Chapter 109: Chi Qian, You’ve Really Harmed Meow!
As the saying goes, it’s easy to invite a god, hard to send one away.
Even though the task was done, that flock of giant birds still wouldn’t leave. They circled around Chi Qian demanding “payment.”
Asking for hugs and cuddles was one thing.
But some of the big ones actually grabbed the back of her collar, trying to fly off with her.
They barely got off the ground before the rest of the flock swooped in to beat them up.
Chi Qian really wanted to say: different species have no future together.
How could these full-grown birds still be acting like lovesick teenage orcas!
Meanwhile, in front of their screens, cats and dogs watching the livestream were furious: Damn birds! Stay away from my wife/hubby! Get lost!!
Qi Lan stared at his orange tomcat, which had been yowling at the tablet nonstop, and felt a headache coming on.
He called Shi Jianchen. “Bro, I think my rascal’s mating season still isn’t over…”
And right then, a bloodcurdling, furious “MIAOOO!” blasted through the phone.
“Meowroarrrr!!! Bastard! Give me back my wife!!”
Qi Lan: “…What’s up with your Spicy Hotpot?”
Shi Jianchen: “…It saw a bird steal a kiss from Chi Qian. It’s been howling ever since.”
Qi Lan: “……”
Chi Qian, you’ve really harmed Meow!
The “pyromaniac of feline hearts” herself had no clue. After eating her fill, she was ready for a nap.
Chi Fengxiao wasn’t going to spoil her this time. With the ostrich and the eagle freak both gone, it was the perfect time to make her exercise.
Chi Qian took two steps, then collapsed on his back. “Uncle, carry me!”
“No. Don’t even think about it. Walk on your own.”
“But I’m so sleepy.”
“We’re still in survival mode. You can’t laze around like this. What if one day we actually run into—”
He stopped mid-sentence.
With her ability to command orcas in the sea and eagles in the sky, if they dropped her in the wild, she might actually live better than at home.
Too hasty.
Chi Fengxiao grabbed her by the back of her collar and stood her upright. “You can’t be lazy your whole life. What will you do in the future?”
“Cold salad, spicy salad, seafood salad… slurp…”
“Chi Little Qian! You’re drooling on my clothes!!”
Luo Zichuan suggested, “Why don’t we rest under that tree? It’s shady and good for a nap.”
Chi Fengxiao: …Traitors, all of them. He was the only one struggling to raise this kid into independence.
Hopefully the old man would see his efforts and nag him less later.
Chi Qian leaned against the tree—and was out cold in a second.
“Brother Chi, your Qian Qian’s sleep quality is insane.” Luo Fan was envious.
He usually lay awake until two or three in the morning before he could sleep. Ever since joining this industry, he’d gotten money but lost his precious rest.
Chi Fengxiao’s eye twitched. “She’s born that way. Nothing to envy.”
He himself had to play dead bodies on set just to fall asleep.
But her? No problem at all.
[Not gonna lie, I’d kill for Sister Qian’s instant sleep skill]
[Did you see the news? A terrorist group fled into the Kemiya Desert]
[Not worried. The desert’s huge. No way Sister Qian and the others would be that unlucky]
[They kidnapped some fourteen-year-old prodigy scientist. Said they’re going after some treasure]
[LMAO, still stuck in their edgy middle-school phase?]
The chat laughed and gossiped over Chi Qian’s sleeping face, as if she were some new kind of bar snack.
Then—gunfire erupted.
Dozens of bullets sprayed toward the tree.
Chi Fengxiao grabbed Chi Qian in one swift motion, pulling her behind cover.
Shen Jing shielded Shen Jiashu and peered into the distance. “What’s going on? Who are those people?”
“Not sure, but definitely bad news.” Chi Fengxiao’s expression hardened. “Shooting at us from that range—either intimidation or to silence us.”
There was no shelter nearby.
If they stayed put, they’d be dead…
“Cawww—” An eagle’s cry split the sky.
The eagles that had gone to hunt swooped back, circling over the armed men…
And started dropping fresh, wet “bombs” from above.
“Shift! Disgusting!!”
“Damn birds, get lost!!”
Curses rang out, sharp and furious.
Chi Qian woke up, a little owl flapping down onto her shoulder and chirping urgently.
“Uncle, the birds are buying us time. Head that way,” Chi Qian decided instantly.
No one questioned why. They just followed.
But after they’d run a stretch, the sand beneath them suddenly started collapsing.
“Baby Qian, watch out!!”
“Qian Qian!!”
Everyone panicked as Chi Qian was sucked into a whirlpool of quicksand.
Chi Fengxiao lunged to grab her—but just then, Xia Zhenzhen, who’d been silent all along, suddenly hurled a knife.
It struck his wrist, numbing him for a second—just enough that Chi Qian slipped from his grasp and was swallowed by the sand.
[AHHH! Sister Qian!!!]
[My brother was right, Xia Zhenzhen’s hands are cursed! Don’t tell me that was an accident—throwing a knife at a time like this is straight-up attempted murder!!]
[Once you fall into this kind of quicksand, you’ll never get out!]
[It’s over, it’s over!]
Chi Fengxiao shot Xia Zhenzhen a freezing glare, one that made her entire body go cold.
“You’d better pray Baby Qian is fine, otherwise you’ll be buried with her.”
As soon as he finished, Chi Fengxiao leapt straight into the whirlpool of sand without hesitation!
Luo Zichuan didn’t even hesitate before doing the same.
Luo Fan’s eyes went wide. He didn’t have time to grab him. “Damn it, are you crazy?! Don’t throw your life away!”
Not two seconds later, Shen Jing and his son jumped in too.
Luo Fan was going mad. “Are you all insane?! If you all jump in and leave me here alone, am I supposed to follow or not?!”
He cursed loudly—then… he jumped in too.
[Mass suicide?!!]
[Production team, do something! They’re gonna die!!]
[Look—the ground’s shaking, isn’t it??]
The surface began to tremble violently, sand spraying everywhere.
Ling Qian immediately shielded Gu Hua and crouched down.
Xia Xinyue and Xia Zhenzhen were thrown to the ground, choking on mouthfuls of sand, coughing for a long while before they could even get up.
The whirlpool of quicksand kept expanding, as if some massive beast was thrashing beneath the earth.
Whoosh—
Rumble—
At last, the giant beast buried under the sand broke free, bursting through the surface.
As the sand cascaded down, a golden spire emerged, then a domed roof, then glittering walls and floors…
When the last of the sand slid away, standing under the blazing sun was none other than a golden castle!
[What the hell is this? It just popped out of the ground?!]
[That can’t be real—if a building like this existed, it would’ve shaken the whole world long ago.]
[Where’s my brother and Sister Qian? I’m going crazy with worry!]
[My Red Bitter Tea hubby better be okay, otherwise I’ll be forced to find another for the rest of my life.]
In the control room, the production crew were frozen in shock, the director’s phone ringing nonstop until he was ready to collapse.
“Don’t just sit there! Get the drones in the air and locate Chi Qian and the others!”
“Y-yes, right away!”
Meanwhile, those swallowed by the quicksand had landed inside the castle’s central garden.
No—more accurately, it was a labyrinth.
The maze walls were built entirely of emerald, green enough to make one’s scalp crawl.
Chi Qian stood up, patting the sand off her clothes, and shouted loudly: “Uncle! Can you hear me?”
“I hear you!” Chi Fengxiao’s voice echoed faintly. “Stay there, I’ll come to you!”
“That’s too much trouble!” Chi Qian declared, then with a swoosh, she scaled up the maze wall in seconds.
From the top, the view was excellent.
She quickly spotted Chi Fengxiao, Shen Jing, and the Luo brothers in the distance, but Shen Jiashu was nowhere to be seen.
He must have fallen elsewhere.
While she guided them with shouted directions, she also moved forward to meet them.
With her leading from above, they avoided countless dead ends and soon regrouped—
Except Shen Jiashu was still missing.
“Help!!” a desperate cry rang out ahead.
“It’s Jiashu!” Shen Jing shouted anxiously, searching frantically.
