Wei Jing ran until he was gasping for breath. Finally managing to shake off those terrifying “giant rats,” he collapsed weakly onto the ground. “Oh my god, that was horrifying. How can rats be that big?”
“Ah.”
In contrast, the little dragon cub, who had run alongside him the whole way, didn’t seem tired at all. It was full of energy, snuggling up beside him and still having the strength to wrap its little arms around Wei Jing’s in a display of affection.
Wei Jing glanced at it, meeting those big, doe-like eyes that clearly reflected his own messy appearance. His heart sank. This random task was probably a lost cause!
But giving up 88 points just like that?
He couldn’t bear it.
88 points meant completing 88 beginner tasks. Even at the rate of one per day, that was still three months!
What could he do?
Wei Jing sat up, crossed his arms, and fell deep into thought. Besides the great master, the spotted python, and the wild boar spirit, was there anyone in this villa he could ask for help?
As for the wild boar spirit, he didn’t even consider him. That guy had been dead set on killing Tu Shihua all along. Asking him for help was nothing short of wishful thinking.
Right now, under the great master’s watchful eye, the wild boar spirit couldn’t do anything to him. But if the two of them snuck out, Wei Jing didn’t need even a second to guess that the boar would seize the chance to strike immediately.
What about asking the old butler for help?
The thought had barely surfaced when Wei Jing shuddered violently. The mere memory of the old butler’s terrifying appearance made him shrink back, wanting to stay as far away as possible.
So… ask the great master?
Wei Jing’s brow twitched. Thinking about the monumental task the great master had assigned him made his head hurt. That pile of yarn…
Wait a minute.
The great master had only handed him the yarn and the books. He hadn’t actually said it was for knitting a sweater for his original form, had he?
What if he simply used his star power to knit a men’s sweater first and tried to pass that off?
The more Wei Jing thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. He gathered up the little dragon cub and headed back to the living room to start knitting again.
In front of the surveillance screen, the great master had just instructed the old butler to prepare tea and snacks, ready to enjoy the show of someone taking the little dragon cub mouse hunting. But the moment the curtain rose, the main character had already fled the scene, bringing the performance to an early close.
Watching Wei Jing return to the living room and start knitting again, the great master’s expression was unreadable.
“Master, should those field mouse be dealt with?” the old butler asked in a low voice.
“Send them to the kitchen. Let the cook take good care of them,” the great master said unhurriedly.
In the kitchen, the wild boar spirit, who was busy knitting a sweater, let out a violent sneeze. At the same time, a series of squeaks came from outside. The scent of the spotted python made his hair stand on end. He stared at the doorway with a mixture of fear and wariness.
“The master wants you to raise these field mouse properly.” Five enormous mutant field mouse were lined up in a row inside a cage.
The old butler’s face was full of amiable smiles as he continued, “The master also said these must not be seen by Mr. Tu, so you need to hide them well.”
The wild boar spirit looked dumbfounded. “…With so many, where am I supposed to hide them?”
The old butler replied, “You’ll figure it out.”
There was already a wild boar hiding in his room, actually, make that two. Earlier, when he had returned with the yarn, he had found one hiding in the kitchen and panicked, thinking the one from his bedroom had escaped. He quickly carried the boar back, only to find that once the two boars were together, they refused to separate.
His room wasn’t small. Squeezing in five large field mouse probably wouldn’t be a problem.
In the living room, Wei Jing focused entirely on controlling his star power to knit the sweater. Unlike the little dragon cub’s tiny vest, knitting a sweater that would fit the great master’s tall and perfectly proportioned frame wasn’t something he could finish quickly.
He knitted intently for two hours, completing only half the work.
It was already mealtime, but the great master had yet to appear.
Fifteen minutes earlier, the little dragon cub had come up to him holding its formula can, signaling that it was hungry and asking for food.
Wei Jing, as always, prepared a bottle for it. Now, the cub was contentedly holding its large bottle, waiting for the milk to cool down before digging in.
“Little Treasure, you stay here and behave. I’m going to the kitchen.”
“Ah.” The little dragon cub replied, but when it saw him stand up to leave, it immediately put down the bottle and prepared to follow.
Wei Jing patiently gestured and explained, finally convincing it to stay put and not run around.
On his way to the kitchen, Wei Jing was surprised to find that the wild boar spirit wasn’t there either. The kitchen was completely empty, not a soul in sight.
Wei Jing rubbed his chin, suddenly realizing how inconvenient it was to have no communication tools. Unfortunately, Tu Shihua’s phone had been chewed up by the little dragon cub. But even if it wasn’t broken, he wouldn’t know the password to use it anyway.
Once the great master showed up, he might as well bring up the idea of buying a new phone.
After all, there was no way he could leave this place for now. He had long grown accustomed to a life with a computer, a phone, and the internet, going without them for even a short while felt incredibly strange.
“Squeak, squeak, squeak…”
“Mm… mm…”
Strange noises came faintly from some unknown corner.
Wei Jing listened carefully for a moment and realized they were coming from a room nearby. His heart sank, he had a bad feeling about this. At this point, turning around and leaving was probably the best choice, but curiosity chose this moment to get the better of him.
Reason told him to get out immediately, but impulse held him back.
After a brief struggle, he crept toward the source of the sound. Stopping in front of a guest room, the strange noises grew clearer through the door.
Hesitantly, he grasped the doorknob and gave it a gentle twist. The door opened…
“Aaaahhh!!!”
“Aaaaahhh!!!”
Two screams rang out simultaneously.
Wei Jing stared in utter shock at the wild boar spirit inside the room, along with the two wild boars beside him, five mutant field mouse, and the suspicious wounds and bloodstains on the boar spirit’s body. His voice trembled. “Xiao Bai, what are you doing?” Aren’t you supposed to be a spirit? Why are you interested in sows?!
The wild boar spirit’s face turned red and then pale. “Tu Shihua, wh-what are you doing here?”
He was so scared he was stammering. The spotted python had conveyed the great master’s message: the wild boars and the field mouse must not be seen by Tu Shihua. But now, this bastard had already seen them! What should he do? Would the great master kill him directly?
“Squeak, squeak, squeak—” The field mouse, which had already gotten out of their cage, seemed terrified, scurrying around in panic and even trying to escape through the door.
Seeing those terrifying “giant rats” as if about to charge at him, Wei Jing was so frightened he jumped up. “Xiao Bai, why do you have rats in the house? And they’re that big! How much meat have they been stealing?”
The wild boar spirit had no words to respond. It wasn’t like he wanted to raise them.
The commotion of the mouse stirred up the two wild boars, who also started running toward the door.
Wei Jing’s face turned pale. “Xiao Bai, stop them!”
The wild boar spirit was already trying his best, but catching one meant letting another slip through. The mouse were especially fast. Before he could react, one of them had already dashed out of the room, barely five centimeters away from where Wei Jing was standing!
“Ahhh!!!!”
Maybe it was because he was truly terrified, Wei Jing couldn’t help but scream again. In a moment of panic, his star power surged out. A translucent, fiery red orb expanded from the size of a black bean to the size of a soccer ball in the blink of an eye, just in time to block the large field mouse that was about to brush past his feet.
“Help—”
After unleashing his star power, Wei Jing nervously jumped on the spot. But what made him cry tears of joy was that the heavens must have truly heard his plea, the great master miraculously appeared before him, reaching out to sweep him up with one arm.
Behind the door, the wild boar spirit stared in disbelief. It wasn’t because of the great master’s perfectly timed rescue, but because of the mouse lying at the doorway, completely scorched.
He rubbed his eyes in shock. If he remembered correctly, Tu Shihua couldn’t even be considered a one-star, right? How could a weakling with no special abilities summon such terrifying star power?