Crimson Heir: Shadows in Academia

25

As the first rays of morning sunlight streamed through the window, Alex Qi slowly opened his tightly closed eyes, his heartbeat slowing. This recovery, while not yet at his peak, was much better than the previous night.

"You two look much better. Good morning!" Alex Qi greeted a squinting "husky" nestled beside his left leg and a golden kitten lazily sprawled on his lap.

The golden kitten looked up at Alex Qi and spoke in a human voice: "First of all, thank you for saving us, but I have a question for you!" Its eyes were full of questions.

Actually, the "husky" was Jack in his giant wolf form, only now shrunk in size, making it look like a husky. The golden kitten was Linda.

"Uh... well, you can ask," Alex Qi said, a hint of guilt in his voice. He knew what they wanted to ask.

"Why can't we regain our human form no matter how hard we try? We can only enlarge or shrink parts of our current bodies?" This time, it was Jack, who resembled a husky, who spoke up, clearly unhappy with his current cute appearance.

"Um... well..." Alex Qi stammered, unsure how to answer. He'd actually sensed their movements earlier; after all, they'd absorbed his "life essence" and a large amount of dark energy, healing quickly. And ever since they could move again, they'd been trying to regain their human forms without success, so they hadn't bothered him while he was recovering.

"Sigh," Alex Qi sighed heavily, meeting their expectant gazes, and carefully explained how he'd saved them, emphasizing the limitations of the technique.

Seeing their slight silence after hearing the result, Alex Qi slowly said, "Actually, you two can stay in my divine realm. Although it's a bit desolate there, I'll try my best to make it better. It can also accelerate your cultivation, and I'll find a way to help you return to human form as soon as possible."

Hearing Alex Qi's last words, Linda fiercely dug her cat claws into Alex Qi's thigh muscles, gritting her teeth as she said, "Absolutely not! I want to live by your side! I absolutely won't go to any divine realm!"

Jack, standing at his feet, also bit his trouser leg, mumbling indistinctly, "Freedom! Freedom! I want freedom! You absolutely cannot e*****e a werewolf for any reason!"

Seeing their strong reactions, Alex Qi was speechless. A man walking down the street with a pet dog and a pet cat would definitely attract more than 100% attention. It seemed his future life was definitely going to be miserable.

“From now on, you’ll be called Xiaobai (Little White) and Xiaojin (Little Gold). We can’t call you Jack and Linda, can we?…” Alex Qi was interrupted before he could finish speaking! A sharp, indescribable pain shot through his left ear and leg, and Alex Qi didn’t dare to flinch!

Linda and Jack resolutely objected to the names Alex Qi had chosen—names that could hardly be called names! In an instant, Linda jumped onto his left shoulder and gave his left ear a gentle kiss, while Jack, using a localized magnification technique, opened his mouth wide and took Alex Qi’s left leg into his mouth.

“It’s just a name! Do you have to t*****e me like this? Can’t we have a harmonious society without violence? We can talk this over,” Alex Qi could only plead! However, they were still inwardly complaining, "It's just a name, why are they getting so worked up? But 'Little White' and 'Little Gold' are indeed easy to understand and cute! I really don't understand these two's aesthetic sense."

Actually, it seems that it's Alex Qi's aesthetic sense that's problematic, if we categorize names according to his standards.

After Alex Qi's constant deliberation and Jack and Linda's continuous resistance, Jack was finally named "Jet," and Linda was named "Lyn." They reluctantly accepted these names, which had a strong Hong Kong/Taiwanese flavor; at least they sounded much better than names like "Little White" and "Little Gold." If their Chinese proficiency weren't limited, they would never have entrusted the naming task to the obviously dim-witted Alex Qi.

Although Jet and Lyn's injuries hadn't fully healed, Alex Qi, seeing their energetic efforts in vying for names, knew their injuries weren't serious; at least, they could manage their daily activities.

Their improved condition secretly relieved Alex Qi, who was prone to selfish thoughts. "If these two hadn't gotten better, I'd have to be a professional pet sitter for a while," Alex Qi thought to himself with a small sigh.

Seeing the utter mess at home, Alex Qi, after democratically consulting Jet and Lyn, decided to go to the city for a big meal. This was to appease his stomach, which hadn't eaten in a long time, and to reward Jet and Lyn for their hard work (only after they'd worked so hard could it be considered hard work?).

Since Jet was now in a wolf's body, or more precisely, a husky's body, the driver's role had to be filled by Alex Qi, who had a three-year driving license but zero driving experience. After scribbling countless figure-eights on the road, Alex Qi finally managed to barely control the car's movement thanks to his superhuman physical abilities and inhuman reflexes.

While Alex Qi's car avoided any close encounters with pedestrians or other vehicles, its snail-paced pace of around 20 mph still drew complaints from Jet and Lyn the entire way. A responsible traffic officer pulled him to the side of the road, but after he presented his driver's license—which he'd "obtained" specifically to improve his job prospects after graduation—the officer reluctantly let him go.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, he found it as crowded as ever. Holding a cat and accompanied by a husky, he immediately attracted the attention of all the staff and customers. However, Alex Qi didn't seem to care and walked towards an empty seat.

Before Alex Qi could sit down, a young woman of about 20 years old, working as a waitress, stood in front of him. She lowered her head timidly and asked in a low voice, "Excuse me... sir... um... could you please leave your pet outside in the car? Other customers might complain..." She finished speaking with difficulty, then nervously clutched the hem of her slightly sexy work uniform.