A Dying Orange Kitten? This Intelligence-Opening Pill Finally Came in Handy!

Lin Bei had just tossed the bottle of Dabao SOD Honey back into the drawer when the phone in his pocket vibrated twice.

He pulled it out and saw a WeChat message from Ruan Qingwu.

"Lovers' Slope. Ten minutes."

Lin Bei raised his eyebrows.

This girl kept strangers at arm's length when she was out, but she certainly had no trouble ordering him around.

Following his lazy man's creed of "never sit when you can lie down," Lin Bei rapidly tapped out a reply: "Not coming. Too much effort."

Before he could hit send, another message popped up: "I brought grilled cold noodles from that place you like. Extra cilantro and sweet bean sauce."

Lin Bei silently deleted the text in the message box and replied, "Be right there."

What could he do? It wasn't that he had no backbone; the sauce at that grilled cold noodle place really was authentic.

At this hour of the afternoon, sunlight slanted across the lawn on Jinghai University's Lovers' Slope, making it the perfect time for young couples to gather.

When Lin Bei strolled over, he spotted Ruan Qingwu from far away.

She had changed into a light green floral dress that fell just past her knees, revealing a stretch of fair, shapely calves.

She wore white sneakers, and the hem of her dress swayed gently in the breeze.

Paired with her sweet, innocent face, she looked exactly like a heroine who had stepped out of a Japanese pure-romance film.

Eight out of every ten boys passing by were sneaking glances at her, while the other two were so busy staring that they walked straight into each other, grimacing in pain.

"Had your fill?" Ruan Qingwu handed over the plastic bag she was carrying, a glint of mischief hidden in her eyes.

"I wasn't looking at you. I was looking at the noodles." Lin Bei took it, speared a piece with a bamboo skewer, and stuffed it into his mouth. "Mm, cooked just right. You know what's good for me," he appraised indistinctly.

Ruan Qingwu rolled her eyes at him, but she wasn't angry, and naturally moved to his side.

They walked down the slope shoulder to shoulder, close enough for Lin Bei to smell the faint citrus fragrance of her shampoo.

On the lawn, students gathered in twos and threes were still talking about the same subject.

"That sword immortal was definitely a cultivator! I watched the replay. He raised his hand, and a hundred tons of water came pouring down!"

"He was so cool. I wonder if he has a girlfriend. I'd give up ten years of my life just to meet him once."

Listening to the passersby, Ruan Qingwu turned to look at Lin Bei, who was focused on tackling his grilled cold noodles.

"Lin Bei, did you watch the video online?" Ruan Qingwu asked softly.

"Yeah." Lin Bei didn't even look up. "Fatty's been playing it on loop through a megaphone in the dorm. It'd be hard not to watch it."

Ruan Qingwu stopped, her clear eyes fixed on him, a note of wonder in her voice. "Do you think immortals really exist in this world? The kind who can soar through the heavens and burrow through the earth, who save people from flood and fire?"

Lin Bei paused in his chewing.

He looked at Ruan Qingwu. There was a little admiration in her eyes, along with a curiosity he couldn't quite put into words.

"Who knows?" Lin Bei swallowed his food and shrugged. "Maybe an immortal is standing right in front of you, eating the grilled cold noodles you bought him."

Ruan Qingwu burst out laughing, and that faint trace of wonder instantly vanished like smoke.

"You? If you were an immortal, pigs could climb trees." Ruan Qingwu rolled her eyes at him in exasperation. "That sword immortal saved people from a sea of flames. You take a taxi rather than walk a few extra steps. You might as well be lazy to death."

Lin Bei grinned and didn't argue.

As they chatted, a rustling suddenly came from the bushes beside them.

"Mew..."

The sound was so faint that they wouldn't have heard it without listening carefully.

Ruan Qingwu stopped, her ears pricking up. "Did you hear that? It sounded like a cat."

Lin Bei was now at the Qi Refining Third Layer, and his senses were frighteningly sharp.

He had heard it long ago. He could even hear the little creature's faint, nearly faltering heartbeat with perfect clarity.

"Over there." Lin Bei pointed with his chin at a dense clump of holly ahead.

Ruan Qingwu hurried over and carefully parted the thorny bushes.

When she saw what was inside, she sucked in a breath.

A palm-sized orange kitten was curled up in a muddy hollow, shivering.

It was so filthy that its original color was unrecognizable. A small piece was missing from its right ear, as though some larger animal had bitten it.

Worst of all was its right hind leg, twisted at a bizarre angle. It was clearly broken.

Bloody fluid was still seeping from the wound, which was covered in sand, mud, and dead leaves.

The little creature was almost gone, its eyes half-closed, without even the strength to cry out.

"How did it get hurt this badly..." Ruan Qingwu's eyes instantly reddened.

She could never bear to see little animals suffer. She wanted to pick it up, but she was afraid of hurting it.

Her hands hovered in midair, tears pooling in her eyes as she fretted.

She turned to Lin Bei, her voice thick with tears. "Lin Bei, I think it's dying. Can we take it to a veterinary hospital? But we're so far from the campus gate. I'm afraid it won't make it..."

Looking at Ruan Qingwu's reddened eyes, Lin Bei sighed.

This girl acted like an aloof queen around other people, but deep down, she was still a softhearted sweetheart.

"All right, don't cry. Leave it to me."

Lin Bei tossed the box of leftover grilled cold noodles into a nearby trash can and crouched down.

"Don't move it around. Its leg is broken. If you move it, the bone could pierce its organs." Ruan Qingwu nervously grabbed Lin Bei's sleeve.

"Relax. My family comes from a long line of traditional Chinese doctors specializing in traumatic injuries. Human or cat, the principle's the same," Lin Bei casually made up.

He reached out with his right hand and gently laid it over the orange kitten's twisted hind leg.

Out of Ruan Qingwu's sight, a wisp of blue-green spiritual power slipped silently from Lin Bei's fingertips into the kitten's body.

Using the spiritual power of the Qi Refining Third Layer to save an ordinary kitten was like using an ox-cleaving blade to kill a chicken.

The spiritual power entered its body and instantly wrapped around the broken bones, joining and resetting them.

The damaged organs were also rapidly repaired by this force brimming with vitality.

Lin Bei carefully controlled its intensity, not daring to use too much spiritual power for fear of bursting the little creature outright.

In less than ten seconds, all its fatal injuries had been stabilized.

But the kitten had been starving for far too long and was terribly weak. Its eyes remained closed, and it still looked as though it might stop breathing at any moment.

Lin Bei's eyebrows rose slightly.

If you saved someone, you saw it through; if you escorted the Buddha, you took him all the way west.

He turned his wrist and, concealed by his sleeve, retrieved the [Intelligence-Opening Pill] from his system space.

The pill had been intended for birds and beasts in the first place and could awaken their intelligence.

Now it could come in handy. He would count it as bestowing a fortunate opportunity on the little creature.

Lin Bei unscrewed the half-full bottle of mineral water in his hand one-handed. Shielding his movements with his body, he crushed the longan-sized pill into powder and silently sprinkled it into the bottle cap.

He poured in a little water, and the powder dissolved on contact, leaving not a speck behind.

"It's too weak. We need to give it some water."

Lin Bei turned and held the water-filled cap to the orange kitten's mouth.

Ruan Qingwu hurried closer and carefully cradled the kitten's head.

Catching the unusual fragrance in the water that only animals could detect, the dying orange kitten suddenly twitched its nose twice.

Then, miraculously, it opened its eyes, stuck out its tiny pink tongue, and began frantically lapping at the bottle cap.

"It's drinking! It's drinking water!" Ruan Qingwu smiled through her tears, grabbing Lin Bei's arm in excitement.

Watching the kitten lick the cap clean, Lin Bei casually tossed it into the nearby trash can.

The Intelligence-Opening Pill's medicinal power was extremely potent.

Almost the instant the kitten swallowed it, something miraculous happened.

The orange kitten, which had been lying on the ground at death's door, suddenly shuddered.

With that shudder, the filth on its body fell off in showers.

Then, under Ruan Qingwu's disbelieving gaze, the kitten actually stood up on its own!

The hind leg that had been limp and powerless a moment ago now rested firmly on the earth. It even kneaded the ground twice in a rather rhythmic fashion.

Most hair-raising of all were its eyes.

Its once-cloudy, unfocused pupils were now exceptionally clear.

It looked up at Ruan Qingwu, its amber eyes actually revealing an indescribable cleverness.

"Mew~"

The orange kitten pitched its voice high and gave a sugary-sweet meow.

It walked over to Ruan Qingwu's feet on its own and rubbed its furry head furiously against her ankle.

"It... it came back to life?"

Ruan Qingwu was dumbfounded.

A cat that had been on the verge of death one second could bounce around and act cute the next, just from drinking a little water?

"It probably just passed out from thirst. This little thing's tough." Lin Bei stood and brushed the dirt off his hands, spouting nonsense with a perfectly straight face.

Ruan Qingwu had no attention to spare for investigating. Her heart was filled with the joy of regaining what she had thought lost.

Not minding the mud on the cat at all, she bent down, picked up the orange kitten, and carefully held it in her arms.

The orange kitten nestled comfortably in Ruan Qingwu's soft embrace and settled into the most comfortable position it could find.

Just then.

The orange kitten suddenly turned its head, looking past Ruan Qingwu's arm at Lin Bei standing behind her.

The human's and cat's gazes met in midair.

Lin Bei distinctly saw the orange kitten with the notch in its right ear actually give him a humanlike nod.

There was no fear of humans in its eyes, only deep gratitude, and even a touch of the streetwise air of "Big brother, I'm following you from now on."

If Ruan Qingwu hadn't been holding it, Lin Bei had no doubt that the little creature would have knocked its head against the ground three times in a resounding kowtow right then and there.

This Intelligence-Opening Pill packs quite a punch, Lin Bei muttered inwardly.

This isn't awakening its intelligence. This is fucking installing an adult's brain in a cat.

"Lin Bei, let's adopt it!"

Holding the cat, Ruan Qingwu looked at Lin Bei with shining eyes, her tone carrying a hint of seeking his opinion.

Looking at Ruan Qingwu's heartfelt smile, Lin Bei felt a soft corner of his heart stir.

Consider yourself lucky, little thing.

With a body transformed by the Intelligence-Opening Pill, having it secretly protect Ruan Qingwu on campus from now on wouldn't be a bad deal.

"Sure, as long as you're happy." Lin Bei leaned lazily against a tree trunk, his hands in his pockets. "But let's get this straight: you buy the cat food, and you scoop the poop."

"I know, I know! You're the best!" Ruan Qingwu happily spun around with Orange Treasure in her arms.