"Swish, swish, swish!"
Su Qiluo held a stick of ink in her hand and kept grinding it on the inkstone.
The inkstone, which had been soaked in clean water beforehand, gradually turned into a pool of black ink as the ink stick ground against it.
"Done, General."
Putting aside the ink stick, Su Qiluo picked up a towel next to her and wiped the ink stains off her fingertips. She then looked at her cat expectantly.
Ever since the nightmare, Su Qiluo had harbored a beautiful wish towards the white cat before her.
She wished that the white cat could be like the divine general in her dream, protecting her and driving away all the bad guys.
Now that the divine powers of the white cat general were initially revealed, she felt both nervous and thrilled.
However, Su Qiluo was not the only nervous one. Du ke was feeling the same way.
Du ke did not know how effective his action today would be.
If it worked, his relationship with Su Qiluo would become closer in the future, and it would establish a strong foundation for him.
But if it failed, then it would be too late.
At best he would be confined and enslaved, at worst he would be executed on the spot.
So Du ke was gambling now, gambling that Su Qiluo would keep the secret for him because of her feelings for him.
Du ke stood steadily with his hind legs on the carpet, supporting his body. Since cats' hind legs have hyperextensible joints, Du ke's hind legs formed a stable triangle when fully planted on the ground.
With his body stabilized, Du ke gripped a writing brush in both front paws and struggled to move towards the inkstone.
Seeing Du ke's difficulty, Su Qiluo brought the inkstone closer to him.
After soaking the tip of the brush in ink, Du ke also struggled to move it toward the sheet of paper nearby.
As soon as the brush touched the paper, a drop of ink fell, leaving a deep blot.
Du ke took a deep breath, utilizing the steady balance he had trained over the days. He held the brush in both paws and started writing on the paper.
As soon as Du ke started, Su Qiluo opened her mouth in surprise. But she quickly covered her mouth to prevent any sound from coming out.
Du ke wrote with difficulty, eyes unblinking, looking exceptionally focused.
Soon, Du ke put down the brush. On the paper appeared a few crooked big characters.
"Beat him?"
Su Qiluo tilted her head at the words Du ke had written. "Beat him hard?"
Du ke nodded vigorously, with a glint of encouragement in his eyes.
"But, General," Su Qiluo said hesitantly, "after all, he is my thirteenth older cousin!"
Hearing this, Du ke sighed and picked up the brush again to write with difficulty.
"If you don't beat him, he will continue to bully you."
"But if I hit someone without reason, he will tattle on me. Auntie from the thirteenth wing is so fierce."
Su Qiluo frowned, still hesitant. Seeing this, Du ke continued writing, "Then beat him until he becomes afraid of you."
"As for tattling?"
A flash of sternness appeared in Du ke's eyes. This girl was still too naive, having been protected too well.
"After you beat him, go find his mother and tattle on him."
"Huh?"
Su Qiluo widened her eyes, somewhat perplexed.
"You want me to beat my thirteenth cousin first, then go tell on him to Auntie Thirteen?"
"Why?"
"Get the first move."
Du ke wrote down four characters. Su Qiluo stared at them for a while, then mumbled: "General, I don't understand."
Du ke sighed and dipped the brush in ink again. This time he rubbed off some excess ink on the rim of the inkstone so the brush tip would not drip.
"Why do you think he bullies you?"
"I don't know."
Su Qiluo shook her head honestly. Du ke wrote with a tinge of frustration: "It's because he sees you as easy to bully."
"So you need to beat him."
"Your strength is more than what even adults can withstand, let alone a child."
"But what if he still bullies me after I beat him?"
"Then beat him until he surrenders, until he calls you older sister, until his legs tremble at the sight of you."
Du ke had written this much and put down the brush to rest for a bit. Writing was tiring.
"But Father will punish me for doing that."
Su Qiluo said softly. Du ke picked up the brush again and wrote on the paper: "That's why I told you to go tattle on him after beating him."
"Huh?"
Su Qiluo blinked her big innocent eyes, completely confused.
"You beat him, he goes telling his mother, his mother tells your father, and your father scolds you."
"So, you take the steps before he does."
"After beating him, go crying to his mother and accuse him of bullying you, of peeping at you in the toilet."
"Ah?" Su Qiluo's face instantly turned red. "Why say that?"
"Don't ask!"
Du ke wrote down three characters and added three exclamation marks after them.
"Just know that when the time comes, you push the blame onto them."
"Say he peeped at you in the toilet, you were scared and beat him. Then his mother will help you settle everything."
"You just need to act like the victim."
"But what does a victim act like?"
Su Qiluo rested her chin in her hands, looking puzzled. Du ke face-pawed himself in frustration. This girl just kept asking why?
"You don't need to know this. When the time comes, just cry, keep crying until your voice turns hoarse, don't stop."
"When your father comes, tell him what I told you."
Du ke threw the brush aside after writing this much. Too tiring to keep writing. Got to rest a bit.
"But will this really work?"
Du ke nodded vigorously, like a pecking chick, putting in a lot of effort.
"Is this the right thing to do?"
Su Qiluo felt hesitant again in her heart. Du ke patted his cat face in frustration and picked up the brush to continue guiding her.
"He bullied you first, so you retaliating is right."
Du ke paused, then added: "You're in the right!"
"Oh!"
Su Qiluo nodded in semi-understanding, but soon her eyes lit up as she asked Du ke: "General, when did you learn to write?"
Hearing this question, Du ke's heart skipped a beat.
Here it comes!
The crucial point!
Du ke stopped the brush in his paw and lowered his eyelids, putting on a thoughtful look.
Then he slowly wrote: "Just recently."
"Wow, really?"
"How did you learn it?" Su Qiluo asked eagerly. Du ke continued writing: "I don't know either. Perhaps it's because I'm your white cat general!"
Seeing this line, Su Qiluo's eyes widened and she covered her mouth, trembling all over!
"Ah!"
Du ke gave her time to digest it. Children have the most vivid imagination. At night they can mistake tree shadows for demons.
Easy to fool, as long as you make the opening and ending match and the logic hold up, while seizing on what they care about.
If it were an adult?
They would likely humor you while secretly calculating how to sell you for the best price and not lose out.
After a while, when Su Qiluo had calmed down, Du ke picked up the brush again and wrote on the paper: "But I hope you don't tell anyone about this."
"Why not?" Su Qiluo blinked, puzzled. "Not even Father, Aunt Yun, Grandpa, uncles?"
"Don't tell them!!!"
Du ke wrote three characters and added three exclamation marks, then shook his head vigorously.
"Because I'm the white cat general sent by the heavens to protect you. If you tell them, they will see me as a monster and I'll have to return to the heavens."
"Then I won't be able to protect you anymore!"
When Du Ke wrote up to this point, he was also looking at Su Qiluo. Su Qiluo saw this sentence and felt as if her heartstrings were being plucked, her heart inexplicably beginning to beat faster as she looked at Du Ke with excitement and passion in her eyes.
"General, I just knew you were sent by Heaven to protect me!!!"
Su Qiluo suddenly embraced Du Ke, wanting to crush him in her arms. Du Ke's eyes rolled back as he slapped Su Qiluo's ribs while desperately gasping for breath.
This girl is too strong, I'm nearly suffocated to death!!
After a brief moment, Su Qiluo put Du Ke down. Du Ke deeply inhaled large gulps of air. With his current meager martial arts skills, not to mention the people outside, even the hug of this young girl was too much for him to withstand.
After catching his breath for a while, Du Ke picked up his brush and continued to write: "So this is our little secret!"
"A secret we can't tell anyone else!"
"Mmhmm mmhmm, I won't say, I won't tell anyone!"
Su Qiluo vigorously nodded her head, promising she wouldn't say anything.
Du Ke didn't continue writing, only silently looking at Su Qiluo.
Reaching this point was unavoidable.
Only by continuously displaying his uniqueness could he tightly lock Su Qiluo's fondness and feelings for him.
With Su Qiluo's affection, he could rest assured.
As Su Qiluo and Du Ke gazed at each other, she also stretched out her little pinky.
"General, if you don't believe me, let's pinky swear."
Du Ke lowered his head looking at Su Qiluo's outstretched pinky. He also slowly raised his paw, hooking Su Qiluo's pinky with his own.
As they hooked pinkies, Su Qiluo also shook hands with the cat. Su Qiluo also said in a low voice: "Pinky swear, 100 years not to lie!"
After Su Qiluo finished reciting this, the two lifted their heads and smiled at each other.
It was as if this moment had become eternal.