Chapter 562: Piggy Bro And Little Pig

Bajie carefully walked in. His mouth was still greasy; he was clearly enjoying life far too much for someone stuck in Subspace.

“Monkey Bro! Long time no see,” Bajie greeted cheerfully as he trotted over. “Were you also teleported into Subspace by that bastard Barush? Wait, no... he’s guarding the door. Did you come here together?”

Li Xiaofei raised an eyebrow, confused. “You... you guys?”

He glanced at the Golden Lizard standing nearby.

“This is my big bro!” Bajie declared proudly, puffing out his chest. “A true big shot. We’re sworn brothers... sealed by roasted meat!”

To Bajie, eating his big bro’s roasted tail was a bond far stronger than any blood oath.

Li Xiaofei burst into laughter. “Haha, what a coincidence, huh? Turns out we’re all brothers here! What did you ask me earlier? Why am I here? Of course, I wasn’t teleported by that mutt Barush. I came willingly, risking life and limb, to find and rescue you. If you don’t believe me, ask Barush yourself.”

Barush frantically nodded his dog-like head, eager to agree with anything Li Xiaofei said.

Li Xiaofei walked over and threw an arm around Bajie’s shoulders. “The brother of a brother is a brother. Now, introduce me to this esteemed, majestic, and utterly extraordinary Brother Golden here,” he said, motioning toward the Golden Lizard.

Bajie stared blankly. For a moment, he was utterly speechless. Bajie couldn’t help but feel a tinge of self-awareness.

Why do I see a reflection of my own shamelessness in Li Xiaofei? Is this what they mean by 'near vermilion, you become red'?

Just then, a plump, silver-furred rat waddled into the room. Its shiny fur glistened as though it was freshly polished; its hair was neatly permed. A cigarette dangled from its mouth, and it carried a liquor bottle in one paw.

The label on the bottle read in bold six Chinese characters: Niu Lan Shan Er Guo Tou[1].

Li Xiaofei froze on the spot.

What the hell is going on?

Wasn’t there a rule that animals couldn’t turn into spirits after the founding of the country? Where on Earth did this oversized groundhog come from?

“Squeak, squeak, squeak,” the silver rat spoke, its high-pitched voice startlingly articulate.

What?

Li Xiaofei was now fully bewildered.

The Golden Lizard removed its sunglasses and nodded. “That’s him.”

The silver rat turned its inquisitive gaze toward Li Xiaofei, its large eyes brimming with curiosity. It carefully scrutinized him from head to toe, tilting its head like a connoisseur inspecting a fine wine. Then, without any warning, it extended its paw and started patting and feeling him all over.

"Hey!"

To be honest, Li Xiaofei was more than a little uncomfortable with a rat groping him. If he had the choice, he’d much prefer someone like Tsukiha Yaiba doing this.

Damn it.

He clenched his jaw, annoyed. Ever since he had killed that woman, she had been haunting his thoughts more often than he liked.

Finally, the silver-furred rat finished its inspection. It clenched its paw into a fist and tapped Li Xiaofei's chest twice. Then, it turned to the Golden Lizard and squeaked.

“Squeak, squeak, squeak.”

The Golden Lizard nodded knowingly. “There’s no mistake. His techniques are a bit scattered, but all of them are top-tier martial arts. And this kid... he carries my bloodline. It’s surprisingly pure. Perhaps this is fate.”

Li Xiaofei froze for a moment, then everything clicked. The creature before him really was the Golden Lizard King. So Tsukiha Yaiba’s bloodline had been inherited from this being. On Earth, bloodline experts, those born with extraordinary abilities beyond normal humans, owed their gifts to a singular event, the Night of Blood.

That night, rivers of blood-red light had streaked across the sky over Earth. Some people, by chance or fate, had gained powerful bloodline inheritances. Tsukiha Yaiba’s ancestors must have been among the fortunate ones, since they had inherited the bloodline of the Golden Lizard King.

"Big Bro, Second Bro," Bajie bowed toward the silver-furred rat with a fawning smile. "This Earthling is my good brother, one of us and very reliable. He probably stumbled his way in here by accident. Please, Big Bros, don’t blame him. Just have him hand over the treasures, and it’ll be fine... right, Monkey Little Bro?"

He turned to Li Xiaofei.

Li Xiaofei gritted his teeth, almost grinding them to pieces. In the blink of an eye, Monkey Bro had become Monkey Little Bro.

But he had no choice but to swallow his pride and smile warmly. "Yes, Piggy Bro."

He noticed that Bajie had addressed the duo by their rankings, calling the silver-furred rat Big Bro. This meant the rat with the slicked-back hair and cigarette held a higher status than the Golden Lizard King.

At the same time, Li Xiaofei turned toward the doorway. The once proud Subspace Lord, Barush, was now trembling, as if it wanted to shove its entire head into the mouth on its stomach. It was shivering as though it had encountered a predator far above its level.

Bajie, pleased with himself for taking control of the situation, grinned broadly.

This time, I’ve finally gained the upper hand.

Suddenly, the silver-furred rat pulled out a writing board from somewhere, hung it around its neck, and began writing rapidly. When it was done, it turned the board toward Li Xiaofei.

The writing on the board read.

Hello, my name is Guang-chan. Nice to meet you.

Bajie's smile froze on his face. The Golden Lizard King also stopped in its tracks, staring at the board in stunned silence.

Guang-chan hadn’t used its writing board in many years. After all, there were only a handful of beings across the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths who were worthy of its effort to communicate in writing. But today, Guang-chan had brought it out for the Earthling before it, one carrying its bloodline. This raised a critical question. What had Guang-chan discovered in this young man?

As one of Guang-chan’s rare friends, the Golden Lizard King was well aware that the seemingly cheerful and approachable Guang-chan was far from simple. For example, although it had accepted Bajie’s term of endearment, it didn’t truly acknowledge Bajie as a peer or brother.

If Guang-chan had taken out its writing board and to communicate with Li Xiaofei, it meant that it viewed Li Xiaofei as someone whose status was at least higher than its own.

“Guang-chan?” Li Xiaofei said, nodding politely. “Hello, it’s a pleasure to meet you. No wonder I felt you were so kind and approachable the moment I saw you, you have such a sunny name!”

“Ahaha, I think so too!” The Golden Lizard King approached warmly, extending its claw to shake hands with Li Xiaofei.

“Brother Li, right? Haha, you can call me Little Huang. It’s an honor to meet you. Please, feel free to take whatever you like from this control room. No need to be polite—help yourself to anything that catches your eye.”

Little Huang was all smiles and enthusiasm.

Li Xiaofei nodded and replied, “Alright, then, Little Huang it is.”

The Golden Lizard King froze for a moment, speechless. In that instant, Li Xiaofei suddenly thought of a certain despicable man with the surname Lin. But that wasn’t someone he could afford to provoke. In fact, he couldn’t even afford to provoke Guang-chan.

Sigh, survival really is hard.

Of course, things were even harder for Bajie. He immediately realized just how idiotic his earlier scheming had been, especially when Guang-chan scribbled something new on its writing board.

Fate has brought us together. Brother Li, is there anything I can help you with?

Brother Li!

When Bajie saw those two words, he felt like his heart was about to stop.

Li Xiaofei thought for a moment before saying, “Actually, there is something urgent. I’m looking for a dog.”

As he spoke, his gaze shifted to Bajie. “Piggy Bro, do you know where the Black Emperor is?”

Bajie’s body trembled. His smile looked worse than a grimace as he stammered, “Monkey Bro, I was joking earlier. Please just call me Little Pig, or even Peppa Pig... I don’t care. After I arrived in Subspace, I got caught in the Subspace Dark Storms. I didn’t see the Black Emperor at all.”

“The reason I’ve been clinging so desperately to Brother Guang and Brother Huang is entirely to find the Black Emperor!”

1. A Chinese liquor brand. ☜