could not read the emotions in his eyes.
The Crown Prince had always acted with swift decisiveness. Two minutes later, Anxius left the estate with the subordinates who had received his orders.
Karl was still puzzled.
…Could it be that the Emperor wanted to see the Crown Prince alone for something?
He quickly shook his head. There was no need for him to be curious about the Crown Prince’s movements outside of official business. But next…
Karl lowered his head with a smiling squint and looked at the little sheep on the ground.
Yomi was standing very, very straight, and the little sheep’s clear eyes met his gaze directly.
Karl endured the urge to scream and picked him up. “Mr. Yomi, shall I take you out to get some sun first?”
Yomi had no objections. He could not speak now, and he did not even have a human appearance. Honestly, whatever he did made little difference.
The pasture on the estate was bathed in brilliant sunlight, and the wind gently swayed the green grass covering the ground.
Yomi lay on top of a blanket. In front of his hooves were five plates and two metal basins. On the plates were various organic vegetables, fruit, beans, hay, and all kinds of grains. In the metal basins were mineral water and goat milk.
Two servants sat behind him separately, one brushing the little sheep’s wool, the other gently massaging him.
“Baa…”
Stubbornly, Yomi used his hoof to push the basin of milk away.
Naturally, this style of sheep care was Karl’s idea. Although he did not know exactly what illness Yomi had, since he was a sheep, he must surely like staying on the grass. There just so happened to be other sheep nearby too, and maybe they could keep him company.
Thinking of that, Karl really did bring over several lambs to accompany him.
“Mr. Yomi, which one do you like?”
“…”
Yomi lowered his head and silently ate grass.
Seeing that the little sheep did not need companions, Karl laughed and carried the lambs away again.
Out on the grass, Yomi turned his head and bleated softly a few times to the two servants, trying to indicate that right now he only wanted to stay alone as a sheep.
Naturally, the servants could not understand. They thought he was hungry and fed him tender grass.
Yomi: “…”
Even though he had turned into a sheep, he was still capable of taking care of himself.
After taking one bite, he turned his head and refused to be fed anymore. The little sheep stretched lazily, got to his feet, and slowly made his way toward the larger grassy area ahead.
He wanted to exercise and strengthen his body. Though he was not actually sick, improving his constitution would surely help when using skills in the future.
The moment he had the thought, he acted on it. With a running start from his four short little hooves, he began sprinting across the broad meadow, making the servants cry out in surprise.
Oh my, when this little sheep ran, he bounced as he went. He really was full of energy.
After running a big lap, Yomi got tired. He began strolling beneath the sun, thinking as he walked about his study plans for the days ahead. After a few steps, he flicked his hooves, returned to his metal basin to drink some water, and after finishing, glanced at the hay on the plate, suddenly feeling tempted to try it…
Just as he lowered his nose and gave it a sniff, he heard footsteps behind him.
Yomi turned around for a look, did not think much of it, and continued sniffing the hay.
It was a sturdy billy goat. Its horns were long and sharp, and it had probably run over from the flock not far away. Its small eyes were fixed tightly on the plate in front of him.
Yomi ate a few strands of hay and found it acceptable. While chewing, he sensed that the billy goat was still approaching…
Yomi looked at it again.
The billy goat was staring at the hay in his mouth with clearly bad intentions.
Trying to steal food?
Yomi frowned with eyebrows that did not exist and kicked his hoof against the ground.
The billy goat immediately became alert as well and started pawing the ground too. But in the next second, the little sheep in front of it suddenly bounced up, very generously trotted away on his short legs, and even let out a helpless little baa at it, as if to say: No need to fight over it. Go ahead and eat.
After moving aside, the little sheep licked the wool on his chest, preparing to continue exercising.
But then, the sound of footsteps came from behind him again.
Yomi turned around.
That billy goat had actually bypassed his food and followed him all the way instead!
?
At the same time, Karl, who had just returned, saw the scene too. From far away, he saw the big goat “drive Yomi away,” sniff at Yomi’s food, then continue to “bully” the poor Yomi!
Karl was so distressed his heart ached. Thinking the little sheep was being bullied by the big billy goat, he immediately ran over shouting, “Shoo, shoo, shoo! Stay away from Yomi! You are not allowed to bully sheep!”
The little sheep turned his head in shock.
Karl had come too!
The billy goat was startled by Karl’s shouting, but it did not leave. This goat was stubborn enough. Not only did it refuse to go, it even lowered its head into an attacking posture—
It was about to ram Karl.
Yomi was stunned.
Are you insane?
Seeing that Karl was about to reach them, Yomi hurriedly scraped his hoof against the ground a few times, ran over, and planted himself sideways between the man and the goat. Then he bleated furiously at the foolish billy goat:
You cannot attack humans. You cannot beat him anyway. You will be turned straight into lamb skewers!
The billy goat seemed unable to believe that this soft, fluffy little white sheep was actually scolding it. Its gaze even went blank.
Fortunately, the ranch workers heard the commotion and ran over in time, quickly arresting the billy goat that had secretly wandered away from the flock.
The billy goat’s bleating sounded rather mournful.
Karl: “…”
Yomi: “…”
What a false alarm. Karl wiped away his sweat, staring at the delicate and pretty little white sheep before him, and seemed to suddenly understand something.
Even after turning into an animal, he could still be confessed to.
As expected of the empire’s little darling…
Yomi did not understand the billy goat’s love at all. He only wanted to build up his body, so he spent the whole afternoon walking and hopping about the grassland for exercise. He even tried using his sheep horns to butt a tree. It had no real attack power, but it was rather fun.
By evening, Anxius returned.
Yomi had eaten his fill, and the entire little sheep was full of energy. But after running around the pasture, quite a lot of dust had gotten into his wool.
Anxius carried the little sheep back to the villa and washed him in the bathroom.
Yomi felt rather shy. Though he was covered in wool and this was not even a human body, he still felt embarrassed somehow.
After the bath, Anxius crouched down with a hair dryer and dried his wool. Very soon, the wet little sheep turned snow-white and fluffy again.
“Baa baa!” Thank you.
Anxius looked at the little sheep silently for a while, then carried him over to the carpet. “Rest well tonight. Karl will communicate with the production team, so you do not need to worry about them. Tomorrow, you will start learning skills.”
Yomi nodded.
I understand.
Anxius seemed to still have things to do. After making his bed for him, he went to the study.
Yomi lay on the bed for a while, but simply could not fall asleep.
A few minutes later, a little sheep carefully climbed down from the bed, opened his computer, and secretly went online.
The first episode of Different Is Fine Too had already ended, but the heat on the internet had far exceeded Yomi’s expectations.
It was actually this popular?!
The trending topics related to the show were still holding high positions.
His name was there too.
#TouchingMomentsOnLeiaContinent#
#YomiIsSick#
#HisHighnessJosephHasImproved#
#DifferentIsFineTooRecording#
#WhichPairDoYouLike#
…
There were simply too many related trending topics and discussions. Yomi could not finish reading them all. He rubbed his eyes with his hoof and opened his streaming account.
Under that account, there were many comments asking about his current condition.
Yomi raised a hoof, opened the chat software, and asked Karl:
[Many people are worried about me. Can I respond?]
Karl replied instantly:
[Yes. His Highness said your condition will improve very soon. You can tell your fans that you are receiving treatment.]
Half an hour later, the account Daily Mi replied to a comment expressing concern for his health:
[I am currently receiving treatment. At the moment it is only my throat that is making it hard to speak, so please do not worry.]
Yomi’s fans exploded with emotion.
Wuwuwu, so he really is sick! Thank goodness it is not serious…
Of course, they could never have imagined that this reply had been typed out by a sheep’s hoof.
The next morning, Yomi got up bright and early. After eating fresh tender grass, the little sheep was carried by the Crown Prince into the study.
Anxius switched on the study’s light screen and contacted a skills professor from the Imperial Academy, giving Yomi one-on-one foundational instruction on skills.
Yomi studied very seriously. His hooves could not hold a pen, so he lay on the blanket and promptly typed the key points into a document on the computer.
Whenever the kindly professor asked if he understood, he would immediately nod and bleat. Whenever he came across something he did not know, he would raise a hoof, bleat a few times, and type out his question.
He loved studying most of all. Compared with working, studying made people happy!
Anxius watched the little sheep’s back for a long while before finally looking away and searching for secret materials from different planets.
He was looking for a way to repair Yomi’s human form.
On the paper Bruel had given him, there was only one short line:
A Snar native who possesses both human form and skills at the same time may try a symbiotic surgery with a human.
No one had ever actually performed this surgery. After all, there were no humans left here long ago. Bruel had only simulated the surgery in a holographic experiment. But even in simulation, the failure rate was extremely high.
Over there, Yomi had already finished an entire lesson. The professor announced the class was over, and Yomi stood up.
“Baa baa baa!” Thank you, teacher. Goodbye, teacher.
The professor’s class had been packed with useful material. Anxius only arranged one class a day for him. Once he understood the basic knowledge, he would go to Bruel’s place for practical training.
Yomi was very satisfied. This schedule was way too relaxed.
After class, it was time for lunch. Anxius carried him to the dining room.
It was inconvenient for Yomi to sit on a chair now, so Karl had specially found a craftsman to make him a low little dining table. Behind it was even a nest-like spot, convenient for resting when he got tired of eating, or even eating while lying down.
Yomi stood in front of the small table and ate grass. Although this was a false form, his skills were not good enough yet, so from the inside out he was still completely a sheep. Naturally, he had a sheep’s stomach too. Before he fully mastered shape-changing, he could only keep eating sheep food.
To be fair, the crisp crunching sound of chewing grass was rather pleasant to hear. The little sheep ate while swaying his head about.
During the meal, Anxius’s gaze never left the little sheep.
After lunch, Karl brought over another piece of news that surprised Yomi.
“Yomi has become a huge celebrity now!” Karl said in an exaggerated tone, grinning from ear to ear. “So many agencies and variety shows are contacting you like mad… There is even a duchess who wants to adopt you. I am practically becoming your manager now…” The kind of manager whose artist had suddenly exploded in popularity.
Anxius said nothing and looked toward Yomi.
Yomi shook his head. In his current state, he did not even know whether he would be able to continue participating in Different Is Fine Too. As for those other things, there was even less reason to consider them. He could not speak for the moment, so he could only leave all such matters entirely to Karl to respond on his behalf.
He was troubling Karl so much. Later, he definitely had to treat him to a big meal.
The little sheep rubbed his hooves together and made a mental note of it.
After Karl left, Anxius picked him up and took him to the pasture.
This time he did not let the servants come over. On the wide grassland, there was only Anxius and one little sheep.
After living as a sheep for a day and a night, Yomi had already adapted to his new body. He kicked his hoof, locked onto a butterfly in the air, and launched a full-force pursuit!
It was hard to tell whether the butterfly was doing it on purpose, but it kept fluttering slowly above his head. Just when Yomi thought he was about to succeed, the butterfly suddenly flew higher and disappeared a few seconds later.
Panting after chasing in a circle and being toyed with by a butterfly, the little sheep did not get angry. Exercise was supposed to be fun, after all.
On the small hill covered in tender grass, Anxius watched from afar as the little sheep bounced his way back toward him. Those four little legs wrapped in thick fluffy wool were unbelievably energetic.
“Baa!” The little sheep ran to his side, announcing that the workout session was over.
Anxius paused, then shifted his gaze away almost imperceptibly. Suddenly, he said, “There are still ten days before the second episode begins… I am preparing to terminate your contract for you.”
Yomi froze for a moment. He knew the show Anxius was referring to was Different Is Fine Too.
“Even if you do not want to, the contract must still be terminated.” Before the surgery, he absolutely could not let Yomi go to those dangerous places anymore.
The little sheep came back to himself. He poked around in the backpack for the computer. Knowing he wanted to speak, Anxius took the computer out and placed it in front of him.
The sheep hoof went clack clack on the keyboard:
Okay. I saved a lot of money from livestreaming before, so it should be enough to cover the penalty.
He had joined in the first place for the activation on Leia Continent. Now that Anxius was saying this, he naturally assumed it was because he would not be able to master his skills well enough in a short time. Maybe by the time the second episode started, he still would not be able to change back. Or maybe even if he did, an accident might happen on the show… Terminating the contract really was the best option.
“…”
Anxius stared blankly at that sentence.
Yomi continued typing:
There is something I have wanted to ask you for a long time, but it was not convenient on the show before… Do you really like my livestream that much?
Secretly livestreaming behind his boss’s back, only for the boss to discover it and become his number-one supporter… He did not even know whether that was because Anxius had wanted the same kind of peace he once got from taking care of him. Back then, Yomi had even chatted with him like he was a stranger. It was really awkward.
After finishing on the keyboard, he cautiously glanced sideways at him, only to meet the other’s gaze directly.
“I like it,” those golden eyes looked at him. “I like it very much.”
How embarrassing.
The little sheep lowered his hoof, his adorable big eyes dropping to the ground. He sniffed the air, turned and started eating grass, then a few seconds later looked back while chewing and bleated a few times. Translation as follows:
Thank you, my family!
(Yomi’s newly learned livestream slogan.)
“…”
…
That night, the official account of Different Is Fine Too released a shocking announcement—
Due to health reasons, Yomi would not continue participating in the following live broadcasts of the show.
While the audience was shocked and upset, the production team themselves also could not recover from it for a long time.
Kurt in particular felt extremely guilty after learning that Yomi had temporarily lost his voice because of illness… This was clearly related to the harsh environment and psychological pressure. At first, he had actually thought it was just a cold and had never imagined it would be so serious! When the production team discussed contract termination matters with Karl, he had very much wanted to visit Yomi, but Karl naturally refused him.
The contract termination process went smoothly. Before Yomi joined, the show had originally planned for only four pairs anyway. Now that Yomi and Louis were both terminating their contracts, even if they were unlucky enough not to find suitable guests, the next few episodes could still proceed according to the original plan.
Yomi’s participation in the first episode had already brought the entire production team unprecedented popularity and attention. This one episode alone would become a bold and unforgettable line on every staff member’s résumé. What Yomi had brought them was far, far beyond what the original pay could ever make up for.
Besides, with the royal family also having spoken on the matter, how would they dare stand in the way?
At the end of the day, his body had suffered force majeure on their show. Forget termination fees—they were even having to consult lawyers regarding compensation for mental and physical harm…
No matter the reason, they all hoped that the little one could recover as soon as possible.
The internet had already gone completely wild.
He had blown up after appearing in just the first episode of a variety show, then suddenly withdrawn right at the height of his momentum. Viewers could hardly believe it, much less understand it. If they had not checked the calendar, they might have thought it was some kind of April Fool’s joke.
[Nooo, without Teacher Mi’ new content my future is pitch black!]
[What happened to Mimi exactly? I am so worried!]
[Actually, anyone who watched the final section of episode one knows very clearly that Yomi suddenly got sick. I heard the illness caused loss of speech, and it probably has something to do with psychological stress… Yomi is not short of money from streaming anyway, so there is really no need for him to keep joining such a dangerous show. I support his decision!]
[Wuwuwu, Teacher Mi, you must stay healthy and safe. I am willing to trade ten jin of fat for Teacher Mi to live a thousand years!]
[Sweetheart, recover properly. We are waiting for your stream.]
[CrocodileIsNotAFish: Mimi, you are amazing. You have always been amazing!]
…
That same night, Yomi learned another fresh piece of news from Karl:
The director of a zoo in the suburbs wanted to invite Yomi to become an ant animal trainer.
This director had also noticed Yomi only after watching the recent livestream show. But unlike other viewers, he had focused on something different. On Leia Continent, Yomi had been extremely popular with animals—whether the gentle snowbirds or the violent rain dragons, they all seemed to like him very much.
And that zoo just so happened to be lacking a short-statured ant trainer.
The ants here were not ordinary ants, but giant ants found years ago on a garbage planet—the dance ants.
Dance ants were nearly fifty centimeters long and around thirty centimeters tall. Among ants, that naturally made them giants.
Dance ants loved dancing. After training, they could even perform many dance routines and had excellent entertainment value. They often appeared in large galas and stage events.
At first, when Karl heard all this, he laughed in irritation. “Yomi already has a job. Please go find a professional animal trainer.”
“That is not it! I absolutely did not come to you just to chase popularity. The dance ant in our zoo is already twenty years old. It is very old… You may not understand dance ants, but dance ants love small dolls very much, because the large build of Snar natives frightens them… But the short animal trainer who had always handled our zoo’s dance ant resigned not long ago and went traveling to another planet. Ever since then, it has been especially fond of pretending to be dead and has scared us half to death several times… It refuses to accept the new trainer at all. I know what you are thinking right now—even if it accepted Yomi, what would happen when Yomi is not there? But that is exactly the key point!”
“If the dance ant can accept Yomi, then he would not even need to work full-time. He would only need to guide the dance ant through a single performance. Once the dance ant believes he is the trainer, Yomi can then shake hands with the new trainer and hand things over. That way, the dance ant will think the new trainer is a friend of the previous trainer, so it will be willing to give the new trainer face! That is how dance ants think… The current dance ant refuses to accept the new trainer not only because the person is tall, but largely because it thinks the new trainer is stealing the previous trainer’s position, and so it is hostile.”
Karl asked in confusion, “Then why did you not do a handover between trainers before?”
“To be honest, this phenomenon has only recently been discovered by other zoos as well. Dance ants have only been in zoos for a few decades, and dance ant trainers are treated very well, so generally they do not resign. It just so happened that ours did… The previous trainer will not return to Snar for at least a year and a half, so that is why we wanted to ask Mr. Yomi to give it a try.”
Karl relayed all of this word for word to Yomi.
After all, unlike those previous program invitations, he could not make the decision for him.
Yomi thought it over carefully. It would just be trying contact in the future, not taking a formal job, so there did not seem to be anything wrong with it. And after hearing all that about the dance ants, he had indeed grown a little curious about them.
The little sheep typed on the keyboard in reply:
When I recover my human form, if I have time, I will go take a look.
But for now, the most important thing was still studying skill knowledge.
That night, Yomi returned to the little castle. His sheep body was even smaller than his human body, so the castle was naturally easy to enter.
After hopping onto the familiar bed, the little sheep took a deep breath, then released the skill book from his mouth, flopped down, turned the pages with his hoof, and read with full concentration.
In the bedroom, the only sound was that of the little sheep turning pages. Outside the castle, no one was there.
Anxius had not come back yet.
That afternoon, Anxius had gone out again. Yomi did not know what he was busy with, though it did not really seem strange for the Crown Prince to be busy.
Yomi read until eleven at night. Sleepiness made him yawn, and his little sheep eyes could hardly stay open anymore.
With one hoof, he snapped the book shut, pushed it onto the bedside table, then unconsciously glanced out the window.
Anxius still had not returned.
He rarely came home this late before. Could it be because joining the show had left a lot of matters piled up?
The little sheep nudged the pillow with his head, rested his sheep chin on his hoof, closed his eyes, and went to sleep!
Not long after falling asleep, he heard a faint noise. Yomi opened his eyes and looked outside the window.
Anxius had returned. The man’s footsteps were very light, and after coming in, he looked toward his direction first.
Yomi immediately shut his eyes.
A little while later, a tearing sound came from outside.
?
The little sheep secretly opened his eyes again.
Inside the bedroom, Anxius swiftly peeled off his human skin suit and changed back into the monster.
The monster sat on the edge of the bed, looking especially exhausted. He tilted his head back and breathed deeply, a very low, icy rasping sound coming from his throat.
He remained motionless, yet it also seemed as though he was exerting himself desperately against something—
as if blood and soul were both resisting a certain force.
…So today’s medicine had taken effect, but only slightly.
A moment later, that tall body collapsed in defeat.
The little sheep suddenly raised his head. Just as he was about to make a sound, the monster seemed to sense something, turned his face, and stared at him with dark intensity.
Separated by that tiny little window, Yomi felt for the first time that those golden pupils were as frightening as black holes. In a small voice, he said, “Baa…”
What is wrong with you?
“…Mimi.” The monster’s voice was hoarse and low. His expression looked like that of a hysterical patient, yet for a fleeting instant, he also looked like a lost child.
Yomi studied him carefully for a while, then stood up.
The little sheep stepped out softly on his hooves. He walked to his own computer, lifted his head and sniffed the air, then typed:
[There is a smell of medicine. Are you sick?]
