The next second, everyone who had stood up knelt down in unison with Gu Lingyu: "Welcome, Ancestor."
"..." Shen Wuqiu, who was unaware of what had happened, was completely out of touch with the situation. She remained sitting there, staring blankly at her parents and younger brother, not knowing how to react at all.
—I'm not a cat, so I don't need to perform such a grand ceremony, do I?
"A woman follows her husband wherever he goes, whether he's a chicken or a cat." Since that cat is giving such a grand gesture, isn't it a bit impolite of me to just sit like this?
Just as Shen Wuqiu was embroiled in a battle of wits, she keenly noticed the newcomer's gaze—not the kind of annoying scrutiny, but a kind and gentle one that did not allow for refusal.
Shen Wuqiu subconsciously looked towards the person, but all she saw was a radiant glow surrounding them. No matter how she looked, she couldn't make them out clearly, until the ancient bell-like sound rang out again:
"How wonderful! How wonderful! It is truly a match made in heaven."
Shen Wuqiu suddenly snapped to attention, his body moving faster than his mind. He stood up abruptly and walked to the center of the main hall, saying, "Welcome, Ancestor."
Before she could kneel down, the figure in the center of the hall waved from afar, dismissing the formalities from the crowd.
Gu Lingyu stood up first and walked eagerly to Shen Wuqiu's side, pulling her to the old man: "Qiuqiu, don't be nervous. This is the Guangqi Ancestor I told you about."
As she got closer, she seemed to be able to see the old ancestor's appearance clearly again—a round little old man with yellowish-white hair, beard, and eyebrows.
She stared at the person blankly for a while, then as if suddenly coming to her senses, she quickly lowered her head and said, "Greetings, Ancestor."
Having been with this cat for so long, and having met her parents and brother, Shen Wuqiu only felt the trepidation of meeting the parents now.
"There's no need to be so reserved." The patriarch of Guangqi looked her over with a smile. "Ayu's choice of you as her partner is exactly what I wanted."
After saying that, he looked down at the four cubs, and when he saw Simao, his expression brightened up a bit.
"After all these years of waiting, it's finally here. Come, let me take a closer look."
Simao stood there, tilting her head to examine him, "Meow~"
Many cats in the main hall gasped in unison.
Not for any other reason than that their clan has absolute obedience in the face of pure blood, even to cubs.
Just like how they would instinctively kneel and worship upon hearing this sound, because the ancestor Guangqi is the only divine beast in their clan with the purest bloodline.
The old ancestor didn't find it strange at all; his eyes just brightened up considerably.
Perhaps his gaze was too intense, because after hesitating for a moment, Si Mao licked his lips and tentatively took a few steps toward him.
The old man condescended to bend down and extended his hand to her.
Si Mao looked at his hand, hesitated for two seconds, then jumped up and hung on his wrist.
The old man stroked her very carefully. As he stroked her, his eyes suddenly reddened, and he sighed, "I thought I would never see you again."
Meow~
What's wrong with this old man? Are we not cute enough? Why is he hugging this fat guy?
Seeing that everyone in the hall was watching the old man dote on the chubby girl, Er Mao, the little queen of vying for favor, was the first to protest, seizing the opportunity to make her presence known.
Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, Er Mao raised his paw and smacked his third sister, "Meow~"
The fourth brother stole all the limelight; does the older sister even care about her reputation?
Sanmao retaliated with a swipe of her paw, and then the two sisters, as if on cue, circled around to the old man, nibbled at the hem of his robe, and meowed.
Hey, old man, why are you so biased?
The old man, who was lost in thought, then noticed the two girls. He didn't take their clumsy performance to heart at all, but instead said to Gu Junshan and the others, "Indeed, the purer the bloodline of the cubs, the more rebellious and unruly they are."
Then he looked at Shen Wuqiu and said, "Thank you for your hard work."
Shen Wuqiu subconsciously shook his head, then glanced at Si Mao trying to move away from him, and naturally reached out to help him, saying, "You're too kind, Ancestor."
The ancestor of Guangqi still looked at Simao with reluctance, saying, "Our clan has not had a cub like her for thousands of years."
Shen Wuqiu didn't quite understand what she meant. After all, in her opinion, these little orange cats were the most common in the countryside, while cats like Er Mao and San Mao, which looked very aristocratic, were relatively rare.
The patriarch Guangqi saw his confusion but did not explain. He simply said, "You will understand in the future."
As he spoke, he seemed to remember something, and looked into the distance at Qingshui Laojun, whose face still looked somewhat unwell in the crowd: "Qingshui, I will definitely personally teach the little god in the future. Do you still have any doubts?"
"This humble deity dares not," said Lord Qingshui, immediately bowing his head.
She conceded defeat, but Simao wouldn't have it.
She would have forgotten about it if her ancestors hadn't brought it up.
Now that we've brought it up, we can't let everyone look down on her.
In the blink of an eye, Simao flew onto Qingshui Laojun's head; it really did fly.
This little ball of flesh landed perfectly on Qing Shui Lao Jun's hair bun in a perfect parabola, "Meow~"
The Lord of Clear Water was angry, but dared not speak out.
The ancestor waved his hand: "Since she wants to compete, just let her have it, lest the clansmen think that I am favoring my own branch of the bloodline."
Yes, strictly speaking, Si Mao is a direct descendant of the Guangqi ancestor.
Although they now belong to the Gu Clan of Spirit Cats, in ancient times, they had many branches, each of which was competitive and wanted to make its own branch the best in the clan.
However, with the Great Cleansing of Heaven, all the older generation perished, and the remaining branches had no choice but to fight against the enemy in order to resist the external forces.
Unfortunately, the Guangqi ancestors' clan, being lazy by nature and all round and plump, naturally fell behind their more flamboyant clansmen when it came to finding mates. After the young generation died in the recent great war, their clan's offspring became increasingly scarce, with their only hope being that those mixed-race children could preserve a trace of their bloodline.
After waiting for thousands of years, the ancestor Guangqi did not survive. They thought their bloodline was about to die out, but unexpectedly, they now have a cub that is almost of their pure bloodline.
How could he not be biased?
However, despite his bias, this ordinary and unremarkable Lord Qingshui can't do anything to the little one.
Having received his confirmation, Qing Shui Lao Jun was now in a dilemma. Although they had lived for a long time, they did not understand the bloodline conflicts of their ancestors.
She wanted to provoke Simao, but she just didn't believe that the youngest of the four siblings could be that powerful. She just wanted to vent her personal anger.
Who could have imagined that the offspring conceived by a mere human could be so extraordinary?
Qingshui Laojun could only try to save face: "Now that our ancestor is going to personally teach him, we can't possibly handle the little god."
Gu Lingyu: "Whether you can handle it or not, I advise Lord Qingshui to meet him personally, otherwise this little fat guy on your head will never be able to get off."
Qingshui Laojun secretly glanced at everyone, but no one spoke up for her. She had no choice but to grit her teeth and transform back into her original form.
When she transformed into her original form, Simao nonchalantly licked her lips, and only after confirming that the other party was ready did she lazily meow at her.
In the blink of an eye, Si Mao's chubby little paws landed squarely on the middle of the big cat's head.
For these civets, having their heads pressed down with each other's feet was an utter humiliation.
A note from the author:
The software I was using to type suddenly quit automatically. In order to catch up with the update as soon as possible, I didn't check it carefully and just pasted it here.
I apologize for the unpleasant reading experience. I have corrected it.
Chapter 118
After a few seconds of silence.
"Meow~" Simao meowed proudly in the direction of Chen Wuqiu. She was a cat who hated trouble. If it weren't for this black and white old cat looking down on her mother, she wouldn't have bothered to move her feet.
The silence was broken by a meow, and the tribe erupted in an uproar, especially the younger members.
As mentioned before, although Qingshui Laojun is not a particularly powerful figure in the clan, she has lived for seven or eight thousand years. In the early years, when the clan members could freely reproduce, she was considered a great contributor to the clan and made a lot of efforts to ensure the continuation of the clan's lineage.
This achievement alone is enough to earn him the respect of his clan.
Perhaps because she had been flattered for too long, she forgot her own worth and often flaunted her power in front of younger generations. The unsuspecting younger generations naturally did not know her true capabilities.
Having witnessed such a scene, how could one not be astonished?
"Damn, this can't be right? Laozi is... a complete weakling?"
"I also think it's impossible. Our elders all treat Laozi with the utmost respect..."
"Could it be that Laozi is letting her have a few moves first out of consideration for the little deity?"
"That's possible. After all, Laozi is several thousand years older than the Little God. When the God was first born, he wasn't this powerful."
"..."
Shen Wuqiu overheard a lot of the gossipy cats' chatter. She was proud of her cubs' strength, but compared to the spirit cat clan's reverence for power, her expectations for them weren't as high.
At this moment, in front of everyone, Qing Shui Lao Jun, a big cat, felt a little embarrassed to have her head pressed down by her own cub. As the mother, she wanted to say a few words to smooth things over and let the matter end there.
Who knew that just as she coaxed Simao to stretch out his little paws, the big black and white cat suddenly attacked.
Si Mao was caught off guard and was pounced on by her with great force, knocking her to the ground and rolling around.
The black and white cat showed no mercy, trying to take advantage of the moment she fell to scratch her.
Si Mao looked round and chubby, but her reactions were surprisingly quick. When the black and white cat pounced on her again, she quickly circled behind her.
"Meow~~" At the same time, the other three furry creatures seemed to sense something and prepared to pounce on it together.
[How dare you launch a sneak attack?! You old hag, you're asking for it!]
As soon as they got close, Simao barked at the three of them, "Meow~"
Did we give you permission to interfere?
"Meow~"
[Useless stuff.]
Er Mao had a fiery temper and snapped back at her fiercely.
Meow~
[Second brother, shut up.]
Da Mao called out to her unhappily, then took a few steps back.
Although Er Mao was reluctant, he still obediently followed behind San Mao.
The Shen family had to guess the meaning of their meows, but the other cats in the main hall could understand them.
The black and white cat was probably intimidated by the imposing presence of the furry creatures and halted its attack.