The ancient return was exposed by his sister's live stream.

The images from the daytime still lingered in my mind: the muddy ground trampled by the swarm of rats, the mesmerizing roar of the giant whale in the sky, and that little golden creature—a thing even the ancient spirit beast Fuzhu would avoid.

What exactly is it?

Just then, a "creak" came from the first floor.

Very light. Very short.

Chen Siyao sat up.

She didn't turn on the light, her bare feet on the wooden floor, and pushed open the door to peek towards the stairwell.

In the living room on the first floor, Xiaoyue stopped gnawing on the bone. It lay in the corner, its ears perked up, and nudged its nose twice towards the door.

The door wasn't closed properly.

—No, she remembered closing the door when she came in.

Chen Siyao went down the stairs and walked to the door.

The attic door was ajar, about a fist's width wide. Outside the crack, the blue grass was tinged with a deep indigo by the starlight.

A pair of golden eyes stared at her from below the crack in the door.

Chen Siyao squatted down.

That little thing.

It crouched on the steps by the door, its bushy tail curled in front of it, the scabbed wounds on its hind legs gleaming dark brown in the starlight. Its round face was tilted to one side, its two pointed ears pointing forward, looking timid.

"My little cutie." Chen Siyao's voice was very low.

The little thing blinked.

"Don't you have anywhere to rest? Would you like to come in and rest?"

She waved to it.

The little creature's ear tips twitched twice. Its front paws shifted on the steps, and it hesitated for a second.

Then it took a step and walked in, one step at a time.

Its paw pads made almost no sound as it stepped on the wooden floor. It walked to the center of the living room, stopped, turned around once, and swept the air around with its large tail.

Chen Siyao closed the door.

Xiaoyue raised her head from the corner, glanced at the uninvited guest, sniffed, and snorted. Then she buried her head back in her paws and ignored it.

"Since Xiaoyue doesn't care about you, you might as well stay here."

Chen Siyao took out a piece of leftover jerky from her Qiankun bag and placed it on the ground.

The little creature went over, sniffed it, then grabbed the jerky with its two front paws and started gnawing on it. Its cheeks puffed out.

The sound of footsteps echoed down the stairs.

Yang Wanqing rushed downstairs wearing a coat, her hair a complete mess.

"What's wrong, Yao Yao? I heard a noise—"

She saw the little golden ball squatting on the ground eating dried meat.

"ah!!!"

Yang Wanqing's shout almost blew the attic apart. She rushed over to the little creature, squatted down, and reached out to stroke its head.

The little thing raised its face and glanced at her, but didn't look away, and continued to gnaw on the jerky.

"It doesn't mind! Yao Yao, look, it doesn't mind! It's so well-behaved!"

Yang Wanqing stroked the little creature's fur from its head down its back. The fur was incredibly soft, and she stroked it three times without getting enough.

"Alright, alright, stop bothering it." Chen Siyao patted Yang Wanqing's shoulder. "Let it sleep in the living room, we'll talk about it tomorrow morning."

"Then I'll make a nest for it!"

Yang Wanqing pulled an old T-shirt out of his Qiankun bag, spread it on the ground, and patted it down. "Come on, little cutie, sleep here."

The little creature finished its jerky and licked its paws. It looked at the T-shirt, walked over and circled it twice before finally lying down.

Its large tail covered its body, revealing only half of its face and a pair of golden eyes.

Yang Wanqing's heart melted.

The two of them chatted quietly at the bottom of the stairs, exchanging nothing more than trivial things like "How cute it is" and "Prepare more food for it tomorrow."

"Going to sleep, going to sleep." Chen Siyao yawned and went upstairs to the second floor.

Yang Wanqing took one last, reluctant look at the little thing, and then followed it upstairs.

The living room fell silent.

The little thing lay motionless on the T-shirt.

Its gaze slowly turned toward the second floor where Chen Siyao had disappeared.

Those golden eyes—in the darkness where no one noticed—slowly, very slowly, turned dark red.

It turned red for two seconds.

It faded back to gold.

"Yang Wanqing".

no response.

"Yang Wanqing!"

Still no response. She was wrapped in the blanket like a cocoon, with only a tuft of messy hair sticking out.

Chen Siyao pushed open her bedroom door and walked to the bedside.

"Qingqing—it's already seven o'clock, get up and eat."

A muffled voice came from under the covers: "...Lie down for another five minutes..."

"You've been talking for three five-minute periods."

Chen Siyao reached out and yanked off the blanket.

Yang Wanqing curled up like a shrimp, shivered from the cold air, turned over and continued to sleep.

Chen Siyao looked at her as if she were a hibernating bear.

She changed tactics and whispered in Yang Wanqing's ear, "The little darling is downstairs waiting for you to feed her breakfast."

Yang Wanqing's eyes snapped open.

"real?"

Why would I lie to you?

Yang Wanqing sprang out of bed, grabbed a piece of clothing, threw it on, and rushed downstairs. Chen Siyao followed behind, descending the stairs at a leisurely pace.

On the dining table on the first floor, Chen Hao had already set out breakfast: several small dishes, a pot of porridge, and some flatbread that he had baked at some unknown time.

The pancake was made with the leftover meat filling from yesterday's big bird; the outer crust was crispy and fragrant, and the inside was steaming hot.

Chen Siyao started her live stream.

The crystal for taking photos rises into the air, and the scene cuts in.

The number of online users jumped from zero to over 100 million in just three seconds.

The comments arrive faster than people.

"Here it comes! Here it comes! Day two in the other world!"

Good morning, Yao Yao!

"I've been waiting all night, and it's finally going live!"

"Wait...they're having breakfast??"

"You're eating pancakes in another world, I'm eating steamed buns on the subway, and we both have bright futures."

"The attic is so exquisite! What kind of magical artifact is this?"

Chen Siyao waved to the photo crystal: "Good morning, everyone. The second day of the live stream in the other world is starting."

She picked up the bowl of porridge and took a sip, and the camera panned across the food on the table.

The attic window was open, and outside was an endless blue grassland. In the distance, Fuzhu people were strolling on the grass, and the colorful horns shimmered with color in the morning light.

The comments section immediately took a turn for the worse.

"The view from the window is absolutely stunning."

"They're in another world eating breakfast and enjoying the scenery, while I'm in a cubicle eating takeout and working on Excel."

"So, the god can even cook? He's all-powerful, isn't he?"

"This meat pie looks so delicious, I can't resist!"

"Five-star review of the otherworldly B&B experience"

Yang Wanqing held her bowl, eating while looking around on the first floor.

"Huh—where's that cute little pet? It's nowhere to be seen!"

Chen Siyao chewed on a biscuit and looked towards the living room. The T-shirt that had been used as a nest on the floor was still there, but it was empty; the little thing was nowhere to be seen.

Xiaoyue was lying under the table gnawing on a bone, and it seemed like it was the only one there the whole time.

"He probably went out to find something to eat by himself." Chen Siyao didn't pay much attention and continued eating.

Yang Wanqing pouted, a little disappointed. "It ran so fast, I didn't even say good morning to it."

After finishing breakfast, Chen Hao put away the attic—a palm-sized model—back into his Qiankun bag. The three-story building shrank to the size of a fist in the light, eventually becoming a small toy in the palm of his hand.