As Lu Zhi was contentedly gnawing on a chestnut, a series of squeaky rodent chatter suddenly cut through the dense crowd. He initially thought he'd misheard, given the cacophony of voices and lively hubbub all around.
However, the squeaking rodent sounds possessed an unignorable piercing quality, entering Lu Zhi's ears word for word.
'What to do, what to do? Have you found it?'
'No, no, haven't found it, what to do, what to do?'
'Send more people to search. We must find it before the concert ends.'
Find? Find what?
His curiosity piqued, Lu Zhi reached out and patted Shen Qi's lower jaw. "Did you hear that?"
As he spoke, Lu Zhi turned his head towards a dark alleyway to his side. He saw several gray mice chattering incessantly, scurrying about in a panic. "It seems they've lost something?"
Although Manjushaka had extended a delicate petal, encircling Lu Zhi's lower body like a vibrant red skirt, ensuring he wouldn't fall no matter how he moved, Shen Qi instinctively raised his hand and gently pressed him back into the chair. "Mm, I heard. Sit still."
Lu Zhi gnawed on the chestnut in his hand, his cheeks puffed out. His large, dark eyes drifted towards the densely packed street on both sides. Upon closer inspection, he noticed the shops and stalls were built extremely close together, with gaps of no more than thirty centimeters between each establishment.
Such close proximity was only suitable for small animals to traverse.
At this moment, some stalls featured pets like hamsters, squirrels, and flying squirrels mingling harmoniously with the crowd.
Lu Zhi sat on Shen Qi's shoulder, counting the number and intervals of the shops. Roughly every ten to twenty shops, there was a main street. Colorful neon lights and decorative lights hung overhead, including festive retro lanterns and modern trendsetting illuminations.
Ancient streets blended with modern architecture, and the people were cheerful, creating a scene of harmonious merriment. The convergence of centuries of history with modernity birthed a perfect prosperous era.
For some reason, this scene caused Lu Zhi to feel a sense of daze. "It's so good."
"Eh? Look at that," Luo Feisi suddenly exclaimed, interrupting Lu Zhi's reverie, his tone laced with schadenfreude. "Isn't that the 'Invincible General'? Oh my, oh my~ How miserable~"
In front of a shop selling plush toys, a group of children and their parents were gathered. Another shop next to it sold sundries. In the dark alleyway between the shops, a plump, white-furred hamster was pinned down by its hindquarters by a chinchilla wearing a metal cap and iron armor, its dark blue fur gleaming. The chinchilla occasionally prodded the plump general's backside with a miniature black spear. The squeaking sounds didn't sound pathetic, but rather like expressions of anger.
"I'm going to go have a look," Luo Feisi scampered off to investigate.
Lu Zhi let out a satisfied burp. He hadn't eaten much of the chestnut. Since he had shrunk, his stomach had also become smaller, but he still had a whole chestnut left. After a moment's thought, Lu Zhi offered the chestnut to Shen Qi. "I can't eat anymore."
Shen Qi tilted his head and lowered it to take a bite. Lu Zhi was taken aback, then smoothly pushed the chestnut into Shen Qi's mouth. The next second, Shen Qi frowned slightly and said, "Too sweet."
Lu Zhi, accustomed to sweetness, instinctively replied, "It's fine."
The chestnut had been stir-fried with honey. Lu Zhi's hands were sticky with sweet honey residue. He looked around, thinking Shen Qi wouldn't notice, and stealthily wiped his hand on the petals at the side of the chair. He furtively glanced at Shen Qi's profile, coughed a little guiltily, and said, "Um, why hasn't Luo Feisi come back yet?"
Shen Qi's eyes held a hint of a smile, and he didn't miss Lu Zhi's small actions. He gently tapped the petals on the side of Lu Zhi's chair with his index finger. The swaying petals transformed into fine red stardust and vanished, only to rapidly regrow a moment later.
Lu Zhi: ... Embarrassed.
At this moment, Shen Qi produced a wet wipe from who-knows-where, tore it into a size suitable for Lu Zhi, and handed it over, suppressing a chuckle. "It feels like raising a pampered doll."
Lu Zhi, happily taking the wipe to clean his mouth and hands, froze. He glared with wide eyes in annoyance. "How am I pampered?"
Shen Qi let out a muffled laugh, his tone full of indulgence. "It's I who wants to raise you to be pampered. That way, you'll think of me in everything."
"You have ill intentions, wanting to keep me as a pet?" Lu Zhi's ears turned slightly red, he was sure it was because he had shrunk that Shen Qi's voice sounded so alluring.
Shen Qi's silvery-gray eyes were hazy in the lamplight. "Is that so? My ambition is that obvious?"
"Hmph, you only know how to scare me all day," Lu Zhi crumpled the used wipe into a ball and directed Shen Qi towards the trash can, as he wanted to throw it away.
Even though the tissue was only the size of a baby's fingernail and almost negligible, he still wasn't allowed to litter.
Shen Qi patiently did as he was told, which greatly pleased the shrunken Lu Zhi, giving him the illusion of being a fox borrowing the tiger's might.
Lu Zhi rolled the tissue into a ball and tossed it towards the trash can. However, a gust of wind from the moving crowd sent the feather-light tissue not into the bin, but into a corner beside it, landing precisely on a peeking mouse.
Lu Zhi: ...
Shen Qi's hand cupped his lips, his chest vibrating slightly. Lu Zhi's entire face darkened.
The small gray mouse's black bean eyes displayed a remarkably human-like look of disdain. It picked up the tissue with its mouth, nimbly climbed onto the trash can, and deposited the tissue inside. Then, it wagged its tail and walked away.
Its retreating back was filled with mockery.
Lu Zhi: ...
"Why are you two standing by the trash can?" Luo Feisi, who had returned from observing, asked with a strange look. "Do you have a perverted habit of smelling foul odors?"
Lu Zhi said expressionlessly, "Like your smelly sock that's been hanging by your bed for half a month without washing?"
Luo Feisi was shocked and blurted out, "How did you know?" He quickly guessed, "Did Qin Huai tell you?"
Lu Zhi smiled. "Guess."
Luo Feisi muttered, "Why would Qin Huai tell you something like that."
Shen Qi glanced at Lu Zhi. Although he didn't speak, his eyes suggested Lu Zhi had 'strayed from the path.'
"I heard it from Hao Yunyi." During the assessment, that bird called Hao Yunyi had dozed off halfway and mumbled, 'Luo Feisi's smelly socks have been left for half a month and he hasn't bothered to wash them.'
Luo Feisi gritted his teeth. "That smelly bird! I'll kill him when we get back!"
Hao Yunyi, on a mission far away: ... Why did his tail feathers feel a chill.
"Where's Baizhan?" Lu Zhi, noticing the topic straying further and further, quickly asked about the main issue. "Was he bullied?"
"He probably heard some of it." Luo Feisi wore a silver badge on his chest. This was a rodent language translator developed by the military based on the translators' abilities, but the accuracy of translating rodent language only reached sixty percent.
Luo Feisi grinned slyly. "That light blue-furred mouse, it seems to be Baizhan's little lover."
Luo Feisi's eyes gleamed with the excitement of digging up gossip. "There's even more explosive news. Baizhan's little lover is the eighteenth wife the Rat Emperor is about to marry."
Lu Zhi: !!!
My goodness, the flames of gossip were burning fiercely!