Chapter 126
Chapter 126: Little Hamster Wants His Nest
After activating a Tracking Talisman, Rong Shu began searching for Little Hamster.
At each street she reached, Rong Shu would stop for a couple of steps and check whether the Tracking Talisman in her hand gave any response; if there was none, she left at once.
After she used up the first Tracking Talisman, Rong Shu still had nothing to show for it.
She had no choice but to use a second Tracking Talisman, then a third, then a fourth.
At last, moments before the fourth Tracking Talisman expired, it stirred.
A thought flashed through Rong Shu’s mind: Little Hamster was nearby.
But just as she was about to reach the spot where Little Hamster was, the Tracking Talisman’s effect faded.
She was about to pull out a fifth Tracking Talisman when a commotion carried over from not far away.
Rong Shu crept closer. The noise was coming from a dilapidated courtyard at the corner.
Inside, four or five kids of about ten years old were circling a small boy crouched in a corner and pointing at him.
The small boy looked even younger, maybe seven or eight, long hair loose, draped only in a wide robe like he had stolen an adult’s clothing, which fit him poorly.
The kids chattered: “See, I told you there were sounds in this shabby yard, turns out there’s a little beggar here,” “His clothes are weird, like he stole an adult’s, they don’t fit at all,” “He’s a mute, can’t say a word…”
The older kids chirped without restraint in front of him, their tone far from friendly.
Peering through the crack in the door, Rong Shu took in the scene and did not see her Little Hamster.
She did not intend to meddle.
She had just reached for a fifth Tracking Talisman when her motion halted.
The tuft of Little Hamster’s fur she had brought was already used up with the first four.
Now the Tracking Talismans would not work.
She sighed inwardly. [Am I really not going to find Little Hamster…]
Rong Shu was just about to leave when exclamations floated out of the courtyard: “He’s so strange, could he be a monster?” “Hit him once, if he’s a monster he’ll show his true form,” “His clothes are strange too, let’s strip them off and take a look…”
Those innocent-sounding voices of little kids made Rong Shu feel a chill.
She glanced back inside and saw the older kids really were about to lay hands on the boy.
The boy kept his head down, curled in the corner, pitiful.
Rong Shu thought for a moment, picked up a few pebbles from the ground nearby, and flicked them at the older kids’ knees.
Thud. Their legs went weak and the older kids dropped to their knees.
They looked at one another, terror dawning.
They cried out: “Aaah, a ghost!” “Mother! Sob… I want Mother…”
Easily spooked, the older kids were truly frightened and bolted for the gate.
Only after they had run far off did Rong Shu step into the courtyard.
In the corner the small boy remained motionless, eyes blank and dull.
She hesitated, then walked over and said: “Hey, why don’t you hurry home? Don’t make your family worry.”
At her words, the boy lifted his head slightly and stared at Rong Shu in a daze. [It is her.] A thread of clarity flashed through his chaotic mind.
She added: “They’ve run off and won’t be back to harm you anytime soon. You can go home now.” After that, Rong Shu turned to leave.
To her, it was only a small interlude, nothing to take to heart.
She failed to notice that, after she left, the small boy braced himself against the wall and slowly stood.
He murmured: “Home… go home…” He hardly understood what that meant, yet when he heard Rong Shu say it, a wave of bewilderment and unease welled up from deep within. He muttered: “No… the north… have to go… north… go back… go home…” His face gradually drained of color as he wrestled with himself. [What is in the north?] At last he cast one more look at the northern sky, dazed for a moment, then turned and walked in the opposite direction.
Today, Yu Ruan Ruan had few matches, only one.
After it ended, she could not let go of the heaven-favored one she had failed to find before and wanted to try searching at Dragon Ridge Palace again.
On the way back she looked left and right, afraid to miss anyone who might be the heaven-favored one.
Suddenly the System urged her, its words racing: [The heaven-favored one has appeared again. This time the person is very close… right near your residence. Go, now!]
Yu Ruan Ruan’s eyes lit up, a look of steely resolve flashing within. [This time.] [I absolutely won’t let the heaven-favored one slip away again.] With that thought, she sprinted toward her residence.
Elsewhere, after spending the whole morning searching without finding Little Hamster, Rong Shu could only return to Dragon Ridge Palace in regret.
She consoled herself quietly along the way: [Maybe there’s no fate between us… It’s fine. We weren’t together long. If he’s gone, he’s gone.] It was the first pet she had ever kept, and she had lost it.
She thought about it the whole way, and her heart ached the whole way.
When she reached the steps before her residence, Rong Shu halted and noticed a small lump of fluff sprawled on the stair.
A thought rose; she stepped closer and finally saw what it really was: a Little Hamster.
She called softly: “Little guy?”
Seeing Rong Shu, Little Hamster seemed a bit excited; he hopped down the steps a few times, then launched himself in a flying pounce toward her.
Rong Shu hurried forward and caught him in time.
Looking at Little Hamster hugging her finger and rubbing his little head against it again and again, Rong Shu rejoiced inwardly, but she kept a straight face and asked: “Where did you go? If you were going to leave, you could at least say goodbye.”
Little Hamster shook his head quickly. [Not leaving… not leaving anymore.]
He tipped his head up slightly to look at the girl before him whose eyes brimmed with delight and whose brows held not a trace of disgust. Somehow a sense of peace settled over him, like a wandering soul with no place to return had suddenly found a home. At that thought, a pink blush like a cherry petal tinged the tips of his ears.
Rong Shu said solemnly: “Then from now on, you are my Little Hamster. You must not run off on your own, understood?”
Little Hamster nodded.
Seeing this, Rong Shu happily stroked Little Hamster and said: “I can’t form a contract with you yet. Give it a little time, then I’ll form a contract with you.”
Little Hamster did not understand what a contract was, but since Rong Shu said so, he kept nodding blindly.
Finding him suddenly so obedient after being out and about, Rong Shu exulted in secret and, without making a show of it, stroked him several more times. This time, Little Hamster did not puff up; he lay obediently in Rong Shu’s palm and let her pet him as she pleased.
Rong Shu kept petting Little Hamster as she walked inside.
Just as she closed the door, a figure appeared in the distance. Panting, Yu Ruan Ruan asked inwardly: [System, where is the heaven-favored one?] The System’s incredulous voice exploded in her mind: [How is that possible?! The position… cannot be detected.] [The person has to still be within Dragon Ridge Palace. Find the heaven-favored one, quickly!] At this, Yu Ruan Ruan clenched her teeth, anger stirring. Was this System reliable or not? If it had not helped her so much all along, she would have thought it was toying with her. And where on earth had that so-called heaven-favored one gone?
Rong Shu tossed Little Hamster into water again.
Little Hamster was a little dumbfounded. He had not expected that as soon as Rong Shu came inside she would change her expression and mutter: “You were out for so long. You have to get nice and clean and disinfected.”
Thus the thoroughly red-eared Little Hamster was forced to take a bath.
There was clearly a cleansing spell, yet Rong Shu refused to use it. Because she had noticed his awkwardness last time he bathed, this time it counted as a small punishment for running away from home, and an opportunity to make up for the missed strokes of his fur.
When they finished, a Little Hamster fragrant from head to toe was tucked by Rong Shu into the bedding.
Dizzied from the bath, Little Hamster shook his head, then looked left and right and could not find his nest.
He quickly turned his head toward Rong Shu.
Rong Shu said with a grin: “I thought you’d run away, so I threw your nest out.”
At that, Little Hamster lowered his head in dejection. He had suddenly run off; he could not blame Rong Shu. But still… his nest. [His nest. He wanted his nest.]
Seeing his sorrowful look, Rong Shu could not help laughing again and stopped teasing him.
Rong Shu took out everything she had stored in her Storage Pouch, including the hamster nest, and said: “I didn’t throw it away. I kept it for you.”
Seeing his lost-and-found nest, Little Hamster immediately stopped being sad, scampered over, and burrowed inside.
Seeing him so well-behaved, Rong Shu could not resist giving him another stroke.
Then she set out some small snacks by the nest and said: “Are you hungry? If you are, have a little something to eat.” As she spoke, she cracked a sunflower seed and held it to Little Hamster.
Little Hamster looked at the seed she offered, leaned his head forward, and nibbled in tiny bites. He was indeed a little hungry. After running out, the cold wind had chilled him; following an instinctive impulse, he had grabbed a random outer robe from the Spatial Rift to throw over himself. But his body had shrunk abruptly, so it did not fit at all and looked ridiculous. He had wandered outside in a haze, not knowing which way to go, hiding the moment he saw anyone. Walking and walking, the body that had been that of a youth of about seventeen shrank again bit by bit into that of a seven- or eight-year-old. In the end, Rong Shu had stumbled upon him.
After feeding him a few times, Rong Shu simply let Little Hamster eat by himself.
Having just gotten Little Hamster back, Rong Shu had no intention of going out today. She could refine pills and cultivate right at home.
The next day.
Rong Shu once more went out carrying Little Hamster in a cloth pouch.
Along the way, scenery she had grown sick of over the past few days suddenly seemed a little more beautiful.
When she reached the arena, the crowd was as large as ever.
Even so, Rong Shu could still spot the eye-catching Yu Ruan Ruan in the throng.
Male disciples flattered her: “Junior Sister Yu, you’re incredible. Win three more matches and you’ll be in the top hundred.” “Junior Sister Yu, how do you usually cultivate? Do you have any cultivation insights to share?” “Senior Sister Yu…”
Standing not far away and watching Yu Ruan Ruan surrounded by a cluster of male disciples, Rong Shu pieced together the gist from their snippets of praise.
Yu Ruan Ruan’s recent record was excellent. All the way through she had won again and again, crushing her opponents with overwhelming strength. With three matches left, if she could keep winning, she would enter the top hundred of the Foundation Establishment Stage bracket.
Rong Shu thought: [Come to think of it, I haven’t actually watched Yu Ruan Ruan’s fights.] She went to look over the schedule board and found that Yu Ruan Ruan had two matches today.
“As for Cheng Bu Fan, his are here.” She checked Cheng Bu Fan’s record and thought: [Oh ho.] It was good too; he had not been eliminated and had kept winning.
When it was time for Yu Ruan Ruan’s match, Rong Shu arrived early to claim a good spot, prepared her sunflower seeds, and watched with Little Hamster while they snacked.
Yu Ruan Ruan’s opponent was finally no longer the all-too-familiar line of early Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Rong Shu had just learned that in Yu Ruan Ruan’s previous fights all her opponents had been early Foundation Establishment. Her luck was absurdly good; she had never once drawn a mid or late Foundation Establishment cultivator. By contrast, other early Foundation Establishment competitors rarely managed to go several days without encountering someone stronger, because as the tournament went on, those at early Foundation Establishment were generally eliminated.
Even Cheng Bu Fan had already faced two mid Foundation Establishment opponents; though he won both, the process had not been easy.
Yu Ruan Ruan, on the other hand, seemed as if she were playing with cheats. Not only were her opponents invariably early Foundation Establishment, but most of them had exploitable flaws in their techniques that Yu Ruan Ruan could seize upon, turning them to her advantage and defeating her opponents with ease. Luck and keen discernment together had given her a bit of a name.
This time, however, her opponent was a mid Foundation Establishment cultivator. It was anyone’s guess whether she would still win as lightly as before.
When the match began, the mid Foundation Establishment opponent held the advantage and Yu Ruan Ruan could only strain to fend off the onslaught.
Just as it seemed she would lose, the situation suddenly reversed. Yu Ruan Ruan caught a weakness in her opponent, turned the tide in a flash, and forced the other off the dueling platform.
Leaving the platform meant forfeiting the match.
Yu Ruan Ruan had won again.