Striving for Science C38 pt2

"Don't disturb Chang'an's rest."

Only then did Shen Chang'an realize that Dao Nian had been sitting by the window all this time, with a book on his lap, quiet and beautiful, surpassing any oil painting in the world.

Seeing that Shen Chang'an finally noticed him, Dao Nian said with a sullen face, "Last night, someone said they had a 'walking fortress' body?"

Shen Chang'an: "..."

"Impossible to get sick?"

Shen Chang'an: "..."

If he hadn't set this flag last night, maybe he wouldn't have gotten sick. Sometimes, people's bodies are so sensitive, they can't stand praise, and as soon as you praise them, they'll get sick.

"Still want spicy chicken and sour fish?" Dao Nian threw the book on his lap onto the small round table, and everyone else in the room trembled in unison.

Liu Mao swallowed, and with a bit of courage, said, "Master, Mr. Shen is still young."

"Yes, yes, yes." Uncle Zhao rubbed his hands and quickly said, "It's all my fault. If I hadn't let Chang'an choose the food, it wouldn't have…"

"You all came here, but you didn't learn anything else, only how to spoil the child without any bottom line?" Dao Nian looked at them expressionlessly. "Such a good child, you've all spoiled him. Get out."

Everyone: "..."

Oh no, Master actually spoke so much today, it seems he's really angry.

They secretly glanced out the window, but there were no flashes of lightning or heavy rain, so it seemed he hadn't gotten angry enough to change the weather.

The four exchanged glances and silently retreated from the room.

Dao Nian glared at Shen Chang'an, who silently pulled up the blanket, covering everything below his eyes, and started coughing.

Seeing him cough so pitifully, Dao Nian's stern face softened helplessly. "I've already called in sick, don't worry."

Only then did Shen Chang'an remember that it was a workday, and he had to go to work. He picked up his phone from the bedside table, and there were several missed calls, all from his colleagues.

Ding Yang had called the most, so he chose to call him back.

The phone was answered as soon as it connected.

"Chang'an, your friend said you were sick. How are you now? Is anyone taking care of you?"

"Nothing serious, just a bit of a cold." Shen Chang'an coughed lightly. "I'm staying at a friend's place, living the life of a pampered prince."

"That's good." Ding Yang breathed a sigh of relief, "Call me if anything happens. I don't have many work tasks these days. Don't rush to work, take care of your body first."

"That's good." After listening to Ding Yang's nagging, Shen Chang'an hung up the phone and saw Dao Nian still looking at him. Thinking that he was going to continue to reprimand him, he looked at him pitifully, "I know I was wrong. Before I recover, I will definitely not eat anything indiscriminately."

Dao Nian sneered silently: "Sleep, I'll call you later."

"I just woke up, how could I sleep..." Shen Chang'an yawned, looking into Dao Nian's eyes, he unconsciously fell asleep.

The parrot Fei Ying stood on the treetop, looking down at Hu Ming who was facing the land with his back to the sky, digging the ground, and sneered, "Didn't you run away, why did you come back? Are you afraid that you won't be able to explain to the elders when you return to the fox clan?"

"Shut up." Hu Ming threw the hoe to the ground, "You, a wild bird who is willing to be a pet for humans, what right do you have to talk about me?"

"What's wrong with being a pet?" Fei Ying pecked at the feathers on her belly with her beak and said leisurely, "At least I don't have to fertilize flowers or dig the ground to plant trees."

Hu Ming picked up a lump of mud from the ground and threw it at Fei Ying in anger.

Fei Ying flapped her wings to dodge the mud attack and sneered, "What's the use of being so angry? Anyway, the Lord won't look at you twice. I think my human owner is pretty good. Not only does he feed me delicious food, but he also let me eat a lot of good things at the Kitchen God's place. Staying here for a few days, the cultivation I gained is equivalent to ten years in the past. Anyway, you can't envy this kind of treatment."

"You have no integrity, for a little benefit, you even lost your bottom line!"

"Your fox clan used to seduce gods, yaos, ghosts, and humans for cultivation, you didn't even care about your face. Now you're talking to me about integrity?" Fei Ying tilted her fluffy head, "Are you telling a joke?"

"You…"

"Hu Ming." An old flower yao carrying a hoe came out. Seeing Hu Ming about to bully Fei Ying, he quickly said, "Don't hurt Fei Ying. Mr. Shen likes her very much. If you injure her, even if Mr. Shen doesn't say anything, the Lord will be unhappy."

Hu Ming: "..."

Fei Ying flapped her wings and flew back to the bird stand in the living room. Before Mr. Shen came downstairs, she had to adjust herself to the perfect pet state.

Hu Ming was so angry that he transformed back into his original form. He found an excuse to take a day off and returned to the fox clan.

Seeing Hu Ming return, the fox clan elder frowned: "The Lord suddenly built an Immortal Mansion. Do you know why?"

Hu Ming was embarrassed to say that he couldn't even get close to the Lord. As a fox spirit who had been practicing the art of seduction since childhood, being less attractive than a human was a huge insult to him.

"Who else could it be? I don't know what kind of tricks that human used, but the Lord not only built an Immortal Mansion for him here, but also gave him the right to enter and leave freely. Everyone in the Immortal Mansion, all the immortals and spirits who live under the Lord's protection, are fawning over him, calling him 'Sir' as if he were the second master of the Immortal Mansion."

"Even Shen Tu and Yu Lei are like this?"

"Even the two Gatekeeper Gods are like this. Sometimes they even act as drivers, taking that human to work."

The fox clan elder frowned upon hearing this: "It's fine if the Lord occasionally shows favoritism, but this blatant partiality towards humans, what about the rest of us?"

"I heard a piece of news." Hu Ming added fuel to the fire. "The Heavenly Dao Lord, for the sake of that human, caused a typhoon that was about to hit the human city to dissipate at sea."

"Is the Heavenly Dao Lord going to destroy the laws left behind by the Great Dao for that human?" The fox clan elder was furious. "Foolish! Those humans are always shouting about 'Man can conquer Heaven.' The Heavenly Dao Lord is letting them do as they please. Does he want to…"

Does he want to disappear silently like the Great Dao?

When the Great Dao shattered, countless gods and spirits perished. Fortunately, the forty-nine laws of Heaven automatically gathered together, forming the Heavenly Dao, preventing the world from further disintegration. From then on, humans gradually prospered. Back then, humans still held great reverence for gods and spirits, never daring to offend them in the slightest.

But as humans became increasingly prosperous, their reliance on gods and spirits diminished. Countless scholars even wrote stories about overthrowing Heaven and establishing themselves as kings. Gods, yaos, immortals, and demons were no longer beings they feared, but merely materials for their fictional narratives.

Anyone with a bit of literary talent would claim to be the reincarnation of Wenquxing, the star of literature. Anyone with a bit of military talent would claim to be the reincarnation of Wuquxing, the star of martial arts. Women with some status would dare to say they are the reincarnation of the Nine Heavens Xuan Nü or the Phoenix.

One really don't know who gave them the audacity to use the gods to elevate themselves.

But that's not even the worst of it. Now, humans no longer acknowledge the existence of gods and spirits. They rely on their own abilities to fly through the air, teleport, travel through mountains and seas, and they aspire to dominate the entire Milky Way.

"Isn't there a rumor that the Heavenly Dao's laws are incomplete, and that one of the laws escaped and became the Heavenly Dao's nemesis?" Hu Ming whispered. "If that escaped law were to merge with the Heavenly Dao, or if it were to disappear, wouldn't there be nothing left to threaten the Heavenly Dao?"

"Difficult." The fox clan elder shook his head. "No one knows where this lifeline is hidden among the humans."

The world relies on forty-nine laws to keep time flowing and eternal as the sea into fields. Although there are always people who say they want to fight for that lifeline, gods and yaos know that they can only survive because of Heavenly Dao's protection.

But now Heavenly Dao has suddenly changed a little, which they can't ignore.

If they could find that lifeline, destroy it, or merge it with Heavenly Dao, it would be good.

***

"Is this really where Chang'an's friend lives?" Chen Panpan carried a bag of fruit and looked up at the gleaming golden gate of the community. She had heard of this community, and it was rumored to have extremely strict security, with outsiders unable to enter. A reporter once tried to sneak in to take pictures, but was discovered by security as soon as they entered.

There were many rumors about this community. Some said that it housed secret government personnel, while others said that it contained state secrets, so no one could enter.

Even more outlandish rumors claimed that the place was haunted, and anyone who went in would lose their memory, so no one knew what the community was like.

"Will the security guard kick us out?" Ding Yang felt a little uneasy. He was about to enter the legendary mysterious community to visit Chang'an, and he was very nervous.

"Didn't you call Chang'an?" Xu Ze's family was well-off, and he had heard about this community. His parents had wanted to buy an apartment here, but when they started inquiring, people advised them not to get involved with the people in this community, and certainly not to dream of living there.

So, ever since then, his family had been wary of this community. He never expected that Chang'an's friends would live here. No wonder they could casually pull out so much money to temporarily cover their department's publicity work, and even casually lend Chang'an their car to play with.

"You must be Mr. Shen's friends." The guard, who was rumored to be cold and indifferent to outsiders, approached with a warm smile. "Please follow me this way."

"Thank you." Xu Ze politely expressed his gratitude.

"You're welcome." The guard's voice fell, and the gate slowly opened. He gestured with a welcoming hand: "Please."

After the gate was a wide avenue. Unknown flowers were planted on both sides of the road, blooming vibrantly even in winter. Ding Yang and Chen Panpan were shocked by the large-scale greening within the community, unable to help but doubt their own eyes.

"There aren't many residents in the community. Mr. Shen lives in the villa towards the back." As the guard finished speaking, a sika deer suddenly ran out of the woods and quickly disappeared into the forest.

"Oh." The guard explained naturally, "These are artificially bred sika deer. We have all the proper breeding licenses." As he finished speaking, a blue peacock walked out of the woods. The peacock arrogantly glanced at Ding Yang and the others, standing in the middle of the road and refusing to move.

"These are Mr. Shen's friends." The guard's smile remained unchanged. "Mr. Liu specifically told me to lead these distinguished guests in."

The blue peacock, which had been so arrogant just moments ago, strutted into the grass.

“This peacock… can understand human speech?” Ding Yang was speechless.

“Oh.” The guard smiled calmly, “This peacock is quite spiritual. Although it can't understand human speech, it knows how to read faces.”

“Do you guys have pandas here too?” Chen Panpan asked in a low voice.

"Why would you think that?" The guard chuckled. "Pandas are national treasures. Besides the country, who else would be qualified to raise them?"

Hearing this explanation, Chen Panpan inexplicably felt relieved, though she didn't even know why.

Perhaps it was because even the richest people could only be like ordinary people, unable to keep national treasures at home.

"Damn." Ding Yang looked up at the lush trees surrounding them.

The lifestyle of the rich was truly unimaginable.

Huh?!

What's that above the trees? Someone flew past?!