"I think the Book of Fuxi needs a good slap right now." Chen Luo stood before the sofa, looking at the pitiful little fox and the comfortably sleeping Book of Fuxi.
"Yingyingying!" The little fox was bristling with anger.
But its voice was weak—mostly because it was starving.
It hadn't eaten since morning, and its paw had been stuck in the Book of Fuxi's mouth the entire time. It had spent half a day trying to pull it free, which only made it hungrier.
"Sigh, wait a moment; I'll get you free soon." Chen Luo stroked the little fox's head, trying to calm it down. There was no point in panicking. If he pulled too hard, the Book of Fuxi might bite down harder.
"Chicken leg… feathers not plucked clean…" the Book of Fuxi mumbled through gritted teeth.
"..."
If the feathers weren't plucked, why was she still biting?
Wouldn't she get a stomachache?
No—this wasn't the point.
"I might as well use the Herrscher of Corruption's authority." Chen Luo sighed helplessly. His fingertip darkened to a pitch-black shade, and he tapped the Book of Fuxi between the brows.
"Yikes!" The Book of Fuxi instantly sat up. Whether her eyes were open, he couldn't tell—she was wearing an eye mask.
"Ying!"
Well, whether they were open or not didn't matter—because once she woke up, she actually bit the little fox's paw even harder.
"Ptooey, what is this? Furry? Tastes awful." The Book of Fuxi's voice was filled with disgust.
"Yingyingying!" The little fox was furious.
You bit my paw, and that's bad enough—but now you say it tastes awful? You're done for!
Just as the little fox leaped into the air, Chen Luo scooped it up.
"You'd better give up. How could you possibly beat her?" he said, stroking the fox to calm it down.
He lifted the fox's paw and checked it—thankfully, it was mostly fine. Just a tooth mark.
Not a big issue… probably.
The good news was that the fox's fur was tough and didn't shed easily.
Otherwise, it would have already burst into tears.
"Chen Luo, you're back?" Hearing his voice, the Book of Fuxi removed her eye mask with delight.
"Hurry up and make food! I'm starving! Seriously, it's already past 2 PM and you're only just getting back." She looked at the clock and began complaining.
"..."
"Huh? What's wrong with the little fox? Oh, I know! It must be angry because you didn't prepare breakfast for her this morning, right? A'Luo, honestly—you only made breakfast for me and not the little fox." She immediately pointed at him as soon as she noticed the fox's furious, wronged expression.
"... XiXi, have you ever considered the possibility that the food this morning was meant for both you and the little fox?" Chen Luo finally spoke.
He had truly never seen someone this shameless.
"How could that be?"
"How could it not be? The fried tofu was obviously meant for the little fox. Why did you eat it?"
"Eh? Wasn't the fried tofu supposed to go with the steamed buns?" she said, shocked.
"...No."
"Then you should've said so earlier! Look how hungry the little fox is! Hurry and make her food—she's about to cry."
"No, you're misunderstanding again. Being angry about not having breakfast is one thing. But that's not why she was almost crying." Chen Luo cut her off before she could change the subject.
"Oh—right. It's afternoon… so it must be because she didn't have lunch." She looked at the clock and suddenly realized.
It was already past 2 PM—logically, time for lunch.
"No, she's angry because a certain gluttonous, lazy ELF bit her paw all morning and all noon. What do you think that furry thing you were chewing on was?" Chen Luo said helplessly.
Wasn't the Book of Fuxi created to take care of Fu Hua?
And yet she ate nonstop, slept nonstop, refused to stand if she could sit, and—most importantly—infuriated everyone.
How was this someone meant to take care of others?
"Alright, little fox, so I ate one portion of your breakfast. But stuffing your paw in my mouth for revenge? How despicable!" The Book of Fuxi glared angrily at the fox.
"Yingyingying! Yingyingying! Woof!" The little fox, already heartbroken, almost exploded when it heard such shameless words—letting out a bark that didn't even sound like a fox anymore.
"Alright, alright, don't be angry. Be good…" Chen Luo hurried to soothe it.
Of course, petting wasn't enough—he had to use the Herrscher of Sentience's power to settle its emotions.
After all, the Book of Fuxi was simply too infuriating.
And mostly because she was completely clueless about what she'd done.
Which, ironically, made her even more infuriating.
While calming the fox, Chen Luo also sensed the development of its mind.
He wasn't that familiar with the Herrscher of Sentience's abilities, but he could tell the fox was very intelligent.
Who knows—maybe it was a spirit beast from another world. And if so… could it actually repay a kindness someday?
In that case, I want a maid.
"XiXi, has it ever occurred to you that the fox came to wake you, and you grabbed its paw and shoved it into your mouth? Instead of it putting its paw there on purpose?" Chen Luo offered another possibility.
"Emmm…" The Book of Fuxi looked at Chen Luo's helpless face and at the fox's furious, wronged expression and began to understand.
"Ah—sorry, my mistake." She apologized immediately—so quickly that Chen Luo couldn't help clicking his tongue.
"Alright, since you admit your mistake, how about giving your lunch to the little fox as an apology?" Chen Luo said, relieved.
"No! My head can be cut off, my blood can flow, but lunch cannot be given away!" The Book of Fuxi refused with righteous conviction.
"...You really are impressive." Chen Luo gave her a disdainful look.
"Then… how about I give her half?" she asked pitifully.
"Forget it. I called you both here for lunch anyway. It'll be enough. Go to the bar already. I was wondering why neither of you showed up—turns out you simply weren't awake, and the little fox couldn't meet the requirement to summon the bar…" Chen Luo sighed heavily and shot her a sharp glare.
"You sleep at home every day—can't you do something productive?" He sounded exactly like a parent lecturing a misbehaving child.
"Ah… productive? What productive things?" The Book of Fuxi was stunned.
"Dishes washed? Floor swept? Floors mopped? Homework—"
"Stop, stop, stop—what homework?" the Book of Fuxi suddenly interrupted.
"Of course, my homework," Chen Luo said confidently.
"Your homework?"
"I just remembered. Besides handwritten homework, I also need to clock the required hours for online courses. And since you're just staying home doing nothing…" Chen Luo looked directly at her.
Clocking hours for online courses was a terrible system—especially those utterly useless ones. And now that Chen Luo had Furniture Mastery, reading books was a far faster way for him to gain knowledge than watching videos.
Besides, he spent his daytime saving the world and his nights running the bar. When was he supposed to sit around watching pointless online lessons?
That Yun Xia really hadn't handled things thoroughly—not even taking over the online course requirements…
"But—but that's your homework! Why should I do it?"
"Because I have to go out and work during the day. Or are you and the little fox planning to go earn money to support the family?" Chen Luo pointed at the fox, then at her.
"So you're saying that while I'm at home, I also have to help you clock your online course hours?"
The Book of Fuxi didn't know exactly what online courses were, but she understood enough: watching videos to fill time.
"Correct. And to make sure you don't slack off, after each lesson, you need to write a reflection of no less than two hundred words."
Just thinking about how he ran around all day while the Book of Fuxi slept from morning to noon to afternoon made Chen Luo feel deeply resentful.
He needed to give her something to do.
Two hundred words was already very little—she could ramble and easily get that length.
"Noooo…" The Book of Fuxi let out a mournful wail.
"Old fossil, where are you? I miss you…"
Even though following Fu Hua meant starving nine times in three days, at least she didn't have to watch online courses. Sure, life was rougher, the food was worse, and the diet was too monotonous…
Emmm…
"Fine, I'll help you finish the online courses."
The Book of Fuxi turned her little head and realized that living with Chen Luo really was better than living with Fu Hua. Even if she needed to watch online courses and write reflections… at least there was good food.
This wasn't betrayal. The truth was that Chen Luo and the Herrscher of Sentience never even went to the Honkai Impact world—so she had no chance to see Fu Hua anyway.
"Alright, you two go to the bar first. I need to take care of something." After summoning the bar door, Chen Luo told the two little creatures.
"Don't be angry anymore. How about I make you two portions of fried tofu later?"
"Ying…" The little fox didn't look very satisfied, but what was done was done. And seeing Chen Luo's suddenly serious expression, it knew it was time to go.
"Sigh, I wanted to interact with you all as an ordinary person, but all I got in return was surveillance. I'm not pretending anymore, I'm laying my cards on the table. Damn it, sending people to spy on me, do you think I have no temper?" Chen Luo looked towards the southeast of his house with a murderous expression.
Ever since he absorbed Shenhe's murderous aura, a trace of that sharpness had clung to him. And only because he hadn't spent Primogems yet to dispel it.
After becoming a Herrscher of Sentience, he became extremely sensitive to any form of spying or surveillance. He was sure the Herrscher of Sentience must have sensed it too, but for some reason, she hadn't mentioned it.
Perhaps she was used to it—or something else.
Before awakening, he didn't notice anything. But last night, after returning from the bar, he finally detected it. It was too late to act then, but the person was still there today.
In that case, he wouldn't be merciful.
Of course, first he needed to determine whether the surveillance was friendly or hostile—and who orchestrated it.
But regardless of the intent, the person had to be dealt with.
Properly and thoroughly.
* * *
"Lord Bishop, confirmed. I have not been discovered."
A girl with a ponytail stood in a third-floor room of a detached villa, observing the distance with a telescope while speaking on a satellite phone.
[Keep yourself hidden. Of the twelve monitors we sent out, six were already forced to withdraw. To cover for you two, the remaining four were eliminated one by one. Another is currently being tracked by the other side. But they will never guess the true infiltration method—the simplest and least suspicious one.]
"Understood, Lord Bishop."
[Alright. Report on the target's current status.]
"Currently, surveillance shows the target has a status of zero—he hasn't left his home in several days. Due to angle limitations and restrictions on using special abilities, more detailed observations are impossible. But his daily routine appears consistent with that of a normal person."
Typical hidden world surveillance relied on techniques and detection spells.
But those produced energy fluctuations—making them easy to detect.
So the simplest method was actually just a telescope.
And the simplest infiltration was sending a real relative of the villa's owner as a visitor.
By coincidence, this girl met all the criteria.
[Never left the house?]
"Yes. Not once. He's acting like a stay-at-home shut-in. It seems normal."
[No—that is exactly what's abnormal. You're not a professional. You were assigned this role simply because your background fit our needs. So you don't realize how unusual it is for someone to suddenly never leave home.]
"What do you mean?" the girl asked.
Her assignment really was just filling a slot—her profession had nothing to do with surveillance.
[To use an ancient saying: "When something behaves abnormally, there is always a hidden cause." Records show the target is warm-hearted. For the past two years, during every single holiday, he would go out and help others. For him to completely stop leaving the house is extremely abnormal.]
"Ah… then, Lord Bishop, can we take action now?"
[No. His change in behavior could also be due to psychological shifts caused by his awakening. That is normal.]
"Then what should we do?"
[Find an opportunity to approach him. Go to his home. As long as you sense even the slightest trace of Yvette's aura, you may arrest him immediately.]
"Understood."
After hanging up and setting the phone aside, the girl adjusted her clothes, preparing to bring some gifts to visit the nearby "neighbors."
"Ah… who would've thought—the flaw would be exposed in this way…"
A sigh echoed behind her, making her instantly tense.