Chapter 79

Chapter 79

Tonight, Lv Chun will be studying Xu Qiao's experiment log and won't be able to observe the progress between Xu Qiao and the wolverine.

After having dinner at the cafeteria near the lab, Xu Qiao took Qinchi on a tour of her new villa while the military academy students hadn’t arrived yet.

The efficiency of official matters had always been high, and with the help of advanced ability users with various professional skills, the villa that had been vacant for a long time was now fully renovated inside and out. It was decorated according to the style Xu Qiao had chosen from Sun Xuan, making it ready to move in immediately.

The exterior walls of the villa were mainly in apricot color, giving off a warm and serene vibe.

The villa had three above-ground floors, faced the street in the front, and had a garden of over 100 square meters at the back, which was currently empty, waiting for the owner to arrange it.

Xu Qiao didn’t have the energy to tidy up the garden for now, so she just took a quick look around and went to arrange the bedrooms inside.

There were no guest rooms on the first floor, only a nanny's room. Xu Qiao couldn’t possibly arrange for her teammate, lab assistant, cook, driver, and bodyguard to stay there, so she let him pick a room from the three bedrooms on the second floor.

Qinchi asked, "How are the other two rooms arranged?"

Xu Qiao replied, "One is for Xiaoyang, and the other is a guest room."

Qinchi said, "Then I'll wait for Xiaoyang to choose first. Otherwise, if he comes over tonight and sees I’ve already picked a room, he might look at me even colder tomorrow."

Xu Qiao: "..."

Qinchi: "You go arrange the bedroom, I'll wait downstairs."

Xu Qiao then went to the master bedroom facing south on the third floor, made the bed, and placed a few sets of spare clothes in the wardrobe. She put a small green vase on the bedside table and a large one in the corner.

Lotus flower stretched out its head and placed itself in her hair, inspecting the new home while Xu Qiao moved around, and reminded, "We need to put two vases in the living room as well."

Xu Qiao said, "I don’t have any vases."

Lotus flower replied, "Qinchi has some."

Xu Qiao said, "Then ask him for it. I’m too embarrassed to bring it up."

Since Qinchi had proactively bought more than a dozen vases, it would be a waste to keep them in storage. It was better to satisfy Lotus flower's needs.

After finishing the arrangement, Xu Qiao walked down the spiral staircase and found that Qinchi had already placed a large and two small vases in a selected spot on the first floor.

Xu Qiao paused in her steps, and in the next second, there was an additional lotus flower in each of the three vases—one large and two small.

Condensing clones is a characteristic of plant mental entities, similar to how animal mental entities possess combat abilities comparable to beasts of the same level. However, the more clones are condensed, the greater the mental exhaustion. Fortunately, Xu Qiao was now at level A and could support the small consumption of three flowers.

"Luckily, it's just a villa. If it were a castle, those dozen or so vases might not be enough," Xu Qiao said, sitting on the brand-new sofa and taking the opportunity to relax her shoulders and back.

Qinchi looked at the small lotus flower on the coffee table and suggested, "If it were a castle, you could just dig a pond."

Lotus flower said, "Yes, I like ponds."

The silent flow of words made Qinchi smile, but Xu Qiao felt a bit embarrassed.

Although the lotus flower said it liked ponds, Qinchi's name also contained the character for "pond."

She glanced at her wrist device and reluctantly left the comfortable sofa. "Let's go; Xiaoyang and the others are about to arrive."

At 6:45, three military academy students appeared outside Zhou Cheng's lab's glass walls.

Bao Wei was the most enthusiastic, running over to congratulate Xu Qiao. Wei Pingye was also smiling, but Lu Yang, after making eye contact with Xu Qiao, immediately shifted his gaze away. The already stern-looking young man now appeared even more unapproachable.

To Xu Qiao's relief, at least Lu Yang had looked at her. He hadn’t given Qinchi a single glance.

After making preparations, Shen Jie also arrived. As soon as he retracted his bamboo forest mental entity, Lu Yang eagerly pushed the door open.

The wolverine, unaware of what was happening outside, saw the four people entering one after another and angrily moved to another spot.

Wei Pingye said, "If you stay still and behave, I won't put up a water wall."

The wolverine had all four paws on the ground, its body not relaxed, ready to attack at any moment.

Lu Yang took out an apple, and the wolverine's black eyes turned towards him.

Lu Yang twirled the apple and suddenly let out a self-deprecating laugh, speaking to the wolverine, "Even though you've never told us, we all know that you're not close with your siblings and have lived a pretty lonely life, right?"

The wolverine showed no change in expression, and Xu Qiao and the other two looked at Lu Yang.

Lu Yang continued to address the wolverine with a gloomy expression, "I'm like you; I lost my parents. But until today, I always thought I was better off than you. At least I still had a sister. I never felt lonely. But I found out that my sister never considered me her brother. Even my teammates knew the secret, but I, the younger brother, was kept in the dark. Tell me, is there a sibling like that?"

Xu Qiao: "..."

Bao Wei and Wei Pingye: "..."

Lotus flower jumped out and landed in front of Lu Yang.

The lotus flower with ninety-nine petals immediately turned Lu Yang's gloom into astonishment.

Lotus flower said, "Don't say that. Xu Qiao didn't tell you because she treats you like a brother and didn't want you to worry or affect your studies."

Lu Yang's eyes suddenly felt a bit sour.

Lotus flower extended its leaves and gently touched his face. "Xu Qiao has a villa now and reserved a room for you."

Lu Yang's face turned red again.

Seeing this, Xu Qiao retracted Lotus flower and said calmly, "I was planning to reserve a room for you, but since you think I don't consider you my brother, forget it."

Lu Yang: "..."

Bao Wei snatched the apple from him and waved it at the wolverine. "See? Some opportunities, once missed, are gone. While Big Sister Qiao still cares to visit you, you'd better cooperate."

He tossed the apple into the air, and the wolverine jumped up to catch it. As it chewed with its head tilted, it looked at the siblings, as if trying to figure out what had happened.

When it finished eating, the lotus plant descended in front of the wolverine, shrinking to a height convenient for the wolverine to view the flower. It conveyed its thoughts: "Look, aren't the ninety-nine petals especially beautiful?"

The wolverine was more interested in the water mass under the lotus. It reached out with a paw and gave it a flick.

Following Xu Qiao's instructions, the lotus attempted to communicate with Zhou Cheng inside the wolverine: "Zhou Cheng, can you hear me?"

"You're not the first person to undergo beast transformation. Xu Qiao has already cured one before, and now she's been promoted to Grade A. As long as you're willing to transform back, she can cure you too."

"You don't dare to fight your classmates because you've experienced a lot of unpleasant things. If you're willing, Xu Qiao can help you erase those memory fragments, leaving only the happy ones."

"Lu Yang and the others care about you a lot. They'll keep coming to see you until you're ready to return and join them in class."

"Also, Xu Qiao considers Bao Wei and Wei Pingye as her brothers, just like you. She kept her level a secret for so long, only revealing it because she wanted to cure you."

The wolverine's bear paw remained in the water mass but hadn't moved for a long time.

The lotus slowly extended a leaf, gently touching the wolverine's neck fur.

The wolverine's black eyes locked onto it.

Lotus: "Both Xu Qiao and I want to touch you. Your fur is so soft; it must feel very comfortable, right?"

The wolverine continued to stare at it.

The lotus quietly rubbed its neck fur with the leaf. Seeing that the wolverine didn't object, it happily increased the pressure.

Bao Wei: "Can it be like this? Can I have a go? My elephant feels too rough."

An elephant trunk emerged, wrapping around his neck.

Bao Wei hugged the trunk tightly, exaggeratedly calling: "Help—"

The wolverine glanced at him, then back at the lotus, and suddenly lay down, keeping its neck in a position convenient for the lotus leaf to continue rubbing.

The lotus, excited for its first fur touch, eagerly brought all four of its leaves over, one to touch the neck, one for the top of the head, one for the back, and one for the belly.

The wolverine swatted away the leaf trying to touch its belly.

That leaf then moved to touch the wolverine's round little ears.

Xu Qiao, watching enviously, politely asked: "Can I touch it?"

The wolverine remained lying down.

Xu Qiao tentatively stood up, and the wolverine lifted its head, eyes full of caution.

Xu Qiao realized the wolverine still wasn't ready to accept her closeness.

But the progress the lotus had made was already enough to comfort them.

Leaving the lab, Xu Qiao invited the military academy students to stay at her place for the night.

Bao Wei: "I'll pass, otherwise I'll worry about waking up late and being late for morning training. But I don't mind accompanying Lu Yang to pick a room."

Lu Yang blushed deeply.

Qin Chi drove, Xu Qiao sat in the passenger seat, and the three college students squeezed in the back.

The one-kilometer journey was soon completed, and Lu Yang casually toured around before randomly picking a bedroom on the second floor.

It was getting late, so Xu Qiao saw off the three of them from the villa. Qin Chi drove them to the subway station.

On the way, Lu Yang asked Qin Chi: "Since she's moved here, will you still come to watch our experiments?"

Qin Chi: "I will. I represent the Second School. Principal Wei is too busy, and I'm the only relatively free teacher."

Bao Wei: "Ah, I thought you were just accompanying Sister Qiao."

Lu Yang elbowed him: "Why are you stirring up trouble like Deng Hao? Teacher Qin is our neighbor; he's been giving me a ride as a courtesy."

Bao Wei: "Right, as a courtesy, as a courtesy."

The subway station arrived, and the three military academy students got off one by one. Lu Yang, through the lowered window, nodded at Qin Chi: "Drive safely."

Qin Chi smiled and nodded back.

Lu Yang and the others headed into the station, while Qin Chi closed the window and continued along the route back to Xu Qiao's villa.

Xu Qiao, sitting in the living room, waved Qin Chi over as he returned, and whispered: "Based on Aunt Meng's behavior, during beast transformation, the mental entity becomes violent and agitated, and the ability user can't regain control, so they can't return to human form until the mental entity falls unconscious. That's why anesthesia didn't work on Zhou Cheng's wolverine, right? Because Zhou Cheng himself gave up?"

Qin Chi: "It's just a guess."

Xu Qiao: "Isn't there a possibility that although the wolverine still controls the body, after so many days of calming it down, the wolverine's agitation has been controlled, and Zhou Cheng's consciousness has also become somewhat clearer and capable of regaining control, but he's been avoiding it?"

They had seen the black scorpion become agitated, even attacking its own daughter, Meng Li. Similarly, when Zhou Cheng first transformed, the wolverine showed no extra emotion toward his three roommates until he was locked in the lab, surrounded by the soothing scent of bamboo for twenty-four hours, when the wolverine began to show signs of communication, even accepting the lotus's closeness tonight.

The way the wolverine obediently let the lotus touch its fur, how was it different from a normal mental entity? It was even more obedient than when they first met the wolverine's mental entity.

Qin Chi, looking into Xu Qiao's bright eyes, said: "If that's the case, we might as well remind Zhou Cheng to wear clothes tomorrow."

A mental entity doesn't care about exposing its body, but an ability user does, especially a sixteen-year-old introverted military academy student.