Wagner stared at the fully completed workbook, utterly dumbfounded.
"Ningning, you actually did homework?!"
"Yep." Ningning handed him the workbook. "Uncle said that once school starts, I need to be serious about homework."
Otherwise, the uncle would take him away and lock him up to do homework again!
Although the little child had felt a bit out of place after coming out earlier, thinking about being locked up again and unable to see his father made it unbearable.
He missed his father so much.
The little child, missing his father, didn’t want to be locked up doing homework anymore.
The reunited children hugged each other, expressing how much they had missed each other in the past few days. But the harmony didn’t last long before tensions arose among the group.
The source of the conflict? Ningning and Wagner.
Wagner had hidden his own school bag, intending to skip homework alongside Ningning. But now Ningning had finished all his homework, leaving Wagner as the only one who hadn’t done his.
When school starts again, the only one left to get beaten will be him.
The little child, hearing Wagner’s words, was also a bit upset: “I didn’t want you to get beaten either. It was Uncle who made me sit down and do my homework.”
Both children were somewhat unhappy.
Little quarrels like these between them happened from time to time. Not to mention Savi—even the usually mild-tempered Lele felt reluctant to intervene when these two had a falling-out.
There was no need to intervene anyway; the two children would reconcile on their own after a while.
“Savi.”
The little child, who hadn’t yet made up with Wagner, spoke to Savi instead: “There are so many little animals here.”
Even though there weren’t any big lions or tigers, he spotted some fluffy creatures not far away that looked a lot like little tigers.
“They’re still young. You don’t have to be afraid of them, and you don’t need to bother with them,” Savi said indifferently, showing little interest in these young animals.
Young beasts were annoying—they’d bite anything they saw when their teeth were just coming in.
“I’m not afraid of them. I just want to pet them,” the little child said, then began talking about his own pets—a small mouse and a rolling beast: “I have two fluffy ones, and they’re super cute. I love petting them.”
His small mouse and rolling beast were kept at the palace.
Though they weren’t kept at his own home, having them at the palace was just as good. He could visit them anytime he wanted.
Savi had seen the rolling beast at the palace but hadn’t yet seen the small mouse.
“The young beasts here are different from your pets. These ones will bite you. But as long as you don’t touch them, you’ll be fine.”
The children were sitting in place, and their uncle hadn’t come back to make them continue training.
The little child was a bit puzzled when he realized the First Uncle wasn’t making them train: “Is First Uncle giving us a break?”
Savi glanced at the little child’s soft, chubby body and couldn’t help but say, “Maybe he thinks training with you is pointless by now.”
The little child’s body was indeed soft and squishy, and shedding the weight seemed impossible.
The little child: “…”
He understood what Savi meant and immediately pouted.
Daddy always said chubby children were cute—he wasn’t going to diet!
After falling out with Wagner and then pouting at Savi, the little child had no choice but to turn to Lele to talk.
Lele, however, gets sleepy very easily. It didn’t take long before he leaned against Savi’s leg and fell asleep.
For a while, the little child couldn’t find anyone to talk to.
Thinking about the uncle’s strict order to study well, he straightened his little face and focused on his homework.
Wagner glanced at him, then at his homework, before lowering his head to send a message to his guard.
"I left my school bag in the garden. Dig it out for me and send me my homework!"
Even Ningning had started studying hard; he couldn’t afford to lag behind!
For the first time, the competitive little child, who usually only competed over video games, found himself competing over something so serious: studying.
The little child stayed in the safe zone for an entire day without seeing many adults. There were elders, children, and young beasts around. There were some young and middle-aged adults, but not many.
"Savi, what are we doing here?"
"I don’t know."
When adults had something to do, they never informed the children. So even now, the children had no idea why they hadn’t gone home and were instead staying in the safe zone.
It wasn’t until late at night that their First Uncle came over.
"Ningning, Wagner, Lele, I’ll send you back tomorrow. The spaceship is ready, and you’ll leave in the morning."
The safe zone was relatively peaceful, but outside, the worst-case scenario they had feared was unfolding.
Their benefactor’s awakening this time was once again accompanied by an uncontrollable spiritual energy outburst.
At this very moment, the scene outside the safe zone was almost beyond recognition.
The violent spiritual energy carried destructive power. Although its owner was trying to suppress it, it was evident that the suppression was hardly effective.
As the First Uncle spoke, he looked at Savi. "Savi, are you still planning to go back with Ningning for the New Year visit?"
Savi had previously told his elders that after Ningning, Wagner, and Lele collected their red envelopes, he planned to go back with Ningning and spend a few days on White Mist Star.
Now, with the First Uncle bringing up the question again, Savi hesitated, sensing that there was something unusual behind it.
"First Uncle, what’s going on outside?"
Instead of answering his uncle’s question, Savi countered with one of his own.
The expression on the First Uncle’s perpetually stern face looked no different from usual as he replied, "Nothing’s happening outside. I’m just asking whether you’re going back with Ningning. If you’re leaving, I’ll arrange for you to depart tomorrow as well."
Savi shook his head.
He looked directly at his uncle. “I’m not leaving.”
He wasn’t some three-year-old child anymore. After the New Year, he and Ningning would both be four.
He was a mature child now, so he wouldn’t be easily fooled by adults.
His uncle had suddenly sent Ningning and the others away. Something must have happened here.
Although his uncle didn’t want the children to worry, the violent spiritual power emanating from the mountains couldn’t be completely concealed, as it gradually spread and approached. Even the adults couldn’t hide it anymore.
“Our benefactor has awakened,” his uncle said. “Right now, none of us can guarantee whether his spiritual power will stabilize. Savi, if—”
“Uncle, is it the spiritual power riot from my uncle outside?”
The little child sitting next to Savi had been pricking up his ears to listen to their conversation. When he heard words like “mountains” and “benefactor,” he immediately associated it with the uncle who had been making him study.
When Uncle was asleep, he often frowned and looked like he was in pain. When he helped check homework, he rubbed his temples the most.
The little child could tell that Uncle wasn’t feeling well, but he couldn’t sense Uncle’s spiritual power.
For some reason, Uncle’s spiritual power seemed to be surrounded by a net that his tiny budding senses couldn’t penetrate.
“Uncle, carry me over,” the little child said, stretching out his arms. “I want to see Uncle!”
Dad had warned him not to expose his spiritual power.
But if Uncle’s spiritual power was as strong and out of control as Uncle Lulu’s, then everyone—whether it was his uncle, Savi, or the others—would be in danger.
Even if he could take a spaceship to leave, so many people here wouldn’t leave.
The little child didn’t tell his uncle that he could heal spiritual power; he just asked his uncle to carry him over to see Uncle.
If he tried a bit harder with his tiny budding senses, maybe it would work this time.
The little child, who already had a wealth of experience in healing, puffed out his little chest with confidence.
“What’s a little child like you going over there for?” Uncle frowned deeply, showing no intention of picking him up.
The little child watched as First Uncle shrank the safety zone, gathering them with the other young ones, and then hurriedly left.
"Uncle!"
The little child stretched his chubby hands behind him, trying to hold onto the First Uncle, but the other walked away without looking back, resolute and unyielding.
The little child watched the First Uncle's retreating figure. Finally, not long after the First Uncle left, he seized the chaos as an opportunity to sneak out too.