**Chapter 0: Shut Up, Qingqing**
“Little one, even if you didn’t say it, do you think I would actually leave someone alone?”
Qin Gou smiled kindly. Listening to the little girl’s fluent explanation, he was once again certain that the one before him should be the eloquent Fen Qingqing, who was adept at taunting others verbally, while the other one appeared naive and delicate, always crying, but capable of striking a fatal blow when provoked.
“However, if I understand correctly, you can sense everything that is happening with the other Qingqing?”
“Yes, Qingqing and the little fool can talk to each other even when they are far apart. She told me just now about meeting a little aunt,” Fen Qingqing nodded like a pecking chicken.
This ability did not seem to exist between A’Yuan and Mu Tangchun. Although they had similar experiences, there were still some differences.
“Does Qingqing know who that little aunt is?” Qin Gou asked again.
“I don’t know the little aunt’s name.” Fen Qingqing shook her head and pursed her lips. After a moment of thought, she said, “But, she’s that clever, intelligent, and graceful little aunt who occasionally says terrifying things with a clear and bright smile.”
In fact, there was a second half to her sentence: that sharp-tongued little aunt seemed to have a very similar feeling to the elder brother in front of him, perhaps they were siblings.
“Hearing you say that, I can already guess a thing or two.”
Qin Gou pondered carefully. He first ruled out Qin Yuan, Yi Chengying, and Ao Banwei. In his memory, these were all exceptionally well-behaved girls. Instead, he directly suspected Li Xiaogou and Qiu Qianyue, and began to worry deeply about whether these two unreliable individuals could even take care of a child.
“Since you can communicate with them, can you tell me their location? I think it’s best to reunite with our companions in this secret realm as soon as possible.”
“Okay, I can lead the way for older brother.”
“That’s good. By the way, I don’t think I know Qingqing’s full name? I mean, your godmother Jing Shixue, how does she usually address you and the other little fellow? Does she still call both of you Qingqing?” Qin Gou was a little curious.
“I take after my mother, my full name is Jing Qingqing. However, nowadays mother mostly calls me ‘Shut Up Qingqing’ and calls that little fool ‘Stop Qingqing’!”
“Cough.”
Qin Gou couldn’t help but chuckle. “But I can’t call you that. How about older brother temporarily calling you ‘Fen Qingqing’ for now? Because I see you’ve been wearing this light pink little dress these past few days. Calling you this way will make it easier to distinguish you from the other little fellow.”
“Okay, I like pink the most! And older brother can also call that little fool ‘Fool Qing’… Older brother, is that behind you?” Suddenly, Fen Qingqing’s little face showed a hint of surprise.
Qin Gou turned around. It was Yi Chengying, who had used her Shadow Cat ability, leaping gracefully out of the shadows behind him.
“Lord Qin! Qingqing?”
Upon seeing Fen Qingqing, Yi Chengying couldn’t help but smile sweetly and waved her little hand at her.
“It’s you, sister. I didn’t see clearly just now, and it really startled me. Why could you come out of older brother’s shadow?” Fen Qingqing rubbed her big eyes and said.
Yi Chengying pursed her lips and smiled, “This is one of the abilities of my Natal Spirit Tool. If Qingqing cultivates diligently, she will surely have her own exquisite Natal Spirit Tool in the future.”
Fen Qingqing nodded as if she had suddenly realized.
“Little Chair, when you came, did you see any traces of others?” Qin Gou asked immediately.
Yi Chengying shook her head. “As soon as Little Chair entered the secret realm and found no one with her, she came to find Lord Qin immediately.”
Qin Gou nodded and smiled, “No harm done. You came at the perfect time. This little fellow seems to have a special ability and is about to take me to meet the others. Right, Qingqing?”
“Yes, older brother, sister, please follow me quickly.”
…
While they were walking, Fen Qingqing, just as she had promised, did not throw any little tantrums and appeared surprisingly well-behaved and sensible. She would only occasionally glance at Little Chair’s head, seeming to want to say something but hesitating.
Little Chair, with her keen observation skills, noticed this and reached out to gently stroke her own fluffy cat ears, chuckling softly, “Qingqing seems very curious about this? Just as I said before, this is actually my Natal Spirit Tool.”
Fen Qingqing nodded like a pecking chicken. “I just think that sister’s ears look like mother’s, no… that’s not right. Sister’s are clearly sharper, while mother’s are round… Qingqing also has furry ears when she reveals her true form, but she hasn’t learned to show partial true body features even when transformed into a humanoid Dao Body like mother.”
Upon hearing this, Qin Gou couldn’t help but think that he had always been very curious why, among all the Great Marsh Cloud Tigers he had met, only Jing Shixue deliberately showed those pair of beast ears? Did she not know that combining a pair of round cat ears with a humanoid Dao Body would seriously affect her dignity as a generation’s Cloud Tiger Beast King?
However, before Qin Gou could speak, he heard Fen Qingqing launch into an explanation.
“Mother has always been very proud of her pair of snow-white ears, because when she lived in your mortal world, it seemed many humans envied her because of them. Everyone couldn’t help but reach out and want to touch them! This is what made mother, who at one point didn’t know how to communicate with humans, become more and more cheerful.”
Qin Gou’s mouth twitched. “Is Jing Shixue really sure that those people were envious?”
Little Chair also asked with a strange expression, “Wouldn’t Clan Leader Jing feel a particularly strange sensation when someone touched her ears on her head?”
“A strange sensation?”
Fen Qingqing thought for a moment, then suddenly looked around mischievously, her little face mysteriously saying, “Sister Yi, older brother, I’ll tell you two secretly. You must keep it a secret like Duoduo, Xi’er, Xixi… and the others, and never tell anyone else!”
Under the astonished gazes of Qin Gou and Yi Chengying, Fen Qingqing had just uttered a string of more than ten names they had never heard of.
Only after Qin Gou and Yi Chengying jointly promised with a look of not knowing whether to laugh or cry did Fen Qingqing softly say, “Actually, mother has always liked me or Fool Qingqing to massage her ears the most. And every time, she would be very happy, smiling and making a purring sound! Older brother and Sister Yi can also try it if you have the chance, because no matter how angry mother is, as long as Qingqing massages her big ears on her head, she can quickly return to her agreeable self and be forgiven immediately.”
Little Chair was stunned for a moment. “When I was little, I saw some ladies and young ladies raising Persian cats. When they were being affectionate, they would also make a low purring sound, and sometimes they would roll around.”
“If there are no outsiders, my mother will also roll around!”
“Cough, enough, Qingqing!”
Qin Gou was truly ashamed. “Now I finally completely understand why fellow Daoist Jing always tells you, little one, to shut up!”
