Chapter 148: Song Yao's Demonic Pet

Song Ye had naturally never considered that Qin Xuanxi's popularity in the real world was currently at its zenith. Her beauty, capable of captivating both men and women, seemed to have completely conquered Song Yao.

"How on earth do you know what Qin Xuanxi looks like?" Song Ye asked, baffled.

"There are high-definition pictures of Qin Xuanxi all over the official website of the Profound Win World. I open the website several times a day, so how could I not know?" Song Yao replied.

At the very beginning, the official website of the Profound Win World had only contained a few brief lines of text. It was only after the login malfunction during the initial launch that the content on the website gradually became richer, eventually displaying brief information and large, high-definition portraits of several prominent figures on the Profound Win Continent, including Qin Xuanxi.

Since Song Yao already knew Qin Xuanxi's true appearance, Song Ye had no choice but to reveal the full truth about his future sister-in-law's identity to her. He had to prevent any irreversible mistakes caused by an information gap later on.

Most importantly, he needed to remind Song Yao to keep the matter in absolute confidence.

With a very serious expression, Song Ye said, "Song Yao, Pei Wangshu, listen to me carefully."

Lowering his voice, he continued, "The woman betrothed to me is actually the female demon lord Qin Xuanxi."

"Pfft—Hahaha!" Song Yao burst into uncontrollable laughter, clutching her stomach. "Brother, you look genuinely hilarious when you try to tell a cold joke with such a straight face."

Pei Wangshu, standing beside her, shrugged and said, "That joke is way too chilly."

Song Ye felt rather helpless. This truth seemed far too difficult for the two of them to accept.

When ordinary people encounter things that exceed the boundaries of their cognition, their instinctive reaction is often to dismiss them as fake.

However, Song Ye suddenly realized that Song Yao and Pei Wangshu did not necessarily need to know the entire truth of the matter.

Changing his approach, he said, "Of course, what I just said was just a joke. However, the princess betrothed to me does indeed look almost identical to the female demon lord Qin Xuanxi."

"Yet, very few people in this world know the true face of Qin Xuanxi, so the vast majority of people have no idea that the princess shares such an extraordinarily striking resemblance to the female demon lord. To avoid unnecessary trouble, you must keep this matter strictly confidential."

"So that's how it is. Wait a second—" As if discovering a brand new continent, Song Yao's eyes suddenly lit up. "Brother, are you saying that my future sister-in-law bears almost the exact same face as that female demon lord?"

"Brother, hurry up and take me to see my sister-in-law! I want to sleep in the same room with her tonight!"

It seemed Song Yao intended to seize her brother's connection to successfully "stans-chase" instantly. Even though she wasn't chasing the real original, at least it was a substitute bearing a high degree of resemblance to the original.

Anyway, all she truly loved was the original's peerless beauty.

"The Prince Xiang Residence is not a place just anyone can walk into whenever they please. Give me some time to arrange it," Song Ye said. "Don't worry, you will get to see her."

...

That night, at the hour of Zi.

Song Ye stepped out into the courtyard and saw Song Yao still sitting outside her room door in a daze despite the deep of night. Walking over, he asked,

"Song Yao, it's already this late. Why aren't you sleeping in your room? What are you doing sitting out here? Are you unaccustomed to sleeping on a strange bed?"

Song Yao shook her head and replied, "I'm waiting for midnight. It's almost time."

She had been keeping a close eye on the time displayed by the game system, determined to draw her gacha precisely at the moment the clock struck midnight.

"It's midnight!"

Having already summoned the beast-taming gacha interface, Song Yao immediately used her beast-taming draw ticket.

Golden light flashed across the beast-taming interface.

Following that, the voice of the game system echoed in Song Yao's mind:

"Ding! Congratulations to the player for drawing a rare beast companion: Butterfly-Winged Cat!"

She had actually drawn a rare beast companion!

"Hahaha! Metaphysics really works!"

Song Yao laughed in excitement.

"Song Yao, keep it down. It's the dead of night, and you're disturbing the peace. Believe it or not, I'll drag you back to the yamen and throw you in a jail cell tonight," Song Ye warned half-jokingly.

"My apologies, I just pulled a rare beast companion and got a bit too excited. I'll tone it down, hee hee hee!"

Song Yao immediately opened the beast companion interface to check the details. It displayed:

[Beast Companion]: Butterfly-Winged Cat
[Growth Stage]: First Stage of Infancy
[Mood]: Good

Song Yao summoned the beast companion on the spot.

With a soft "poof,"

A delicate and exquisite little orange cat, no larger than a fist, appeared out of thin air right before her eyes.

A pair of butterfly-like wings grew from the orange cat's back, and it was currently flapping them rapidly while spinning in mid-air.

"Aww, this pet is too adorable! Little baby, what should I name you from now on?" Song Yao looked at the tiny beast companion with an expression full of pampering. "How about I call you Little Flying Stick?"

"By the way, Brother, do you have your own beast companion?"

"I do, right here in this courtyard," Song Ye said, instantly waking up the still-dormant Black Tree.

"Hei Zai, say hello to my younger sister."

Song Ye's pet, the Black Tree, had now grown to the fourth stage of infancy.

Song Yao, however, was momentarily stunned. She hadn't seen any other moving pets in this courtyard.

Yet, out of the pitch-black night, two branch-like appendages inexplicably reached out, their tips shaped precisely like human palms.

With a sharp slap, those two branch-palms struck out and instantly flattened Song Yao's Butterfly-Winged Cat to death.

"Ah! My Little Flying Stick!" Song Yao shrieked in dismay.

Song Ye figured the Black Tree must have mistaken the Butterfly-Winged Cat for an ordinary mosquito and swatted it away. It had been kept dormant for too long, so the moment it was reawakened, it had been too eager to show off in front of its master.

Still, it had committed a blunder after all, practically committing friendly fire against a fellow companion. Consequently, Song Ye ordered the Black Tree to return to its dormant state as a form of punishment.

"Song Yao, it's fine. Beast companions cannot truly die. After twelve hours, you'll be able to summon it again." Song Ye could only offer such consolation to his younger sister.

At that moment, Song Ye heard familiar footsteps entering Pear Blossom Alley.

They were the footsteps of Zhao Zhihao.

He had gone to Cheng County to capture a wanted criminal, and Song Ye hadn't expected him to be busy until so late and still rush back overnight.

Zhao Zhihao's home was right next door to Song Ye's.

Hearing movement outside the door and guessing that her husband had returned, Lady Xu immediately got out of bed.

Knowing that her husband had gone to Cheng County to apprehend an exceptionally ferocious wanted criminal, Lady Xu had been consumed by worry and unable to close her eyes the entire night.

"My love, it's me!" Zhao Zhihao said gently, tapping on the door from the outside.

Lady Xu hurriedly slid open the latch and let Zhao Zhihao into the house.

"Why are you so late?" Lady Xu asked with a hint of grievance in her voice.

"I knew that if I didn't return, you wouldn't be able to sleep all night, so I rushed back overnight," Zhao Zhihao said with a smile. "However, early tomorrow morning, I have to hurry over to Xuan City."

"The wanted criminal we caught in Cheng County confessed that his accomplices are waiting for him in Xuan City, so we plan to head there and apprehend them as well."