Chapter 119

Chapter 119: Making a Nest for Little Hamster

Little Hamster glanced at the little saucer set before him, then at Rong Shu who was cultivating. He wanted to say he was not hungry at all, but he had no idea how to express it.

Seeing that Rong Shu seemed busy, Little Hamster lay down on the bed, tucking his hands and feet beneath his soft belly; from a distance, he looked like a little white dumpling.

After a moment, his head turned toward the saucer with the fruit and seeds. Just then, his tummy gave a quiet gurgle. The sound nearly scared him; when he realized it had come from himself, Little Hamster clapped both hands over his belly and looked down in puzzlement. [How is it making sounds?] Along with the sound came a faint sour, aching tug from inside his belly, a feeling that made him a bit uncomfortable.

Little Hamster did not know that this was hunger. Although he had been wandering for months, he had never actually felt hungry, so he had no concept of eating and did not know what hunger felt like. Now, for the first time, he felt it.

Clutching his belly, Little Hamster rolled across the soft bed several times until he reached the little saucer. He had had no interest in the fruit and seeds before, yet now he suddenly wanted to get closer.

So he thought it, and so he did. He inched his small body closer, looked at the seeds, then at the fruit. At last, he fixed on a bright red one, opened his mouth, and took a bite. After swallowing, he felt his belly hurt a little less. He took another bite, then kept eating.

Rong Shu’s cultivation session lasted several hours. Earlier, she had broken through to the wind and dark elements mid-battle; though her foundation had been laid and the breakthroughs had come naturally, she had still spent great effort over the past few days consolidating both. Only now did Rong Shu confirm there were no flaws in either element.

When she opened her eyes, she immediately noticed the empty saucer on the bed, with fruit pits and seed shells left upon it. The bed itself was clean, with no stray bits of pulp. Little Hamster lay on his back nearby, his small belly rising and falling with his breaths.

Rong Shu stood and walked over; unable to resist, she gently poked Little Hamster’s slightly rounded tummy. He did not react at all and kept sleeping soundly. Seeing this, Rong Shu stopped poking. There would be time enough in the days to come; there was no need to rub him bald all at once.

Rong Shu had wanted a soft, cuddly little creature like this for a very long time, but she had never had the chance. In her previous life, let alone keeping such a little fellow, even her own food and clothing had been hard to secure. Though she longed for it, she had never acted on the desire.

After arriving in this world, during those few years in her clan, Rong Shu had been cautious and reserved, never making any requests of the elders, much less asking to keep a pet. After entering the sect, she had devoted herself to cultivation for the past year and seldom went out. Sometimes, in the Spirit Beast Garden, she would run into a few particularly fluffy spirit beasts and get in a few scritches to satisfy the craving.

Rong Shu had not wanted to keep ordinary animals, because in the cultivation world time stretches too long. Ordinary creatures live only a few or a dozen years; if she grew attached, their passing would be hard to bear. So Rong Shu set her sights on docile spirit beasts instead. Most wild demon beasts are hard to tame, and more importantly… they are not very cute. Wild spirit beasts are rarely seen unless you buy them with spirit stones. Rong Shu liked them, but the spirit stones she carried had to be spent where they mattered most, and buying a little pet just to scritch was not a necessity. So she had never bought one.

She had not expected her luck to be so good today, to run into a soft, obviously scratchable Little Hamster. He was so small, so adorable, and full of spirit. Most importantly, he cost nothing and was easy to coax.

Rong Shu dumped the pits and shells from the saucer, then set out fresh fruit and seeds in their place.

Next, she sat on the bed and took from her storage pouch the notebook she had copied at the Alchemists’ Subguild, then began to flip through it. After a while, Rong Shu realized that the alchemy notes she had on hand only covered second-grade pills. Back in Scarlet Sun City, because there had been a flood of materials, she had naturally chosen to copy within the scope she could study quickly, namely first-grade and second-grade knowledge. Now that Rong Shu was already a second-grade alchemist, she needed to start learning how to become a third-grade alchemist.

“Cloud Link City has an Alchemists’ Subguild too. I do not need to take part in any competitions, so I can go have a look when I have time,” Rong Shu murmured to herself.

Just then, the well-rested Little Hamster stirred. Rong Shu noticed at once and reached out to pick him up. When she saw him roll over in her hands and slowly clamber upright, she could not resist and gently poked him flat again, earning herself a fierce little glare from Little Hamster.

Rong Shu’s gaze flickered as she pretended to be composed and said: “Ahem, I will make a nest for you, so you can sleep better and heal faster, all right?”

A Little Hamster this small, if left directly on the bed, made Rong Shu worry she might crush him by accident. So making a little nest was very necessary. After some time passed, she would arrange more items for Little Hamster to use.

Rong Shu had not forgotten that she also had a Little White Tiger. For now, she would treat this as practice. Then she could take even better care of these two fuzzy little ones in the future, one in each hand to scritch, bliss.