Chapter 05

Mao was shocked, stunned, and felt like crying without tears.

As Mao became sad, her feet lost strength. Fortunately, the boy was prepared and quickly picked her up and held her in his arms. He was originally going to put her down, but he didn't expect the little fox to lift its front paws and bury its whole head in his neck. The boy was clearly a little confused.

The soft fur rubbing against his skin in his neck was a novel feeling for the boy, and he knew it was called itchiness. With the little fox's breath and a bit of warmth.

"Prince?"

When he heard the unintentional whimper from the little fox in his ear, the boy froze and didn't move.

"Help!"

Mao tried to curl up and hide her face in the white long fur, her scalp tingling.

If she were in her human form, she felt like she could have built a castle with her toes by now.

"No! So, since she put on the headdress, didn't her thoughts become completely transparent in front of Mama?"

"Such surprise... Did I not mention it to you before?" Raiden Shogun pondered for a moment. "Oh, I remember now. You said you liked the artifact I made and I forgot about it. It's a convenient item for communication before you could talk, isn't it?"

Yae: "...It is convenient."

"So, what was she thinking just now..." Yae was at a loss for words.

According to Mama's theory, only divine power of the same origin can bridge the gap through the hairpin on her head. This means that only three people can have unhindered conversations with her. Let's consider this as a relieving point.

And then here comes the big one:

Those three people are here now, and she, a weak and helpless infant, can only helplessly recall if she said anything embarrassing.

"Sorry about that?"

"Of course, I'm sorry!" Yae buried her head again.

"Alright, I won't tease you anymore." Yae couldn't see the satisfied expression on Raiden Shogun's face behind her. She spoke with a suppressed smile, "Although we have this function, I and Kage won't just casually listen to your thoughts. If we really did, we would definitely become annoying parents to the child, wouldn't we?"

Yae perked up her ears.

"Being frank about what's in your heart, what's there to be ashamed of?" Raiden Shogun's words made Yae's heart sink. But with Raiden Shogun's light hum, she continued, "If even the words of the gods are meaningless, then there wouldn't be any trustworthy words left."

The implication was clear, she agreed with Raiden Shogun's statement. However...

"Except for when I tested if it could be used normally when I just put the hairpin on you, and confirmed its success, I voluntarily severed the connection between you and me." Raiden Shogun said, "When you can transform and speak later, come find me to remove the power from it."

If there was some resistance at the beginning, Yae gradually let go of her worries as she heard what the others had to say.

Even though they lived in a godless nation, people still trusted the millions of gods. When the true gods appeared before her and made such a promise, it would be unreasonable not to trust them.

If she only listened to her thoughts when she first wore the hairpin, then she probably only expressed her love for the hairpin after waking up and didn't say anything inappropriate.

"Besides, it's easy to guess the thoughts of an infant. Like what you were just thinking, I think I can guess nine out of ten."

Yae had a bad feeling.

"If I really listened to your thoughts, it would probably be 'Mom is amazing', 'This person is really good-looking', 'I really like them'—" Just as Yae raised her head and shook it at her, Raiden Shogun stopped and smiled, "That kind of sincere expression~"

"Did she really write all those on her face?" Yae felt embarrassed and wanted to bury herself in the ground.

Just then, she heard a voice of a boy in her ear.

"Lord Ball granted me the ability to listen, but I cannot control it myself. So, I heard all the praises you gave me just now."

"Eh?"

"It should be asking you for the reason." Raiden thought for a moment and said, "Let me guess... 'Why can't the puppet cancel its ability to listen?' Am I right?"

The young man nodded.

"I can answer half of that for you~" Raiden smiled and said, "Most of the time, he took care of you, and communication between each other is essential. That's another reason why the filmmaker made the ornament on your head—it's not just to ward off evil spirits."

Yingjian's ears twitched.

"It is rumored that the ultimate goal of puppetry is to allow it to develop naturally, so that when the puppet is indistinguishable from humans in the eyes of outsiders, the creator can consider it a success." Raiden explained, "So I didn't set any target programs for the puppet—of course, there was no need to. The only drawback is that I cannot guarantee his stability, which is why I sealed his divine power for now. Until he gains my approval, he can only draw power from the Anemo Archon. Perhaps because of this, he still cannot fully utilize my authority."

Yingjian understood. In short, it was a passive skill. When she could communicate normally in the future, she just needed to ask Raiden to remove the power from the hairpin, and everything would return to normal.

"I originally thought that since he is a puppet, there should be no embarrassment if he knows your thoughts, just like announcing it to birds, beasts, mountains, and rivers. But now it seems..." Raiden said, "I respect your wishes. If you don't like me, then I can find someone else... Hmm?"

Before Raiden could finish speaking, he saw the little fox already raising its front paws and hugging the young man's neck, which puzzled him.

"Weren't you just..."

"No, no! I like it! I really really like it!!"

When Yingjian made a sudden movement, the young man raised his hand to protect her by pressing it against the white fox's back, lest she lose her balance and fall again.

"Quickly tell... tell Mom." Yingjian finally realized the benefits of being able to communicate, "I don't want someone else, I just want you to accompany me."

The young man was taken aback, paused for a second, and then said to Raiden, "Yingjian Princess says she really likes me, especially likes me. She wants me to accompany her."

Yingjian: "...?"

"No, I didn't ask you to say that first..."

Yingjian felt so embarrassed that she couldn't even lift her head to look at the two behind her.

"Eh? But I clearly heard you say you like... hmm?"

Before the sentence was finished, his mouth was covered by a warm pad. Yingjian expressionlessly raised her front paw and covered the young man's mouth, preventing him from saying anything that would socially kill a poor helpless little fox. However, the young man clearly didn't realize that something was wrong, he just tilted his head in confusion, and his purple-blue eyes blinked.

Seeing the interaction between the two little ones, Raiden laughed and tugged on her younger sister's sleeve, "She really likes you, you'd better be more perceptive."

"What do you mean I'm not perceptive again?" Raiden hugged her and said, "It's normal for a puppet that I personally created to like someone, isn't it?"

Raiden laughed, "Yes, yes, that's right, my sister Aether is amazing~"

"That's about right."

With the crisis resolved, Yingjian let go of her paw.

"Little puppet, quickly thank the most amazing mom in the world for me!"

The young man naturally conveyed her message, and Raiden replied with a "No need," but the slight upturn of her mouth revealed her good mood.

"Oh, didn't you say earlier that you wanted me to give the puppet a name?"

The young man was taken aback, and then tightened the hand holding the little fox unintentionally after understanding Raiden's meaning.

Raiden raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong? Do you have any ideas?"

"It was only after hearing you give Yingjian a name that I realized naming requires meaning—just like my name 'Raiden Shogun' in the mortal realm, embodying both the incarnation of thunder and the existence of a shadow warrior, protecting the sacred wife together with you in the shadows. This name is suitable." Raiden said, "So, it seems that I have some skills in naming."

Raiden raised an eyebrow, and even Yingjian, who had just been immersed in social death, turned her head and perked up her ears.

"When he was brought here, Yingjian's fur was blown apart by the accompanying thunder, 'blown' doesn't sound good, so let's call him 'dispersed'." Raiden nodded to herself, "Lei Dian San, how about that?"

Yingjian: "..."