Chapter 1023: Chapter 1023: I’m Looking for My Dad I glanced down and finally discovered the “cat” that had caused a ruckus with the three naughty kids at home (I don’t know why, but ever since Xiao Xue came over, I felt like the house was full of naughty kids). However, what appeared in my eyes was just a shadow printed on the ground. A cat-shaped shadow, the kind left on the ground when sunlight shines on something, as if there really was a cat standing at my feet, with the sunlight casting the cat’s figure beside it. Yet there was no cat, nothing there except this shadow. “Damn, is the basement door unlocked, and did Anwina’s group of supernatural soldiers come out?” I clicked my tongue in wonder, “But how do I remember there isn’t something like a cat shadow in the basement?” Xiao Xue jumped in through the window and, upon seeing the shadow on the ground, immediately scratched her head: “Uh, how do I catch this?” She was still holding that giant net, but now it was completely useless. The cat shadow on the ground wriggled its body; now it was being closely watched yet no longer fled. I looked at its movements, feeling as though it was proudly gazing around, meaning: See, you guys are stumped now? A very bizarre sight; I could actually sense a mischievous vibe from it. “Well, seems like it’s still an abnormal phenomenon,” Lilina grinned at the cat shadow, “Doesn’t matter whether you slipped out from Shadow City or Avalon, report back immediately, or else don’t blame me for taking action—this Pope here specializes in exorcising evil… Oh my gosh!” The cat shadow leapt up from the ground, materialized rapidly in mid-air, then stepped on Lilina’s forehead and jumped onto the rooftop. On the rooftop, it turned back into a shadow, quickly blending into a place where sunlight couldn’t reach, completely disappearing. At the moment it transformed in mid-air, I finally saw this thing’s form clearly: indeed a black cat, if you didn’t count its pile of peculiar abilities. And whether it was an illusion or not, I seemed to feel a strong energy reaction contained within it. Was this a strange creature that escaped from Shadow City or Avalon? While searching around for the black cat’s figure, I couldn’t help but ponder. To be honest, this guy’s moves earlier were quite terrifying, but I greet even more horrifying things regularly, so I’m already immune to similar phenomena—there’s no other way; I always run into Anwina halfway through the wall dressing me in the middle of the night when I get up for a drink of water. You’d get used to it too. It’s just a cat that can turn into a shadow and escape. “I feel the enemy’s energy fluctuations still nearby; it hasn’t escaped,” I frowned. It was just a cat, at most a Sphinx-level cat, so organizing a full-scale capture seemed a bit much, but the enemy seemed cunning, not malicious—more like just here to mess with us. “Lilina, where did you encounter… hey, what the heck are you doing?!” At some point, Lilina had already donned a robe resembling a cloak, a cross in hand, garlic and prayer beads around her neck, wandering about mystically, replying without turning her head: “Exorcising. This Pope is a professional exorcist, okay? Just a shadow yet daring to haunt clergy! Let them witness the power of the Goddess!” Did your Goddess tell you garlic mixed with sandalwood can exorcise?! Knowing Lilina had entered a frenzy, I simply ignored the nutter, then carefully observed the shadowy environment on the balcony. I guessed the enemy’s shadow movement must be limited; it could hide within shadows but must reveal itself in sunlight, and transform into tangible form when crossing places unable to sustain shadows, indicating it’s hiding somewhere in a corner now. With the sunlight not strong enough, perhaps I should try using the method often employed by Holy Knights to force out this bizarre shadow creature? Thinking it over, I shook my head, linking up with Alaya who was snoozing in the spiritual sea, amid the Holy Light-shining, the groggy Angel Sister floated out, rubbing her eyes: “Lord Brother?” “A shadow creature snuck in at home, origins unknown,” I watched this muddle-headed fellow uneasily. It was her nap time; could this spacey one really understand what I was saying? “Use the Holy Light to shine and try driving it out.” Alaya stretched, her wings behind her expanding like setting sail soon—this analogy is odd; try to grasp the sense. Anyway, instantly the Holy Light filled everywhere within sight, Alaya’s light was akin to a shadow-less lamp. In places with Holy Light, all shadows would assimilate unless it wasn’t a true shadow. Sure enough, as Angel Sister stretched, a crouching cat shadow instantly appeared beside the wall illuminated brightly by the Holy Light. The cat shadow noticed its exposure and immediately dashed toward the wall, seemingly about to pounce. Lilina, Xiao Xue, and Mercury Lamp were ready; the three gals were quick to react, and just as the cat leapt, they in unison… whipped out three flashlights. Then the cat ran away. Serves them right to be messed with by a cat; could they not drop the ball at crucial times?! This shadow creature was clearly not something flashlights could handle! “Hey, Ah Jun! What is this? You got a cat?” As the three littles were giving each other wide-eyed looks, Big Sister’s call suddenly came from the yard outside. I looked down, surprisingly discovering the strange black cat lying honestly in Big Sister’s arms, occasionally yawning and flicking its tail, looking at us provocatively: the three littles immediately bristled, with Xiao Xue taking the lead, they all jumped off the balcony simultaneously. Lilina pulled out a cat cage, Xiao Xue hoisted the net, and Mercury Lamp pointed aggressively at the cat, “This is an invader! Hit it! It stole my cake!” Lilina nodded, “The only good thing this cat did.” And so the cat-catchers instantaneously split; Mercury Lamp and Lilina began brawling to the side again, while Xiao Xue gleefully cheered from the sidelines, acting unlike her seventeen or eighteen-year-old self: had the cooperation broken once the cat was caught? “I don’t know where it’s from either; just now Lilina said a cat suddenly broke into the house. You think this is a cat?” I approached Big Sister, ignoring the two shorties tussling a short distance away, then informed Big Sister of the cat’s oddness, and by the way, reached out to scratch under the latter’s chin: I heard cats all . Surprisingly, the weird cat, which just caused a ruckus, seemed to calm down immediately in Big Sister’s arms; when I reached out to scratch its chin, it actually leaned in to nuzzle, then purred softly, “Hmm, hmm, hello, Uncle, hello, Uncle…” The nearby naughty kids all came running over in a flash! The black cat jumped lightly from Big Sister’s arms to the ground, and under our stunned gaze, stretched out and, like a soft shadow, slowly transformed into a small girl in a black dress, looking about the same age as Bubbles. Everyone continued staring in shock; I almost choked on my own saliva: “Cough, cough, what’s going on? Where did you come from? Uh wait, I think I’ve seen you before…” I stared at this familiar kid, dumbfounded for a while before finally recalling, “Jia Di?” Jia Di, that’s the Father God’s daughter! We met this kid back in the Divine Realm, though only two or three times, and since it’s been so long, I didn’t remember for a moment. “Jia Di, you look just like me.” “Whoa! So you’re Sister Cynthia,” Xiao Xue suddenly exclaimed, then scratched her head. “I see you often running around the Shadow World as a cat when you were little, teasing me back then, didn’t you?” “Huh? Who are you? Have we met before?” the girl named Cynthia pondered, “I came from another timeline, oh, you even helped when I came here,” Xiao Xue chuckled foolishly, “In the future, when you are the core of our Princess Alliance, but for now you don’t know me.” “Oh… I’ll just ask Daddy later.” Cynthia nodded with a slight understanding, then rocked my arm, “Uncle, I don’t know where I’m from; Jia Di just looks like me.” Father God is probably in the study discussing matters with King Huron at this time. These two joyful rivals, apart from chasing and escaping on the topic of having children, often secretly share stories about the “children” they’ve created, like two parents meeting at a kindergarten. Just as I was about to take Cynthia to find them, Yelsen swaggered back in from outside (this guy might have been shopping in the old town’s flea market again, look at that big bag of snacks in his hand!), and upon seeing Cynthia, immediately showed an expression of surprise: “Eh? Your Highness the Princess? How come you’re here?” “Looking for my dad,” the Divine Race Princess said in particularly plain language, “otherwise he’ll soon forget he has a wife and child…” The most update n0vels are published on 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵·𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮·𝓷𝓮𝓽 “The difference between this Cynthia and Jiajia is too big, isn’t it?” My sister leaned over and whispered in my ear. She still remembers what kind of child Jiajia was: innocent, pure, a bit shy, and even caused a little joke the first time we met at the Father God Temple, completely different from the Cynthia in front of us! Yet they seem to be about the same age. We first brought Cynthia to the warm living room, and Yelsen quickly went to notify his immediate superior. Less than a minute later, Father God came running down in a set of casual clothes as if from a street stall, and Cynthia immediately beamed and lunged for a solid hug. Lilina started muttering next to us, “Show off, show off…” “Alright, I’ll give you a hug,” I looked at Lilina and, with a thought, put her on my lap. Just now Bingdisi analyzed some things for me, and I have plenty of unspent emotions saved up. “Wow!” Lilina let out a soft exclamation, her whole body stiffening involuntarily, then whispered, “Boss, did you eat something strange? How come it feels so weird?” “Not used to being treated well, huh,” I patted her head and said softly, “it’s nothing, I just suddenly learned you’ve made great contributions, so I decided to treat you better.” “Made great contributions?” Lilina had a face full of confusion, her mind couldn’t turn around for a moment. Meanwhile, Cynthia, having snuggled enough with her dad, jumped to the ground, grabbing Father God’s arm, “Dad, you haven’t been home in a long time. I brought letters from mom and a few uncles, asking you to read them quickly and go home.” Father God showed an awkward smile, as if being interrupted by his daughter to remind him to go home to cook when he was boasting with old friends, and then asked Cynthia to take out the letters. Cynthia first took out a purple paper: “Mom’s letter, just one sentence, it’s too mushy, you read it yourself.” Then she took out a scroll: “Uncle Sovare’s letter: General Reinhart returned from the front line, bringing important information. Also, there are numerous affairs in the Divine Realm, asking Father God to return quickly to preside over the overall situation.” Then she took out a leaf: “Aunt Jiajia’s letter: Hurry back and play with me!” “Lastly, Uncle Qian Yuhao’s letter…” Cynthia looked around, found a large enough open space, and poured out at least half a ton of oversized scrolls with a swoosh, “…want it? There’s more, but it needs to be poured out in the yard, it won’t fit here.” Father God, holding the three normal letters, looked at the mountain of scrolls on the floor, his hands started to tremble: “Isn’t there a condensed version?” Cynthia nodded, took out a note from her small bag: “Aunt Lan condensed Uncle Qian Yuhao’s letter: Boss, return quickly, or I’m not doing this anymore!” “Anyway, it seems I need to go back and take a look, and handle a certain abnormal guy…” Father God’s eyes twitched uncontrollably, then he turned to us with a smile; for the first time, I saw this expression on this man: like he’s about to cry. “Hey, dummy, won’t I get my cake back?” Mercury Lamp suddenly leaned on my shoulder, dejectedly said. Cynthia seemed to have snatched a piece of her cake. “Cake?” Father God heard Mercury Lamp’s soft complaint, pinched his daughter’s cheek immediately, “Cynthia, what happened?” “Well, I just wanted to play games with Xyrin’s princess, but it seems it’s not right to take someone else’s stuff randomly…” Cynthia looked at Mercury Lamp with embarrassment, then suddenly took out a handful of colorful candy from her pocket and handed it over, “Here, these are for you, they’re delicious! You’re not mad anymore, are you?” Mercury Lamp was stunned for a moment; she never really felt like a princess but was quite pleased with Cynthia’s friendly gesture, so she grabbed the handful of divine realm snacks and stuffed them into her little pocket under Lilina’s bitter gaze. Meanwhile, I started whispering with Father God through our spiritual connection, “Just now your daughter turned into a cat, causing a ruckus among those naughty kids…” I explained the mischief Cynthia had caused, and Father God burst out laughing, looking at Cynthia with love and helplessness, “This kid is really a handful, she’s much more mature than she looks, always stirring things up in the temple. But she seems to really like your daughters, maybe besides Jiajia, Cynthia will have more playmates in the future.” “I hear they’ll form a Princess Alliance in the future,” I couldn’t help but think of the term Xiao Xue mentioned earlier, “Xiao Xue said your Cynthia is the center of the Princess Alliance.” Now it was Father God’s turn to be speechless: “…” Then we both sighed, “These naughty kids!” It seemed the Divine Realm was impatient in urging; Father God also had nothing else to do here, so just after lunch, he went back to the star domain through the divine realm dedicated passage in Shadow City—really in a hurry. I originally thought such a big figure as Father God leaving required a farewell ceremony or a press conference to announce it to the world, haven’t you seen it on TV? When the President of Zimbabwe visits China, even several reporters cover it, how many Zimbabwe presidents does Father God outdo? Yet it ended up that Anwina’s table of food was his only send-off, and I didn’t quite feel right about it. But later, Lin Xue reminded me, and I felt relieved: Father God traveled all the way here by subway in economy class, and his first meal in the Imperial Capital was chive pockets. Facing such a Father God, how do you hold a press conference? Cynthia and the naughty kids completely patched things up: in fact, there wasn’t much grudge to begin with, she was just a bit mischievous, turning into a cat to tease Mercury Lamp and them, purely for fun and nothing more. Aside from causing a bit of chaos at home, there was nothing huge; and since she gave a little gift at the end, Cynthia even won Mercury Lamp’s rare favor. For the first time, Little Light welcomed an outsider, inviting Cynthia to come play again next time—though she meant welcoming Cynthia to team up with her to bully Lilina next time. “Xingchen is gone, so I should hurry back to the Divine Realm as well.” After sending off Father God, King Huron suddenly spoke with a hint of melancholy. I noticed that this somewhat carefree purple-haired girl’s face didn’t look too good, clearly reluctant to leave this place. I thought for a moment, “Actually, it’s okay if you stay here a few more days, hasn’t Huron over there not urged you at all?” “Mainly because they don’t know where to urge: I sneaked out secretly,” King Huron said honestly. “Alright, alright, I have to leave anyway,” King Huron waved her hand, “now that I know your place, maybe I’ll come visit again. Speaking of which, you and Xingchen are quite fortunate to live so close to each other; it’s quite a journey from my place over here, and even the Divine King would be exhausted coming here once… Being alone there is really quite boring.” Hila cannot directly transport from Shadow City to Huron Divine Realm; she has to first turn to the star domain from Shadow City, and then from a certain “gate” in the star domain to Huron Divine Realm, which is an extremely long journey. Even if it only takes a few seconds in the material plane, it consumes a lot of energy, so Hila decided to soak in the star domain that afternoon, as her physical strength accumulates easier in the Divine Realm… Anyway, I don’t believe her explanation; it’s obvious she’s going off to see Father God, though that is something unspeakable… (Certainly scammed quite a few people…) (To be continued. 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