The story comes to an end.

Mao Xiaobai really wanted to know what happened next.

There was nothing she could do; she had to jot down this grievance in her little notebook for now, play along with this foolish dog Ha Xiaoming, and plan to find an opportunity later to give him a good beating.

“So Jiang Bei changed his mind and decided to help the Skeleton King?” Mao Xiaobai guessed.

Ha Xiaoming grinned smugly and shook his head. “I knew you, silly cat, wouldn’t be able to guess. Fine, out of the kindness of my heart, I’ll just tell you directly.”

Mao Xiaobai: “[○･｀Д´･○]!!!”

“After Jiang Bei buried the Skeleton King, he dusted off his hands and continued to wander around. Since he’d been kicked out of the house, he had to spend some time outside and act as if nothing had happened before returning home with a clear conscience.”

“It’s said that he wandered for over a month, and along the way, he happened to find the Skeleton King’s head… The Skeleton King’s head could talk even when not attached to his body, so it was a very interesting head.”

“Jiang Bei brought the head back as a gift for Fang Yuan, to cheer her up. Fang Yuan actually… well, I won’t go into details, but the point is, she also found the head amusing, so she kept it and forgave Jiang Bei.”

“That head sat on a shelf in their home as a decoration for about fifty years.”

Mao Xiaobai: “......”

How pitiful, the Skeleton King—even he had such a tragic past, being turned into a house ornament.

“The Skeleton King slept in the pit he’d dug for himself, and that sleep lasted over fifty years… As I said before, his memory isn’t very good, so when he woke up, he couldn’t remember why he was in the pit.”

“He climbed out and found that he was missing a lot of parts—most importantly, his head was gone.”

“Without his head, he had to find it, of course.”

“So he looked for some branches to patch up the missing pieces of his body as best he could, and started searching for his head.”

“He searched and searched for a long time, until one day, he met a big yellow dog named Afu.”

At this, Mao Xiaobai covered her mouth in surprise.

Of course she knew who that big yellow dog, Afu, was…

That was Wang Fu!

“The Skeleton King saw Afu, who still looked like a big yellow dog at the time, playing with a head, treating it like a toy!”

‘Hey! Big yellow dog, that’s my head! Give it back!’ the Skeleton King demanded.

Afu had never met the Skeleton King before that day, so naturally he wasn’t going to give up the toy Jiang Bei and Fang Yuan had gifted him so easily. ‘Just because you say it’s your head, it’s yours? Don’t think you’re special just because you don’t have a head!’

The Skeleton King was taken aback by Afu’s retort—he was rather simple-minded, after all. ‘But it really is my head. If you put it back on my neck, I promise it’ll fit perfectly.’

The Skeleton King pleaded with Afu, but at that time, Afu was quite cocky and paid him no heed. Not only that, but annoyed by the Skeleton King’s nagging, he grabbed the head and trotted home.

The Skeleton King was powerless—he couldn’t win a fight, and his head was in Afu’s mouth. He had to get it back. So he could only follow after Afu, pitifully begging him to return the head.

He followed Afu all the way to the estate of Jiang Bei and Fang Yuan… Over fifty years had passed, so the Skeleton King naturally didn’t recognize Jiang Bei, but after thinking for a moment, Jiang Bei recognized the Skeleton King whom he’d helped bury not long after being kicked out of the house, more than fifty years before.

That day, Jiang Bei decided to have Afu return the head to the Skeleton King. The Skeleton King was delighted, thanked him, and was ready to set off to find his other missing bones… but unexpectedly, Fang Yuan found him amusing. At that time, the estate happened to be in need of a cleaner.

So the Skeleton King had to stay on as the estate’s housekeeper, and as a reward, whenever Fang Yuan and Jiang Bei went out to have fun, they’d bring back a few bones for him.

The Skeleton King cleaned that estate for nearly a hundred years, gradually collecting all his bones and finally restoring himself to his original form.

What happened after that was simple—after all, they’d lived together for a century. As Jiang Bei and Fang Yuan put it, the Skeleton King was genuinely entertaining… Besides, he really did help them keep the estate clean for almost a hundred years.

Jiang Bei and Fang Yuan helped the Skeleton King survive in this world, helped him grow stronger, and even gave him an outer covering.

And that’s the end of the story.

Ha Xiaoming smiled as he finished.

----------------------

At last, the story was over. Mao Xiaobai finally let out a long breath. Yet her anxious heart still hovered in her throat, unable to settle.

She wanted to slip away, but with so many big shots not far off, no matter how fast she ran, where could she possibly go?

‘This shouldn’t have anything to do with me. After all, I didn’t say anything—I’m just a listener.’

‘If anyone’s in trouble, it’ll be that foolish dog Ha Xiaoming.’

So thought Mao Xiaobai, sneaking a timid glance at the little skeleton who had silently appeared behind Ha Xiaoming about five minutes ago, signaling her not to give them away.

The little skeleton looked about ten years old, her current form quite adorable and clever.

On any ordinary day, Mao Xiaobai might have reached out to pat the little skeleton’s head, but today—ha!—she dared not.

Who could blame her, with the Skeleton King himself smiling in their direction?

One had to understand—if the Skeleton King wanted to beat her up, even the Cat King couldn’t save her and would have to watch helplessly.

That was just how it was.

All these animals had followed Jiang Bei from way back, counting as his faction.

The Skeleton King, the Zombie King, the Elf King—they belonged to Fang Yuan’s side.

And it was better to cross Jiang Bei than to cross Fang Yuan.

Even Jiang Bei wouldn’t risk angering Fang Yuan, so naturally Jiang Bei’s followers were at a disadvantage.

All these thoughts raced through Mao Xiaobai’s mind.

At that moment, oblivious Ha Xiaoming, seeing that this dumb cat hadn’t complimented his storytelling, grew disgruntled and spoke up again.

“Mao Xiaobai, I just told you such an amazing story for free, and you won’t even say thank you? That’s really rude, you know.”

Mao Xiaobai: “...”

Ha Xiaoming, you stupid dog—no wonder you get beaten up every day.

Mao Xiaobai’s mind raced. Now was the time to take a stand and distance herself. She shot upright and declared righteously, “Ha Xiaoming, that wasn’t a good story at all! The Skeleton King is a mighty and heroic figure, and you dare speak of him like this? Clearly you’re asking for a beating…”

Blah blah blah blah!

Ha Xiaoming: “o((⊙﹏⊙))o”

What nonsense is this cat spouting? Has she eaten herself stupid?

At the same time, the little skeleton behind Ha Xiaoming almost burst out laughing at Mao Xiaobai’s clever performance.

She stifled her laughter, blinked playfully, and looked at Mao Xiaobai with delight.

‘I never expected you to be such a little kitten.’