Lin Hu

After occupying Little White Dog's body, Lin Chan first pressed the dog's ear to his own chest, listening to his original body's heartbeat—still steady and beating—then sniffed its mouth and nose; the breathing was also calm and smooth.

It was like a sleeping child.

Sleeping!

After studying for a while, Lin Chan roughly figured it out.

"It's the effect of [Deep Sleep]!"

[Deep Sleep: Efficient sleep. While asleep, one can cultivate, recover from injuries, and extend lifespan.]

In other words, when Lin Chan's soul left his body, the body, lacking its soul, automatically entered the Deep Sleep state.

This talent was a passive one by nature.

Now, it had activated in this strange way. Lin Chan thought it over carefully and didn't find anything wrong.

"Chan'er! Chan'er!"

Just then, Lin Yuemian knocked on Lin Chan's door.

Lin Chan immediately returned to his original body and came out.

"Thirteenth Sister!"

Lin Chan pushed open the door.

"Chan'er! What were you doing in your room?"

Lin Yuemian asked curiously.

"Nothing much!"

Lin Chan said casually.

"Oh! Here, a chicken leg."

Lin Yuemian extended her greasy hand holding the chicken leg and handed it to Lin Chan.

Today was Lin Chan's birthday, so there was plenty of good food.

Lin Chan took it and crouched down with Lin Yuemian to eat it together.

Only the bones remained when Little White Dog, which Lin Chan had brought over earlier, came trotting over, biting its own tail.

In the face of food, Little White Dog overcame its fear of Lin Chan.

"Here!"

Lin Chan tossed the bones to Little White Dog.

After that, Lin Chan played house with Lin Yuemian and Little White Dog for a while, until it was time to take their seats at the feast.

Lin Chan was the star of the day—he couldn't be absent.

Little White Dog was assigned to Xiao Can's care; from now on, it would be one of his avatars.

The fulfilling day came to an end. As night deepened, Lin Chan brought Little White Dog into his room, chuckled, and touched its head, occupying its body.

After confirming his original body was fine, Lin Chan got used to his new body, then scratched at the door.

No one came to open it, so Lin Chan had to switch back and crack the door open a sliver.

This time, Lin Chan, in the form of Little White Dog, managed to slip out of the room.

"There's a dog coming out of the young master's room."

A night-patrolling guard noticed Lin Chan.

"That's Young Master Chan's pet. Don't bother with it."

Another guard, having seen Lin Chan stick close to Little White Dog all day, said.

Then, the two guards on duty paid Lin Chan no more attention.

Lin Chan didn't linger in the Lin Family Mansion either. He twisted and turned through the corridors, eventually crawling out through a dog hole.

"Is this freedom?"

Lin Chan howled a couple of times, then ran freely through the streets.

After circling the nearby alleys several times, as dawn approached, Lin Chan returned home, panting heavily.

"A dog is still too inconvenient—clumsy limbs. If I had a cat avatar, it would be much more convenient."

After switching back to his body, Lin Chan thought.

He didn't feel tired at all; on the contrary, he felt very comfortable, as if he'd had a full sleep.

As for Little White Dog, after a night of Lin Chan's antics, it was utterly exhausted. The moment it got its body back, it wobbled and collapsed.

"With this Animal Doppelganger, I can, to some extent, go without sleep or rest."

Lin Chan was pleasantly surprised.

When one of his bodies got tired, he could switch to the other, directly saving sleep time.

But a dog's body was still too hard to use. Lin Chan urgently needed a little cat.

Just when Lin Fangzheng happened to be home these days, Lin Chan found him and asked him to catch a cat.

For Lin Chan's small request, Lin Fangzheng went all out to fulfill it, immediately sending people to ask around among acquaintances who kept cats.

Upon learning that a household's cat had just weaned its kittens not long ago, he promptly took Lin Chan along to pick one out.

"Chan'er, which one do you want?"

Lin Fangzheng pointed at a litter of newly weaned kittens and asked.

Lin Chan observed carefully and chose a gray-brown tricolor cat with even markings—the most lively of the bunch, indicating the best health, perfect for Lin Chan's nighttime escapades outside.

Lin Fangzheng's friend immediately caught it for him, tied a rope around it, and handed the rope to Lin Chan.

"Chan'er, this little feline is mischievous and hasn't bonded with anyone yet. Be careful not to get scratched."

"I know, Uncle Ma."

Lin Chan took the rope. The little tricolor cat kept struggling until its eyes met Lin Chan's, when a flicker of fear suddenly arose. Its fur bristled, and it backed away.

Lin Chan slowly shortened the rope, finally pinched the kitten's scruff, and held it in his arms.

When the kitten tried to resist, Lin Chan instantly used his Animal Doppelganger talent to suppress its soul.

In the end, the kitten obediently stayed in Lin Chan's arms, perfectly docile.

With the new cat acquired, he brought it home, paid respects to the Kitchen God, and ate Wheat Rice. The kitten became a member of the Lin family and Lin Chan's pet.

The little white dog was named Little White, and the little tricolor cat was named Little Li—simple and unadorned.

From then on, the two would be Lin Chan's right and left hands.

Lin Chan even had someone make nests for the two little ones, and the main door of his room was remodeled to include a cat door and a dog door, making it easier for Lin Chan to move around on his own.

That night, Lin Chan used Little Li's body. He first got used to the form, then began practicing climbing trees.

It didn't take long for Lin Chan to master the technique of climbing. He scaled the roof and dashed across the rooftops with ease, as if on flat ground—this was a memory etched into the kitten's bones, requiring little time for Lin Chan to learn.

The Lin family guards, seeing this little cat scurrying around the estate, knew it was Lin Chan's pet and paid it no further attention.

Before long, Lin Chan arrived at the roof of a certain room and heard the sound of a child wailing.

"This seems to be Third Madam's room. The one crying should be Hu Zi."

Hearing the cries, Lin Chan realized he was above the room of his younger brother Lin Hu and his mother.

Driven by curiosity, Lin Chan lingered there, pressing his ear to the tiles to listen to the commotion inside.

"Still not settled! What use are you to me!"

The moment he pressed his ear to the tiles, Lin Chan heard Third Madam's hysterical voice.

"Third Madam!"

Then came the nanny's aggrieved reply.

A child just a few months old was naturally fussy—how could it be soothed in a short while?

Such a child was a handful even when eating and drinking, requiring constant attention.

Unlike Lin Chan back then, who never cried or fussed and ate and drank well all day.

"Give him to me! Useless thing. Tomorrow I'll have the master throw you out."

Third Madam snatched the swaddled baby.

Lin Hu's nanny could only hand over the bundle in grievance, standing by without daring to speak.

"Hu Zi, don't worry. You're your father's true-born son. Everything in the Lin family will belong to you someday."

As she coaxed Lin Hu, Third Madam muttered to herself.

Gazing at the sleeping Hu Zi, she fantasized about her own bright future.

In her view, Lin Fangzheng would eventually shift his focus to Lin Hu, not to Lin Chan, who had been brought back from who knows where.

On the rooftop, hearing Third Madam's words, Lin Chan seemed to realize something.