Doll

Littleflower climbed up and looked at the beast at the end of his bed. He was curious.

The beast stood up and walked around him, observing, all the while smiling. The beast was Old Cat. When the sanctuary gate was open, he had managed to sneak back in. Everyone was focusing on the xenogeneic monster and officer; no one had seen the cat sneak inside.

"You are Littleflower?" Old Cat walked around some more before sitting down in front of Littleflower. He looked at the child and smiled.

Littleflower nodded, and with curiosity, he asked, "Are you a cat?"

Old Cat had a cold sweat His mouth twitched, but he still said, "Littleflower, would you like to play a game?"

"No." Littleflower shook his head.

"Why not? It'll be fun." Old Cat looked depressed.

"Mom told me not to bully animals." Littleflower spoke with seriousness.

Old Cat almost choked. He rolled his eyes and pulled out an item before him. He said, "Littleflower, if you win this game, I will give this to you."

Littleflower looked at it carefully. It was a beautiful gemstone like a fist. A lovely-looking smoke or mist enshrouded it Seeing Littleflower show no interest, Old Cat said, "How about this, then? If you simply play with me, I'll give this to you." But Littleflower shook his head. "Mom said I shouldn't accept gifts from strangers."

Old Cat wanted to grind his teeth, but he quickly scrambled to say, "Then we should play the game. If you win, it's yours."

Littleflower looked at the gemstone, and then looked at Old Cat. He blinked and said, "If I win, can I not have the gemstone? Can I have a doll instead?"

"What doll?" Old Cat did not know what Littleflower was talking about.

Littleflower looked at Old Cat and asked, "Aren't you an Al doll?"

"You are the doll. You're all dolls!" Old Cat was angered by the question, and he resisted the urge to punch Littleflower. He forced himself to present a smile and said, "Okay, but only if you win."

"Great! Let's play the game, then." Littleflower clapped.

Old Cat, hearing that Littleflower finally wanted to play, sighed. He touched his body and pulled out a box.

"Are you a doraemon?" Littleflower asked Old Cat, his eyes wide.

Old Cat ignored the question and simply opened the box. There was a book inside it.

Old Cat brought the book out and flipped it open to the first page. There was a picture on it, of a human body in a strange position. There were a lot of green and red dots. It was a complicated image.

"Littleflower, here is the game. You have to copy my posture. If you can, you win." Old Cat squinted and smiled.

"Okay." Littleflower nodded.

"Watch carefully, then," Old Cat said, then assumed a strange position, in accordance to the book.

The animation inside the book looked weird, and the fact that it was being done by a cat made it even stranger.

Littleflower looked at Old Cat and imitated him. For Littleflower, it wasn't difficult, as he had a very bendy body.

"Try and breathe like me," Old Cat said. He kept the position, but started breathing with a strange rhythm.

Littleflower followed, and it was no big deal.

Old Cat looked quite happy, so he flipped to the second page and said, "You did that? Wow! Let's try the next."

Old Cat followed the instructions in the book, and animated himself in the positions demonstrated. Littleflower thought it was funny, but he followed and found it to be fun, putting himself in various positions.

Old Cat started to feel happy, but as more and more animations were done, he eventually became shocked. He was frozen with the surprise.

Littleflower was able to follow perfectly, all with the greatest of ease.

"No way! Is he super lucky or can he really just learn all of this?" Old Cat felt so shaky, he had trouble flipping the pages of the book with his claws.

As he did more animations, Littleflower followed suit without flaw. The movements and rhythms were precise, and he had no trouble doing as instructed.

Old Cat was happy, but he also had a thought. "If Littleflower learns everything, I'm going to lose."

Old Cat didn't actually plan on losing, though. He wanted Littleflower to try out a few animations so he could see if the child was talented, that's all. But it was no longer about a test of talent. As Old Cat flipped through the book, he knew that Littleflower was going to become something amazing in time.

There were only three pages left, and nothing had challenged Littleflower yet. It didn't seem as if it was difficult at all for the child to learn the positions.

"Oh no! It is no wonder the monster in Sky Palace wants him. This is very weird." Old Cat clenched his jaws and finished off the final three animations.

Littleflower had trouble doing them, but only a small amount. He was still able to complete them.

"Cat doll, you lose!" Littleflower looked right at Old Cat. He wasn't stupid, and he knew Old Cat had been following the book, and now there were no fresh pages left to do.

Old Cat was a little mad, but shock was the reigning emotion.

Littleflower did not know what the book was about, but Old Cat did. It demonstrated breathing techniques, and very few people could actually copy its teachings.

"There is one more animation. If you can do this, then I lose." Old Cat laughed.

After Old Cat spoke, he assumed a position. It was not from the book, but it didn't look difficult and Littleflower thought he would perform it with ease.

But when Old Cat assumed the posture, he spat out some air that became a purple swordlight in front of him.

"If you can learn that, then and only then will I admit defeat. I won't be just your doll. I'd accept you as my grandpa." Old Cat was very cocky about this.

Although Littleflower knew the movements thus far, they were all things he could copy. Learning something like what Old Cat had just done could take years. You couldn't just generate a sword on a whim.

But the next second, Old Cat was shocked. Littleflower opened his mouth, and a swordlight appeared in front of him.