Chapter 81

Chapter 81

The newly transformed little one, still unsteady on his feet, nevertheless exerted his chubby hands and feet, huffing and puffing as he clambered onto Chen Wang. Fearing the little one might fall, Chen Wang kept a hand hovering protectively behind him.

Zhong Shijin and Roland stood by, poised to intervene if Chen Wang showed any signs of instability, ready to rescue Little Snowball at a moment’s notice.

Luo Ci, oblivious to their concerns, possessed the pure, fearless spirit of a child. His plump little arms wrapped tightly around Chen Wang’s neck, where the form-fitting black combat suit encased him up to his jawline.

Tilting his head curiously, Luo Ci didn’t quite understand why Chen Wang was so thoroughly covered. He lifted his face, attempting to nuzzle against him, but was gently fended off. The displeased little one pouted, his eyes instantly welling up.

Watching the glistening droplets swirl in his eyes, Chen Wang chuckled. He pinched the little one’s cheek with his leather-gloved hand. "Go on, feel your little ears. They’re still drooping."

"Huh?" Luo Ci reached up and touched his head, only then realizing his transformation was incomplete—two fluffy, snow-white rabbit ears were still present. Instinctively, he felt his bottom and indeed found a round, stubby little rabbit tail.

How could this be?

His chubby fingers pinched and tugged at the round tail… Ouch! It really was a tail growing out of his backside.

Chen Wang pressed a hand to his forehead, amused. "First time I’ve seen someone hurt themselves by pulling their own tail."

Luo Ci pouted. Besides the stinging tail, his knees also ached a little. His small hands instinctively reached to pull at his pant legs. Chen Wang helped roll up the little one’s cuffs; the child’s short legs were as tender as milk jelly, with thin skin and delicate flesh, save for a faint reddish blush on his knees.

Not daring to touch them, Chen Wang gestured with his eyes for Zhong Shijin to fetch the medicine.

Zhong Shijin immediately brought over the first aid kit.

Chen Wang gently and evenly applied the ointment to the child’s knees with a cotton swab, then lowered his head to ask the little one, who sat obediently in his arms, "Does it hurt?"

"Hurts," Luo Ci admitted, sniffling. He had initially wanted to say no, but honestly answered instead.

"It was probably scraped during the transformation," Zhong Shijin observed carefully. It seemed the skin wasn’t broken; Little Snowball had likely accidentally bumped his knees on the ground during the process. At first, it might not have been obvious, and Roland hadn’t noticed it when changing the child’s clothes, but friction from the fabric had caused it to redden.

Chen Wang frowned. For a Sentinel, injuries like missing limbs were common occurrences, but for some reason, even a minor scrape on the little one made him deeply uncomfortable.

An unpleasant feeling.

Amidst the soft, disheveled hair, one rabbit ear stood half-erect, while the other drooped.

His short, round face tilted slightly upward, two chubby little hands still clinging tightly to Chen Wang’s neck, like a bewildered, utterly naive, yet instinctively clingy little bunny. Chen Wang shook his head, feeling a peculiar emotion.

It felt as if he had experienced this feeling long, long ago, yet also as if it were his first time.

Truthfully, his initial reluctance to get too close to the child was because his own condition was highly volatile due to a lack of proper guidance, and he feared his unstable abilities might harm the child.

Later, after learning the child might be a Guide, he became even more hesitant to approach.

A Sentinel who had not received guidance for a long time was like a dark, bottomless pit. What would happen if you placed fresh, delicious meat before a monster that had been hungry for a long time?

The answer was self-evident.

A Sentinel’s instincts would drive him to devour it ravenously until his rumbling stomach was full.

The fact that the leader of the S-Class Guild had never received proper guidance sounded unbelievable, but it was indeed true.

Chen Wang had rarely experienced normal guidance, so he didn't quite understand what it felt like. The ceaseless, restless noise in his mind had now, for a rare moment, fallen silent. Was it due to the extreme quietness of the living room, or had the child unknowingly provided him with guidance?

"...Regardless, this place needs to be rebuilt," Chen Wang murmured.

Zhong Shijin wholeheartedly agreed with the renovation of the top floor.

Now that Little Snowball had taken human form, he no longer needed Roland to carry him around all day but could move about on his own. The current layout of the top floor was too spacious and not suitable for raising a child.

For this reason, Zhong Shijin specifically hired ten different renowned interior designers. After careful comparison, he selected one plan and refined it through several rounds before officially implementing it.

Once Luo Ci grew accustomed to walking on his short legs, his activity area expanded to the entire guild building.

Consequently, every nook and cranny of the entire building was carpeted with expensive black swan rugs.

Roland was sad for a few days that he no longer needed to carry the child, but he quickly found a new joy—knitting clothes for the little one.

Roland had harbored this idea for a long time, having bought a pile of yarn balls in Linshui City, all stacked in his storage bag.

Now, he had already knitted over a dozen pairs of socks for the child and was teaching himself to knit warm earmuffs using online tutorials.

Snowbird City welcomed a new winter.

Luo Ci sat in the warmly heated living room, playing with toys.

Soon, the elevator opened, and a refined doctor emerged. He was the private tutor arranged by Zhong Shijin to teach the child language and basic knowledge.

Although teaching such fundamental subjects might seem like overkill for a scholar, the student was Little Snowball, and this opportunity was one he had competed with many others to secure.

"Our Little Snowball has finished 'The Door's Hundred Questions'?" The doctor confirmed the books he had previously assigned to the child, then patted Little Snowball’s head. "Good boy. Shall we learn about the 'Great World of Guides' today?"

"Mm!" Luo Ci nodded obediently. He listened very attentively to every word the doctor said, as he was unfamiliar with this world and eager to learn about Sentinels and Guides, studying with great diligence.

With such an obedient and well-behaved student, the teacher naturally felt at ease. Although the child initially had surprisingly little knowledge about Sentinels, Guides, and the Door, the doctor combined picture books with his teaching, and the little one quickly learned to distinguish between Sentinels and Guides and gained an understanding of the probability of the Door.

Because the Vice-President had specifically instructed that the child was very likely a Guide, the doctor was exceptionally meticulous in teaching about Guides.

For instance, regarding guidance capacity: higher-level Guides have greater guidance capacity than lower-level ones, and the effect is also better, but it is still limited. For example, an A-level Guide can easily guide a B-level Sentinel but struggles considerably with an S-level Sentinel. If guidance is not interrupted when the guidance capacity is depleted, and continues, it could lead to severe organ failure and other consequences.

The doctor looked at the child before him, who was as docile as a cotton ball, blinking innocently, and earnestly cautioned, "So, the most important thing for a Guide during guidance is to protect yourself, understand?"

The child nodded his small head, his fluffy ear tips bobbing along with his head. "Mm-hm!"

A child’s attention cannot be focused on learning at all times; maintaining it for an hour is already good. Therefore, the doctor planned daily lessons not exceeding an hour and a half. When it was time, the doctor would leave, and before departing, he would leave small gifts like crayons and snacks for the child.

These items were originally intended to entice the child when his attention wavered, but unexpectedly, they were never needed.

In the bedroom, various knitted earmuffs were strewn across the bed: color-blocked earmuffs, raccoon earmuffs, little reindeer earmuffs… all knitted by Roland, and the child’s favorites.

Since his rabbit ears wouldn’t retract and winter was approaching, Roland, after knitting several scarves for the child, suddenly realized the child’s ears also needed warmth, so he knitted a pile of earmuffs.

Luo Ci sat on the soft, long-pile rug. He was already wearing a knitted sweater with a bow and was using his small hands to tuck his pant legs into brown leather boots. The boot buckles were too small, and he couldn’t fasten them after several attempts.

The bedroom door was knocked, and Shanilu walked over, scooping the child onto his sturdy shoulder with a large hand. "Our little Tangyuan can’t even tie his shoes."

Luo Ci swung his little legs. "Too hard!"

Shanilu gently touched the child’s cheek, then effortlessly fastened the buckle. He patted the child’s bouncy bottom. "All right, we should get going."

In the spacious living room, A Jin sat on a beanbag-shaped sofa, unhappily raking his fingers through his messy golden hair, grumbling, "It was supposed to be my turn today."

Ever since Luo Ci learned to walk, the S-ranks had been eager to take the child out to play. To avoid disputes, they had even specially arranged a schedule based on each person’s work hours.

Today, both A Jin and Shanilu were relatively free, but it was supposed to be A Jin’s turn.

Shanilu raised an eyebrow. "Too bad you lost your chance to me in the training room."

A Jin irritably ran his fingers through his frizzy hair.

Like Shanilu, he had a rather volatile temper, quick to provoke others and just as easily provoked himself.

While A Jin was undoubtedly fast, Shanilu was a dual-ability user, one of which was the explosively powerful lightning ability. Only Zhong Shijin, another dual-ability user with shadow and ice abilities, could rival him. In terms of monster kills in the training room, Shanilu always outscored A Jin.

Killing monsters in the training room was too boring, so the two often gambled on something. A Jin lost more often than not.

Watching Shanilu swagger out with the child in his arms, A Jin frustratingly slammed his forehead against the wall, genuinely regretting his hot-headed nature that he couldn’t control once provoked.

A modified, metal-clad mechanical motorcycle was parked at the guild entrance.

Shanilu held the child in one arm, while with the other, he took down two helmets—one large, one small—hanging from the handlebars.

Zhong Shijin happened to return from outside and caught sight of this scene, frowning. "The child can barely walk steadily, and you’re taking him on a motorcycle?"

"Stop nagging," Shanilu grinned. "You worry too much."

Before the appearance of the Doors, taking a child on a motorcycle would certainly have been against regulations. But ever since the Doors emerged, many rules and restrictions no longer applied to ability users.

Luo Ci touched the leather seat, unsure whether to hold onto the seat or Shanilu. Suddenly, everything went dark—Shanilu had placed the helmet on his head.

With a roaring boom, the tires screeched against the ground, sparking like lightning, as the mechanical motorcycle shot out of the guild gates faster than a streak of light.

Zhong Shijin, remembering that the child was wearing S-rank protective gear, did not stop them. He merely pushed up his glasses with a sigh. "That Shanilu…"

Luo Ci was taken to a restaurant in the city center for lunch. Passing by a snack shop in the mall, the little one couldn’t walk past without stopping, so they ended up buying a large bag of snacks to take back.

The little one, laden with treats, held the helmet in one hand and a large bag in the other, rushing into the guild hall like a tiny cannonball. Shanilu met a few acquaintances at the hall entrance and chatted with them for a while, instructing someone to take the child upstairs.

The tiny child, clutching a bag larger than his own face, wobbled into the elevator. An A-rank Sentinel quickly took the items from him.

The A-rank Sentinel cautiously watched over the child. The hall was bustling with people, especially so many Sentinels, and he was genuinely worried that a Sentinel might accidentally bump into the child. He nervously hovered nearby, saying, "Little Snowball, perhaps I should carry you instead?"

Luo Ci looked up blankly, wondering how they knew the name "Little Snowball."

He touched the rabbit ears on his head, which were clearly covered by earmuffs. "How did you know I’m Little Snowball?"

The A-rank Sentinel was silent for a few seconds. "You’re quite famous."

At this point, who in the Tansapa Guild didn’t know that Little Snowball was the S-ranks’ cherished darling, a child even the Guild Master highly valued? He had casually given away priceless S-rank core crystals, and the entire building had been renovated in just half a month—all this was common knowledge. Sentinels could even be informal with Lord A Jin, but if they offended Little Snowball, they truly wouldn’t see the light of tomorrow.

Upon reaching the floor, the A-rank Sentinel, faced with an unfamiliar hallway, realized this was the Guild’s conference room.

Expensive marble crystal chandeliers illuminated the wine-red velvet carpet. The walls featured artistic, gem-cut designs, and a subtle fragrance wafted through the air, exuding an aura of extravagance everywhere. Under normal circumstances, he would have no right to enter such a place. The Sentinel was flustered, unsure where to look.

The child, however, was not flustered at all. He confidently trotted to the curved reception desk.

The secretary, seeing Little Snowball, smiled and stood up. "Is Little Snowball here to see the Guild Master?"

"Mm," Luo Ci tilted his face up. "Is he here?"

"He is."

The secretary proactively took the items from the Sentinel’s hands and then led the child to the room’s entrance.

The heavy doors swung open.

Luo Ci’s eyes widened, his ear tips perked up, and his short legs froze in place. His aqua-blue eyes were filled with confusion.

Wh-why are there so many people here?