Chapter 37: Must Raise Wen Chu

Wen Chu let out another sound: “Wuu.”

Xiu had already put away his smile, his expression turning cold as he looked at the nine-tailed little black cat in front of him. “Stop calling. What kind of thing are you exactly?”

He could be certain that, according to the original future trajectory, he would absolutely never have encountered such a bizarre-looking black cat.

[Current Favorability: 11/100]

Wen Chu looked at Xiu’s favorability and wanted to wuwu twice more, but Xiu raised his hand, and a steam gun with brass gears abruptly appeared in his other hand.

The icy muzzle pressed against the little black cat’s head.

“Don’t make me repeat myself a third time.”

Wen Chu didn’t recognize the gun. He looked at it for a long time but didn’t understand what Xiu meant.

Is it for him to eat?

Thinking this, Wen Chu opened his mouth and took a bite.

Poof—

He couldn’t bite through the gun. The moment his open mouth touched the brass pistol, he instantly scattered, turning into a little black cat missing half a head.

This scene was somewhat grotesque. Xiu raised the muzzle in surprise, watching the little black cat wuwu-wangwang-ing as it reassembled itself.

Stupid.

Xiu unconsciously lightened his grip on the little black cat and asked slowly again, “What kind of thing are you?”

Wen Chu put himself back together and whispered, “I am Wen Chu.”

A crisp, boyish voice rang out. Xiu seemed not to have expected the kitten in his hand to make such a sound. He raised his eyebrows and said coldly, “I didn’t ask for your name.”

“Oh…” Wen Chu looked aggrieved. “I am a cloud of mist.”

“A cloud of mist?”

“Mmh-hmm.” As Wen Chu spoke, he separated a smaller cloud of mist to show Xiu. “I was originally white, but I was hit by a train and then rolled in a coal pile, so I turned black.”

After finishing, not waiting for Xiu to press further, Wen Chu continued like spilling beans: “I am very weak right now and need to eat the black aura on your body to gain Lifespan and survive. My Lifespan can be transferred to others. I can help you resurrect people you want to resurrect, and I can also help you purify the vegetable field.”

“Also, if you don’t like someone, I can go help you kill them.”

Wen Chu’s tone was light and cheerful: “I know you are the God of Steam. If you don’t like all of this, then I can help you rebel and help you destroy the world.”

“I am very useful. Xiu, can you raise me?”

Having learned his lesson from the first world, Wen Chu immediately introduced his functions and needs comprehensively right from the start.

He saved at least three days of detours.

Little Mist, truly a genius.

Wen Chu proudly perked up his nine tails.

Xiu listened, dumbfounded, looking warily at the palm-sized little black cat… or rather, the little black mist in his hand.

He had discovered this extremely special piece of coal from the very beginning. Thinking the other party couldn’t survive at all, he hadn’t paid attention to this little lecher who licked his finger right away.

But this lump of coal was not only alive but also claimed to be a mist that needed to eat the black aura on his body to survive.

It even knew his name, could see the black aura on his body, and even knew he was preparing to destroy the world.

Where exactly did this thing come from?

“Words alone are no proof.” Xiu frowned at Little Mist. “Evidence.”

Wen Chu wasn’t surprised; he was prepared. “Take me to the vegetable field. I can help you purify that vegetable field, it’s just that…”

“Just what?”

Wen Chu’s head fell weakly onto Xiu’s hand. The cat’s shadow became illusory, as if it would scatter in the next second. “I need to absorb a little Lifespan first; my Lifespan is about to run out.”

“If you feed me, I can grow bigger.”

Little lecherous cat.

“Get lost.”

Xiu didn’t hesitate, raising his hand to throw Wen Chu onto the bed.

Poof—

Wen Chu scattered with the momentum.

The room was already dim, and he was a small black mist. After scattering, he was invisible to the naked eye. Xiu could only hear Wen Chu’s weak and pitiful voice coming from the bed.

“I really will die. I’m all scattered now.”

It works on Xiu. If Xiu is fierce to him, he plays pitiful. If that doesn’t work, then he’ll just drop dead.

Wen Chu summarized the three most practical experiences.

“Tsk.” Xiu looked impatiently at the source of the sound.

Wen Chu didn’t speak either, just silently turned into mist and floated around in the air.

Xiu stared at the looming black mist in the air for a while.

He felt he was sick, actually seeing weakness, helplessness, and pity in a puff of air.

Just as Wen Chu was struggling with whether to say a few more words, this extremely cold Evil God holstered his gun and extended a hand from under his black robe.

That pale, slender hand covered in black aura.

“Eat.” Xiu pursed his lips.

“If you dare to lie, even if you are a cloud of mist, I won’t let you off.”

“Okay!” Wen Chu agreed cheerfully, but after a while felt something was wrong.

While solidifying to approach Xiu, he corrected, “Even if I didn’t lie, don’t let me off.”

If Xiu kept pestering him, that would be even better.

Xiu: …

Stupid mist that doesn’t understand human language.

Wen Chu remembered his sickly setting, deliberately solidifying only half of the mist, turning into a little black cat only half the size of a palm as he approached Xiu.

The little black cat opened its mouth wide.

And gnawed on the tip of Xiu’s little finger.

To improve efficiency, Wen Chu used biting this time, tearing off the black aura on Xiu’s finger piece by piece, chewing casually before swallowing.

For this, he specifically used mist to equip himself with a pair of fangs.

[Lifespan +5min]
[Lifespan +5min]
[Lifespan +5min]
…

Wen Chu gnawed on Xiu’s finger very vigorously. Xiu’s little finger was quickly cleaned up.

He also obtained one hour of Lifespan.

Wen Chu completely failed to notice that every time his tiny fangs unconsciously swiped across the skin he had cleaned, they left a thin red mark.

Skin that hadn’t touched the outside world for thousands of years couldn’t withstand even a bit of stimulation. Even just a small cloud of mist was an overly intense stimulus for Xiu’s sensitive skin.

His fingertip trembled.

Wen Chu thought Xiu was impatient and sped up his eating.

Gnawing off the black aura on one finger could increase Lifespan by one hour. Wen Chu gnawed five fingers in a row.

The hand Xiu extended happened to be the one with his sting mark, and Wen Chu even paid special attention to the ring finger.

His Lifespan also went straight to 3 days and 17 hours.

Xiu’s fingertips trembled more and more noticeably.

At this time, Wen Chu also realized something was wrong. He turned to look at the fingers behind him, which were glowing with a bright, erotic red luster, and looked up carefully at Xiu. “Are you okay? Your hand turned red.”

Before, when Xiu’s ears turned red, it meant he was angry.

So what does red fingers mean?

Xiu pursed his lips, looked at his wrist which he couldn’t stop from trembling, quickly threw the little black cat in his palm onto the bed, and withdrew his hand under his robe.

Before Wen Chu could see that flush of red clearly, Xiu hid it.

Xiu looked at him coldly, forcibly changing the topic: “Didn’t you say you could grow up?”

Why is he still this tiny bit after eating for so long?

Wen Chu looked at his Lifespan panel and whispered, “Lifespan needs to reach five days to grow up. Right now my Lifespan is only three days.”

“Eating one finger only adds one hour of Lifespan.”

At this rate, he would have to eat Xiu’s ten fingers back and forth four times to grow up.

Xiu obviously realized this too, and his gaze toward him became even fiercer. “Is there no faster way?”

Wen Chu: …

There is. Mating.

But he didn’t dare say it.

In the last plane, he was lectured by Xiu for secretly mating with him. In this plane, he would wait until he and Xiu were together before mating.

Wen Chu thought for a moment and said euphemistically, “The more intimate the place I eat from, the more Lifespan I gain.”

Xiu looked at Wen Chu with even more suspicion.

Is this mist or a succubus? Does it have to rely on sucking people’s essence to survive?

Wen Chu looked at Xiu hesitantly and suggested obediently, “Or maybe you let me eat your neck? The Lifespan gained there should be a bit more.”

That was also the least intimate “intimate place” he could think of.

Xiu sneered coldly. “Dream on.”

After these few minutes of rest, he finally adapted to the numbness on his fingertips. This time, he extended both hands directly from his robe.

In just a moment, the fingers Wen Chu had just gnawed clean were covered with black aura again.

“Eat. Isn’t it just eating four times?”

Xiu looked at him coldly.

“I want to see what tricks you can pull.”

Wen Chu silently climbed onto the hands covered by black aura again.

Eating one by one was indeed a bit low in efficiency. Wen Chu thought for a moment, directly abandoning the cat form and turning into a thin layer covering both of Xiu’s hands.

Just like a pair of gloves.

His speed of changing shape was very fast. Before Xiu could react to what was happening, both hands were already covered by thin mist.

In the next moment, a numbing licking sensation came from all ten fingers simultaneously.

Xiu shivered all over, subconsciously clenching his fists.

“Wait—”

Wen Chu was now in mist form; Xiu clenching his fists couldn’t cause him any harm. He stuck tightly to Xiu’s cold hands, diligently eating the black aura on Xiu’s body.

In just two or three seconds, all ten fingers were finished.

[Lifespan +10h]

Xiu was still clenching his fists, nails digging deeply into his palms. His fingertips had turned red for no reason.

Especially the hand that had just been gnawed by Wen Chu once and was covered by mist again before recovering—it now looked like it would be licked raw at any moment.

It formed a sharp contrast with the pallor of his palm.

Although Xiu clenched his hands, mist is all-pervasive. Wen Chu could still easily cover every crevice of Xiu’s fingers.

He began to clean Xiu’s palms.

Similarly sticking tightly to Xiu’s palms, cleaning both sides quickly at the same time.

Xiu’s hands began to heat up rapidly, and he swayed, falling back onto the bed.

[Lifespan +10h]
[Remaining Lifespan: 4 Days 13 Hours 21 Minutes]

Eating the black aura on palms can actually increase Lifespan by ten hours too.

Wen Chu left Xiu’s hands happily, circled Xiu’s clean, reddened hands a few times, and rubbed against them.

Xiu’s hands became hot.

Wen Chu looked up at Xiu. The other’s eyes were tightly closed, and some cold sweat had broken out under his long golden hair.

“Can I still warm your hands?” Wen Chu wondered.

Xiu’s platinum eyelashes trembled, and he finally opened his eyes.

His eyelashes cast a gloomy shadow. He looked at Wen Chu, a trace of flush appearing on his pale face. “Shut up.”

Wen Chu obediently shut up.

He circled Xiu’s hands a few more times, watching the black aura cover Xiu’s hands again, and very consciously continued to cover and eat.

A barely audible muffled groan spilled from Xiu’s throat.

Wen Chu was all too familiar with this kind of groan.

When he kissed Xiu, went to eat Xiu’s nai, or crashed into Xiu’s gestational sac, the other would make such a sound, soft and suppressed, always making his heart tremble.

But—

Wen Chu looked at Xiu’s hands.

He is just eating Xiu’s hands now; he isn’t kissing Xiu?

But the urgent task now was to grow bigger. Wen Chu put his doubts aside for the time being and quickly finished eating the black aura that covered Xiu’s hands again.

Fingers, gaps between fingers, palms—none were spared.

[Lifespan +20h]
[Remaining Lifespan: 5 Days 9 Hours 20 Minutes]

Practice makes perfect. Wen Chu took only a little over three seconds for the whole process. Xiu stared blankly at his red hands, only reacting when the enlarged Wen Chu actively left his hands.

He retracted his hands into the black robe extremely quickly and pulled up his hood again.

The cold, damp black aura covered his red-hot hands again. Only when he was hidden in the black shadow again did Xiu finally feel at ease.

He looked at Little Mist sitting on his knees.

Wen Chu had turned back into the appearance of a little black cat.

He had eaten enough for five days of Lifespan, and incidentally retrieved the bit of mist he had separated earlier to play pitiful. Now he was a full two palms large.

The little black cat’s nine tails swayed crisscrossed behind him. Wen Chu stepped back and forth on Xiu’s thigh, using two tails to make a heart shape for him.

“Look, I got bigger. I didn’t lie to you.”

Wen Chu muttered, “Let me help. You raise me until I grow up. I am very powerful; I can give you whatever you want…”

“No.” Xiu refused coldly.

He wanted to pick the little black cat up, but just as he was about to extend his hand, he shrank back, looking coldly at the kitten kneading on his leg.

“You are an outsider who does not belong to this story,” Xiu said calmly. “You have no reason to participate in this karma, and your help is not needed here.”

“Everyone will head toward their destined ending. But you are just a cloud of mist, so just be a cloud of mist properly.”

Wen Chu initially thought Xiu had discovered he was a transmigrator, but listening further, he felt something was wrong.

Listening to Xiu’s meaning… why does it feel like… Xiu has completely grasped the future trajectory?

So that’s why he was recognized by Xiu as something wrong at a glance.

“I have a reason. I want to be with you. Without you, I can’t be mist; I will die.” Wen Chu stuck to Xiu relentlessly.

“I am different from them. I am more useful than all of them. Take me to the vegetable field; I can help you grow vegetables.”

Xiu’s cold gaze fluctuated slightly.

His willingness to endure the numbness just now and let Wen Chu gnaw on him again and again did indeed include the reason of “purification” that Wen Chu mentioned.

He was silent for a moment, then picked up the little black cat by the scruff of its neck with his fingertips as if in disgust, quickly threw it onto his shoulder, and withdrew his hand.

“I will take you to the vegetable field.”

Wen Chu was happy: “Okay!”

He has a chance to show himself.

Xiu was completely hidden under the black robe. Wen Chu stood on his black robe and could only see the looming black aura on his neck.

Little Mist poked his head out to look.

Xiu’s neck was empty, only black aura, no shadow of a necklace.

Right, the System also said items from planes can’t be brought out. That little seashell nest was only brought out because he begged the System.

Wen Chu shrank his head back in disappointment.

Xiu reached out and flicked him, neither lightly nor heavily. “Stay put. Don’t touch me without my permission, or else—”

“Or else you’ll kill me?”

Wen Chu’s head was flicked apart. He slowly gathered back together, thoughtfully completing the second half of the sentence.

Xiu turned his head and met the little black cat’s expectant gaze.

Wen Chu: “Really?”

Then he can really turn into a ghost and be with Xiu.

Xiu: …

Impervious to reason.

He gave up communicating with this cloud of black mist and walked out of the stone building.

Hearing the noise in the yard, Xiu paused, turned his steps, and chose to detour from the rear, avoiding the people in the yard.

Wen Chu stood on Xiu’s shoulder and curiously separated a small section of his body, rising into mid-air to check the situation.

He saw a group of people in the yard putting on steam prosthetics and sparring. Clang-clang sounds were constant. Minnie, whom he had seen today, was in the center of the crowd, her stiff red hair piled high, her voice bright and rough: “Just you guys? If you’re newbie, practice more!”

Further inside was a single-story house.

Inside were all children, a large mass of them sitting there. Dorothy sat in the front row holding her calico cat. A young man stood in front, pointing at the words on the blackboard with an iron rod.

“F_buoyancy = ρ_liquid · g · V_displaced”

Below was a pile of heavenly script Wen Chu couldn’t understand—something about Archimedes, V_displaced < V_object, tension when an object sinks to the bottom.

Wen Chu tried hard to read for a while, didn’t understand a single word, memorized it, and then dizzily floated out of the classroom, letting this piece of body return to Xiu’s shoulder.

Xiu naturally noticed Wen Chu was missing a piece. Seeing him become whole again, he asked casually, “What did you go do just now?”

“Went to look in the yard.” Wen Chu lay on Xiu’s shoulder.

“Saw them fighting, and another group of people talking in a room.”

Xiu raised his eyebrows. Remembering this was a cloud of mist and most likely illiterate, he felt a bit mischievous and asked, “Did you understand what they were saying?”

“Saying…” Wen Chu repeated from memory, “Horizontal vertical horizontal, float, horizontal horizontal, circle vertical liquid, dot, circle vertical curved hook, dot, slant right slant left displaced.”

Xiu: ?

Checking his memory, Wen Chu said confidently, “Yes, that’s it. This is called the buoyancy formula.”

“Pff.” Xiu finally reacted and let out a barely audible laugh.

“Stupid.”

Toxic tongue as always.

But hearing Xiu say such helpless and disgusted words in such a cold tone made Wen Chu feel at ease instead.

He was very righteous: “I am a cloud of mist.”

So what if a cloud of mist is a bit stupid?

Although Wen Chu didn’t think he was stupid, if being a bit stupid in Xiu’s eyes could make Xiu’s heart soften, then so be it.

He didn’t mind being a dummy in front of Xiu.

Xiu took an extra look at the little black cat on his shoulder. “That is a classroom. Even if you are a cloud of mist, you should be literate. From now on, you will learn math, physics, and chemistry with them.”

Wen Chu: “Tree pear flower (Shù lǐ huā)?” [Note: Pun on “Math Physics Chemistry” (Shù lǐ huà)]

Xiu: …

Sure enough, an illiterate.

Xiu had originally intended to give Wen Chu something to do to divert his attention by making him learn math, physics, and chemistry. Naturally, he wouldn’t tell him now that math, physics, and chemistry were existences that could make children cry at night. He glossed over it: “You’ll know when you learn—we’ve arrived.”

Wen Chu followed Xiu back to the vegetable field.

The big yellow dog saw Xiu and, as usual, whimpered, curling up in the doghouse and shivering.

Xiu didn’t like small animals. Agreeing to keep them was purely because refusing would waste more breath. Usually, he was stingy even with glancing at them.

This time, because of the “Whimper,” he rarely took an extra look at the big yellow dog.

Not too annoying.

Wen Chu had already jumped deftly off his shoulder, perked up his nine tails, and went to the place where Xiu had just scattered the Chinese cabbage seeds.

He looked at his two-palm-sized body and generously set aside half.

[System, I want to separate half of my body to purify the land here.]

[Lifespan -2 Days 12 Hours]
[Remaining Lifespan: 2 Days 21 Hours 11 Minutes]

Wen Chu instantly shrank into a tiny kitten, and at the same time, thin mist shrouded a palm-sized patch of soil.

The soil in this patch turned a thicker black, looking ominous at first glance.

Xiu bent down, pinched a piece of soil, and looked at it.

Still hard, compacted land.

“This is done?” He looked at Wen Chu, somewhat skeptical.

Wen Chu didn’t know either; he went to ask the System: [Is this considered done?]

System: [Yes. In order not to be too conspicuous, the appearance of the soil will not change, but this patch of soil is already fertile land capable of planting. In a few days, the Chinese cabbage seeds will sprout.]

Wen Chu repeated the System’s words to Xiu.

Xiu put down the soil in his hand and reached out to pick up the tiny black cat. “Then let’s talk after it sprouts in a few days.”

Wen Chu wasn’t surprised. He climbed up Xiu’s sleeve to his shoulder, tilted his head to look at Xiu, and couldn’t help being curious. “Why plant vegetables? Is it also to help the Rebel Army win over people’s hearts?”

Xiu lowered his eyes and glanced at the crooked vegetables in the field. “No, personal hobby.”

Wen Chu was confused.

He didn’t remember Xiu having this hobby.

As Xiu spoke, he was also a bit puzzled himself.

He walked to a blackened, withered chili seedling, thoughtful. “It seems it’s not just planting vegetables.”

“I just feel that eating only canned food has no nutrition. To raise a person healthily, they should eat some clean vegetables.”

As for whom to raise, Xiu couldn’t figure it out himself.

Time was simply too long. Even a god found it hard to remember everything from the past clearly.

He just instinctively had a thought when he saw the wasteland:

If this place could be full of fresh vegetables and raise more livestock, it would be good.

After all, the environment here is so harsh and the canned food is so awful; there will be a delicate little one who can’t stomach it.

Xiu pondered for a while, feeling his thought was a bit laughable.

Having food is good enough. With that group of kids in the yard, whoever dares to be picky eater will probably be greeted by Minnie’s fist first.

Wen Chu watched Xiu bending over and touching the chili seedling, black bubbles bubbling up in his heart.

So annoying.

In the new world, Xiu raised a big group of children.

And he has to worry about these children not eating well and work hard farming.

Can’t he just raise me? I’m so worry-free and sensible, and I can even help Xiu farm.

Thinking this, Wen Chu gave a small “Whimper.”

Xiu put down the chili seedling and looked sideways at him. “What’s wrong?”

The kitten, who had turned back into palm-size, drooped its tail, listless. “Uncomfortable.”

“I gave away too much Lifespan all at once. Xiu, I feel a bit… dizzy.”

After speaking, Wen Chu repeated his old trick. His tiny claws lost strength, and he turned into a ball of blurred black mist.

Xiu was startled and subconsciously reached out to grab him.

Only to grab a handful of air.

---

Author’s Note: This ball of illiterate is finally going to school.