Bai Tang enveloped his body with wood-element energy, forming an invisible protective shield. The spikes of the little cactus spirit sank into the energy shield, softened by the enveloping wood-element energy.
To give an analogy, it’s like the Thorn Lord soaking in a hot spring of wood-element energy, feeling so comfortable that he becomes limp, losing even the strength to prick someone.
The little cactus spirit, who had been crying sniffles in Bai Tang’s arms, looked dumbfounded when he raised his head. His small bubble of nasal mucus wobbled in the air, making a popping sound as it burst.
Only then did the little cactus spirit snap out of it. With misty eyes, he looked at Bai Tang cautiously. In those eyes, there was a timid sense of closeness, like an abandoned stray dog suddenly picked up by a new owner. The dog sits uneasily, afraid that its sitting posture might be annoying, leading to being kicked out.
Most of the children Bai Tang had interacted with were affectionate, like the sticky snail babies. Born carefree, they expressed their affection warmly and directly.
This little cactus spirit was different.
Compared to the snail babies, he was like a child who entered a store, encountering something he liked. While the snail babies would sweetly act coquettish, the little cactus would remain silent. Only when about to leave, he would carefully look back one last time.
Such a child… really makes people feel sorry for him.
Bai Tang wasn’t very good at comforting people. He lowered his gaze, looking at the timid little cactus spirit in his arms. After some contemplation, Bai Tang reached out his hand and, with a bit of awkwardness, gently rubbed the other’s head. “Did it hurt when you fell?” Bai Tang asked softly.
The little cactus spirit, being touched on the head, widened his eyes in an instant. He covered his small head with his hands, anxiously saying, “You can’t touch! There are thorns! It’ll prick your hand!”
Tong Lingshu’s hair looked soft and fluffy, but it was all an illusion. A touch could make someone’s hand bleed. Tong Lingshu was extremely anxious, frantically wanting to check if Bai Tang’s hand was injured.
“It’s okay,” Bai Tang said lightly. “See, nothing happened even when I held you.”
As the little cactus spirit anxiously looked on, he witnessed Bai Tang proving his words with actions. Bai Tang covered Tong Lingshu’s head with his palm, vigorously rubbing it several times before stopping, leaving the hair in a mess.
Tong Lingshu, with a bewildered expression from being rubbed, stared dumbly at Bai Tang’s hand. He belatedly realized that Bai Tang had embraced him without any protective measures… and he wasn’t injured!
Tong Lingshu’s eyes were filled with shock and undissipated tears. His eyes were so wide as if tears could fall at any moment.
This was a little monster in need of comfort. How should one comfort him? Bai Tang’s mind flashed with the image of Su Siyuan comforting him.
Bai Tang held Tong Lingshu’s hand and placed his small hand on his own hair. “Look, this is my little green seedling.” The vibrant green seedling swayed back and forth. “Almost every little monster has some unexpected incidents when transforming. It will get better after a while.”
The little cactus spirit stared at Bai Tang without blinking.
“What’s your name?” Bai Tang paused, looking around at the surrounding crowd with some confusion, then asked, “Where is your family?”
“I’m Tong Lingshu… I secretly sneaked out from the nursery.” The little cactus spirit quietly observed Bai Tang’s expression, afraid that the other wouldn’t like this truant naughty child.
“Is it the nursery next door?” Bai Tang recalled the nursery attended by the snail babies.
Tong Lingshu nodded gently.
“How did you sneak out?” Bai Tang asked, adopting a fierce tone. “What if you encounter bad monsters outside? What would you do?” Bai Tang pretended to be menacing. “Like me, I’m a bad monster, tricking cute little monsters and selling them, especially cute and foolish little monsters like you. After I sell you, you’ll even help me count the money.”
Tong Lingshu shook his head at the words and said softly, “You look so good, you must not be a bad monster.”
Bai Tang: “…”
Are all the little monsters like this now, obsessed with looks?
The little cactus spirit finished speaking and lowered his eyes, whispering, “And I’m not cute either.”
“Walking on the road, bad monsters don’t want to catch me.”
“…No one wants me. Even the headmaster doesn’t want me.” His voice became smaller and smaller, eventually almost to the point of being completely inaudible.
Bai Tang hugged Tong Lingshu tightly. “I want you. I like you,” he said, emphasizing each word.
Tong Lingshu stiffened all over. He lay motionless in Bai Tang’s arms for a long time. Finally, Tong Lingshu reached out his small hand and cautiously hugged Bai Tang back. “…I like you too.”
Bai Tang, who successfully comforted the little one, gave himself a mental pat on the back. Holding Tong Lingshu, he walked towards the neighboring nursery. On the way, Tong Lingshu looked somewhat worried, and this concern became more apparent when he saw his father, the big cactus spirit Tong Jin.
Tong Jin is a middle-aged man with a stern face. He gratefully took Tong Lingshu from Bai Tang’s hands, not even frowning when pricked by Tong Lingshu’s thorns.
“Sorry… Dad, for making you worry,” Tong Lingshu apologized, bowing his head. “Let’s go home.”
“You’re going to kindergarten, not home,” Tong Jin said sternly.
“But the headmaster… won’t let me go to school,” Tong Lingshu’s voice became lower, and his words sounded muffled.
Bai Tang, who was watching from the side, couldn’t help but inquire, “Mr. Tong, may I ask why the headmaster advised Lingshu to leave?”
“It’s like this. The headmaster said they had a hedgehog spirit child before in kindergarten. That hedgehog spirit often accidentally hurt classmates, and over time, no one wanted to be friends with him. Eventually, that hedgehog spirit child developed depression,” Tong Jin glanced at the child beside him. “The headmaster said she didn’t want the tragedy to happen again.”
“So, she’s just worried that Lingshu won’t have any good friends? This matter can be easily resolved.” Bai Tang smiled.
Tong Jin, upon hearing this, quickly raised his head, staring at Bai Tang in disbelief.
Ten minutes later, Tong Jin stood at the door in a daze, watching his little one being surrounded by a group of colorful little snails, entering the nursery like the center of the universe. He looked at Bai Tang in front of him, smiled at the incredible-looking monster, and said, “Shell-covered little monsters are not afraid of thorns.” With that, he waved and then disappeared.
Leaving only Tong Jin to have a great enlightenment in the wind.
Bai Tang, who did a good deed without leaving a name, returned to the training class and found that most of his classmates had already arrived. It seemed that he was the last monster to arrive.
Including him, there were a total of seven monsters in the class.
The moment Bai Tang pushed open the door, the class fell into a momentary and somewhat quiet state. The little hamster, who was nibbling on an apple, loosened its little paws in a daze. The apple, which had been bitten, rolled off the desk with a muffled sound.
Chu Li was the subject teacher, and she happily waved at Bai Tang when she saw him, pointing to a front-row seat, “Is this seat close to the podium good for you, Student Bai?!”
Unable to refuse such hospitality, Bai Tang sat in the front row. The desk was a simple wooden one. After observing for a while, Bai Tang, feeling a bit nervous, said to the system, “I haven’t been to school before.”
The system replied, “Are you happy?”
Bai Tang pondered for a moment and said, “A little bit.”
“Cherish this bit of happiness now because you won’t be laughing when you’re doing homework,” the system said in the tone of someone with experience.
Bai Tang: “…”
Chu Li took out the class register and said, “Welcome to the Rabbit Training Class. I am your teacher, Chu Li. Now, I’ll take attendance, and the students who are called will transform into their humanoid forms and introduce themselves.”
“Zhen Aichi.”
The one called was the hamster spirit who was struggling to pick up apples. He quickly squeaked and then squatted on the ground, transforming into a humanoid form.
His humanoid form was that of a chubby-faced young boy. Zhen Aichi returned to his seat with the apple and introduced himself to everyone, “I am Zhen Aichi, a hamster spirit. My dream profession is to become a food critic in human society.”
Zhen Aichi explained, “Human-made food is exceptionally delicious. I want to experience all the delicacies in my short monster life!” After saying that, he scratched the back of his head, “Thank you, everyone, for letting me introduce myself.”
Chu Li applauded Zhen Aichi first, “This profession sounds great. If it weren’t for maintaining my figure, I would also like to try it.” After finishing, Chu Li lowered her head and read the next name, “Xiao Feige.”
The girl leaning on the last desk raised her head, revealing heavy dark circles around her eyes. She had a delicate appearance, slender and petite, as if a gust of wind could blow her away. “Hello, everyone. I’m Xiao Feige. ‘Fei’ as in elegant, ‘Ge’ as in the song of the years.”
“As for my dream profession… it’s to become an online writer in human society,” Xiao Feige propped her chin with her hand, casually saying, “Oh, almost forgot to mention, I’m a pigeon spirit.”
The short-haired girl who had been reading a book suddenly turned her head. With serpent-like vertical pupils, she stared intensely at Xiao Feige, her emotionless face appearing exceptionally cold.
However, Xiao Feige showed no sign of being intimidated. She lifted her eyelids and glanced at the girl, saying, “What are you looking at me for?”
“Sorry,” the snake-type girl’s hoarse voice slowly spoke, “hearing the word ‘pigeon’ recently is a bit sensitive.”
The atmosphere became awkward for a moment. Chu Li, acting as if nothing happened, chuckled and said, “An online writer, that’s a trendy profession.”
Chu Li continued with the roll call, “She Rao.”
The short-haired girl who had talked with Xiao Feige stood up, softly saying, “I’m She Rao, a cobra spirit. My ideal profession is to be a professional encouragement expert. If any writer leaves a plot hole, I’ll make sure to fill it…”
“I just lock her up in the little black room until she finishes filling the plot hole,” she said, and by the end of the sentence, a hint of killing intent was faintly revealed.
Xiao Feige, who was originally leaning on the desk, stiffened for a moment. Then, she pretended not to have heard anything, continuing to lie down quietly as if she were a chicken catching up on sleep.
After She Rao finished speaking, she sat down decisively. Chu Li, at the podium, paused for a second, and then quickly applauded, saying, “This is a more fashionable profession. As an old person, I feel a bit behind the times.”
Xiao Feige, pretending to be asleep, took out her phone from the drawer. She opened a novel app on the monster web, logged into her account, clicked into an author’s column full of plot holes, and randomly selected a story. She then pondered over the comments section, where a reader with the ID “Snake Girl, You Can’t Flirt” caught her attention.
She Rao, pretending to read a book, expressionlessly took out her phone, logged into the monster web novel app, accessed her account, and clicked on “My Favorite Authors.”
In the spacious author list, only one author lay there—the name was “Gugugugugugugugugugu1Onomatopoeia. It should be the sound of a bird or fowl, like a “cooing” sound.”
The author has something to say:
Many thanks to “甜甜我的爱2Sweet My Love” for contributing the snake spirit character!
