Don't mess with that Miao boy, he's sickly and perverted.

Chai Xiaomi wrapped her clothes tighter and walked straight ahead without looking to the side.

A few lights were scattered across the three-story building. The deck was pitch black in the dead of night. Looking down from the ship's side, the dark seawater resembled a gaping abyss, sending chills down one's spine and triggering thalassophobia.

Fortunately, the sound of fried dough sticks kept echoing in my mind.

"Go straight ahead and be careful of obstacles. Although I don't see any obstacles, it makes it seem more professional to announce it."

"The current wind speed is level three, and the wind temperature feels like freezing. We suggest you go back and put on some clothes again."

"Navigation tip: You have deviated from the best route to find the person, but since you don't listen to me at all, I have decided to abandon the planning and switch to chat mode."

They kept going on and on about those meaningless map announcements.

Chai Xiaomi gradually realized that You Tiao seemed to have noticed that she was scared to travel alone on the night boat, so he deliberately made conversation to encourage her.

Her heart suddenly softened.

"Baby Youtiao," she interrupted, her voice soft and sweet, "thank you~"

My mind went silent instantly.

Then came a strange electrical sound.

Fried dough stick: "Uh..."

This is the first host to call it "Baby". Before, when it heard her use this name to coax those flower girls into embryos, it was speechless. But now that the name has fallen on its own head, You Tiao watched as the system interface flashed pink light frantically, and the detection showed that the CPU temperature was rising sharply.

Chai Xiaomi blinked: "What's wrong with you?"

There was no response.

Before she could investigate, she looked up and bumped into a tall, dark figure in front of her.

The man stood in front of a room, his back slightly hunched, as if he were enduring something.

Although there was no light and only the outline could be seen, she recognized the figure at a glance.

But something seems off right now...

"Li Li?"

Chai Xiaomi called out in surprise. She looked around and realized that this seemed to be Lao Ji's room.

The older cat prefers quiet, so it specifically chose this small, unclaimed room closest to the bow of the ship, since one cat doesn't need much space anyway.

The dark figure paused abruptly as soon as he finished speaking.

The next second, it darted into the room.

Chai Xiaomi: "???"

What's going on?

She ran forward a few steps, grabbed the latch, and pulled it—

It's locked!?

"Hey, you stinky Lili, what are you doing in Lao Ji's room??"

There was a moment of silence inside, then Wu Li's voice came through, lower than usual, as if he was trying hard to suppress something:

"Practice the spells you didn't finish practicing during the day."

Just as Chai Xiaomi was about to speak, another voice slowly drifted out: "Yes, yes, little Xiaomi, you go back to sleep first. In half an hour, I'll let your husband go back."

His tone was steady and even, with a hint of coaxing a child.

But Chai Xiaomi stared at the tightly closed door, feeling that something was wrong. Why lock the door when you're practicing? Besides, why are you practicing talismans at this hour instead of sleeping?

"Open the door, let me in too, I want to listen in."

She knocked on the door twice.

Wu Li's voice came from inside again, steady and flawless: "The spell we practiced tonight was a bit dangerous. With your small frame, a gust of wind could blow you over. What if you accidentally got hurt? Go back to sleep and be a good girl."

Inside the door.

The white cat looked at the boy in front of it with a complicated expression.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, a large drop sliding down his brow and across his chin. While controlling his murderous aura to devour his heart again and again, he also had to grit his teeth and keep his voice steady, coaxing the little girl outside to go back inside.

It has lived for so many years and has seen people who can endure, but it has never seen anyone who can endure this much.

Even it felt a little sorry for itself.

More than the pain, he was probably afraid that she would see him in his current state.

The white cat sighed, a hint of heartache in its eyes. It raised its paw to groom its whiskers, cleared its throat, and called out towards the door, "Um... little Xiaomi, listen to my advice."

"Men, they all have those few days each month when they need to be alone. Just pretend he's on his period, go back and make him some brown sugar water to replenish his energy, okay?"

Wu Li: "..."

The white cat met the pair of heterochromatic eyes that shot towards it like cold blades, and shrank its neck guiltily, lowering its voice to explain, "I'm just trying to help you, don't be ungrateful. Look, it's all quiet outside, she must have gone back to make you some brown sugar water, which will help you replenish your blood."

There was a moment of silence.

Suddenly, that soft, sweet voice came from outside the door again, but with a hint of nervousness in its tone: "...It seems like pirates are here."

Wu Li moved quickly, put on his clothes, and was about to open the door.

The white cat, quick as a flash, shoved him back to his spot with its paw, glaring at him with exasperation: "You're usually such a composed person, how could you take a little girl's casual remark so seriously?"

It raised its voice and shouted outside, "Where did this pirate come from? Don't try to fool this old man, if—"

Before he could finish speaking...

"Bang bang bang—!"

The dense impacts pounded on the hull, bulkheads, and deck like hail.

Immediately afterwards, a cacophony of voices and footsteps arose, and someone outside the cabin screamed at the top of their lungs, "Pirates! Pirates!"

The white cat's ears twitched, and its expression changed drastically.

Pirates' usual tactic: first, they throw a chain-like iron ball, its barbs clamping tightly onto the ship's hull, then a group of desperate men leap down the ropes. Those iron balls weigh at least tens of kilograms, and with their momentum, if they hit someone, they could shatter their bones to dust.

Wu Li's figure had already darted away.

As soon as he stepped outside, he froze at the doorway.

The little girl sat pitifully on the ground, covered from head to toe in crumbs of snow. Her head, shoulders, and face were all white, like a rabbit that had just been dug out of a snowdrift.

At that moment, she covered her forehead, looked up at him, and tears were quickly welling up in her eyes.

"It's all your fault, you wouldn't open the door for me."

Chai Xiaomi was still a little dazed when a large snowball hit her head. By the time she came to her senses, she had already fallen to the ground with a thud, and her tailbone was numb.

Wu Li quickly squatted down and reached out to brush away the snowflakes covering her forehead.

In the darkness, he could see clearly that the girl's long eyelashes were covered with glistening snowflakes, making her look even more like a porcelain doll.

"Does it hurt?"

What do you think?

"That's what you get for not sleeping and wandering around aimlessly."

Upon hearing this, Chai Xiaomi's eyes widened: "You're turning the tables on me?! Who's the one who's up all night, sneaking around in someone else's room in the middle of the night? You wouldn't be secretly petting a cat behind my back, would you?"

Wu Li paused in his act of wiping her face: "Snuggling a cat?"

"That big white cat's fur is so nice to pet, fluffy, soft, and so easy to sniff." She looked at her suspiciously. "Were you indulging your cat fantasies while I was away?"

"Damn it, her already not-so-bright brain was probably damaged by the snowballs." He muttered to himself, but his hands resignedly and gently lifted her up from the ground, brushed the snow off her, and then picked her up in his arms.

He thought to himself that if he were to suck on anything, it would only be this soft, fragrant kitten in his arms; he would be crazy to suck on that old fat cat.

During the movement, I deliberately let her lean against my right chest, avoiding the gap on the left side that was still healing.