Chapter 7: Trip to the White Pagoda

A silent night passed.

When the dawn sun lit up the pale blue sky the next day, the chilly, fresh morning breeze drifted through the white curtains, carrying with it the bustle and splendor of the city.

I woke up from hunger.

I didn’t know when I’d fallen asleep last night. When I woke up, drool was all over the edge of my mouth and the floor, and Lu Xiu was nowhere to be seen on that big bed.

Groggy, I sat up, and my memories slowly returned.

Oh, it seems I left the White House…

And even teamed up with a seaweed ball.

Seaweed ball is a villain, likes to electrocute me.

Can’t eat him.

Summary complete.

I stood up, crawled out of the lazy sofa, and wobbled over to that big bed.

Maybe it was last night’s obsession—since he’s not here now, can I sleep on the big bed?

After climbing up, I curled myself into a ball and went back to sleep.

I don’t know how long I slept, but anyway, I was woken up again.

I opened my blurry eyes and found myself facing a pair of eyes full of mixed bitterness, exhaustion, and helplessness.

It was Lu Xiu.

“Ha—choo—good morning…”

I mumbled, greeting him.

“…Not good at all.” He shook his arm up and down, completely shaking away the last traces of my sleepiness.

“Hey, what are you doing!”

“What am I doing?” He gave me a “kind” smile. “I told you before, the bed is mine.”

Seems like that did happen.

“All right, you slept on my bed, I’m not angry. After all, I don’t need it right now. But what’s with this huge puddle of drool you left on it?”

Huh? Look—

He straightened my head and pointed it at the blue bed. A dark, damp patch was spreading across most of the mattress—clearly, no one could sleep there anymore.

“…It’s not my fault… It’s Big Mouth, Big Mouth drooled.”

Driven by a powerful survival instinct, I sold out Big Mouth without hesitation.

The big mouth on my stomach made a confused sound, as if it couldn’t understand why it was suddenly being blamed.

“Heh, I don’t care if you have a big mouth, small mouth, pig mouth, or sheep mouth. Just tell me, is it because you slept on this bed that this happened?”

I shrank my head. “Maybe… yesterday’s villain wanted to get back at you?”

Lu Xiu couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation for the umpteenth time.

***

In the end, my reward was the first electric shock of the day.

The so-called White Tower, according to Lu Xiu, is the secret part of Yingdui Si, officially called the Technical Research Division.

Since the headquarters is inside a white tower, everyone calls it the White Tower for short.

“So why did you bring me to the restroom?”

I looked at him in confusion.

“You’re asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?” He pulled a Dove Badge from his MiaoMiao pocket and pressed it against the stall door.

“Yingdui Si, Lu Xiu, serial number: BDLX-3421, authentication clearance.”

I watched him mutter to the door, thinking he was definitely crazy.

But to my surprise, after he finished speaking, the Dove Badge fused with the door, embedding itself completely.

“Whew… let’s go.”

He opened the door. Inside wasn’t a toilet, but a blurry scene like a photo, with vague glimpses of green grass and blue sea.

How magical.

I followed him in. As the door closed behind us, the public restroom fell silent again.

Passing through the curtain with a jelly-like texture felt like moving through cotton. In a daze, everything around us changed.

The blue sky, white cumulus clouds hanging above the sea, reflecting golden sunlight. Deep, bright shadows cast a faint bluish hue.

And set against this backdrop was a towering, lighthouse-like white building.

Sniff sniff

“The smell of the sea, I know that.”

For no reason, a familiar advertising slogan popped into my head.

“You know nothing.”

Lu Xiu mocked me, as usual.

I was used to it.

I ignored him.

“Mm… so bitter…” I squatted down and spat out the grass I’d stuffed in my mouth, wrinkling my little face. “The grass here tastes terrible.”

It was astringent and salty, like it had soaked in seawater.

“Keep up.”

Lu Xiu strode forward toward the white lighthouse. I quickly got up and trotted after him, eyeing the so-called [White Tower] with curiosity.

“It’s so small… Feels even smaller than your house.”

“That’s because most of the White Tower is underground. The part above is just for cover.”

“Why do it that way?”

“Would you walk around all day with a ‘I have cake’ sign and let everyone eat your cake?”

“Mm mm mm!”

I quickly shook my head, my voice muffled by my shaking.

“Same logic.”

He walked to the lighthouse door and knocked three times.

Clack—

The tightly shut iron door opened automatically. Inside, there was no one—just a table, a bed, and a staircase leading up.

It looked even more basic than my cell.

Lu Xiu didn’t stop at the doorway. He walked straight to the bed, heaved it aside with effort, and revealed an iron door to the basement underneath.

“This isn’t hidden at all.”

I kicked a little pebble onto the iron door, making a pa pa sound.

“Then you think of a better hiding place?” He didn’t look back, his tone flat.

“Hehe, I know a place no one can ever find.”

“Where?”

“In my stomach.”

“Talking with you is really exhausting sometimes.”

He pulled open the iron door, revealing a staircase beneath. He glanced at me and hurried me, “Get in.”

“Eh, it’s really dark in there.”

“You scared of the dark?”

I nodded. “A little bit.”

“Coward.”

I opened my mouth wide in anger.

How can you call me that!

“You were even more cowardly than me back then!”

I was talking about the time he surrendered to the orb people.

“That was tactics—pretending to be weak to surprise the enemy, understand? You brainless creature.”

“You’re the brainless one! Your whole family is… wait, I’m part of your family now… Anyway, you’re the one with no brains. My QQ360!”

“It’s IQ…” He closed his eyes and pressed his hand to his face in pain. “Heavens, why am I arguing with you about this…”

In the end, he dragged me in by force.

As we descended the stairs, I grabbed the back of his shirt, a bit scared.

If only I could eat the darkness—then I’d gobble it all up.

As we slowly walked down, every so often I’d call out Lu Xiu’s name, just to make sure he was there.

“You’re holding onto me. How could I run away?”

His voice echoed in the narrow stairwell.

“I don’t care, I’m calling you anyway. Lu Xiu, Lu Xiu, Lu Xiu, Lu Xiu—”

“So noisy.”

“Bleh!”

Bickering like that, we finally reached a metal door.

A glowing eye on the door emitted a red light, scanning Lu Xiu’s face and then lingering on me for a moment.

“Visitor list confirmed. Beneath the Undercurrent, the dike to the world is built. Agent Lu Xiu, welcome.”

With the electronic voice, the door slowly opened, revealing a spotless white corridor inside.

“Let’s go. Don’t just stand there.”

Lu Xiu reminded me, as I was still dazed outside the door.

“Oh, oh.”