Besides Li Yu, everyone else at the scene basically believed Mu Li's explanation.
The reason Li Yu was suspicious was simple: he simply didn't trust Mu Li's character.
Having known Mu Li for four years, he was well aware of how many times he had been tricked by Mu Li, and that was just what he had noticed; there were countless other things he hadn't even realized.
However, as brothers, Li Yu naturally knew that if Mu Li didn't want to say something, he must have his reasons, so he didn't expose him in front of so many strangers.
But after this incident, Li Yu's friends' attitudes towards Mu Li also changed quite a bit.
Zhang Linlin even asked Li Yu if Mu Li had a girlfriend; if not, she wanted to introduce her best friend to him.
"He doesn't have a girlfriend right now, just someone he's ambiguously involved with," Li Yu said with a sigh.
Zhang Linlin's eyes lit up, and she said, "That's fine, isn't it? As long as they're not together, my sister still has a chance."
Li Yu twitched the corner of his mouth: "Are your sisters sure they want to join this competition?"
Zhang Linlin was stunned and said, "Why? Is his ambiguous partner very beautiful?"
Li Yu said helplessly, "His ambiguous partner is Fu Peiyao. Does your friend have the confidence to compete with her?"
Zhang Linlin: "..."
Competing with Fu Peiyao for a boyfriend, was she crazy?
After a night of rest, Mu Li arrived at a family residential area the next day. This was Ling Fei's home, and also a place where Mu Li had lived for several years before.
Looking at the familiar neighborhood environment, Mu Li felt a momentary trance.
"Time really flies, five years have passed in the blink of an eye," Mu Li murmured, watching the people passing by in the neighborhood and the shops from his memory, as he gradually walked deeper into the community.
He vaguely remembered that five years ago, when he walked into the neighborhood, many people would greet him.
Many people living there knew that he was a child living with Ling Fei's family, a member of the National Team, even though no one had ever seen him compete.
Now, five years later, as he walked into the neighborhood again, he felt a sense of things having changed and people being different.
No one greeted him anymore; even when he walked to the deepest part of the alley, no one recognized him.
Five years, not too long, not too short, was enough for the young boy he once was to grow into his current mature self.
"A Li?" A familiar voice rang out, and Mu Li suddenly felt a jolt, as if he had been electrocuted. For some reason, he suddenly felt a little choked up.
He subconsciously turned his head and saw that familiar figure.
The person who called him was Ling Fei's wife, Zeng Anlian.
"Auntie..." Mu Li subconsciously called out this title, which was both familiar and strange to him.
"You child, you're here, why don't you come upstairs? What are you standing here for?" Zeng Anlian's pupils seemed to tremble slightly, but she hid it well.
"Old Ling said you were coming, so I, you see, specifically went to buy a chicken for you," Zeng Anlian said, then subconsciously reached out to pat Mu Li's clothes.
This familiar action instantly pulled Mu Li back into his memories.
In the past, whenever Mu Li returned from training, his clothes would be dirty, and she would always help him brush off the dust like this.
Only this time, Zeng Anlian's outstretched hand suddenly stopped in mid-air. She seemed unsure of what to do; continuing to pat him wasn't right, yet she also didn't want to withdraw her hand.
For a moment, she felt as if their relationship had become estranged, and those familiar intimate gestures no longer seemed appropriate between them.
Just as Zeng Anlian hesitated whether to withdraw her hand, Mu Li reached out and held her hand, which had already become a bit rough.
"Auntie, let's go up first," Mu Li smiled, taking the freshly bought groceries from her other hand.
Zeng Anlian smiled. At that moment, she felt as if she had returned to the past.
"You naughty boy, you've been gone so long and didn't even come to see Auntie. Auntie hasn't seen you in ages, have I?" Zeng Anlian kept muttering as she walked. In these five years, she had so much she wanted to say that even if she spoke non-stop, she couldn't finish it all at once.
"Yes, about five years," Mu Li replied with a smile.
The two walked and chatted like this, as if they had gone back more than ten years.
When they arrived home, after entering the door, Mu Li saw Ling Fei busy in the kitchen, wearing an apron.
Another young man was sitting in the living room, looking a few years younger than Mu Li, and resembling Ling Fei as if cast from the same mold.
"Ling Yu, come quickly and take these things. Your A Li Ge is here," Zeng Anlian called out as soon as they entered.
Ling Yu, who was Ling Fei and Zeng Anlian's son, grew up with Mu Li since childhood and was Mu Li's little shadow.
"A Li Ge!" Ling Yu excitedly jumped up from the sofa, startling a Meowth off onto the floor.
"Meow?" Meowth clearly hadn't figured out what happened, only to see Ling Yu had already rushed to the door and hugged Mu Li, "This is great, A Li Ge, you finally came back to see me."
"Be careful, I still have groceries in my hands!" Mu Li said, seemingly with a hint of disdain, but his eyes were full of nostalgia.
Ling Fei in the kitchen also noticed the commotion at the door, stuck out half his head, and greeted, "A Li's here! Come in quickly, the food will be ready soon."
After speaking, he turned to Zeng Anlian and said, "A Lian, come help me quickly."
"Alright, alright, you can't do anything without me," Zeng Anlian complained as she took the groceries from Mu Li's hands and walked into the kitchen.
Seeing Mu Li again, Ling Yu was clearly ecstatic: "A Li Ge, I heard you became a singer! I even watched your show, it was amazing!"
"You kid, you should be in college now, right?" Mu Li changed his shoes and walked into the living room. Ling Yu was unwilling to leave his side, as if he had to follow Mu Li wherever he went.
"I just started university last year, at Imperial Capital University, majoring in Pokémon battles," Ling Yu said somewhat proudly.
"That's impressive! How's your skill level now?" Mu Li raised an eyebrow. The prestige of Imperial Capital University was well-known; getting in was no easy feat.
"Don't underestimate me, I'm already a Heavenly King Level high-tier trainer now," Ling Yu said proudly, lifting his chin.
"Heavenly King Level high-tier?" Mu Li said with some surprise. Ling Yu was three years younger than Mu Li, but in his impression, Ling Yu was still the little kid following behind him.
"Then why didn't you come for the National Team special training before?" Mu Li had followed the National Team's competitions these past two years, but he hadn't seen Ling Yu on the field.
"I happened to be in secluded training then, so I missed it," Ling Yu said with some regret, "My dad kept talking about it for ages when he came back, making me regret it so much. I wish I hadn't gone for the special training."
Mu Li chuckled, "Actually, it's nothing. I can take you again when you have time. But why didn't you participate in the National Team's competitions?"
Ling Yu sighed, "There are too many masters in the National Team now. There are three Champions like Yan Jin Ge and the others, and Elite Level like Wang Xin Ge and the others. I only reached high-tier after this special training; before that, I couldn't even get into a match."
"It's okay, you're still young," Mu Li said with a smile, "You can outlast them all."
Ling Yu couldn't help but roll his eyes: "Bro, can't you just speak properly?"
Mu Li smiled, put down the backpack behind him, and after unzipping it, three Rowlet immediately popped out.
"Bro, why are you raising so many Rowlet?" Ling Yu curiously reached out to touch the heads of the three Rowlet, but before he got close, a Rowlet pecked him, making him instinctively pull his hand back in pain.
"Don't touch them, they don't like being touched," Mu Li said, then took out an orange scale from his backpack and handed it to Ling Yu.
"This is a scale shed from my Dragonite. Give it to your Dragonite and let him thoroughly comprehend the Dragon-type power within," Mu Li explained. "Whenever he can fully comprehend the Dragon-type power within, your Dragonite will be able to break through to the Champion Level."
Ling Yu blinked, thinking Mu Li had misspoken: "Bro, you said it wrong, right? You mean break through to Elite Level, right?"
Mu Li said exasperatedly, "I didn't say it wrong, and you didn't hear it wrong. It's breaking through to Champion Level. Simply put, my realm is Divine Level."
Mu Li didn't explain further, leaving the stunned Ling Yu behind and walking towards the kitchen: "Uncle Ling, what delicious food are we having today?"
After a while, Ling Yu finally reacted and excitedly ran to the kitchen: "Dad, A Li Ge said there's a Divine Level above Champion Level, and that my Dragonite can reach Divine Level just by comprehending the power in this scale. Is this true?"
"Look at you, so unworldly," Ling Fei said, feigning a sigh, "Isn't it just a Divine Level Pokémon? Your A Li Ge has plenty of them at his house."
Ling Yu was clearly getting anxious: "No, why didn't you tell me about something like this sooner?"
"Would telling you do any good?" Ling Fei said exasperatedly, "You're just an Elite Level junior trainer; telling you there's a Divine Level wouldn't help you advance."
Ling Yu was speechless for a moment: You make a very good point.
"Uncle Ling, I'm going abroad in two weeks, right? Let A Yu stay at my place then," Mu Li said. "You'll probably be busy, so let Auntie come over and have some fun too."
"But isn't there an All-Star exhibition match in Europe a month later?" Ling Yu was still a bit hesitant.
"What's so good about an exhibition match?" Ling Fei scolded, "Your A Li Ge said it himself, he wants you to go to his place for special training. Isn't that much better than going to watch some match?"
"Don't worry, A Yu," Mu Li comforted, "Putting everything else aside, getting you to break through to Champion Level will be easy."
Ling Yu was already stunned: "Huh? Champion Level? But I just broke through to Heavenly King Level high-tier!"
"Hey, what's the big deal?" Mu Li chuckled, "Just relax. As long as you don't Slack Off, I guarantee you can do it."
Zeng Anlian, however, said, "Should I go too? Will it be too much trouble?"
Mu Li chuckled, "What trouble? Just consider it a vacation. If you don't mind the inconvenience, it's just that I won't be there to host you."
Hearing Mu Li say that, Zeng Anlian accepted Mu Li's invitation.
After a long separation and reunion, Mu Li also enjoyed the warmth of family, which he hadn't felt in a long time.
Looking at Ling Fei and Zeng Anlian, who kept putting food on his plate, Mu Li couldn't help but think of his own parents: I wonder where those two unreliable people are now?
After lunch, Ling Fei needed to take Mu Li to the National Team. Ling Yu, having nothing to do, followed along.
