Chapter 82

The little cub sat on the carpet, looking up at the tall door, hoping that the adults inside would come out quickly, with the culprit under their arms.

Strictly speaking, Meowling wasn't the one who made the noise that startled Mephistopheles; it was the bell around its neck that did.

The Soul Devourer was originally reluctant to wear such a humiliating collar, but the cub insisted that it looked better this way; like all parents, it had no choice but to condescend and lower its noble head, handing freedom and dignity to the cub with its own hands.

According to this logic, the small system that gave the bell is the culprit.

In short, after the bell was accidentally rung and made a noticeable sound, the people in the study suddenly stopped talking and turned to look at the source of the sound.

The ferocious look scared Li Jue, as no one had ever looked at him so viciously. Zizi nervously grabbed the corner of the clothes of the adult next to him. Wannian pinched the back of his neck but did not look at him.

Seeing the eavesdropper outside, Mephistopheles' expression relaxed a little; but when he saw Wannian's overly calm eyes, he took a deep breath again.

The masked man with half a ghost face and half a vine cut off the video after being interrupted. Before the image completely disappeared, he cast an inquiring glance at Wannian.

Mephistopheles opened his mouth, trying several different ways of asking before finally speaking: "Why are you here?"

Was he trying to pretend nothing had happened, or was he testing how much he had heard?

Wannian was also very calm: "Don't you have anything you want to explain to me?"

The young man frowned, as if he wanted to say something, and his eyes slid towards Li Jue again.

The adult also looked down at the cub, stroked his soft golden hair, and said gently: "Let's go find Xiao Ling to play first, okay?"

Li Jue shook the corner of his clothes, not forgetting the purpose of his visit: "Um, brother..."

Wannian promised: "I will ask for you. However, the adults will need some time now."

Li Jue nodded obediently. He had heard this reason, or excuse, many times before.

Before he grows up, the world has too many forbidden areas that he cannot enter. Only when he crosses the so-called boundary of adulthood can he be exposed to the truth.

The children are also helpless about this.

At first the door was not closed, and the two adults of similar height used the desk as a trench, looking at each other, each holding their own opinions.

--who I am?

——Don’t you know who you are?

—I used to know it, but now I don't. Why did you ask me to use the pseudonym Tan Ning? Who does this name belong to?

——…No one.

—I'll check it out myself, but I'd rather you tell me. There's no point in lying to me at this point.

—Don’t listen to that old man’s nonsense, there’s no such thing…

——He is just a confirmation, not the source of my doubt. I have long felt that when you look at me, you are clearly looking at someone else.

--I……

-Mephistopheles, don't be a coward. If you can't even admit that you love someone, how can you claim to be the ruler of the world? That's too pretentious.

—Okay, I won't pursue the question of you using me as a substitute for now. What does "sacrifice" mean? Who is that person? What are you going to do? What is "Easter"?

—First of all, I didn't treat you as a substitute. Secondly, this is not your business.

— Shouldn't I ask? But it sounds like I'm the sacrifice, right?

——I won’t, I won’t, I will never let you...!

—Look, you're still insisting there's no such person. There's no love between you and me, is there? Everything is because you're so deeply attached to that person. You risked breaking our alliance to save me. Isn't it because you couldn't find a more like me in heaven and earth?

—I repeat, you are not a substitute. You are actually…

-Mephistopheles, I already feel ridiculous, don't make me feel ridiculous too.

At first, both of them were calm, but soon their voices became higher and higher, and the fluctuations became greater and greater.

The cub wrinkled his nose.

He doesn't like other people quarreling, especially his favorite parents quarreling.

It was like this with Phinks and Qianxing before, and it is also like this with Mephisto and Wannian now.

Is there anything that can’t be said nicely? Does it have to be this way?

Meowling noticed that the little cub was in a bad mood and nudged him with her head worriedly.

Li Jue held Miao Ling's face and muttered to himself, "Meow."

He used to be a kitten in the dragon world, so communicating with Miaoling in cat language is no problem at all.

Meowling: "Meow?"

Li Jue: “Meow…”

Meowling: "Meow!"

Li Jue: “Meow?”

Meowling: "Meow, meow."

With the support of the Soul Devourer, Li Jue nodded firmly: "Okay!"

The younger brother has his own mission and cannot allow his brothers to continue quarreling!

He climbed up and tucked Meowling under his arm again.

For the Soul Devourer, this position was not uncomfortable, but it was too humiliating. It begged, "Meow, meow?"

Li Jue thought for a moment and said, "Okay."

So, Miaoling made herself smaller, to the size of a four or five-month-old kitten, and then she climbed to the top of the cub's head with dignity, found a comfortable way to lie down, and swung her tail behind her.

Well, this is much more comfortable. The high-angle view is also very suitable for the noble Soul Devourer.

The little angel, with a little black cat on his head, full of thoughts and high morale, marched into the room.

As expected, the two adults paused their quarrel due to the arrival of the child. They suppressed the anger and pain they had previously shown towards each other, and in the face of the cub, they simultaneously put on a mask of amiability: "What's wrong?"

Li Jue looked at Mephistopheles, then at Wan Nian, and each one stayed for a very long time, so long that the adult's mask could hardly be worn.

Zizi put his hands behind his back, flapped his wings half with a devil's and half with an angel's wings, and said seriously: "The teacher said that quarreling is not a good behavior."

The word "teacher" was a little unfamiliar to the little devil. He subconsciously looked at Wannian in confusion. When he saw the latter deliberately avoiding his gaze, he remembered that, oh yes, they were still arguing.

Wannian was somewhat familiar with this profession that did not exist in the Hell World or the Ocean World, so he coaxed her gently, "Yeah, that's right."

The little angel ran over and took his hand, looking up at his little face and said worriedly: "So, don't quarrel anymore?"

Wan Nian nodded: "As you say. Let's go."

He had put the previous argument aside without hesitation, halfway through. After the truth, which had long been hazy before his eyes, was revealed, he was calmer than he had imagined, without any heart-wrenching shame or pain.

What difference does it make whether I look like "Tan Ning" or am the reincarnation of "Tan Ning"?

It seemed as if he would do anything for the little devil and couldn't live without Mephistopheles' love.

That's not the case at all.

Mephistopheles needs him as a remembrance and comfort for the deceased, and he needs Mephistopheles as a ladder to climb to the new world.

From the very beginning, their relationship was a partnership where both parties gained what they needed. A mature and healthy partnership should not be mixed with any emotions.

Wannian pinched his nose wearily. This blood-red, weird study was like a real soul-devouring beast. Every second he stayed here, countless messy thoughts wanted to devour him.

Get out of here. It'll be alright.

He picked up the little angel and didn't even look back.

Naturally, he did not notice the dejected look of the young man behind him.

The little devil stared blankly at his departing back, thinking dejectedly that even though this day would come sooner or later, he still messed up everything.

*

Ling Xi took great pains to rescue a skeleton bird from the mouth of the Piranha plant in the vase next to the fireplace.

He placed it on his palm and watched the bird touch his palm with its skull to express its gratitude, then flap its wing skeleton and fly away.

The boy jumped down from the stool, brushed off the soot on his hands, and walked over to the little cub lying on the table in a daze under the candlelight: "Juejue, it's your birthday soon, how do you want to celebrate it?"

Wan Nian, who was on the other side of the table, looked up from counting the names of the dead and asked in surprise, "It's your birthday, little one? How old are you?"

Li Jue was still lying on his stomach, one hand resting on his head, the other hand stretched out, and he announced loudly: "The baby is going to be five years old!"

Ling Xi considerately helped him retract a finger: "Four years old."

He forgot that there was coal dust on his hands, so the two cubs' hands became black.

They rubbed their fingers together and couldn't stop laughing.

Children's laughter was always inexplicable, and Wan Nian was used to it: "Four years old, that's really impressive. Let's have a lively party, shall we?"

The hell world is originally the place of rebirth. The living people here, strictly speaking, are living things. There are only a few of them, and it is really lonely.

Especially recently, Wannian and Mephistopheles "broke up", and the latter stayed in the corner all day long and never appeared. Only Wannian, the two children, and the elusive Meow Ling were left. It was indeed too lonely.

Throwing a birthday party for the baby and inviting all breathing creatures to attend is a way to break up the endless boredom.

Wannian took out his quill, tore a blank page from the Book of the Dead, and began to draw up a guest list.

First of all, all bosses and high-level NPCs in the hell world, as well as the final surviving players, can come;

Secondly, the parents in the sub-worlds that the small system had previously visited;

besides……

He was writing his name when he suddenly felt a little weight on his back; the little angel flapped its wings and flew into the air and pounced on him.

The baby hugged his neck from behind, covered his eyes, and asked in a baby voice: "Guess who I am~"

Wannian put down his pen, placed his hands on Li Jue's soft little hands, and thought carefully: "Hmm, who is it? Let me guess, is it Xiao Ling?"

Li Jue chuckled: "No!"

Wannian was very troubled: "Is that... Meow Ling? Meow Ling's paws should be furry, right?"

"No, not really!" The little angel let go of his hand, flew in front of him, sat down on the guest list, and smiled at him non-stop, "It's you, little one! Uncle is stupid!"

Wannian pretended to be surprised: "It turned out to be Cub."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ling Xi trying to hold back her laughter. Wannian had a hunch that something was wrong. Just as he was about to ask, he looked up and saw the figure of the boy he hadn't seen for a long time. His face immediately became expressionless.

What Mephistopheles saw when he came in was Wannian, who was pretending to be aloof and looked like he didn't want to pay any attention to him at all.

It's quite intimidating when older people pretend to be indifferent.

...if I didn't have a pair of panda eyes.

puff.