Little Doudou in the Real World

"Little Doudou?" Shen Bing called tentatively.

"Meow..." The kitten meowed even more eagerly. Shen Bing could actually feel its joy, as though... they shared a bond of blood.

"Damn it!" Shen Bing muttered. He checked his phone screen again, certain his guess was absurd.

"Mas... ter?" A faint voice suddenly sounded in Shen Bing's mind, striking him as clearly as a ringing bell.

Shen Bing looked as if he'd seen a ghost. He wasn't senile, so he wasn't about to dismiss what he'd heard as a hallucination. That voice had been real. It was just so bizarre that he began to doubt himself.

He took a deep breath, forced down his shock and fear, and whispered, "Are you Little Doudou?"

"I sure am Little Doudou!"

Shen Bing shuddered, goose bumps rising all over his body.

Partly because the voice was so sickeningly sweet, and partly out of fear.

Yes, fear of the unknown.

Shen Bing knew this was no hallucination. From the kitten's eyes, its movements, and that faint voice, he could tell it had been transported out of the phone he'd received as a freebie for topping up his call credit.

The Immortal Realm... the Plague God... Sun Wukong... the Cat Demon...

You've got to be kidding me!

The Immortal Realm on his phone was connected to the actual Immortal Realm? Shen Bing felt as though his brain might explode. After more than twenty years of materialist education, this proud product of socialism couldn't accept it all at once.

The kitten kept rubbing against his feet with the affection of a creature that took him for its mother... er, its master.

"Jump onto my hand!" Shen Bing stood still and held out his right hand, palm up, a full meter above the ground.

Without a moment's hesitation, the kitten pushed off with its tiny hind legs and landed lightly in Shen Bing's hand.

Cats could certainly jump, but this was still a kitten. An ordinary kitten could barely climb into a cat bed ten centimeters high. Jump a meter? Impossible.

But the kitten in his hand was no ordinary cat. It was the offspring of a genuine demon beast—and one from the Immortal Realm at that.

"Actually, Master, you don't need to speak aloud. Just say it in your mind, and Little Doudou can talk with you."

"Doesn't that mean I have no privacy?" Shen Bing's good mood vanished. Everyone had things they wanted to keep private, like jerking off or, well, giving themselves a hand.

Little Doudou was very understanding. "Don't worry, Master. Unless you think of Little Doudou's name, Little Doudou can't hear your thoughts."

That made sense. If he didn't tag Little Doudou, the kitten wouldn't get the message.

Problem solved.

Shen Bing looked at his phone, his eyes growing hot with excitement.

I'm going to be rich. I'm really going to be rich, he kept telling himself.

Damn it! So what if other people got transported to another world or went back in time? The mobile game on his phone was the Immortal Realm, and he could control a character to wander around inside it. Best of all, he could bring things from the Immortal Realm into the real world.

This wasn't just a golden finger. It was a Golden Thigh—an elephant's Golden Thigh. No, a Tyrannosaurus Dragon's Golden Thigh...

The Supreme Lord Laozi's golden elixirs, the peaches of the Peach Garden, the ginseng fruit of Five Manor Temple...

He wouldn't need much. Just one of those things would put him on top of the world.

That was all Shen Bing's wishful thinking. What mattered most now, he decided, was studying his phone—or rather, the Immortal Realm game on it.

Then Shen Bing realized this wasn't the right time. It could wait until he got back to school.

After using the bathroom, Shen Bing carried Little Doudou back to the restaurant.

"Shen Bing, where did you get a kitten?" Wang Bo sprang up at the sight of Little Doudou in Shen Bing's arms and backed far away, looking terrified.

Shen Bing smiled. "Don't make a fuss. It's just a kitten. I found it by the bathroom. It seemed pretty clever, so I brought it along. From now on, this little one's part of our dorm. None of you are allowed to bully it."

Wang Bo's face crumpled. "Xiao Bing—no, Master Shen, I'm begging you. Don't keep that thing. Furry stuff gives me the creeps. If it sets up camp in our dorm, how am I supposed to live?"

The other three roommates looked down on Wang Bo for slandering a small animal. His objection was overruled, and by majority vote, Little Doudou became a member of the dorm.

Wang Bo gave Little Doudou one last fierce glare, only to receive a disdainful look in return. He clutched his forehead and wailed that the little thing had to be some kind of spirit.

He had no idea Little Doudou was far beyond that. The kitten was already a Demon Realm creature—a Cat Demon from the Immortal Realm.

"Waiter, do you have a private room?" A voice came from the restaurant entrance. Shen Bing frowned. He knew that voice—or at least, he'd grown familiar with it over the past two days.

A server hurried over. "Sorry, all our private rooms are occupied. Would a table in the main dining area be all right?"

Five young men came in. Shen Bing knew one of them well: Lin Zijian, the Young Master Lin who had tried to pursue Wang Yanxi yesterday.

Lin Zijian's face darkened. "Do we look like people who sit in the main dining area?"

The server looked troubled. All the private rooms were occupied. He couldn't conjure up another one.

A young man in a black baseball jacket beside Lin Zijian said, "Zijian, the main dining area is fine."

"All right, then!" Lin Zijian replied at once. "Hurry up and get a table ready."

The last remark was for the server. Lin Zijian then turned to the young man in black. "Brother Yu, I was going to treat you at the Imperial Hotel, but you insisted on coming to this little place. I..."

"That's enough. I loved the fish here when I was in college. I don't get back often, so of course I wanted to try it again," the young man said.

"You've always been one for old favorites, Brother Yu!" Lin Zijian said, his tone ingratiating.

Lin Zijian surveyed the room for a good table, wearing an air of superiority that was frankly nauseating.

Before he found a seat, Lin Zijian spotted Shen Bing. His face twisted as if he'd swallowed something foul. "What's that bastard doing here?" he muttered.

Brother Yu was standing beside him and caught enough to ask in surprise, "Zijian, what's wrong?"

Lin Zijian suddenly grinned, with no trace of his irritation showing. "Nothing. Ran into a romantic rival. I like my chances, though."

"Who is it? Who's qualified to be your romantic rival, Zijian? You're the Tianxiang Group's third young master," Brother Yu said with a laugh.

Lin Zijian kept his eyes on Shen Bing. "You're right. Calling that bastard a rival gives him too much credit. He's hardly qualified."

They weren't speaking especially loudly, but Shen Bing and his friends heard every word.

Wang Bo and the others saw Lin Zijian looking at Shen Bing as he spoke. They weren't fools; they immediately knew their friend was the one he meant.

The hot-tempered Wang Bo shot to his feet. "Who are you talking about? Looking for a beating?"

For the big lug, fists had always been the only way to settle a problem.

Lin Zijian gave Wang Bo a disdainful glance and couldn't be bothered to answer.

With his status, there was no need to trade insults like someone brawling in the street. And if it came to a fight, would Young Master Lin have to do it himself?

Wang Bo was about to press him, but Shen Bing tugged him back into his seat.

"Xiao Bing..."

"Old Wang, you know I'm single. How could I be anyone's romantic rival? Argue with an idiot over a stupid question like that, and you'll just sink to his level. Why bother?" Shen Bing looked perfectly calm, though his right hand slowly stroked the kitten's back as it lay in his arms.

Lin Zijian could no longer keep his composure. He didn't know why, but the sight of Shen Bing like that sent his temper flaring. He glared. "Kid, you ought to know your place before you open your mouth. There are people in this world you can't afford to cross."

"For once, you've said something sensible. I agree," Shen Bing said.

Lin Zijian felt as though he'd thrown a punch at empty air. The frustration gnawed at him.

Brother Yu suddenly laughed. "Zijian, you're slipping. Arguing with a few nobodies? You're ruining our evening. Come on, let's find a table. I don't come back often. You can't expect me to make the trip just to watch you quarrel."

Lin Zijian immediately put away his anger and smiled. "Sorry, Brother Yu. A few flies distracted me. There's a table over there. Let's go."

Wang Bo watched them leave and snorted. "Damn it! What a bunch of jerks!"

"Forget it. Don't get mad. Let's eat," Shen Bing said with a smile. He really did seem unbothered.

Then all three roommates turned to Shen Bing. Sun Li was the first to ask, "Old Shen, tell us what Lin Zijian meant about a romantic rival. I get the feeling you're hiding something from us."

Shen Bing knew he couldn't keep it from them, so he gave them a brief account of what had happened the night before.

Just as he'd expected, the three showed him not a shred of sympathy. Instead, they looked downright aggrieved. The envy in their eyes made it obvious they thought he'd gotten lucky in love.

After expressing their envy, the three finally got back to the point.

"So Lin Zijian had something to do with you failing that interview this morning? That's low, even for him. Just because he can pull strings—" Wang Bo began, ready to deliver a lecture on morality.

"Might as well use the power you've got before you lose it. Besides, what goes around comes around. Do enough bad things and you'll get what's coming to you, right?" Shen Bing grinned, a strange note in his voice.

"Since when did you become a Buddhist?" Wang Bo and the others shot him odd looks. Something about this felt strange.

Shen Bing merely smiled and put a slice of fish in his mouth.

Little Doudou, Shen Bing called silently.

Master?

You saw the guy who argued with me just now, right? Try your Plague God Possession skill on him. Let me see what it does.

Leave it to me, Master!

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