Chapter 99
An old woman with a flowered scarf on her head was staggering along the street, carrying a large basket of colorful rags. Seeing this, Lasini hurried over, rubbed his head on the old woman's arm twice, and asked her to hang the wicker basket on his back, complaining: "Mom, you are doing these chores again! Didn't I tell you that the task of supporting the family will be left to me in the future, and you just need to rest at home!"
His voice was pleasant and deep, like a cello slowly plucking the strings to play a soothing and peaceful piece of music. Although there was a hint of blame and complaint in his words, no one could mistake the deep concern he expressed.
After the old woman put down the wicker basket, her expression was much more relaxed. She reached out and stroked Lasini's head, smiling and said, "Good, good, my Lasini has really grown up. Even if mommy dies now, I will be content."
"Mom, you say that again!" Lacini said angrily, turning his head away from her, but his body still snuggled up to her.
The old woman touched his head and coaxed him for a few words, and Lacini finally smiled. Then the old woman asked, "How was your work these days? Are those humans easy to get along with? How did you have time to come back today?"
"Don't worry, Mom." Lacini replied , "The adults are all very good-tempered. No one rode on me or asked me to carry heavy things. You know, Mom, Qingge is my friend, and there is no bad job he introduced to me. The adults are going to rest at home tomorrow, so Qingge said I can come back to see you and your brothers and sisters. By the way, he also asked me to bring you some food."
"That's good. Duoduo and the others will be so happy." The old woman said this, but there was a subtle worry in her expression: "My Lacini, you must remember that Master Qingge is a noble celestial being, and we are just lowly people. No matter how good your relationship is, you must not forget this. When you get along with the master, you must abide by your duties and do not overstep the line!"
Lacini lowered his head and said nothing, with obvious resistance in his expression.
The old woman sighed and said no more. She had said the same thing too many times. She knew her son's mood and thoughts at the moment, so she felt even more sad. The friendship of young people may be as pure as gold, but time and society will eventually change it beyond recognition.
"Speak...speak!!!"
Mu Xiaohu, who was hiding not far behind, did not come back to his senses until this moment. He knew that there were thousands of different intelligent creatures in the universe, and he had seen no less than ten of them, but he had never thought that Lacini was also an intelligent creature. He always thought it was just an ordinary mount, perhaps very smart and human, but only the kind of intelligence of an animal.
Thinking about it carefully, perhaps it was because Lacini had been behaving like a real ox or horse these days, following them silently, occasionally helping them carry some things, never speaking, and not showing any intelligence beyond the level of animals.
Or maybe it was because...since arriving at Zhongwu Star, although he wandered around the streets all day, he had never seen any intelligent species other than humans here, which misled his judgment and made him think that Zhongwu Star was a planet with a single intelligent species.
Mu Xiaohu did not go forward to disturb the mother and son. He watched them walk into a low house on the roadside. Soon, a burst of children's cheers came from inside. Through the window, he saw the old woman untied her headscarf, revealing a hairy face that looked like some kind of elk. Mu Xiaohu was not surprised at all.
Looking at the people around him who were looking at him furtively, Mu Xiaohu discovered after a brief observation that these "people" all had some "inhuman" traces hidden on their bodies to a greater or lesser extent - either they used hats to hide their ears and horns on top of their heads, or they used baggy pants to cover their tails behind them, or their limbs were as slender as some animal hooves, or they were unusually short.
He understood that those who secretly observed him might not be because he was an "alien", but because he was a pure human being.
This situation is hard to imagine in the interstellar age. Advanced technology and the vast universe have given people unlimited space and possibilities for development. There may be bosses who exploit employees, the rich who bully the poor, the strong who humiliate the weak, and the strong races who despise the weak races, but psychologically everyone is equal. Whether in the law or in the conventional moral values, everyone knows that intelligent races are born equal.
Mu Xiaohu had only seen stories like this, where a certain race was born inferior, in history books.
Mu Xiaohu walked back with his head down, the smile on his face completely gone.
He didn't like this situation, but he also knew that he couldn't change the social system of a planet. Maybe Rong Yuan had the ability to do so, but Mu Xiaohu was not the kind of person who would cause trouble to others just because of his likes and dislikes. Moreover, this was not a trivial matter like eating bread or barbecue for breakfast, but would affect the reform of the ruling system of an entire planet and all armed groups.
Mu Xiaohu let out a long sigh.
——Perhaps, leaving early is the best choice.
"Hey, human, can you lend me some money?" A vulgar voice seemed to ring right beside his ear. Mu Xiaohu came to his senses and found that he had unknowingly walked into a dark and narrow alley, where three extremely tall and gaudy-dressed "people" blocked him in the middle.
A man with a mouth full of fangs was shaving his teeth with a thin iron rod, and his squinting eyes were full of bloodthirsty indifference; next to the fanged man was a thin and tall man, most of his face was wrapped in bandages, and only a dozen long whiskers could be seen hanging from his chin; behind him was a guy with a body as broad as a wall. When he stood up, his hands could drop directly to the ground like a gorilla, and one of his hands when opened was bigger than Mu Xiaohu's small body.
"Since you have walked into our territory, I believe you have some awareness, right? Come on, be conscious, take out your wallet, and don't let the uncles do it." The fang man picked out a thin piece of blood from between his teeth and said nonchalantly: "Hurry up, don't dawdle, Xiaobai..." He looked at Mu Xiaohu and felt that he couldn't call him that, so he changed his mouth and said: "...Um, Xiao Black Face."
Mu Xiaohu blinked and looked at them without moving.
"This guy looks familiar." The gorilla man looked at Mu Xiaohu twice and said slowly.
"Not surprising, they've been all over the newspapers and news these past two days." The bearded man said gloomily from behind his bandages, "Outsiders."
The fanged man was stunned for a moment, looked at the boy carefully, and then laughed in a mocking tone: "The messenger of peace and civilization, the gospel of science and technology, the friend from tens of thousands of light years away?" He turned to the bearded man beside him and said: "That's what humans call them, right?"
"Hmm." The bearded man said sullenly.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. What's the friend of my enemy?" the fang man grinned.
The bearded man looked at Mu Xiaohu coldly and said, "Enemy!"
"Well said!" The fang-toothed man laughed, raised his hand, threw away the chisel, and his sharp claws popped out instantly, pouncing on Mu Xiaohu like a tiger!
“Bang!”
A black shadow flashed by, and the man with fangs flew out suddenly, hitting a trash can against the wall. After a series of clanging sounds, he fell to the ground with his legs up in the air, and couldn't get up for a long time.
“Who is that?” The bearded man was furious. He turned around and screamed, “Lasini?!!!”
Lacini stepped on the gorilla man with his front hoof, raised his head, and looked at them with a look of disdain, like a legendary beast descended to the world. The gorilla man fell to the ground, trembling all over from the electric shock, unable to utter a word.
“Lasini!” The fang man climbed out of the garbage heap in a rage, tore off the garbage bag and waste paper wrapped around his head, and roared: “You actually helped this human?! Are you crazy!”
Lacini moved his hoof away, lowered his head, picked up the gorilla man with his sharp horns and threw him. The huge body smashed towards the two fang men like a cannonball. They hurriedly reached out to catch it, but the residual electric current in the gorilla man's body made them shiver, and their legs went weak and they almost fell to their knees.
"Musedan, stop it. I will never let you hurt him." Lacini said coldly.
"Damn it! Lacini! They are right. Your interaction with that human has completely changed you!" Musedan pushed the gorilla man away, jumped up and said angrily: "Wake up, Lacini! Humans are our enemies! They regard us as slaves and treat us like livestock! Only by making humans bleed and die will they face us! Think about everything we have suffered over the years! Lacini, don't you recognize the true face of humans?"
“Even though we have suffered a lot and humans have committed many crimes against us—” Lacini said calmly: “But those have nothing to do with the boy next to me. He has not done anything to us, and you have no reason to hurt him!”
"All humans are the same! Even if he didn't do it in the past, he will definitely be the same as those people in the future!" Musedan waved his claws angrily, leaving several long scratches on the wall. He roared: "What's more, he and his friends are helping humans become stronger! The stronger humans are, the less hope we have. Lacini, do you understand?"
Lacini said: "Even without them, humans are far more powerful than us."
"But this is a great opportunity, Lacini." Musedan suppressed his anger and tried to persuade him: "This human boy appeared alone in our territory. As long as we kill him, we can destroy the alliance between humans and aliens. It may even attract attacks from alien armies and completely destroy the rule of humans over Zhongwu Star! At the very least, his death can prevent those aliens from helping humans, so that we can at least maintain the current situation. Otherwise, if humans continue to develop, we may not even have the last living space!"
Lacini frowned and said, "Musedan, these things are not something you can come up with. Who told you these words?"
"That's none of your business. Lacini, I just want to ask you, whose side are you on? Humans? Or us?" Musaidan said in a dangerous tone.
Lacini said nothing, but stamped his hooves on the ground, and suddenly lightning flashed around him. His attitude was clearly revealed.
Musaidan's expression suddenly became extremely disappointed. After hesitating for a moment, he finally did not launch an attack. Instead, he glared at Mu Xiaohu fiercely, and then said to Lacini: "Lacini, one day, you will regret it."
Musedan left. The man with the fleshy beard watched his instantly dejected back, then turned to Lacini and said contemptuously, "Lacini, you are not worthy of being Kedan's son. You have disgraced your father's reputation." He paused, and then said, "Also, after today, you are no longer my friend."
The gorilla man walked at the end. He seemed to have not recovered from the electric shock yet. He stammered, "La, Lacini, I also think... humans... are not trustworthy... You, you should take care of yourself... "
The three of them left, and the alley returned to peace. At this moment, with a "splash", a large bucket of dirty water poured down from overhead, soaking Lacini from head to toe.
"Hey! Who did it!" Mu Xiaohu jumped up and looked up, only to see the high walls like two gray iron walls, squeezing out the little piece of sky.
Someone slammed the window shut, and a voice full of contempt could be heard: "Bah, traitor!"
"Go to hell, you little bastard."
"Humanity's lackey..."
Someone let out a satisfying, twisted laugh, like a cold snake spitting out its tongue and peering in the corner with a cold gaze.
Lacini lowered his head, his beautiful silver -white hair was black and white, and it was dragged in wisps on the ground where the sewage was flowing. He didn't cry, but drops of water dripped from his body, just like his tears.
Mu Xiaohu felt very sorry for him just by standing by and watching. He hurriedly took off his coat and wiped the dirt off Lacini's body.
"I'm fine. Thank you, Master Mu Xiaohu." Lacini raised his head. There was no sadness on his face. He even smiled to comfort him. He said gently, "This place is not suitable for a noble like you to set foot in. Please follow me. I will take you away."
He shook his body, and a string of tiny electric currents ran through him, and mist suddenly rose. In just a moment, all the moisture in his body evaporated. Although he was still covered in filth, he looked and felt much better.
Lacini took the first step, and Mu Xiaohu took two quick steps and followed closely beside him. He considerately did not mention what happened just now, nor did he ask Lacini why he had been pretending not to be able to speak for a while. Instead, he said, "Thank you for saving me just now, Lacini."
Lacini shook his head and said, "No need to thank me. I know that even if I hadn't shown up just now, you would be fine."
Hearing this, Mu Xiaohu's smile became even brighter.
On this strange planet, he and Lor were not as relaxed as they seemed. No matter when, even when taking a shower or sleeping, they always carried something to protect themselves. Just now, if Musedan and the others really attacked him, the result would only be that Mu Xiaohu would come out unscathed, while the three would eventually faint, die, or be crushed to pieces depending on the strength of Mu Xiaohu's counterattack.
So he understood that the person Lacini really wanted to save just now was not him, but Musedan and his group. Of course, there must be a factor to avoid conflicts between Rong Yuan and the Tulip Country. Because if he really encountered an attack , their cooperative relationship might not change, but the Tulip Country government would definitely be angered. Therefore, no matter what the final result is, the first to be defeated by this wave will definitely be Musedan and his group, and even the residents in this area will definitely be implicated.
Mu Xiaohu smiled only because he found that Lacini was a friend worth associating with. He cared about his family, was loyal to friendship, was patient and gentle, honest and tolerant, had a long-term vision and clear judgment, and did not feel resentful because of other people's misunderstandings and slanders.
——People here didn't understand his behavior, insulted him, hurt him, he could have just sat back and watched them bring disaster upon himself by attacking Mu Xiaohu, but he didn't. He stood up to Mu Xiaohu despite the cold eyes of his neighbors and friends;
——When Mu Xiaohu thanked him for saving his life, he could have pretended not to know that the boy had a weapon for self-defense, and accepted the favor, and then established a relationship with Mu Xiaohu, Rong Yuan and others, which would have surely brought him huge benefits, but he didn't. He admitted that the reason he did so was actually to protect those who wanted to attack Mu Xiaohu just now, even though saying so might make Mu Xiaohu's good impression of him go down the drain.
Mu Xiaohu said whatever he thought of. He put his hands behind his head and looked at Lacini who was walking beside him with his head down. He grinned and said casually but seriously: "I like you so much, Lacini... Let's be friends!"
"Huh?" Lacini looked up and looked at him blankly and surprised.
