This newly acquired knowledge was beneficial to Gu Xijiu. It was good if she cared for the baby as well. That would make her next moves more convenient. 

"Have you ever raised a pet?" Gu Xijiu suddenly asked an unrelated question.

Wu Wuyan was momentarily stunned but answered coldly, "No!"

"I actually raised a few pets before; each of them has their own personality. They are entertaining, nonetheless..." It seemed like Gu Xijiu was bored and wanted to have a casual chat with her about pets.

Despite the topic of the conversation seeming rather trivial, Wu Wuyan was still on her guard as she was afraid of any unforeseen traps from her enemy. However, over time, she realized that Gu Xijiu had only talked about her pets. She introduced all of her pets to her, like the big mussel, Lu Wu, Wind Caller, Clouded Leopard, and so on. 

She did not ramble on about them but was definitely enthusiastic when she described them. All her pets had their own personalities and shortcomings. Therefore, it made their character extremely distinctive.

Drawn by the complexity of her pets, Wu Wuyan was progressively attracted to her topic and occasionally contributed to the sharing. There were even times where she did not agree with Gu Xijiu"s parenting. "You have given them too much freedom. It is easy for them to become rebellious and out of control."

Gu Xijiu chuckled. "Why must we control them? Aren"t they independent individuals? They should have their own life. I treat them as friends, and they treat me the same. They will fight hard for me whenever they were required. I believe there is no need to train them like machines. They are not my accessories. Even though I am their master, I can"t control every aspect of their lives."

Wu Wuyan remained silent, but her heart seemed to be shaken. She looked down at her hand and was reminded that she was in someone else"s body. Although her soul was free to enter any other human body, she would not actually be that person or live that person"s life. No matter how well she could imitate them, she was still a subst.i.tute.

In fact, she could not even remember her original appearance and personality. Everything she did was for her master. Perhaps, she was more loyal than a dog. Every pet had its own appearance at the very least. And Gu Xijiu"s pets even had their own personalities. 

Nonetheless, her owner had treated her very well. He always brought her along for all his journies. Presumably, in her master"s heart, she was indispensable. She would be his favorite pet, at the very least. 

Loyalty was all that he asked for! She only needed to be faithful to him! If she were well-behaved, her master would never abandon her. Thus, there was no need for her to care about her own appearance and personality any further. She closed her eyes and meditated.

... 

In another cabin, Fan Qians.h.i.+"s appeared to be in a gloomy mood as he stared at a black and gold plate. There was a light red worm lying on the plate. The worm looked somewhat lifeless and dehydrated. It looked long gone.

The sight of this worm made Fan Qians.h.i.+ clench his fingers in his sleeve. A sharp light flashed in his eyes. He could tell from the worm that his enemy killed the mother-fetus, which he planted in Lan Waihu! That was a ma.s.sive loss to his plan. 

It seemed that he had no choice but to go ahead with this backup plan. He heaved a sigh as he sat strangely at a table and put out seven jars. Then, he held out three fingers and cast a spell. Gradually, it became visible that there were beads of blood on his other seven fingers. He placed the blood droplets onto the sealed jars.