Screams and wails echoed from outside the backyard, their grief so profound it could bring tears to anyone's eyes.
Amidst Xia Yubing's sounds of being beaten, everyone silently raised their wine cups, drained them in one gulp, and then…
"Hahahaha, this guy finally got beaten."
"Let him brag all day, calling himself father when he's clearly the son."
"Serves him right for causing hail, he deserved this lesson."
"Can Bao Bao go beat him a couple of times too~"
The three little ones and Squirrel babbled away, Kaka buried his head in eating, while the Fire Phoenix trio and Dada remained stunned.
"Is the Immortal Venerable's family always this harmonious?"
Xi Ren Yuanjun looked at Wan Qianxin in astonishment.
"Uh… our three families are alright. We never hit our children. It's just that Xia Bing always courts disaster. Grand Immortal Venerable Xia isn't exactly patient enough to teach children properly, so he just hits him.
It's fine, you'll get used to it. For the past decade or so, their family often stages scenes of paternal love and filial piety. Come on, let's drink. No need to wait for Xia Yubing."
"Come, let's celebrate the successful completion of our mission and our return!"
"Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
Everyone was in high spirits, except for the Fire Phoenix trio, who felt a little lost. Reflecting on the past year, they realized they hadn't really done anything, and they felt no sense of participation when everyone raised their glasses.
After some time of laughter and conversation, Xia Yubing slowly walked back, with Xia Dayu following behind him.
Seeing Xia Yubing limping, everyone outwardly expressed sympathy.
"Come, come, Xia Bing, sit down and have a drink."
Wan Qianxin looked at Xia Yubing with a playful smile.
"No need, I can drink while standing. I'll drink faster this way."
"Who allowed you minors to drink?"
Xia Dayu looked at the four little ones with a face full of black lines.
Damn it, they'd been out for half a year and forgot about this.
Wan Qianxin broke out in a cold sweat and quickly explained,
"Uncle Xia, we're at home, after all. What could possibly be dangerous? There's no safer place in the world than home.
We're all grown up now, a little drink won't hurt."
Xia Dayu found some sense in that. He recalled how, in the first chapter of "Da Yu Wei Chen," he had started stealing wine from old Mr. Li next door when he was only ten years old. He had only grown to love drinking more later, and he still turned out fine.
"Alright then, but you're not allowed to drink in dangerous places anymore, especially not where there are many enemies surrounding you. It's very dangerous."
Upon hearing this, the four little ones fell silent simultaneously.
The first time they drank, it seemed to be in such a place, surrounded by over a hundred disciples from the Huodian.
"What's with those expressions? You've drunk before? Who taught you?"
Hearing this, Wan Lei also lowered his head guiltily.
It felt like being caught by a child's parents after teaching them something bad.
"Um… Dayu, I have something here that I need you to look at."
Squirrel quickly stood up to defuse the situation, otherwise Wan Lei would be in trouble.
"What is it?"
"Take a look at him."
Squirrel pointed at Kaka.
Kaka was startled by the remark and stopped eating. He then looked up at Xia Dayu, and his usually vacant, dull eyes revealed a rare hint of fear and timidity.
Xia Dayu turned to look at Kaka, his brow furrowed slightly.
"This is from the Weiyang race."
Xia Dayu recognized Kaka's true nature at a glance, and gave a definitive answer.
"Yes, I know he's from the Weiyang race, but the key point is that this is the Immortal Realm. The Weiyang race can enter the Origin Plane without being suppressed by the rules, so I need you to see what's going on.
Don't let the Weiyang race mutate. If those guys can enter the main planes, it would be dangerous."
Xia Dayu heard him, observed Kaka carefully, and then shook his head with a smile.
"No need to worry, he is a special member of the Weiyang race. He has the physical body of a human, with the core of a meme, and the two are completely integrated. That's why his human body fooled the rules of the Origin Plane.
He likely encountered this meme in the Chaos Plane during his life, and because he loved to eat, he swallowed the meme.
Of course, this is just one possibility. The greater possibility is that this meme was generated autonomously within him."
"A meme generated autonomously within the human body?"
Wan Lei exclaimed in surprise.
"It can. And this is a fantasy-grade meme, the most dangerous kind. Fantasy-grade memes are created through human fantasies, influenced by the distorted rules of the Chaos Plane.
Don't some people fantasize about being the protagonist, thus gaining the Alpha-grade meme 'protagonist's halo'? Basically invincible.
Tell me about his characteristics."
"His characteristic is that his combat power is unknown; he gets stronger as the opponent gets stronger. When Wan Lei fights him, he can exhibit the strength of the Tai Xu realm. When I fight him, he can exhibit the strength of the Golden Immortal realm.
And no matter how we fight, we can't harm him even slightly. Later, when we encountered demons, he fought an Upper-class Demon God and was evenly matched.
We fired the Xuanmen Neutron Cannon, and he took a nuclear bomb head-on, yet he was still jumping around alive."
Squirrel recounted the other details, such as Kaka snatching food, and Wan Lei giving him food which then saved Wan Lei.
"...This is really a lame skill. With him like this, can't he defeat any enemy?"
Xia Dayu chuckled.
"However, if used well, it can still be somewhat useful, but only if he's obedient.
His meme is fantasy-grade. I think when he was alive, he probably had a low IQ and was often bullied. Because he was always beaten and injured, he always fantasized about not getting hurt when he was beaten.
After the planes became chaotic, his strong执念 of fantasy turned into a fantasy-grade meme. He gained sentience, but not much, so he only remembers eating and getting beaten.
He's a natural meat shield. Keep him if you want to; he can accompany you on future adventures."
"But this is a meme, and memes are infectious. Is there no danger if he stays with us?"
Wan Qianxin voiced his concern.
"It's fine, I'll just seal its infectivity."
With a flick of his finger, Xia Dayu sent two streams of rules into Kaka's body.
"Yo, this meme is quite resilient. It can probably fight evenly with a Saint. A meme that's inherently in an invincible position, you've struck gold."
Xia Dayu smiled and shook his head, then his figure vanished.
"Fights evenly with a Saint?!"
Everyone turned their heads and stared intently at Kaka, their eyes burning with desire.
Kaka looked up at everyone, then, with a face full of wariness, shoved the lamb shank in his hand into his mouth, chewing vigorously and even swallowing the bones.
Damn it… no one's going to steal your food!