It seems that the villain is targeting me.

Xiao Niao looked haggard, and she sighed, "...I'm starting to feel that this mission is getting tricky. Let's first think about whether we can start from another direction...I don't know if the information No. 4 collected earlier will be of any use..."

"Well, wait."

Xiao Niao suddenly touched his waist subconsciously - there was nothing there, no bulging canvas bag hanging down.

"Etc., etc."

Xiao Niao couldn't help but widen his eyes, and his tone became a little flustered.

"Where's number four?!"

[Yes, yes, where did Number Four go?] The system suddenly realized.

Xiao Niao narrowed his eyes and recalled: "...When I went to the mahjong hall before, I didn't bring my bag inside because I was afraid it would affect my performance..."

"What about the bag?" the system asked.

"It seems to be, uh, placed behind a vase outside." Xiao Niao gave an answer hesitantly.

“What about the cat?” it asked.

"Yes, in the bag." Xiao Niao replied.

Chapter 18 Don't panic, dizziness is normal

He actually lost the system while doing the mission - even among the entire group of time travelers, this is a rare achievement.

Xiao Niao acted decisively, bought a flashlight from a roadside store, and hurried back to find the cat.

Fortunately, the place where Xiaoniao put down the canvas bag was relatively hidden, and No. 4 was very timid and kept hiding in the bag and didn't dare to run far, so she was able to bring the cat back safely.

“Meow… meow…”

After returning home, cat No. 4 curled up in the bird's arms like a lost child, meowing, even its ears were flattened into airplane ears, as if it had suffered a great injustice.

Xiao Niao stroked the fur on the back of the cat system's neck guiltily: "Don't cry, don't cry..."

The system felt that Number Four's behavior was extremely out of control, but it was too embarrassed to complain - because it had completely forgotten about Number Four.

[Hey, okay, stop crying.] The system slowed down its tone and tried to comfort Number Four. [We've come back to find you... We didn't mean to abandon you.]

"It took you so long to come back to see me..." Number Four looked up at the bird with tears in his eyes, and his little pearls were about to fall.

"It's all Tongzi and I's fault." Xiao Niao apologized sincerely.

Then he bribed the cat: "I will buy some small yellow croaker and stew it for you tomorrow."

"Woo...can you give it all to me?" Number Four asked cautiously, lying on her knees.

Xiao Niao nodded affirmatively: "I'll give it all to you."

"Hmm," Cat System No. 4 bravely wiped away the tears from the corners of its eyes with its claws, "By the way, Boss, how's the mission going..."

Xiao Niao felt worried when she thought about this matter. She avoided the topic and subconsciously reached out to rub the cat's ears.

She said vaguely: "Well, the situation is a bit complicated overall..."

No.4 Jue

Xiaoniao almost pulled out all the hair on his ears, but he still held back and didn't complain.

It asked expectantly, "Did you kill the Doctor?"

Xiao Niao said: "We saved the doctor."

Number Four: “?”

About four minutes and twenty-seven seconds later, Xiaoniao and the system jointly described the whole process and the final result to Maomao.

During this period, Xiaoniao was mainly responsible for the description, while Tongzi provided supporting explanations.

Number Four listened carefully, then buried his head under his paws, feeling that his life was really miserable.

"I'm stupid, really."

Maomao raised his lifeless eyes and murmured.

"Just because I saw the progress bar on the task go up, I thought everything was going well," the little pearl in its eye socket thought silently, "What a fool I am..."

Xiao Niao felt helpless when he saw Number Four so depressed.

If you think about it a little, it is actually very easy to empathize with this matter: no matter who it is, watching the job that is about to be obtained slip away, I guess they will not feel very good.

【Xiao Si, don't be too depressed.】

"We haven't gained nothing this time," the system said soothingly. "Since the progress bar is rising, it at least shows that the key to this repair lies with Chen Xiaoya."

Chen Xiaoya...

This name silently passed through Xiao Niao's mind, making her heart involuntarily heavy.

He is just a child, Xiao Niao thought, about thirteen or fourteen years old, and should still be in junior high school.

Chen Xiaoya was even thinner than other children of the same age. His clothes were old and his face had a sallow color that came from malnutrition.

The most important thing was the look in her eyes when she looked at the bird - such a vigilant, guarded, and distrustful look.

Xiao Niao had seen too many children with such eyes in his previous world.

Most of them die before they grow up, and only a very small number of lucky ones can survive in the cracks of the adult world.

She could almost imagine Chen Xiaoya's ending with her eyes closed: either he would waste his life at the bottom of society, or he would go astray at some critical point in his life.

A suffocating feeling of depression was brewing in Xiao Niao's chest, and at one point she almost cursed this inexplicable little world.

This extremely disgusting plot - pushing people who are already at the point of having no way out to the edge of a cliff, making them become the clowns in the love game between the two psychopathic male and female protagonists.

If this was a script written by someone, Xiao Niao wanted to knock the director's brains out to see what kind of shocking thing was inside: was it smooth as an egg? Or a bag of black pus?

But whether it contains porridge or dog shit, it determines the future fate of the child to some extent.

"...That's what's called 'Destiny'."

Xiao Niao closed his eyes, his brows furrowed tightly together. "If I don't intervene, she'll definitely become the underground doctor who does all the dirty work for the male protagonist."

Originally, Xiao Niao had no sympathy for the character of "doctor" - no matter what the reason, she had basically no patience for criminals.

That's why she straightforwardly proposed the plan of "solving the doctor issue in advance" at the very beginning.

Xiao Niao didn't speak for a long time, and Number Four, who was lying on the sofa next to him, sensed the host's low mood with the unique sensitivity of a cat.

It had not spent enough time with the bird to fully understand its personality traits, and thought that it was worried about the progress of the task.

Number Four looked up into Xiaoniao's eyes, and placed his two little white claws on the latter's arms, gently scratching them, making the fur feel itchy.

It observed the bird's expression and asked cautiously, "Hey, should we still attack Chen Xiaoya?"

Xiao Niao pondered for a moment, and his eyes gradually became firm.

“My view has never changed,” she said calmly. “Whatever the reasons and difficulties, doing something wrong is wrong – it doesn’t change because you had a miserable childhood or came from a poor family.”

What if Chen Xiaoya really became a cold-blooded and cruel underground doctor who worked for bad guys?

——Then no matter how many reasons she has or how forced she is, all that awaits her is trial and imprisonment.

"...But she hasn't done anything wrong right now," Xiao Niao said softly, "I'm not qualified to judge her—let alone judge her for something that didn't happen."

[But the probability of this child going astray in the future is still too high...]

The system's worry was practically materializing: [In reality, she probably didn't have much of a choice at all, having such an abusive father... Her father is truly a piece of shit.]

Xiao Niao recalled the bruises on that thin arm and agreed, "He's just a beast."

Number Four roughly understood the whole thing and nodded, "That's inhuman."

It was quite rare that the three of them reached a very unanimous consensus on this matter. The man, the cat, and the cat looked at each other and miraculously developed a fighting spirit.

This fighting spirit is probably similar to the feeling of "I must complete it perfectly" after encountering a difficult game level, or "I will protect this smile" after meeting a character you like.

[Okay, then let's make up our minds and fight this shitty plot.

In the end!】The system shouted noisily,【For freedom!】

Number Four also joined in the commotion: "Make it a plan!"

Xiao Niao looked at their excited expressions and didn't respond. He just smiled and nodded.

[Since that's the case, let's take a long-term view and carefully plan our next steps.]

The system called up the memo from the basic functions, as if it was about to start a meeting.

"My current thinking is whether I can start from other directions and find a way to fix the faulty nodes."

Xiao Niao slowly sorted out his thoughts: "For example, let the little boy stay away from the Child of Fortune and don't have any contact with him at all."

"Or maybe they could intervene in the plot and rewrite the opportunity that would lead to Chen Xiaoya becoming an underground doctor."

Number Four excitedly waved one of his front paws, expressing his enthusiasm: "I've collected a lot of information on this subject, which should come in handy someday!"

"Well, there's nothing wrong with that... But these are basically long-term missions," the system looked at Xiao Niao worriedly, "Maybe I'll have to stay for several years..."

[Bird, are you okay?]

"no problem."

Xiao Niao's face didn't show any reluctance at all: "Tongzi, I have never regretted anything, whether in the last world or this one."

If the accident had not happened and the system had not found him, Xiao Niao might have already lived a peaceful and tranquil life.

Such a life is of course very happy, and Xiao Niao himself actually looks forward to it very much.

But entering those small worlds, although full of dangers and unpredictable life and death, allowed her to experience a completely different life.

Xiao Niao said: "In a way, I should even be grateful for that accident. After all, if it weren't for it, I wouldn't have met you."

The 'you' here refers not only to Tongzi, but also to the people Kotori has met along the way.

It is those experiences and the people she has met that make up the Xiao Niao of today. Even if emotions will be forgotten and memories will be lost, the things that have shaped her soul will always exist.

The system only felt that familiar feeling coming up again.

It has collaborated with the bird many times to overcome seemingly impossible problems, and this time, it can also reach a happy ending.

[Well,] the system firmed its resolve, [there's nothing to be afraid of.]

"But if we want to stay here for a long time, we have to consider the issue of livelihood... What are your thoughts, bird?"

Before Xiao Niao could say anything, Cat No. 4 immediately answered.

The Cat System said almost without thinking: "Establishment! Take the exam for an establishment!"

system:【……】

Xiao Niao: "You are really obsessed with organization...Okay, I will give it a try when the time comes."

System: […As long as you are happy.]

"Anyway, don't worry about making a living," Xiao Niao said, patting Number Four's head. "We can still support you."

Cat System No. 4 wagged its tail and enjoyed the bird's pat on the head... It felt like it had been in a cat's body for too long, and its behavior patterns had become very cat-like.

Xiao Niao seemed a little absent-minded. She looked away and said to herself:

"Is there any way to stop Chen Zhengkang from beating the little boy?"

The thought came to her mind very clearly: the child must not be beaten again.

Chen Zhengkang is a violent and irritable madman who may beat the kid up at any time.

Some parents are not worthy of being parents, or even human beings at all - their cruelty, indifference and selfishness always refresh your expectations of the bottom line of human morality again and again.

Xiao Niao didn't want to see such a thin body and such scarred hands again.

She frowned and said, "I can't bear to see him continue to abuse her like this... I'll use force if necessary."

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