Xu Milu was relieved to know that Sun Wukong was alright and could focus on raising her child. Anyway, the courtyard was spacious enough that she could easily set up another room.

As for Sun Wukong and Erlang Shen's contest on the overseas immortal mountains?

Then she has even less to worry about. After all, these two are old friends. Going to the overseas immortal mountains to fight and loosen up their muscles will at most stir up the sea and give some old dragon king a headache. If they fight in Chang'an, the mortals who are affected will suffer.

Mo Xuan: Is there really no one speaking up for our dragon race?

As Chenxiang traveled from Mount Hua to Chang'an, he grew rapidly in the wind until Xu Milu fed him some food imbued with spiritual energy, at which point his growth stopped. Perhaps due to the tight schedule, Sun Wukong only taught him for three days. Chenxiang was unfamiliar with social etiquette and even common sense. If it weren't for his innate superhuman strength, he probably wouldn't have made it safely to Chang'an.

“My master said that my aptitude is too weak and I cannot practice immortal techniques. He only told me to follow my senior sister closely.”

Chenxiang hugged the milk-flavored biscuits that Xu Milu had made for him and munched on them, his expression as innocent as a little lamb.

Although his appetite has returned to normal, he still unconsciously seeks out snacks, so Xu Milu made some steel-shaped cookies with milk and flour for him to chew on.

When Yin Wenjiao came to visit, she saw Chenxiang and liked him very much. She even sewed a small snack bag for him to hang on his chest. Whenever someone asked, Chenxiang would peek into his little pocket to show them what was inside – it was either teething biscuits, fragrant fried rice, or occasionally a few juicy fruits.

Mo Xuan would always take advantage of Xu Milu's inattention to trick Chen Xiang into giving him snacks, like coaxing a child. After doing it so many times, he himself became embarrassed.

Hearing Chenxiang say this, he couldn't help but feel curious about what the other person had been through these past few days:

"Although it's a peaceful time right now, there are always bandits and monsters roaming the mountains. Haven't you encountered any mountain bandits or monsters robbing you? Look at your delicate skin, didn't they capture you and cook you to eat?"

Chenxiang recalled it very carefully:

"No, it's just that on the eighth day, I passed through a town and a kind-looking old woman said she would take me to find my senior sister. But she took me to a place where everyone was biting and touching each other indiscriminately. I felt uncomfortable from the smell there, and I saw that the women dressed in bright colors were crying, as if they were freezing because they weren't dressed warmly enough. So I hit the old woman and led them away."

Xu Milu, who was passing by: "..."

Mo Xuan remained silent: "..."

Child, is it possible that you were abducted to a brothel?

These are bad people!

What kind of beast would lay a hand on a child!

Xu Milu was about to roll up her sleeves and avenge her junior brother when Chenxiang told her that the kidnapper had been arrested by the authorities and the entire building had been burned down, which stopped her from doing so.

She patted Chenxiang's head encouragingly, "And then?"

Chenxiang took a bite of the biscuit and continued:

"Later, I met a young woman who had sold herself to bury her father. I gave her all the money I had on me. The next day, I saw that her father was alive again and was begging for food with her at the city gate. I beat them up again, got my money back, and continued on my way."

Perhaps noticing Xu Milu's unusual expression, Chen Xiang added:

"When I was almost to Chang'an, I encountered a group of demons. Seeing that I was travel-worn, they said they would take me back to bathe. I thought that since I was going to see my senior sister, I should not be impolite, so I went back with them. They boiled a large pot of bathwater for me and even scrubbed my back and body. However, they insisted on adding some fragrant leaves, scallions and garlic to my bathwater and made me take off all my clothes. I was a little unhappy and beat up the demon in charge. Wearing the clothes they gave me, I finally came to see my senior sister."

Xu Milu suddenly realized why the child was clean when he saw her.

She took a deep breath, her smile almost bursting out, but she still had to protect her junior brother's self-esteem, her face turning bright red.

Those monsters weren't being hospitable at all; they just wanted to eat him!

Mo Xuan, who was standing to the side, had already laughed so hard he was practically under the table, clutching his stomach and gasping for breath.

"Hahahaha—what an unlucky monster, what an unlucky liar! They're really unlucky to have run into such a treasure as you!"

Xu Milu coughed and kicked Mo Xuan, who was laughing in his true form:

"Are there man-eating monsters near Chang'an? Go ask around at Old Hu's house and find out which group is so audacious as to kidnap and eat people in broad daylight. Once you find them, report it to the mountain god and the local earth god, and someone will take care of it."

After laughing his fill, Mo Xuan wiped away his tears and went out, not forgetting to pat Chen Xiang on the shoulder before leaving.

Little Chenxiang blinked in confusion, then asked Xu Milu for another cookie and continued munching: "Senior sister, did I do something wrong?"

Xu Milu shook her head "kindly" and praised:

"No, you did a great job. But I need to tell you, next time someone invites you to take a bath, you should first check if there's a fire burning under the tub—"

Now I finally understand why Sun Wukong was willing to let a child travel alone.

He's helpless, pitiful, has a big appetite, but he's quite a fighter.

...

...

Time flew by, and soon it was time for Xu Milu to meet with the Wandering Earth dimension. During this time, the Red Rice Research Institute successfully cultivated 200,000 silver osmanthus seedlings using lunar soil and cloning technology. She planned to donate 100,000 of them to the Wandering Earth dimension first.

Firstly, the silver osmanthus tree still needs time to grow. Secondly, the technology in the Wandering Earth dimension is more advanced than that on Earth, so perhaps she could invest separately and develop a drug that can cure cancer faster.

The long-dormant System Xiaoqi has finally come online, and it is quite interested in what Xu Milu said about the birth of mechanical life in the Wandering Earth dimension.

[While this may seem realistic, host, given the current technological level of Earth and the Wandering Earth universe, it's impossible to create true mechanical life. Perhaps by human definition, the artificial intelligence you discovered could be called "mechanical life," but in the cosmic era, it's significantly different from true "mechanical life." To me, it's more like a program; although it possesses independent thinking capabilities, its iteration count is clearly too low, requiring hundreds or even thousands of years of accumulated experience.]

After Xiaoqi reappeared, her emotions were even more vibrant than before, and Xu Milu could even detect a hint of pride in her stiff electronic voice:

After all, only systems like mine that qualify for "mechanical life" certification can barely be considered mechanical life.

If the other party had a physical form, Xu Milu could imagine a Persian cat with its tail wagging.

"Then I'll have to ask you to catch them for me. I really don't like being watched."

Xu Milu shrugged.

A new trick I learned from Chenxiang: no matter who the other party is or how they want to scheme against her, just grab them and beat them up to make them behave first.