Ruan Tao felt that her Big Brother had become considerably more ruthless.
Although in her memory, it hadn’t been long since she last parted from Big Brother—according to Lu Yingzhu, he hadn’t seen her for hundreds of years.
She had expected Lu Yingzhu to be more excited at her return, or at least treat her better, as if she were a lost treasure recovered, fulfilling her every wish.
…At the very least, he wouldn’t have been so gruff, blocking her and demanding she explain everything clearly.
Ruan Tao was not good at lying. After saying a couple of sentences, her eyes began darting nervously.
Lu Yingzhu slapped the doorframe behind her and leaned in, his face cold: “Do you know there’s an Interrogation Specialist here?”
Ruan Tao nearly cried: “Y-you… why are you like this?”
“…What? How am I like this? Why are you crying?” Lu Yingzhu irritably withdrew his hand.
Ruan Tao sniffed: “I’m not crying.”
“I suddenly arrived here, and at first I didn’t know what was happening,” Ruan Tao whispered. “The moment I came, I ran into Bo Yutong. He treated me really well—he would give me anything I wanted.”
Lu Yingzhu scoffed: “He? Don’t dream. He treats the hamster he raises better than he treats you.”
Ruan Tao: “…” Hamster?
“The last time I caught his hamster, he chased me all the way to my base,” Lu Yingzhu raised an eyebrow. “You? He only glanced at you and didn’t say a word.”
Ruan Tao: “…” That was because he didn’t even know me!
Lu Yingzhu concluded: “Don’t get your hopes up. Bo Yutong isn’t suitable for you.”
Ruan Tao pouted: “You promised me before that if you really liked someone, you’d tie them back for me.”
Lu Yingzhu raised an eyebrow: “I was talking about Fang Shan Huai. If you still like him, I can give him to you now—”
“Oh.” Ruan Tao interrupted, “You can’t beat Bo Yutong?”
Lu Yingzhu’s temple throbbed violently. He pressed a hand to it and closed his eyes. “Damn it. I knew nothing good would come from your debt-collecting ghost coming here. I was only moved for a few seconds before you started causing trouble.”
“No, no,” Ruan Tao quickly waved her hands. “Don’t actually go fight him.”
Lu Yingzhu, irritated by her panicked, protective demeanor, turned and walked away.
Ruan Tao shouted after him: “Brother—Big Brother! Where are you going?”
Without turning his head, Lu Yingzhu replied: “Go. Fang Shan Huai will tie him back for you to make do.”
Ruan Tao: “…”
It seemed this time Fang Shan Huai had come to cause trouble. The person who reported earlier probably had the same purpose.
Although Lu Yingzhu had ruthlessly said “kill,” when he first met Fang Shan Huai, one shouted “Ah Zhu” and the other “Shan Huai.” By all appearances, they had a good relationship.
Ruan Tao returned to his room. Seeing no one around, she took out paper and pen from her portable storage space and left a small note for Lu Yingzhu.
She guessed that Lu Yingzhu would be furious when he saw it.
Fortunately, she had her phone. Lu Yingzhu would surely contact her later, and she could speak to him directly.
At worst, she could even help Lu Yingzhu chase a girl.
Ruan Tao folded the note and weighed it down with a green crystal—she had no special reason for the color choice, except that blue was too expensive and white too small.
After finishing all this, she calculated her remaining human time, slipped into the bathroom, and transformed back into a hamster.
—There might be surveillance outside, but certainly none in the bathroom. To avoid exposing her hamster identity, Ruan Tao directly slipped through the bathroom vent.
The air in this world seemed to contain elements helpful to supernatural abilities.
Almost every Administrative District had several interconnected ventilation ducts to ensure constant airflow within the district.
Just like wealthy people could earn more money, people with strong abilities could leverage their resources to gain even more powerful abilities.
But weak and helpless little creatures like Ruan Tao—the little hamster who could eat—could only crawl humbly through the ducts.
As mentioned before, small animals rarely survived in this world. Even hardy insects had mutated into larger, tougher forms.
Creatures like Hamster Tao were extremely rare worldwide.
So her route through the ventilation ducts was extremely smooth. Apart from a bit of dust, there were no other obstacles.
Ruan Tao moved happily, naming this route the VIP passage.
Emerging from the VIP passage, it was still early.
She discovered that as a hamster, she seemed to have some immunity to the outside environment. The temperatures that had almost made her faint before were no longer so terrifying.
Back on the street, Ruan Tao quickly analyzed the terrain.
She felt that if she crawled back in hamster form, she might never reach Bo Yutong again. Fortunately, she had brought her treasure, Xue Xiao, this time.
With more than ten minutes of human time left, she found a corner with no people, transformed into a human, and immediately wrapped herself in her cloak.
She then retrieved the beast stone from her storage space and summoned Xue Xiao.
The Administrative District led into an Upper-Class Residential Area. Like Lu Yingzhu’s small district, there were few people on the streets, and in small alleys, almost no one passed by.
—Unfortunately, today was unlucky.
Ruan Tao had just summoned Xue Xiao and had not yet transformed when someone stumbled into the alley she was hiding in.
She couldn’t transform in front of people and quickly hugged Xue Xiao, pressing against the wall.
Unfortunately, the alley was a dead end, leaving her no escape.
The person rushing in had a plain, pedestrian face.
Wind swirled around his feet, showing he was boosted by a wind-type ability.
His speed was fast, though much slower than Bo Yutong.
Only when he neared Ruan Tao did he realize he had run into a dead-end. Gritting his teeth, he touched his wrist and, spinning suddenly, pulled a large string of beast stones from his bracelet and shook them violently.
Seven or eight small magical beasts jumped out from the stones.
The leader was a spider-shaped magical beast, about the size of a three-year-old child. Its fluffy, large legs made Ruan Tao shiver.
The pedestrian-faced man clearly ignored Ruan Tao, facing the entrance with a desperate determination.
The hairy spider leapt forward, shooting a stream of silk from what looked like its rear.
Six or seven other animals followed—cats, dogs, lizards, and bats.
Ruan Tao pressed further into the corner, silently analyzing the situation.
It appeared the pedestrian-faced man was fleeing a pursuit. The pursuer had just arrived and, with a flick of his finger, split the oncoming spider and its web in half.
The remaining magical beasts were also easily dispatched.
Ruan Tao could not see who the pursuer was—their figure was blocked by the fleeing man.
As she hesitated about hiding Xue Xiao, the ruthless “pursuer” had already reached the pedestrian-faced man. Casually, he tapped the man’s forehead.
“Pfft.”
White smoke exploded around the man.
A few seconds later, the smoke cleared.
What remained was unmistakably a civet cat-shaped creature.
It had a green leaf atop its head and cried pitifully at the pursuer, chittering in protest.
The magical beasts that had been sliced apart also became scattered leaves.
Ruan Tao: “…” Who am I, where am I, what am I doing?
The pursuer lowered his head and captured the civet cat in his beast stone.
He glanced casually at Ruan Tao in the corner.
Both froze.
“…Tao Tao?” He called out the intimate nickname.
Ruan Tao was more shocked. She instinctively withdrew Xue Xiao, awkwardly waving at him: “Hello, Senior.”
Fang Shan Huai smiled gently: “Sorry, I don’t remember your surname, so I can only call you this. Tao Tao… Junior.”
Ruan Tao scratched her head and belatedly realized—her brother must have lied before! How did she carelessly reveal her identity?
In the awkward silence, Ruan Tao quickly bowed her head and said: “Goodbye, Senior!”
Fang Shan Huai: “…?”
At this moment, Ruan Tao deeply regretted not having a wind-type ability.
She needed to vanish quickly, ideally in an instant, from Fang Shan Huai’s side.
She was already juggling human form to negotiate with Big Brother and hamster form to lure Bo Yutong—she was exhausted! She didn’t have the energy to deal with a Senior who had lived for hundreds of years for unknown reasons!
Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned.
Just as Ruan Tao was about to rush past Fang Shan Huai, he suddenly grabbed her arm.
She was wearing only a cloak over her body. When he pulled unexpectedly, she almost slipped.
Ruan Tao clutched her cloak and looked at Fang Shan Huai: “Senior, is there something else?”
Fang Shan Huai opened his mouth but hadn’t spoken.
The arm he was holding suddenly disappeared!
Fang Shan Huai froze, then saw the cloak lose its support and fall.
Only one corner remained in his hand.
Ruan Tao’s human time was completely gone!
Hiding inside her cloak, she tried to crawl out unnoticed while Fang Shan Huai was stunned.
But no matter how long she tried, she couldn’t get out from under the dark fabric. She even felt herself gradually suspended in midair…
The fabric above was lifted, and light poured in.
Ruan Tao squinted and heard Fang Shan Huai’s amused laughter above: “Ah Zhu’s little sister… a hamster?”
Following the voice, Ruan Tao saw that she had been placed in someone’s hand, her own cloak still underneath her.
“Speak,” Fang Shan Huai teased, scratching the top of Ruan Tao’s head. “Does Ah Zhu know about this?”
Ruan Tao: “…” I’d advise you to be kind.
Fang Shan Huai pinched her cheeks, his curved eyes full of amusement: “By the way, it seems only Bo Yutong in this world… has a hamster?”
Ruan Tao: “……………”
Be human already!!!