Nonsense! How could my adopted son be a villain?

Lan Jian thought Xu Lingguang would need some time to consider, but as soon as he finished speaking, Xu Lingguang said excitedly, "I'm willing!"

The three words were powerful and resolute, as firm as someone wanting to join the Party.

Lan Jian paused for a moment before pulling out a scroll from a distance and pushing it in front of Xu Lingguang: "Since that's the case, let's sign the contract."

Xu Lingguang glanced at it; the scroll detailed the rights and obligations of both parties, much like a modern contract, except it didn't seem to have a place for signatures. He looked at Lan Jian with a puzzled expression.

Lan Jian said, "Just imprint your spiritual power on it."

Xu Lingguang suddenly realized what was going on. He tried to gather a small amount of spiritual energy at his fingertips and then gently pressed it on the scroll.

The moment he pressed down, the writing on the scroll surface glowed faintly, and his name, along with another name written in a flamboyant style, appeared on the scroll at the same time.

Xu Lingguang took a look and recognized the two characters "Lanjian".

He stole a glance at the giant beast in front of him and wondered how such a tall and mighty beast could have such an elegant and refined name.

After the contract was completed, the scroll disappeared automatically. Lan Jian glanced at the excited cubs and nodded to Xu Lingguang, saying, "The contract is complete, they are now in your care."

After speaking, he vanished into the night wind like a gust of wind, and the invisible pressure also dissipated.

Xu Lingguang opened his eyes wide in surprise and looked around as if he had just watched a grand magic show.

Just as he was filled with astonishment, the three little cubs were also secretly observing him. Although they were a little frightened when they were tied up by the vines, they became bolder now that they knew Xu Lingguang would take care of them from now on.

Yu Rong was the first to lean in, curiously sniffing Xu Lingguang's scent, and asked him, "My name is Yu Rong, what's your name?"

He had a round head and a fluffy, light yellow coat that made him look like a soft, fluffy cake. Xu Lingguang squatted down and tentatively reached out his hand. Seeing that he didn't flinch, he suppressed his excitement and gently touched his head.

"My name is Xu Lingguang."

Xu Lingguang noticed that there was still blood on the hair around his mouth, which must have been caused by struggling when he was tied up by the vines. Yu Rong didn't seem to care much about the small injury, but Xu Lingguang felt a little guilty: "Does it still hurt?"

The hand on her head was soft and the movements were very gentle. Yu Rong squinted her eyes and made a low purring sound as she was touched. It took her a while to react. She paused, patted her chest, and said proudly, "Cheng Huang isn't afraid of pain."

Xu Lingguang was amused. He wondered who had been whimpering earlier, but he didn't expose the cub. He turned his gaze to Yun Feng and Zhao Ling.

The usually lively Yun Feng suddenly became a little embarrassed. She squatted down very gracefully and said softly when Xu Lingguang looked at her, "My name is Yun Feng." She then pointed to Zhao Ling, who was hiding in the fur, and said, "He is Zhao Ling."

Xu Lingguang had been very curious before: "Isn't Zhaoling Chenghuang?"

Yu Rong stared at Xu Lingguang in shock, as if to say, "We look completely different, how can you not tell?" and blurted out, "Zhao Ling is a phoenix."

The dazed Zhao Ling finally realized they were talking about her, and excitedly chirped twice before gently pecking Xu Lingguang's hand.

Xu Lingguang: "..."

To be honest, the offspring of these awesome races don't seem to be very smart at all.

But they're all cute.

After getting acquainted, Xu Lingguang picked up the cloth bag from the ground, picked it up, and beckoned the three cubs to come into the house with him: "I've removed the defensive formation. You can come in anytime from now on. Just treat this place as your own home."

The little ones were allowed into the courtyard, a little excited but also a little reserved.

Yun Feng glanced at the little nest under the tree, then looked at Xu Lingguang expectantly: "Can I sleep in that little nest for a while?"

Xu Lingguang looked at the small room, then at her body, which was almost two or three times larger, and hesitated before saying, "That room is a bit small, it's not really suitable for you, is it...?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Yun Feng's ears drooped down, and she said very disappointedly, "No, you can't..."

Xu Lingguang was immediately overwhelmed with guilt and quickly said, "If you want to sleep with me, you can. I'll make you a bigger one another day."

Upon hearing his agreement, Yun Feng's droopy ears immediately perked up and twitched twice. After confirming several times that it was okay, she kicked off with her hind legs and pounced into her little nest.

But that little nest was made for Mu Yun, who was only the size of a palm. Although the young Cheng Huang was not big either, it was still three or four times the size of Mu Yun, and it couldn't possibly fit a Yun Feng inside.

Yunfeng rushed into her nest, trying her best to curl up into a ball, but her ears and hind paws were still sticking out. But she insisted on doing it, and while trying to curl up, she used her front paws to pat the feather pendant hanging above her head, having a great time.

Seeing that she was having fun, Yu Rong and Zhao Ling couldn't help but join in. Yu Rong urged, "Move aside, we need to sleep too."

Yun Feng kicked him with her hind legs in disgust.

Yu Rong, unwilling to accept defeat, pounced on her and they started fighting.

Xu Lingguang watched with great interest for a while before remembering to count how many good things were in the cloth bag.

He couldn't take his eyes off it. At first glance, he thought the large bag of gold, silver, and spirit stones was just a lot, but upon closer inspection, he realized it wasn't just a lot, it was an enormous amount!

There were twelve high-grade spirit stones alone, and countless other mid-grade and low-grade spirit stones, as well as gold and silver used in the mortal world.

For a moment, Xu Lingguang had only one thought in his mind—he was going to make a fortune.

If Lan Jian hadn't already left, he would have kowtowed to him. What an amazing boss!

Xu Lingguang was immersed in the joy of sudden wealth when he suddenly heard a crisp sound from the side, followed by the panicked cries of the cubs.

He turned his head and saw that Yunfeng and Zhaoling, who had been fighting fiercely just moments before, were now sitting blankly on the ground, looking down at their shattered little nest. Zhaoling, on the other hand, clearly didn't understand what had happened. He squatted in the middle of the broken nest, looking around in bewilderment.

Yun Feng noticed Xu Lingguang's gaze first. She took a step back guiltily and preemptively pointed at Yu Rong, saying, "It's all Yu Rong's fault for being too fat, which is why the nest collapsed."

Yu Rong glared at him angrily: "You're the one who tore it!"

Seeing that the two little ones were about to fight again, Xu Lingguang could only step forward to mediate. He picked them up, one in each arm, and stuffed the bewildered Zhaoling into his pocket. Xu Lingguang said good-naturedly, "If it's broken, it's broken. We'll make a few more another day, one for each of you."

That way, there won't be any fighting.

Seeing that he wasn't angry with them and had even promised to make new ones, the little ones' initial guilt immediately turned into smugness and anticipation. They all nestled against Xu Lingguang's chest, affectionately nuzzling his face: "Really?"

"Really, really, we'll do it tomorrow." Xu Lingguang, with a woman on each side, felt that nothing could be more blissful than this.

*

Xu Lingguang acted immediately. The next day, when he went to the lake to collect fish, he also cut some vines.

Fresh vines need to have their branches and leaves removed and then be dried. The three cubs volunteered to help clean the vines while Xu Lingguang was cooking, and then moved them to the sun to dry.

"Are you just going to give in like that?" Mu Yun, perched on his shoulder, glared angrily at the three little ones bustling around in the yard and accused, "They wrecked my nest as soon as they arrived!"

Xu Lingguang patted its head soothingly: "Out with the old, in with the new. I'll make you an even better one."

Mu Yun was still very unhappy, feeling that his territory and people had been taken away by Cheng Huang. He huffed and puffed, "That's not the same anymore. Besides, they're very bad. They even want to eat me!"

Xu Lingguang pinched its puffed-up cheeks and coaxed, "But they're my friends now, and my friends are your friends. They definitely won't eat you. Besides, the entire Ailao Mountain is inhabited by the Chenghuang. If we build a good relationship with the Chenghuang now and have a powerful backer, won't we be able to do whatever we want in the mountains in the future?"

Mu Yun squinted his small black bean eyes and thought about it, feeling that what Xu Lingguang said seemed to make sense. He hesitated and said, "Okay then, you have to make me a new nest, one that's even prettier than the old one."

Xu Lingguang smiled and said, "Okay."

Actually, he felt that the three cubs were more interested in the food he cooked than Mu Yun.

It was too late yesterday to cook, so the three cubs finished off the remaining sauerkraut fish and fried fish slices after playing until they were exhausted. They ate with such relish and satisfaction that Xu Lingguang felt sorry for them. He wondered what kind of life these young Chenghuang had lived before, since they all seemed to have never eaten before.

Xu Lingguang had previously considered whether to conduct a targeted study on the tastes of the Chenghuang, so that he wouldn't feel too guilty taking so much money. However, he discovered that the Chenghuang cubs were not picky eaters at all and would eat whatever they were fed, making them extremely easy to raise.

He had very mixed feelings. On one hand, he felt that this job paid a lot of money and had very little work, so he had to do it until retirement. On the other hand, he was worried that this job was too easy to take care of and that there might be some pitfalls waiting for him.

However, after careful observation, he felt that there was no ulterior motive in giving so much money; it was simply because Huang was too rich.

The cubs had spilled a lot of glass marbles while playing. The marbles were of different sizes and colors, and each one was very beautiful, reflecting a dazzling array of colors in the sunlight.

Given that glass probably didn't exist in this era, and with Mu Yun's appraisal, Xu Lingguang confirmed that all these spheres were genuine gemstones or jade.

Xu Lingguang: "..."

There's a tiny bit of resentment towards the rich here :)