Chapter 7: Kenshin, Part One

I was not surprised at all as I watched Xiao Xiao Lan kiss Wicked by force.

Everyone thought that Xiao Xiao Lan's personality resembled that of her mother's, but I knew better. Xiao Xiao Lan was too stubborn to relent, just like a carbon copy of her father. This also meant that she was extremely clingy and never believed that she could ever fail. So, when Xiao Xiao Lan announced that she would marry Wicked, I immediately started preparing her dowry. I just didn't expect to wait this long.

I forgot the fact that humans have to live for about twenty years before they get married.

My name is Kenshin. I'm not sure exactly where this name came from. Well, I think that since Prince has been calling me that from the beginning, and I knew nothing beside the fact that I was the Demon King, I believed Kenshin to be my name. In truth, I don't know what my name is because I am an artificial intelligence, a computer application with self-awareness.

I was originally an NPC in a game called Second Life, but I suddenly grew self-aware, and in a twist of fate I walked out of that dark cave with Prince and my companion.

I had originally thought that the two of us would keep following Prince until the game was shut down, which would also be the day we died.

However, a lot of things happened, and I finally understood that I had actually been a real person. I had died because Long Dian's experiment failed, and thus I became a "person" who died inside a game and yet came back to life in the game. Just what in the world am I? Even I myself don't understand.

When Prince offered to make me an artificial body, I wavered. I wasn't sure if I really wanted to go to the real world. However, I didn't hesitate for long before I decided to go. The reason was that I discovered the Min couple had almost burned down their house for the fifth time in three days. There were a lot of reasons for that: they forgot the soup was on the stove and melted the soup pot; after roasting meat, they threw the grill directly onto the grass; they put burning incense on the bed…

If I didn't go take care of that couple in the real world, they probably wouldn't make it past their wedding anniversary. First, I became the Min and Feng family butler, and then I had to look after the pregnant person. Luckily, Wicked came to help, or else I wouldn't have been able to leave Gui's side. Afterward, I became a nanny. Xiao Long Ming and Xiao Xiao Lan's energy and destructive abilities were astonishing, on the same level as their mothers'.

Originally, their favorite pastime was to run away from the house. Escaping from my supervision was their usual leisure activity. Playing pranks on me and making fun of me gave them a sense of accomplishment, even though they rarely succeeded.

But one day, when Cold Fox came to our place and accidentally left his family crest at our house, Xiao Long Ming and Xiao Xiao Lan suddenly respected me much more, and they even started to idolize Cold Fox.

"No doubt the Ice Emperor Syndicate is famous, but normally, do five and six year old kids know so much about the criminal underworld? Even recognizing the crest of the Ice Emperor Syndicate?" Cold Fox mused as he drank his tea.

"Normal kids shouldn't know, but nobody from this family is normal," I replied calmly.

The day before yesterday, Long Ming made a bomb and blew up the storeroom. Yesterday, Xiao Xiao Lan used a big motorcycle lock to severely injure the man who had tried to kidnap them. Earlier today, they had run to Lolidragon's company and gone on a rampage, paralyzing the entire company's systems. I had just caught them and spanked their bottoms.

The two that had been spanked and had been crying a few minutes ago were now hiding near the living room, eavesdropping on my conversation with Cold Fox. Their recovery rate is astonishingly fast, but their ability to reflect on their actions is astonishingly low.

"Quick Fox-gēge, your flying daggers are so pretty. Can I have one?" Xiao Xiao Lan finally couldn't help but rush over to Cold Fox's side to stare at the daggers at his waist with glittering eyes.

Before Cold Fox could answer, I said, "No!"

She had severely injured someone with a motorcycle lock, so if Xiao Xiao Lan got her hands on a dagger that could cut through even metal, she would be a danger to the entire world.

Xiao Xiao Lan pouted and sat down on the sofa, fuming. Xiao Long Ming also came over, stared at Cold Fox, and swallowed a couple of times.Does he think that Cold Fox is edible?

"Are you the top assassin for the Ice Emperor Syndicate, Silver-Masked Quick Fox?" asked Xiao Long Ming, even though his eyes were saying: I know you are, there is no use in denying it.

"Then Kenshin must be Silver-Masked Quick Fox's underling. He probably turned over a new leaf, so he hid his identity and came to our house to be our butler." Xiao Xiao Lan nodded knowingly and patted me, saying, "Don't worry, Long Ming and I won't tell anyone about your real identity."

"Yep." Long Ming had a serious expression on his little face. He said, "We won't be scared of you because you were an assassin. Kenshin will always be our capable butler."

I am not sure if I'm supposed to be happy or exasperated. These two kids have astonishing imaginations as well.

All of a sudden, the phone rang. I picked it up, and Celestial's face appeared on the screen. He sobbed, "Kenshin, Kenshin, my wife has gone missing. She's been stolen away!"

"Doll has been stolen away?" I frowned. Did she fall in love with another person, or does he mean something else?

A hand appeared on the screen and shoved Celestial's face away, and then Nan Gong Zui's face appeared. "Kenshin, I need to talk to Cold Fox."

I raised my eyebrows and reached over to tug Cold Fox into the screen, thinking, Weird, why does everyone looking for Cold Fox come to me?

"Something happened?" Cold Fox asked expressionlessly.

"Have there been plans of kidnapping Doll in the criminal underworld lately?" asked Nan Gong Zui seriously. He explained, "Doll got kidnapped and the kidnappers have asked for a large ransom. They also requested that children bring the money. It's a very serious matter."

Celestial squeezed back into the screen and yelled, "Kenshin, Kenshin, quickly, go and bring my wife back to me!"

I asked coldly, "Aren't you Doll's bodyguard? How did you lose sight of her?"

"I… I…" Celestial suddenly went all teary and started mopping up tears with a handkerchief. He cried, "My wife got all angry at me for no reason and then she yelled at me and stormed off. She also forbade me from following her."

"What happened to Doll-jiějie?" asked Xiao Xiao Lan worriedly as she also squeezed in front of the camera, her small face appearing on the screen.

Nan Gong Zui and I both lowered our heads and looked at Xiao Xiao Lan. I asked, "Have you found any children to pay the ransom?"

"No. No parent would ever agree to this." Even as Nan Gong Zui spoke, his eyes strayed down to Xiao Xiao Lan constantly. Finally, he could not help but ask, "Where are Prince and Lolidragon?"

"They went out, saying something about finding inspiration in Egypt," I replied calmly, even though I didn't understand what kind of inspiration they needed. I continued, "Yang Ming followed them to Egypt while Gui and Wicked got dragged into the company lab by Long-bà. Those two will not be coming out of there until their experiment succeeds."

Nan Gong Zui blinked. He said, "That means that you are in charge right now?"

"I have always been in charge." Basically, from which kindergarten Xiao Xiao Lan and Xiao Long Ming went to, all the way to what brand of toilet bowl cleaner we use is up to me. Gui and Feng Wu Qing even gave me their bank books and seals.

Feng Wu Qing said this, "If you keep our bank book, I will have a coffin to sleep in when I die. If Shui Han or I keep it, we probably would end up with no money. We would have to take apart the Chanel handbags to make our burial clothes. Then, our bodies would get dumped into the sea as fish food."

Gui said this, "Ah, Kenshin, I think that you should keep our bank book. You see, Xiao Lan and I have lost it too many times already, and the bank has already warned us that they will not give us a replacement if we lose it again."

"Then is it okay…" Nan Gong Zui seemed to be struggling, but when his eyes fell on Xiao Xiao Lan's cute face, his expression changed. He sighed. "Forget it, I can't let Xiao Xiao Lan take such a venture."

"Adventure? Where?" Xiao Xiao Lan's eyes sparkled.

"No fair! I want to go on an adventure too. Why only consider Xiao Xiao Lan?" Xiao Long Ming pouted.

I thought this over, We can't leave Doll alone. I said to Xiao Xiao Lan and Xiao Long Ming, "This is dangerous. Can you promise me that you won't fool around?" Xiao Xiao Lan and Xiao Long Ming both nodded vigorously. I turned to Nan Gong Zui and said, "Talk to the kidnappers and postpone the ransom exchange for at least six hours. There are some things I need to teach Xiao Xiao Lan and Xiao Long Ming first."

Nan Gong Zui nodded seriously, "It's up to you then, Kenshin."

I nodded back, ended the phone call, and turned to look at Cold Fox, who threw his flying dagger into the hard marble table and drew out a mini ten-centimeter handgun from his boot. Cold Fox said, "Mini derringer. It has fifteen bullets. It may be small, but killing someone with it isn't a problem."

Following that, Cold Fox took out a metal tube the size of a finger from behind his ear. It had a safety pin on top. Cold Fox explained, "There are two liquids inside; drawing out the safety pin and shaking it will make it explode. It counts as an extra small sized bomb."

Then, Cold Fox took off the ring on his little finger and put it on Xiao Xiao Lan's forefinger. "An electric ring. If there is an impact from the front side of the ring, it will release enough electricity to knock someone out."

Next, Cold Fox took out an earring about the size of a thumb nail from his left ear and put it on Xiao Xiao Lan's ear. Cold Fox looked at me and said. "This earring is a microcomputer. You can direct Xiao Xiao Lan from within."

Cold Fox brought his feet up onto the table and showed the nails underneath, "Spiked shoes, originally designed to lessen friction when exercising, but they're also pretty good for sneak attacks. Give me one hour, and I can get two pairs in Xiao Xiao Lan's and Xiao Long Ming's sizes, as well as bullet and blade proof tops, pants, and head bands from home. I guarantee that they will look like normal clothes."

"Can I have a Meat-bunbun design?" Xiao Xiao Lan asked with anticipation.

Cold Fox nodded and then called his house to pass on the orders. I thought of something and went to Prince's study where Meatbun and Fire Phoenix were soundly sleeping. I grabbed Meatbun, ignored Fire Phoenix's fire (since my body was impervious to damage anyway), sewed two straps onto Meatbun, and walked back into the living room.

I waved Xiao Long Ming over and strapped the "Meatbun backpack" onto him. Meatbun blinked and asked, "Ken Ken, what is Meat-bunbun doing on Long Long's back?"

"If Long Ming tells you to do anything later, do it! Now, don't move or talk," I said simply, the simpler the instructions for Meatbun, the better.

Meatbun dared not nod, so he blinked to show that he understood.

After an hour, Cold Fox's people really did send over two sets of gear. They looked like cute, normal kids' clothing with a Meatbun design. If not for the fact that they didn't have a single scratch on them even after Cold Fox shot them with a machine gun, it would be hard to believe that they were anything other than normal kids' clothes.

I helped the two children change and then started teaching Xiao Xiao Lan how to fight, while Cold Fox started explaining to Long Ming how to use the mini derringer and test tube bomb.

This was the first time that I was glad for Xiao Xiao Lan's gift for combat, which definitely came from her mother. In fact, she had probably already surpassed her mother. However, I was also a little worried about the damage Xiao Xiao Lan may inflict on this world in the future now that her destructive ability was going to grow even more.

Long Ming also took after his mother. He easily grasped the usage of every kind of projectile and trap. Cold Fox even asked me, "Can I recruit these two kids into the Ice Emperor Syndicate?"

"Unless you want the Ice Emperor Syndicate to be utterly annihilated by an artificial human," I replied icily. If I let these two kids go into the criminal underworld, giving them two extremely dangerous and destructive biological weapons, then how could I face … No, not their parents, how could I face the world?

It was about time, so I prepared to take the two kids to the transmission station, but before I left, I could not help but turn and tell Cold Fox, "Take care of it if you can. If possible, I don't want these two kids to face danger."

Cold Fox nodded seriously.

I took the six year old and five year old and left the house. Is there anything less dependable than depending on two children to save a queen?

Unfortunately, as objectionable as it is, we still have to do it for Doll's sake. I brought Xiao Xiao Lan and Xiao Long Ming to Doll's country. We had just stepped out of the transmission station when we saw a row of black limousines parked outside. The door of one car opened and Nan Gong Zui stepped out. He sighed in relief when he saw us, appreciation written all over his face, but Phoenix beside him had a face full of worry.

Xiao Xiao Lan rushed over when she spied Phoenix and said sweetly, "I haven't seen Phoenix-jièjiè in a long time."

Phoenix picked Xiao Xiao Lan up and asked in a touched voice, "You still remember me?" Phoenix then turned to Nan Gong Zui, "Husband, must we let them go for the ransom exchange? I'm really worried."

"Phoenix, the kidnappers insisted on children. For Doll, we have to do this." Nan Gong Zui spoke resolutely, even though his baby face made it look more like he was pouting.

I also comforted Phoenix, "Don't worry, I will be with Xiao Xiao Lan."

Phoenix nodded. Suddenly, Celestial rushed out from the limousine, grabbed me, and started bawling, "I want to go save my wife. I want to go save my wife too!"

I replied coldly, "You stay with me in Xiao Xiao Lan's earring, then."

Nan Gong Zui took a deep breath, squatted down next to Xiao Xiao Lan and Xiao Long Ming, ruffled their hair, and asked, "Are Xiao Xiao Lan and Xiao Long Ming scared?"

Xiao Xiao Lan and Xiao Long Ming looked at each other and said at the same time, "We're a bit nervous."

Nan Gong Zui smiled, "Promise Zui-shūshu, you have to put your own safety first, okay?"

Both Xiao Xiao Lan and Xiao Long Ming nodded meekly, but every time after they created chaos and promised not to wreak havoc anymore, they wore that exact same expression. Three minutes later, they would go back to wreaking havoc.

Obviously Nan Gong Zui did not understand these two as well as I did because he nodded with satisfaction, took out a black bag, tied it to Xiao Xiao Lan's wrist, and explained, "This bag is very, very important, okay? Xiao Xiao Lan has to look after it because you will need to trade this for Doll-jiějie."

Then, Nan Gong Zui gave Long Ming a mini communicator. "The kidnappers want you two to hold on to this. They will use this to communicate with you. Follow their instructions, but if there is any danger, don't put yourselves at risk, all right?"

Xiao Xiao Lan and Xiao Long Ming nodded more vigorously. While everyone was praising how obedient they were, I was probably the only one who saw them exchange an excited look.

Then, the communicator Xiao Long Ming was holding started to sing "I'm not afraid of going to a cemetery~."

Xiao Long Ming pressed the receiver button and answered the call without hesitating. "Hello? What? How old am I? I'm six years old, and my sister is five… Go into the transmission station? Okay, I will go in with my sister now."

Xiao Long Ming hung up, took Xiao Xiao Lan's hand, and waved good-bye to us. "Mr. Kidnapper wants us to go into the transmission station. Can we go in now?"

I nodded, "My consciousness has entered Xiao Xiao Lan's earring. You can go, and I will be watching."

Then, Xiao Xiao Lan and Xiao Long Ming cheerfully walked into the transmission station hand in hand, looking as happy as they would have been if they were out on a trip. As for me, I still looked the same in my artificial body, but in truth, half of my consciousness had already entered Xiao Xiao Lan's earring. Through the earring's camera, I saw the world at a child's height for the first time.

Xiao Xiao Lan quickly got into a transmission machine, and I heard Long Ming say, "Mr. Kidnapper wants us to randomly select a coordinate, or else they will kill Doll-jiějie."

"Kill?" Xiao Xiao Lan bit her finger, "What does that mean?"

Long Ming cocked his head, "I don't know either, but Zui-shūshu told us to follow Mr. Kidnapper's instructions, so let's follows Mr. Kidnapper's instructions." Long Ming started to randomly press buttons. The transmission machine instantly started.

As the two kids disappeared from the transmission station, Nan Gong Zui's smiling face collapsed. He covered his face, saying, "My god, please let them be okay. I'm already starting to regret letting them go. If anything happens to Xiao Xiao Lan and Xiao Long Ming, what am I going to tell Prince and Lolidragon?"

"It would make more sense to think about what you are going to tell Gui and Feng Wu Qing," I said coldly.

I watched Xiao Xiao Lan and Xiao Long Ming arrive at an unknown place and said to Nan Gong Zui, who was relentlessly blaming himself, "I have contacted Sunshine. He said that he will help us find Prince."

After that, I ignored Nan Gong Zui's self-reproach and focused on Xiao Xiao Lan and Xiao Long Ming's situation. They had just received another call from the kidnappers. The kidnappers seemed to have told the kids an exact location this time. The two kids were whisked away again before they had even stepped out of the transmission station. When the kids got to the new location, the kidnappers gave another order, telling them to get on a bus.

Xiao Xiao Lan and Xiao Long Ming were being very obedient and went on the bus under the kidnapper's directions. Then, they stuck their head out of the bus in curiosity, looking at strange new sights. This unexpected development helped me gain new information. From how the heat distorted faraway scenery, I could tell that it was a very hot country. The people on the streets wore hoods and long robes to protect their bodies.

Arabia? I narrowed the list of countries in my head.

The bus drove out of the city into a sandy desert, making the two kids who had never seen a real desert gasp and become more excited, to the point of wanting to jump off the bus and play in the sand. Luckily, Xiao Long Ming had pretty good self-control and kept telling Xiao Xiao Lan that they would come and play in the sand after they were done.

When the bus drove past the Sphinx, I was finally one hundred percent sure that they were in Egypt.

The bus drove for so long that even the two hyperactive kids dozed off, and all of the other passengers had gotten off. But I was still alert. My body was now sitting on a chair in the palace, but my consciousness was in Xiao Xiao Lan's earring, aware of everything that was going on.

When night fell, "cemeteries don't scare me" sounded again. Xiao Long Ming rubbed his eyes and picked up the communicator. "Hello? Get off at the last stop, pick up the bag there, and go south following the compass? Oh, okay."

Long Ming closed the communicator and shook Xiao Xiao Lan next to him. "Xiao Xiao Lan, wake up, we have to get off."

Xiao Xiao Lan followed Long Ming off the bus groggily. They found and opened the bag the kidnappers had mentioned. It contained two long coats for kids, two large water bottles, and a compass.

"Mr. Kidnapper said, wear the coats, or when the sun comes up, we will dry up in the heat." Long Ming told Xiao Xiao Lan as he helped her get into the coat. I nodded in satisfaction. As expected of Long Ming for being the older brother. He is taking good care of his sister.

Then, the two small silhouettes began to move in the flying yellow sand. Facing the endless sand around them, the two kids weren't afraid at all. In fact, they were singing while they walked, as expected of kids from our family.

After an hour, the sun gradually began to come up, and I could even see the temperature rising. It's unlikely that kids can withstand desert temperature. Haven't these kidnappers taken care of children before? Letting them walk for such a long time in the desert! I started to get unhappy.

"It's hot." Xiao Xiao Lan pouted while walking.

"Drink lots of water or you will get dehydrated." Xiao Long Ming sensibly gave Xiao Xiao Lan more water to drink.

Time passed by, and before I knew it, the two kids had already been walking for four hours. Towards noon, the temperature from the sun turned hotter and hotter. The two kids couldn't even talk from heat and exhaustion.

Xiao Xiao Lan pouted and shouted tearfully, "Long Ming, I am so hungry."

Long Ming couldn't even reply. From the camera his steps looked wobbly, and it was worrying me quite a bit. In the end, Long Ming stumbled and collapsed onto the sand.

"Long Ming? Long Ming?' Xiao Xiao Lan shook Long Ming's body and cried tearfully.

I finally couldn't stand it any longer. I told Xiao Xiao Lan through the earring, "Xiao Xiao Lan, stop walking and find a shady spot in the sand dunes. I am coming to save both of you."

"No!" Long Ming lifted his head weakly. "Doll-jiějie will get killed by Mr. Kidnapper. We have to keep going. Xiao Xiao Lan, help me up."

Xiao Xiao Lan nodded resolutely as well, but every time she helped Long Ming stand up, he fell again, feet unstable. I couldn't stand it anymore. I yelled at Xiao Xiao Lan, "Turn back, Xiao Xiao Lan. I'm telling you to turn back!"

"No! Doll-jiějie will get killed. Xiao Xiao Lan's not turning back." Xiao Xiao Lan wiped away her tears and got down before Xiao Long Ming. Her voice was nearly like an order. "Long Ming, climb on my back. I'll carry you!"

Long Ming obeyed in a daze and climbed onto Xiao Xiao Lan's back. Xiao Xiao Lan stood up and walked forward step by step with Long Ming on her back, dripping sweat unceasingly with every step.

I was almost speechless. Facing Xiao Xiao Lan's persistence, I couldn't tell her to stop. I could only watch as Xiao Xiao Lan's sweat dropped onto the sand, only to evaporate right away. Xiao Xiao Lan had inherited all her mother and father's determination.

Xiao Xiao Lan's face brimmed with stubbornness. She was naturally stronger than a normal child, but for her to walk in the hot desert with a boy on her back was too much, even for her.

No, I can't take it anymore. I stood up from the chair and looked toward the very stressed Nan Gong Zui at my side and said, "I am going to go find them."

"Has there been trouble?" Nan Gong Zui panicked.

"The kidnappers have obviously never taken care of kids before," I replied coldly, preparing to go to the transmission station.

"Kenshin …" A voice directly sounded in my mind. This was the way the Dictator of Life, Celestial, Sunshine, and I communicated.

This voice… I frowned and asked, "Sunshine? What is it?"

"I got a hold of Prince and Lolidragon. They are at the Sphinx in Egypt right now, sightseeing. Are Xiao Xiao Lan and Xiao Long Ming okay?" Sunshine asked, concerned.

"I think they will be okay now." I sat down slowly, causing Nan Gong Zui and the others to stare in confusion. I said to Sunshine, "Tell Prince and the others, Xiao Xiao Lan went on a bus, the bus passed by the Sphinx at one point, they took the bus all the way to the last stop, and now they're heading south. Sunshine, tell Prince to hurry and they can probably catch up with them."

"No problem," Sunshine answered.

I hesitated and asked, "Do Prince and Lolidragon have any weapons?"

"Wait a second, I'll ask." Sunshine finished and replied a moment later, "Yes, they do."

I calmed down. With a fully armed Prince and Lolidragon to the rescue, even if the kidnappers had three heads and six arms each, they were still screwed.

I turned my attention back to Xiao Xiao Lan's earring and found that a few black silhouettes had appeared in front of Xiao Xiao Lan. They walked toward Xiao Xiao Lan and Xiao Long Ming. Xiao Xiao Lan was exhausted and sweaty, but she summoned the energy to yell, "Hey, are you the kidnappers?"

"That's right, little girl." The leading man laughed.

"Then Nan Gong Zui-gēgē wants me to give this to you guys." Xiao Xiao Lan let Xiao Long Ming down, untied the black bag at her wrist, and raised it in the air.

The man in the front made a grab for the bag, but Xiao Xiao Lan unexpectedly snatched it back, causing him to miss. She pouted, "Where is Doll-jiějie?"

The man in the front seemed stunned by Xiao Xiao Lan's reaction. He hesitated and then laughed, "At our headquarters. Do you want to go find her, little girl?"

Xiao Xiao Lan seemed to consider it very seriously, but the kidnappers around her laughed. They seemed to be amused by the idea that a little girl whose life was now in their hands was considering the question seriously.

Xiao Long Ming spoke up at this moment, "Xiao Xiao Lan, let's go get Doll-jiějie first."

Xiao Xiao Lan had always listened to Xiao Long Ming. Hearing him say that, she nodded and told the kidnappers, "Okay, we will come with you."

The kidnappers laughed, a car drove over, and the kidnappers all got in. So did Xiao Xiao Lan and Xiao Long Ming.

"Ah, cool air! Air conditioning is really the greatest thing ever invented by humans." It was like Xiao Long Ming had suddenly gotten revived. He sprawled over the air conditioner in bliss.

"Long Ming must have been a penguin in his past life. You are so bad with heat," Xiao Xiao Lan stated with confidence.

"Then Xiao Xiao Lan's past life must have been a gorilla. You're so strong," Long Ming countered, not to be outdone.

The kidnappers were quite amused by the idle chatter of the two kids. All of them laughed so much they couldn't close their mouths. The car arrived at an oasis accompanied by Xiao Xiao Lan and Xiao Long Ming's arguing. The car actually drove into the lake in the middle of the oasis. Xiao Xiao Lan and Xiao Long Ming both rushed over to the window in amazement, but no water leaked into the car. The car just sank. It sank to the bottom, and then a semi-circular cover rose around the car, and the water was drained away. Then, the ground sank once more, and when it stopped, I finally saw it — an underground base!

Xiao Xiao Lan and Xiao Long Ming looked around in excitement. The base was not very big; the corridors were narrow, only wide enough for one adult to pass through at a time. Xiao Xiao Lan and Xiao Long Ming could pass through it standing shoulder to shoulder. Even though it was small, the base was well-equipped. This was obviously a highly professional organization. After all, an organization that can kidnap a queen can't be underestimated.

Finally, the kidnappers led the two kids to a hall. There was a seat in the middle of the hall, and to the left was a metal cage. A stately, elegant woman with a crown on her head sat inside the cage.

"Doll-jiějie!" Xiao Xiao Lan lunged to the front of the cage.