Thinking about her father, with that serious face of his meowing at her, Ruan Shu sniffled and let out a soft, kitten-like meow.
But… maybe she should just let it go.
After a while, Ruan Qingran finally understood why Ruan Shu was crying, and he couldn’t help but chuckle at her.
“Who said you can’t turn back into a human?”
The ragdoll kitten looked up at her brother, her beautiful round apricot eyes glistening with tears, as if she could melt anyone’s heart.
Unable to resist, Ruan Qingran leaned down and gave the kitten a kiss on her little forehead.
“You probably can’t turn back temporarily because your Jingshen has upgraded, and you haven’t yet learned to control this new energy properly.”
Ruan Shu blinked. What? Her Jingshen had upgraded?
With a serious expression, Ruan Qingran nodded, holding her close and speaking in a solemn tone.
“You have the ability to heal Jingshen, and now you can even upgrade your own. Either of these abilities would attract all major races across the universe. It’s dangerous for you.”
Ruan Shu felt a little troubled. She was just a small, weak little kitten, with no fighting ability whatsoever. Why did she have to carry such a burden?
But then she thought about how her healing abilities could help her family. And if her Jingshen had increased, it might mean that her healing powers would grow even stronger too. If she faced a situation like her cousin’s again, maybe she could heal him more easily.
Well… dangerous or not, she would carefully keep herself hidden.
Ruan Qingran tapped her little nose. “How can you be so silly?”
But she was silly in a way that made people’s hearts soften and ache for her.
She only thought about others; didn’t she ever consider herself?
Knowing she’d be able to turn back later, Ruan Shu wasn’t worried anymore. She perked up and eagerly wanted to show her big brother her abilities, mainly to see if her healing powers had changed with her Jingshen upgrade.
Ruan Qingran was curious too, so the two of them, one human and one cat, eagerly began their experiment.
Ruan Shu used her mental tendrils to reach into his mental sea. Just as expected, this time there were two of them!
One was much thicker, and the other was much thinner. Compared side-by-side, the thinner tendril looked pitifully undernourished.
As soon as the two mental tendrils entered her brother’s mental sea, they began to frolic around.
Ruan Shu was puzzled for a moment. Previously, her mental tendril had been timid and scared, but now it showed no fear at all.
Looking closely, she saw that the thicker tendril was acting like a big brother, instructing the thinner one.
And the smaller tendril wasn’t afraid at all; it seemed curious about everything.
Ruan Shu: “…”
She had a feeling that Qiuqiu No. 1’s personality was quite similar to hers. Since there were now two tendrils, and aside from their size they were almost identical, Ruan Shu named them accordingly.
Qiuqiu No. 1 was the original Jingshen tendril. It wasn’t entirely fearless; it just felt safer with a familiar tendril beside it, boosting its confidence immensely.
Now it even took on the role of “big brother,” teaching Qiuqiu No. 2 how to clean up the “dirty things” and how to heal any Jingshen with impurities.
Qiuqiu No. 1 had grown considerably larger, with more and bigger healing light spots. In just a moment, it led Qiuqiu No. 2 in clearing out a clean area within her brother’s mental sea.
Then, Qiuqiu No. 1 happily sent Qiuqiu No. 2 off to handle the healing while it gleefully chased after the impurities, engaging in a one-sided fight. True to its mischievous nature, Qiuqiu No. 1 passed off the scary task to its “little brother,” while it proudly went after the impurities, parading around with bravado.
Ruan Shu gave Qiuqiu No. 2 a sympathetic look.
This time, Ruan Shu persisted with her healing for a full half-hour, only feeling a little tired afterward.
After the half-hour mark, it was Ruan Qingran who finally told her to stop.
Her eyes sparkled as she looked at him.
Her ability had truly improved so much! She could now heal her family’s Jingshen much more quickly, and she no longer had to worry about them suffering a mental breakdown.
Her tail swayed happily as Ruan Shu beamed with pride.
“Shushu is amazing.”
Even without needing any instruments, Ruan Qingran could feel his Jingshen in an excellent state, so much so that he could use it freely without worrying about any issues in the short term.
It felt incredible.
Upon checking, he found that his Jingshen pollution level had dropped to just 56.
Despite being mentally prepared, he couldn’t help but gasp at the number. Even someone as composed as he was couldn’t stay calm.
With Shushu’s upgraded Jingshen, both her healing speed and duration had improved.
A few more sessions, and his Jingshen pollution might return to the state it was at birth.
The “cancer” that plagued all the races in the universe had been so easily resolved by his little cousin that he still found it hard to believe.
“Shushu, thank you.”
Holding the little one close, Ruan Qingran wasn’t sure what else to say, so he simply expressed his gratitude sincerely.
“Meow~”
The ragdoll kitten rubbed affectionately against his neck, signaling that thanks weren’t necessary—she was just doing what she should.
Ruan Shu was eager to share the good news with her grandfather, father, and other brothers, so she urged her big brother to take her home quickly.
Their timing was perfect. Everyone who had been resting had woken up, and her third brother had also returned.
Ruan Ling’an bore visible injuries. An unexpected incident had occurred during his recent training, and in the fight against the Zerg, he had sustained significant wounds, leaving his Jingshen slightly unstable. Although he managed to control it, he had multiple injuries and was taken to the hospital immediately.
As for Ruan Linzhan’s case, the hospital couldn’t do much for him.
If it were just a matter of fighting the Zerg this once, Ruan Linzhan’s Jingshen wouldn’t have come so close to collapsing.
It was mostly due to his previous postings on the border planets, where he frequently fought and inevitably had to use his Jingshen in battle.
As a result, his Jingshen pollution was far more severe, often requiring suppressants.
During the recent trial, he had the bad luck of encountering a Zerg king. When it self-destructed, he single-handedly blocked the blast, nearly collapsing his Jingshen.
In a way, Ruan Linzhan was fortunate. If Ruan Shu hadn’t been found and brought home, he would likely have been beyond saving in his current state.
Although incidents like this had happened before, watching Ruan Linzhan turn into a mindless beast was something that deeply affected the Ruan family. No matter how distant they might seem with one another at times, they had still spent countless days together, and it was impossible not to feel the impact.
As soon as Ruan Shu returned home, she was scooped up by Ruan He, who affectionately kissed her furry little forehead.
“How is Shushu feeling?”
Clearly, the family had already learned about Ruan Shu’s situation. So, upon her return from the hospital, everyone in the family—except the uninformed Ruan Ling’an—looked at her with expressions full of concern.