Though Qian Bian was a civet, his limbs were surprisingly dexterous.
Even more impressive, the barrier left by Shan Huai shattered completely when he touched it with a single small leaf, disappearing without a trace.
Ruan Tao wasn’t sure if her hamster face could show expressions, but she tried her best to look admiring and said happily, “Brother Qianbian, you’re really amazing!”
Qian Bian shyly rubbed under his nose with his index finger. “It’s nothing.”
He gently picked up Ruan Tao and placed her on top of his head, whispering, “Hide well. We’re going to slip out.”
Ruan Tao nodded eagerly. “Okay!”
Qian Bian crouched low to the ground and dashed forward at incredible speed.
While he ran, Ruan Tao rode atop his head, chatting with him.
“Brother Qianbian, were you also captured by Shan Huai?” she asked quietly.
Her careful, delicate demeanor was irresistibly cute. Qian Bian struggled to suppress a smile at the corner of his mouth, trying to appear less silly.
He held a few leaves in his hand, using them to dismantle traps and surveillance devices while skillfully darting around. “I came here deliberately to gather information!”
Ruan Tao asked again, “What kind of information? Did he capture your other friends too? From what I heard, it seemed like more than one.”
Qian Bian shook his head. “I have no friends. Those were all created with my leaves.”
Ruan Tao’s grasping ability remained excellent.
She lowered her body, pressing her soft cheek against Qian Bian’s head, flattening his “hairstyle.”
Her little hamster voice was sweet and soft. “Then now, we’re friends, right?”
Qian Bian paused mid-step.
Ruan Tao took his silence as consent. “Now you have a friend!”
Qian Bian indulged her. “Alright, alright.”
“However,” Ruan Tao said, “you still haven’t told me what information you’re trying to gather.”
Outside the Mongolian tent stretched an endless wasteland, with a few other scattered tents nearby.
Qian Bian maneuvered around the tents with purpose, rushing toward a specific location.
He moved so fast that Ruan Tao guessed he had activated his wind-type ability.
Without slowing, he began explaining to Ruan Tao. “A human set up numerous beast traps in Qiyuan Forest. While causing a stir among the magical beasts, he discovered an array controlling the wild beasts.”
Ruan Tao: “…………”
Qiyuan Forest? Could it be…
She whispered, “That Qiyuan Forest—is it north of Residential Area A9?”
Qian Bian nodded. “Qiyuan is one of the few Great Forests left. It has survived under my protection, and I won’t allow any humans to develop or exploit it.”
Feeling guilty, Ruan Tao lowered her voice even more. “That human wants to develop Qiyuan Forest?”
The wind rushed past as they moved at high speed. Her voice became so soft that even she could barely hear it.
Miraculously, Qian Bian heard her perfectly.
“No,” he said indignantly. “That human recruited others to help—Shan Huai, the one who captured you today!”
“Shan Huai has been experimenting with our beasts,” Qian Bian murmured. “He has captured me many times as well.”
Ruan Tao was surprised. “Aren’t magical beasts supposed to be untamable? I thought they couldn’t communicate…”
“Who told you that?” Qian Bian clicked his tongue disdainfully. “Some truly are mindless, but others simply refuse to listen to humans, so they’re ‘untamable.’”
Ruan Tao and Qian Bian chatted for a long time, trading words back and forth.
Because most of their conversation revolved around magical beasts, Ruan Tao couldn’t help but recall the plot in the original story—the beast wave that led to Bo Yutong’s death.
Every piece of information Qian Bian shared seemed like a warning flag, foreshadowing the upcoming beast wave.
Although she didn’t know when or how the wave would strike, Ruan Tao resolved to protect Bo Yutong during it.
She tapped Qian Bian’s head, flattened under her, and asked curiously, “Brother Qianbian, if I could stop the human managing A9, would you help me?”
Qian Bian stopped.
He stood in front of a massive wall, upright, alert.
“You?” Qian Bian doubted. “You know that human… Bo Yutong?”
He lifted Ruan Tao from his hand and held her carefully, staring at her little hamster face.
Ruan Tao nodded. “Sort of. He doesn’t know me… but I understand him well enough to try to persuade him.”
“You can communicate with humans?” Qian Bian asked.
Ruan Tao stood upright as well. “Actually, I’m a human myself…”
At this, Qian Bian flung her away!
Seeing the little hamster curl into a ball and roll twice in the air, he summoned a small whirlwind to catch her and gently set her down.
Qian Bian landed on all fours like a puffed-up cat, baring his teeth at Ruan Tao. “You’re a human?!”
Ruan Tao: “…”
She began to believe Qian Bian was truly the guardian of Qiyuan Forest.
Animals from deep, secluded forests were this straightforward—simple, trusting, and pure.
Of course, she hadn’t lied.
Ruan Tao explained to Qian Bian how long she could maintain her human form.
She also outlined her plan to approach Bo Yutong and persuade him.
Qian Bian’s face read “skeptical,” and he stared at Ruan Tao. “You really think this plan will work?”
Ruan Tao nodded firmly.
“If it fails, I’ll turn back into a hamster,” she said. “Pretend human Tao Tao never came—nonexistent.”
Qian Bian still didn’t trust her. “Then why not try persuading him as a hamster?”
Ruan Tao: “…………That would expose that I’ve been running around everywhere!”
She anxiously twirled her two pink paws, lowering her voice, admitting guiltily, “I want to leave a retreat route. At least before being discovered, I won’t actively tell him…”
Qian Bian stood, twisting a leaf in his hand.
“Fine,” he said. “I’ll trust you this once.”
…
Perhaps heaven was merciful. Little Ruan Tao, unlucky countless times, finally caught a stroke of luck.
When she returned to base, Li Yudong told her that Bo Yutong had not returned yet.
Hamster Tao wanted to dance for an hour on the spot in excitement.
But she was too tired, so she just flopped in her little house and slept.
The next morning, well past noon, Ruan Tao noticed two beautiful gemstones in her room, each roughly half a fingernail in size. To Hamster Tao, they felt like holding a basketball.
Though she didn’t know what they were for, her hamster hoarding instinct kicked in—she immediately placed them into her portable storage space.
Soon, Li Yudong arrived.
She picked up Ruan Tao and placed her in the bathroom. Ruan Tao washed herself quickly and forcefully, then emerged wearing Li Yudong’s pajamas, drying her hair while walking.
Li Yudong sat in the pet house, eagerly waiting for her.
“So? How was it?” she leaned closer. “Did you talk to Lu Yingzhu? He doesn’t mind me tricking him before, right?”
Ruan Tao: “I didn’t get the chance to talk—left a note. But don’t worry, I confirmed it. He really is my brother. With me here, he won’t dare do anything to you.”
Li Yudong patted her chest, slightly relieved. “That’s good.”
“I also want to tell you something…” Ruan Tao said. “Could you help me become a Life Assistant for a while?”
Li Yudong was surprised. “That’s not easy. You only have a little time as a human each day, and a Life Assistant has a lot to do. Plus…”
She rambled on, making Ruan Tao dizzy.
But in reality, Life Assistants weren’t that busy. Qian Bian’s leaves could substitute for her most of the time.
When the critical moment with Bo Yutong came, she could step in personally.
“I have a plan,” Ruan Tao told Li Yudong. “A fake body can replace me usually. It won’t speak, but it can handle cleaning and organizing.”
Li Yudong hesitated but agreed to discuss how to implement it.
After finishing her feeding duties, she left quickly.
Ruan Tao stood alone in Bo Yutong’s bathroom, boldly summoning Qian Bian from the beast stone, asking him to use his wind-type ability to dry her hair.
Qian Bian stood on the sink, staring at Ruan Tao’s face. “Sister Tao, are you trying to persuade Bo Yutong, or… trying to seduce him?”
Ruan Tao: “…”
She couldn’t believe she had just seen “flirtatious” on the face of a civet.