Chapter 695 - 425: Played in the Palm of the Hand

Chapter 695: Chapter 425: Played in the Palm of the Hand

Wang Hao took the glass of water and, after a sip, said to Chen Xiaoyan, "I’ve been lying in my room for too long and wanted to move around. I just heard you on the phone with Zhu Daqi. What did he say?"

"He just said on the phone that the lights are on at the home of that man named Lin Li," Xiaohong recounted, relaying Zhu Daqi’s report.

"It’s a shame I’m injured. Otherwise, I’d head over to his place right now," Wang Hao said in frustration.

"Do you really think we can get any clues about Liu Menglong’s death from him?" Xiaohong asked hesitantly as she poured herself a glass of water and set down the pitcher.

"Liu Menglong died trying to deal with him, after all. Right now, Lin Li is our only lead for the investigation," Wang Hao said, frowning.

"Yeah." Chen Xiaoyan nodded. She then picked up her phone and, while opening a food delivery app, said to Wang Hao, "I’m getting a little hungry. I’m going to order some takeout. Do you want some?"

He could barely move because of his injury, so he had only eaten a few bites of dinner earlier.

Feeling much better now and with his stomach growling, Wang Hao was ready for a big meal. The two of them proceeded to order a ton of takeout.

...

"Mom, I’m going to my room to sleep," Zhou Tongtong said. She glanced at the time and saw it was almost ten o’clock. Since she had to get up early for school the next day, she dutifully went to her room to sleep.

Seeing her daughter go to her bedroom to sleep, Xia Qing stood up and walked to the kitchen. A moment later, she left her apartment carrying a container of carrot and lamb stew sealed with plastic wrap.

Lin Li was in his living room, eating strawberries and watching a nightly news program about Exotic Beast Hunters.

DING DONG.

The doorbell rang suddenly. Lin Li got up, walked to the entryway, and opened the door to find his next-door neighbor. She was holding a container of carrot and lamb stew.

"Lin Li, you’re back! I made a carrot and lamb stew for dinner and wanted to bring some over for you while it was still hot, but it turned out you weren’t home..." Xia Qing said with a smile, her eyes on Lin Li in his black tank top and beach shorts.

"I had to go out and take care of some things. I haven’t been back for long..." Lin Li explained with a smile.

"Here, take this carrot and lamb stew and try some..." Xia Qing handed the small container over. Lin Li thanked her and accepted it.

As he saw Xia Qing turn to go home, he called out, "Wait a second."

"Hmm?" Xia Qing looked at Lin Li in confusion, but he offered no explanation and simply disappeared back inside.

A moment later, Lin Li returned, holding the now-empty container in one hand and half a bag of strawberries in the other.

"I’ve already transferred the stew, so here’s your container back... I remember Tongtong mentioning she likes strawberries. I just bought these today, and they’re quite good. Please take them for her to wash and eat."

Xia Qing accepted the empty container and the half-bag of strawberries, thanked him with a smile, and left.

THUD.

After closing the door, Lin Li went back to the kitchen. He looked at the carrot and lamb stew from Xia Qing sitting on the counter, thought for a moment, and decided to heat it up in the microwave. He planned to eat the entire thing as a late-night snack.

...

Inside a room decorated primarily in pink, a cabinet in the corner was lined with many cute stuffed animals.

Zhou Tongtong lay fast asleep in her bed, a large stuffed panda resting by her pillow.

It was the companion she had chosen from her pile of stuffed animals to sleep with her tonight.

Outside the window, the serene night sky was filled with twinkling stars. As time passed, the bright moon slowly drifted across the heavens.

At this moment, the concentration of ambient Spiritual Energy in Zhou Tongtong’s room was significantly higher than usual.

If a Cultivator were to scan Zhou Tongtong’s room with their Spiritual Perception, they would undoubtedly discover this.

The intensity of the Spiritual Energy Wave emanating from the little girl sleeping soundly in her bed was on the very cusp of a breakthrough. She could advance to the First Rank Initial Stage at any moment.

Once she broke through, Zhou Tongtong—only six years old and just starting first grade—would become the youngest Cultivator in history.

With every breath, the sleeping Zhou Tongtong methodically absorbed the ambient Spiritual Energy. Suddenly, a cluster of pale golden Spiritual Light, flickering like a small flame, materialized between her eyebrows.

"Little White, Little Black, be a little more careful! What will you do if you run that fast and fall?"

Zhou Tongtong muttered, her voice a soft murmur.

Right now, she was in a dream, watching the Little White Cat and the Little Black Cat scamper along a high wall.

Under the cover of night, the two little strays were quite daring, chasing each other playfully on the narrow wall without any fear of falling.

Suddenly, the two chasing strays came to a halt.

"Meow...???" The two little strays looked utterly confused, quickly swiveling their heads to look around as if searching for something.

Not seeing any sign of the little girl, the Little Black Cat said to his companion, "Meow... Little White, I think I heard Zhou Tongtong’s voice. Did you hear it?"

The Little White Cat had felt it too. But after a moment of thought, it concluded, ’It’s impossible. The little girl wouldn’t be out looking for us at this hour.’

"Meow... I think I heard her voice too, but she has to get up early for school tomorrow. Her mom would never let her run out of the house this late at night."

"Meow... That’s true. It looks like we were just hearing things," the Little Black Cat said, offering what it considered a reasonable explanation.

’Uh, but we couldn’t both be hearing things at the same time...’ Although the Little White Cat didn’t believe its companion’s theory, it had no other reasonable explanation for what happened, so it remained silent.

The carefree Little Black Cat didn’t dwell on the matter of having heard Zhou Tongtong’s voice and dropped the subject.

It started walking forward again, moving at a slow, subconscious pace instead of the rapid dash from before.

When the Little White Cat saw its companion move on, it immediately followed.

Tonight, they planned to use the cover of Night to wander into other neighborhoods and expand their territory.

Back in the bedroom, the slumbering Zhou Tongtong’s perspective within her dream followed the Little White Cat and the Little Black Cat.

She watched them skillfully sneak into another residential complex where, as expected, they encountered other stray cats living there.

Then, the Little Black Cat and the Little White Cat gave the other strays a very "friendly" greeting, which elicited a "passionate" response.

Outnumbered and facing opponents with no sense of honor who were ganging up on them, the two little strays were ultimately forced into a strategic retreat, fleeing in disarray from the neighborhood they had just infiltrated.

"Meow... Those guys we ran into tonight were so shameless! They’re obviously older than us, but they still ganged up to teach us a lesson," the Little Black Cat said angrily.

"Meow... Alright, don’t be mad. It’s getting late, let’s go home and sleep," the Little White Cat said, looking up at the bright moon.

’If I hadn’t warned him to leave when I did,’ it thought, ’we would’ve been completely surrounded by that gang of strays.’

"Meow... We’re heading back this early? I was thinking we could check out another neighborhood!" the Little Black Cat said in surprise.

They usually didn’t head home until after midnight, and it was still a long way off!

"Meow... I just feel a bit tired and want to go home to sleep." For some reason, the Little White Cat’s head felt groggy, making it want to go home and rest.

"Meow... You’re not feeling well? Alright, let’s go home and rest right now." Hearing that its companion was unwell, the Little Black Cat immediately agreed. The two little strays then headed back toward Ping’an Garden District.

In her dream, Zhou Tongtong watched the two little strays skillfully hop the wall and return to the district. At that moment, the small cluster of pale golden Spiritual Light flickering like a flame between her eyebrows dissipated.

The instant the Spiritual Light vanished, so too did the dream.

Then, Zhou Tongtong fell into a deep sleep, and the concentration of ambient Spiritual Energy in the room began to drop, returning to normal levels.

...