Half an hour later, Ruan Tao sat on Xue Xiao’s back.
Xue Xiao was covered in a thick layer of fur, and the moment Ruan Tao climbed on, she was immediately buried in it.
She settled herself down and clutched the fur on both sides, afraid of falling off.
Xue Xiao turned in place once and sniffed the ground. “It should be this way.”
He took a step, leapt forward, and began to sprint.
Ruan Tao was nearly blown off by the gust of wind he created while running. She held tightly to the fur and shouted, “Are you sure! What do you mean, should be—”
Xue Xiao: “I’m sure.”
Xue Xiao: “I sensed the warning from the beast-catching net!”
After Ruan Tao had helped Xue Xiao open the cage, he immediately displayed the agility and swiftness of a wild animal.
Although still round and plump in appearance, he bounded up and down, successfully making his way to the northwest exit near the Administrative District.
Bo Yutong’s Administrative District had four exits. The southern side had a large main exit, while the remaining three smaller back gates were in the northwest, north, and northeast directions.
The Administrative District was located at the northernmost part of the Residential Area. Passing through the southern gate led directly into a bustling area within the Residential Area, while passing through the North Gate opened into a vast, already-mutated Great Forest.
The forest now was completely unlike the one Ruan Tao had known.
The trees in this forest had emerged from wastelands and stone cracks, each more bizarre than the last. Some even possessed a form of intelligence, making it questionable whether they could still be considered “plants.”
Aside from these strange trees, there were countless dangerous magical beasts and feral predators.
Because of this, the southern main gate of Bo Yutong’s Administrative District was strictly managed, with many restrictions on passage.
The three northern gates were more lenient, primarily to prevent wild beasts from the forest from entering.
The Northwest Gate had two guards with defensive abilities, responsible for inspecting and maintaining the protective barrier, and a psychic-type guard who checked the surrounding area every half hour.
Ruan Tao crouched on Xue Xiao’s back in a corner, whispering strategies for how to escape.
“You go draw their attention,” Ruan Tao said. “If that doesn’t work, bite one of them. Their barrier will definitely weaken, and I can slip out directly.”
Xue Xiao immediately rejected the idea. “No. That would make too much noise. Besides, we don’t even know what kind of barrier it is—what if it explodes when we touch it?”
Ruan Tao: “……”
It had barely been a short while, yet why did Xue Xiao seem so much smarter?
The last time she had seen him, he barely spoke, like a toddler learning words.
This time, apart from being mischievous, he expressed himself clearly and spoke in long sentences.
By now, he was even considering things beyond what she had thought of.
Ruan Tao wanted to scratch her head but her paws weren’t long enough. She ended up scratching her neck instead, wondering, “Did you absorb my IQ?”
The two little ones still hadn’t reached a conclusion when a shadow suddenly fell over them.
Xue Xiao reacted instantly, leaping forward.
Unfortunately, the little fellow was still round, and with his short, stubby legs, he didn’t quite clear the shadow. He lost his footing and rolled in place.
The black shadow behind him was much faster than Xue Xiao’s movements.
Ruan Tao felt the world spin and nearly got crushed into a true little mouse pancake by the plump little body.
At the critical moment, a hand reached out and scooped her up.
Xue Xiao tumbled several times on the ground, while Ruan Tao obediently sat in the familiar palm.
“Tao Tao.” The hand’s owner called her gently.
He looked as if he had just emerged from water, with damp hair and moisture around him. His long, curled eyelashes were clumped together by droplets. His skin looked even paler, while his thin lips carried a striking red tint.
Having just used a large amount of his power, Bo Yutong’s eyes were much lighter than usual, a more transparent silver-gray.
His expression remained unreadable, as always, while his thumb lightly brushed Ruan Tao’s cheek. “No running off. How many times have I told you?”
Ruan Tao: “…………”
She wondered why she hadn’t just been flattened into a mouse pancake a moment ago.
Dying on the spot would have been far easier than facing this problem.
“Tao Tao.” Bo Yutong gently touched her nose with his finger. “Answer me.”
Ruan Tao curled up, shivering. “I… I don’t remember…”
Bo Yutong tugged the corner of his lips. “Which part do you remember, Tao Tao?”
Ruan Tao: “…Being good…?”
“Mm.” Bo Yutong’s tone was calm. “Then, Tao Tao, are you being good?”
Ruan Tao couldn’t answer.
Bo Yutong cradled her in his hand, and she lay down in his palm, trying to burrow between his fingers like an ostrich.
She buried her face, leaving only her round little backside facing him.
Bo Yutong looked at the little hamster in his hand and for the first time felt a mix of amusement and helplessness.
He couldn’t hit her, couldn’t scold her.
He had barely asked a few gentle questions, and the little one already acted as if she had suffered some great injustice, refusing to respond.
Bo Yutong placed Ruan Tao into his coat pocket and bent down to pick up the snow leopard plush on the floor.
Xue Xiao remained obedient in front of him, not daring to move, his blue-gray eyes on the ground, avoiding eye contact.
This was a wild animal with intelligence; its natural reaction to a superior was submission.
Bo Yutong always had more patience for these non-human, furry creatures.
“What exactly is going on?” he asked Ruan Tao. “Do you want to go out to play again?”
Ruan Tao hid in his pocket and whispered, “I heard that something happened here, sir, and I wanted to come see.”
The dampness in the tip of Bo Yutong’s hair was gone, and the moisture around him had vanished. He now seemed colder and harder.
“It’s nothing serious,” Bo Yutong said. “Tao Tao, aren’t you afraid of bugs? We set up a tamer array near our home. As long as you stay inside, you’ll live comfortably and won’t encounter bugs.”
Ruan Tao: “Ah…”
Her intuition told her that the “tamer array” was no simple thing. After replying to Bo Yutong, she began to recall if it had been mentioned in the original story.
After some thought, she remembered—it had indeed been mentioned once.
In the original story, the female protagonist had set up the array at home after obtaining her magical beast.
The array first used a beast-catching net to cordon off a specific area.
With the net, nearby wild animals would be warned and unable to approach the area.
The middle of the netted area created an environment where mutated animals could grow faster.
But normally, a tamer array covered only a few square meters.
Moreover, the “beast-catching net” wasn’t really for capturing; it was actually a wind-type ability used as an offensive tool.
It would warn all nearby living creatures and crush anything that ignored the warning—including humans.
Judging from Bo Yutong’s words, his tamer array must be enormous, perhaps as big as the entire Administrative District…
Combined with the earlier complaints of the crying butterfly, the situation suggested that what Bo Yutong had done would not be very friendly to nearby plants, animals, and little creatures.
And, honestly, it was exactly the kind of thing he would do.
Ruan Tao assumed Bo Yutong had meant to warn her not to run around recklessly, which kept her safely in her nest for a couple of days.
—She could never have guessed that the moment she had been scared into flying by the bugs, Bo Yutong had already decided to do this.
Bo Yutong himself was completely unaware. He continued reviewing documents in the study and occasionally went out, asking Ruan Tao if she wanted to come along.
Ruan Tao decisively refused, clearly stating, “Home is good, home is comfortable, home is perfect.”
Bo Yutong didn’t insist and left alone.
Ruan Tao lay in her little nest, hugging a peach to gnaw on.
The person coming to feed her today was Li Yudong.
Bo Yutong had many Life Assistants.
Administrative District frequently experienced minor or major intrusion incidents. Life Assistants not only tended to the staff’s daily lives but also cleaned the “battlefields,” effectively acting as part-time janitors.
Feeding Ruan Tao was everyone’s favorite but most nerve-wracking task.
Other jobs were hard and busy but carried no real consequences if done poorly. At worst, the responsible supervisor scolded them.
Taking care of Ruan Tao—feeding, playing, and watching her—was pleasant and easy, plus they got to cuddle a cute little creature. But if anything went wrong…
Li Yudong knew Ruan Tao’s human form was reasonable and sensible.
She wasn’t afraid of mistakes. If Ruan Tao wanted to eat peaches, she would cut the peach into small cubes and feed her with a tiny fork.
Ruan Tao signaled for her to eat together.
Li Yudong didn’t hesitate, sitting down, and the two little girls happily ate fruit together.
During lunch, most staff went to the canteen.
Li Yudong brought Ruan Tao her food directly.
At the appointed time, Ruan Tao emerged from the cage and waited quietly to return to her human form.
The tamer array’s cultivation effect had been too powerful. During this time, Xue Xiao grew increasingly strong, alert, and fast. His size also increased rapidly. If she continued raising him beside herself, soon there would be two little fluffy creatures who only knew how to act cute.
From that day onward, they were already taken out to work together by Bo Yutong.
When Bo Yutong mentioned this to Ruan Tao, his tone was like a parent complaining that the child wanted a dog but wouldn’t take it out to walk.
Ruan Tao herself had changed significantly as well.
She didn’t even fully realize it.
She lay on the soft cushion of the chair, half-asleep, squinting a little longer.
Until 12:05, she was awakened by Li Yudong’s exclamation.
“Tao Tao.” Li Yudong called. “It’s past twelve! Why haven’t you changed back yet!?”
Ruan Tao rubbed her eyes. “What?”
Looking down, she saw her own furry, round hamster belly, and she jumped back onto the cushion in shock. The cushion depressed under her weight, and she wobbled before rolling backward and finally stabilizing herself.
She looked down again at her pink hamster feet.
Ruan Tao: …Could it be that I can’t turn back!?
The moment she thought of “wanting to return to human form,” her body suddenly felt the familiar sensation. She hastily clutched her chest.
Was the transformation mode switching from fully automatic to manual?