Nonsense! How could my adopted son be a villain?

After traveling for four or five days, the carriage arrived at Junan City.

Junan City has a completely different style from Qingyu City, Lihuo City, and Fengling City. From a distance, the entire city appears magnificent, with pavilions and towers hidden among the clouds and mist, resembling a fairyland, just like the heavenly palaces and fairylands in the fantasy dramas that Xu Lingguang had watched.

“This Junan city looks very wealthy.”

Xu Lingguang lifted the carriage curtain, sat on the carriage shaft, and leaned out to look.

The cubs, who had been bored inside the carriage, scrambled to their feet and clung to Xu Lingguang's legs as they looked out with him.

The cubs grew up in the mountains and had never seen much of the world, especially the three cubs Yu Rong, Yun Feng, and Zhao Ling. The farthest place they had ever been was Wenling Slope outside Qingyu City.

Therefore, everyone's eyes widened when they saw this sight. Yun Feng said, "It's huge!"

Yu Rong said, "It's even more beautiful than the clan's territory."

Mu Yun also thought Junan City was very big and beautiful, but after all, he had been to Li Huo City and Feng Ling City and had seen the world, so he said very calmly, "It's just so-so! Not as red as Li Huo City."

Yu Rong snorted and ignored him.

Xu Lingguang found it amusing, gave the kids a pat on the shoulder, and then secretly glanced back at Lan Jian, who was lying motionless on the cushion, and said, "No rush, we'll go into the city and look around slowly. If you like it, you can stay a few more days."

The cubs were delighted to hear this, and even Youyu was quite interested and came over, squatting down next to Xu Lingguang, her red eyes shining brightly.

Zhaoling was the smallest, and with the other cubs blocking his way, he was pinned down and couldn't see anything. He cried out anxiously, "Zhaoling wants to see too!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Lingguang realized that Yu Rong had sat on him. He quickly pulled him out, held him in his arms, and let him stay with Mu Yun.

Zhaoling was delighted and stretched out her wings to look outside.

The carriage slowly entered the city along with the flow of traffic.

Once inside the city, Xu Lingguang realized that what had previously appeared as a misty, cloud-shrouded city of Junan was actually a giant tree unlike any he had ever seen before.

The giant tree's trunk wasn't very tall, but its canopy was enormous, with countless branches stretching out in all directions, blooming with translucent, snow-white flowers, layer upon layer, looking like clouds and mist from afar.

"What kind of tree is this?"

Since he began studying alchemy, Xu Lingguang had read through Yuan Jiu's notes and studied many alchemy classics, but he had never seen any book that recorded such a peculiar tree.

Lan Jian stood up and looked outside, saying, "This is not a tree, but an array. The tree you saw is the manifestation of the array."

Xu Lingguang asked in surprise, "What kind of formation is so powerful?"

Lan Jian shook his head: "I haven't studied formations much."

Only humans need to rely on formations; he has neither the need nor the patience to study this art.

Xu Lingguang had only asked casually, and seeing that the man didn't know either, he forgot about it. He stopped the carriage in front of what appeared to be a fairly large inn, lowered the curtain, and instructed the cubs, "We're getting off."

Upon hearing this, Youyu transformed back into human form and took the initiative to pick up Yu Rong and Yun Feng.

Xu Lingguang placed Muyun and Zhaoling on his shoulders, suppressing his secret joy as he looked at Lanjian: "I'll carry you."

Lan Jian didn't think there was anything wrong with shrinking, but for some reason he always felt that Xu Lingguang's gaze towards him had changed since he shrank.

How to describe it...

Like a puppy seeing a bone, its eyes light up, as if it really wants to bite it.

Lan Jian hesitated for a moment, but seeing Xu Lingguang's bright smile, she nodded.

Moreover, his current physical form is indeed inconvenient, making it difficult to use magic to get on and off the carriage. The easiest way to avoid getting his fur dirty is to have Xu Lingguang carry him.

Xu Lingguang couldn't wait to reach out and pick him up.

Holding a small, soft bundle in your arms is like holding a fluffy ball of cotton.

He had always been the one to take care of Lan Jian's fur, but in the past, intimidated by Lan Jian's enormous size, he would only take the opportunity to touch it a couple of times and secretly indulge his urge to touch it.

But things are different now.

Lan Jian shrank so much that he could hold him in his arms!

It was Lan Jian who agreed to it.

And he didn't seem to mind at all.

With that thought in mind, Xu Lingguang boldly rubbed the fluffy head he had been eyeing for so long, and also took the opportunity to pinch Lan Jian's ear.

Lan Jian was, after all, an adult Chenghuang with thick fur. With careful grooming, the short down on its ears was thick and soft; if you pinched it, it felt like you were squeezing a fluffy, soft cake.

It has a feel that a cub's ear can't compare to.

Xu Lingguang gasped. His fingers, which should have loosened without him noticing, suddenly disobeyed his brain and he couldn't help but squeeze them a couple more times.

Lan Jian: ? ? ? ?

He didn't even realize it when Xu Lingguang pinched him the first time, but he couldn't ignore the second and third pinches even if he wanted to.

He slowly turned his head and stared at Xu Lingguang.

Xu Lingguang looked at him with sparkling eyes.

The two stared at each other for more than three seconds before Xu Lingguang belatedly realized that his hand was still on Lan Jian's ear. He immediately gave an awkward laugh, released his hand, and stammered, his face flushed, "Ah... well, I just... I just..."

I spent ages trying to come up with "that is" but couldn't.

Finally, blushing, I lowered my head, looking pitiful as if I were confessing my guilt.

Lan Jian: "..."

He turned his face away expressionlessly, and suddenly understood why Xu Lingguang was looking at him like he was a bone.

He was familiar with that look; Xu Lingguang had the same look in his eyes when he was petting the cubs.

He couldn't help but shift his body, filled with confusion and a touch of joy.

Does Xu Lingguang like him that much?

But he only shrunk in size; apart from the two horns on his back disappearing, he wasn't much different from before.

Why didn't I see Xu Lingguang like this before?

Lan Jian pondered for a long time and suspected that Xu Lingguang only liked cubs.

He didn't like it as much after he grew up.

Thinking about this made him less happy.

He flicked his tail, turned around and stared at Xu Lingguang for a long while, feeling very worried.

They're exactly the same, so why don't I like him the way he was before?

Little did he know that Xu Lingguang had been stared at by him until he became very angry.

Although he had died in the game more than once or twice since he transmigrated, each death was a new experience, and it was hard to pretend nothing had happened.

In particular, Lan Jian suddenly turned her head and stared at him for a long time.

Xu Lingguang was worried about his image in Lan Jian's mind. Had he already been labeled a pervert?

I should have known better than to do that!

With these worries in mind, Xu Lingguang, carrying this hot potato in his arms, went to the innkeeper to book a room, and very consciously and with a sense of boundaries said, "I need two rooms."

Then he whispered to Lan Jian in his arms, "You can have a room by yourself, and the other kids can sleep with me."