The two faced each other.
Pointer said nothing.
Lin Xun felt ashamed.
Lin Xun was surprised by the fact that it was a cat that caught him sneaking after he did not return home at night.
He couldn't remember how many times he had suspected the little liar's IQ.
He walked to the TV cabinet, reached out and picked up Pointer. "Why aren't you asleep?"
Pointer ignored him but still curled into Lin Xun's arms following his movements.
Lin Xun scratched its ears. "Were you waiting for me?"
Pointer stepped on him twice.
The cat must be angry.
Lin Xun, "I will take you out next time."
As soon as he spoke, he remembered Dong Jun's itinerary again.
He raised Pointer. "It seems like I won't be able to, since you have to go."
Pointer, "Meow."
Lin Xun finished washing up, changed into his pajamas, and hugged Pointer in front of him.
Pointer was small, warm, and soft, and its snow-white belly went up and down with its breathing.
Although he had only been taking care of it for less than ten days, Lin Xun already liked it very much.
It was a pity that it wasn't his own cat, and that he couldn't keep it.
As he thought about this, Pointer licked his finger.
Lin Xun smiled.
Pointer raised his face to watch him smile.
Lin Xun covered Pointer's eyes. "Why are you so humanlike?"
Pointer scratched him.
With its claws retracted, it shouldn't count as scratching – he was just pushed with a paw pad.
Since he didn't know if there was still any chance of playing with Pointer in the future, Lin Xun played with him for a while before going to bed.
He dreamt again.
What you think about during the day, is what you dream of at night – this time, he dreamed of Pointer.
...maybe it was Pointer.
And Pointer's master, Dong Jun.
It seemed like the dream was set during a summer vacation in college. He and Dong Jun were walking on the tree-filled road in the old city. In the early summer morning, the cicadas had just begun to sing, and the grass by the roadside still had dew drops at the tip of their blades.
It was the year when blockchain technology was the hype, and this was the topic of their conversation – whether blockchain and Bitcoin were bubbles. Although they had a little disagreement, they still reached a consensus in the end. Then they began discussing a certain encryption algorithm; they went on to discuss quantum cryptography and touched on the subject of the uncertainty principle.
"The most accurate measurement of the position of a particle is also the least accurate measurement of its velocity, because it has been disturbed." He turned and walked backwards, facing Dong Jun, looking into his eyes, with a laugh in his voice. "I think the longer I get to know you, the more blurred the definition is of our relationship."
Dong Jun on the opposite end was not wearing glasses, his eyebrows were delicate and cold, like a luxury item, but the expression in his eyes was very gentle.
"Because it exists in superposition," Dong Jun said, "You won't be able to observe it."
"So you admit that you are a dead and a live cat at the same time," Lin Xun grabbed Dong Jun's points, smiling more and more proudly. "It's equivalent to you admitting that you like me but don't like me at the same time. You are so annoying."
As he was chattering, his foot suddenly stepped on a stone, causing his body to sway suddenly.
Almost at the same time, Dong Jun grabbed his arm and moved him to his side to help him stabilize.
They were remarkably close, their breathing in tune with each other.
The snow-white shirt, the cold breath, and in the brilliance of the morning sun highlighting the lush leaves, he squinted his eyes.
Then he heard Dong Jun's voice ringing in his ear. "I am not Schrödinger's cat."
Lin Xun, "But I heard meowing."
Dong Jun, "I heard it too."
Lin Xun turned to the thick growth of grass on the side and pulled Dong Jun over.
There was a white figure deep in the bush, and it took them quite a bit of work to get it out.
A snow-white kitten, only as big as a palm, had some leaves stuck on its body. It looked at the two of them in confusion, and cried weakly for its mother's milk.
Lin Xun, "It must be fostered by me."
After he said this in the dream, the alarm clock rang, and he woke up.
At eight o'clock in the morning, sunlight passed through the gaps in the hawthorn tree outside the window, almost exactly as the scene in the dream.
He sat up, buried his face in the quilt, his heartbeat sped up a little, and he felt a slight suffocation.
Why did you dream of Dong Jun again?
And... it was an ambiguous dream again.
In his dream, he was like a smug duck, chattering eloquently and showing off his knowledge, at least he wouldn't be able to speak like that and say those words in reality.
Pointer was already awake. It sat opposite him, slowly licking its paws, and when it saw him waking up, it meowed, exactly like the kitten in his dream.
He took Pointer and rubbed it a few times, took a deep breath for a while until his state returned to normal, then sent his "safe journey" reply to Dong Jun, and then got up. The time in the morning always passed quickly, and after discussing the progress of the project with the other three people in the team, he began to chat with Qi Yun.
A happy pointer: Are you free today? Come out with me to kill devils.
Ji Yan Sect-Fei Hong: ?
Ji Yan Sect-Fei Hong: Are you scared
A happy pointer: Yes, Brother Qi Yun is not here, and I am very scared.
Ji Yan Sect-Fei Hong: Is the bald donkey going
A happy pointer: No, he is in seclusion cultivating to Gold Core.
Ji Yan Sect-Fei Hong: Fuck
A happy pointer: When will you reach Gold Core?
Ji Yan Sect-Fei Hong: Your daddy has his own plans
A happy pointer: Then come with me.
Ji Yan Sect-Fei Hong: I need to record a video in the morning and I'll only be free in the afternoon
A happy pointer: OK.
Now it was time for breakfast. Wang Anquan and Zhao Jiagou each had a glass of happy water (cola) and were happily eating junk food. After a while, Jiang Lian joined them. Lin Xun went to the fourth floor to have a healthy breakfast with the elders.
All the elders at the dining table were serious. They were talking about the speed at which the devils appeared. According to their estimation, if the cracks continued to expand at the current rate, the devils at the level of Nascent Soul will descend upon the world within ten days.
The undeniable fact was that all cultivator sects had already exhausted all their manpower to eliminate devils, find cracks, and close them.
"With our current strength and manpower, this battle will be difficult. For the present plan, we must find the emperor." Xiaoyao Zi concluded.
Yufeng Zhenjun said, "There are so many people in the capital. It is impossible to find the emperor with the current method. We still need to take back the Chixiao Dragon Sword from the amusement park and find another way."
Lin Xun, "Amusement park?"
Then he heard Huo Qingshan cough. "This is a long story. In order to make people draw the sword, we sent the Chixiao Dragon Sword to the large amusement park as a prop for a game – "Sword in the Stone". In this game session, all the tourists get a chance to draw the sword, and Brother Yufeng is pretending to be a staff member to observe the situation and protect the sword."
Okay, this could also be a way of finding the emperor.
Xiaoyao Zi said, "There is no better alternative yet, so we will still continue this method."
Having said that, he added, "I thought, maybe our current method might be wrong. Since the emperor has extraordinary luck, he must be different from ordinary people. If this is the case, wouldn't this method of looking for him among the public lead us astray?"
"According to your idea, we should look for him among those great people in the capital instead of the public." Huo Qingshan said, "How can we do this? How can we convince them to draw the sword? Brother Xiaoyao, surely you know that you and I are just ordinary men, not to mention old men in their eyes."
Xiaoyao Zi sighed. "Mrs. Butterfly has a wide range of contacts, which might be helpful. Other than this...I'm also unable to do anything else."
After some discussion, it was nearly ten o'clock, but there was still no result, Lin Xun finally returned to his apartment to do his own thing.
He sat across from Zhao Jiagou and talked with him while tapping on the keyboard with both hands, glancing at the clock from time to time.
Dong Jun's flight should have landed at about 8:30 this morning, but he had not received any news from Dong Jun for a long time, which made him uneasy.
Pointer's things were already cleaned, put away, and left by the door. Perhaps, because his task of raising Pointer was about to be completed, Dong Jun no longer paid him any attention.
Zhao Jiagou, "Suanfa, you are absent-minded today, and your arguments are not as strong as before."
Lin Xun, "Because I no longer want to talk to someone like you."
Zhao Jiagou, "I bet you are waiting for Dong Jun."
Lin Xun, "I just don't want Pointer to leave."
Zhao Jiagou, "I have never seen a man with a deeper mind than Dong Jun. He only had to use a white cat to tie you to him in a short time."
Lin Xun, "Your delusional persecution is becoming more serious. I will call you a psychiatrist immediately."
Zhao Jiagou, "You become angry from embarrassment."
Lin Xun, "If that is the case, then Dong Jun also tied you to him. I saw it with my own eyes, you buried your face on Pointer's belly that day."
Zhao Jiagou, "I was just having fun at that time, but you want Pointer to be your cat. But the premise for Pointer to become your cat is that Dong Jun becomes your person."
Lin Xun was organizing a counterargument when he saw his phone light up.
It was Dong Jun.
Dong Jun: Come downstairs.
Lin Xun, "Goodbye."
Zhao Jiagou, "You are a hopeless case."
Lin Xun packed Pointer into the cat bag, picked up its things by the door, and checked his appearance once again – he was wearing the white sweater with black graffiti on the front and back that Lin Ting bought him, and Lin Ting said she liked this one the most.
Everything was ready; he held the cat bag and went downstairs – the familiar Bentley parked in front of the entrance of the residential building.
The window slid down, and Dong Jun looked at him with his eyebrows raised slightly. "Long time no see."
The Dong Jun in reality, was different from the Dong Jun in his dreams. He didn't have that beautiful youthfulness he had in the dream, but he was more handsome and profound, and had a high profile.
"Long time no see." Lin Xun pursed his lips. "Should I take Pointer out? Can you open the trunk...? I will put his other things in."
Dong Jun didn't speak, but looked at him.
Lin Xun blinked.
Dong Jun said indifferently, "Get in the car."