Chapter 57
Chapter 57: There are many bad classmates outside; only I am truly good to you
The next afternoon, Qian Qi arrived early at the Magibeast Storage.
Old Master Li handed her a muzzle and a dog leash and said, “Pick a Flame Hound and put these on. Take it for a few laps around the Beast Taming Plaza so it isn’t too energetic when the students arrive.”
She nodded, took the gear, and walked into Room 1. She had a soft spot for this dog. She had only named one of them, and that was A Tu. It showed how special it was to her.
When the Flame Hound saw the muzzle and leash, it didn’t resist much. These meant outdoor exercise. Staying in a cramped room was slow torture for them. They could only rage at the walls to calm the fire inside. To keep the walls from getting wrecked, Old Master Li usually picked a few Flame Hounds at dusk to walk at the plaza. And once the anti bite muzzle went on, it also meant “food” outside wanted to try a Beast Contract.
[Hmph, a bunch of tiny, weak pieces of food dare to send Beast Contracts to us?]
While A Tu was scoffing, it felt a small hand stroke the spot between its tall ears, patting its smooth bald head over and over. The owner of that hand leaned close to its ear and whispered sweetly, “A Tu, there are lots of bad classmates out there, and they’ll only bully you, got it? I’m the only one who truly treats you well.”
[System: “(???)” … Wow, you’ll do anything to form a Beast Contract. That’s classic PUA.]
Qian Qi ignored the System with a smile, slipped the muzzle on A Tu, and led it out the gate.
Outside, several Power type Awakeners Old Master Li brought were each holding a Flame Hound. Compared to Qian Qi’s easy control, they were clearly struggling. When they saw her handle the Flame Hound so lightly, they looked surprised and puzzled.
Putting on a pitying face, Qian Qi patted A Tu’s body and said sadly, “Poor A Tu has been shedding. It’s depressed and doesn’t even want to fight.”
The others glanced at A Tu’s coat with its deep and shallow bald patches and nodded in sudden understanding. No wonder the small classmate could hold it. The dog was socially withdrawn.
Only Liu Wang Da knew the truth and thought, [You really can talk. Who do you think caused the shedding?]
They left the Magibeast Storage, and the energetic Flame Hounds pulled the Awakeners toward the Beast Taming Plaza. Around the outer ring, they broke into a run, howling with excitement at the wide open world.
A Tu ran too, itching to sprint ten laps. But after one lap, the chain of “fate” tightened on its neck. It looked back and saw Qian Qi stopping, hands on its body and panting hard: “I can’t run anymore.”
The speed was insane. She had almost been dragged across the ground.
“Hey, little classmate, try harder,” two Awakeners who had already lapped the circle called with a laugh. “We race before class. Last one finishes buys dinner.”
Qian Qi stared: “???” [Buy dinner? For seven or eight grown men? That’ll cost a lot.]
She glared at A Tu. “???” it blinked.
“You, lie down,” she snapped, scrambling onto the Flame Hound’s back. “I don’t believe we can’t pass them.”
A Tu wanted to resist, but she overpowered it and pressed it flat. Once she settled in, she flicked the leash and smacked its rump with a sharp crack. Wearing a fierce look, she shouted, “Charge, A Tu. Show them the dignity of a Magibeast.”
A Tu yowled and bolted. A gust whipped by the Awakeners, and before they knew it, Qian Qi was a blur racing past, shouting “Hyah!” as she and the Flame Hound vanished into the distance.
Liu Wang Da and the others gaped: “???” [Wait, why can she ride a Flame Hound?]
They eyed their own Flame Hounds, tempted to try. The moment they moved, the dogs rolled and threw them to the ground face first.
They lay there, spitting dirt, and fumed: [Why can she, and we can’t?]
The freshmen’s Beast Taming practical class was about choosing a Magibeast they liked and starting to build a good relationship. Only when the Flame Hound stopped seeing them as hostile would a Beast Contract even have a chance.
But there were fewer students in Beast Taming than in other schools. The whole freshman year had just over 200 students. It looked like a lot, but many of them were repeaters who had been stuck in first year for a while.
From what Qian Qi knew, you had to successfully form a Beast Contract with one Magibeast and pass related tests before moving up to second year. Some had failed to move up for four years.
Teachers led each class to stand in front of a Flame Hound and explained, “Classmates, today we’re observing E level Flame Hounds. Their attribute is Fire Affinity. Their E level skill is Bite. Their attack power isn’t high, but they win with speed and agility. Don’t underestimate them in battle.”
A whole class stood before Qian Qi and A Tu as well. Some students recognized her at once.
“Whoa, it’s Big Boss Qian Qi! What are you doing here?”
After her match against the D level Iron Bear Beast, student videos had gone viral on the campus forum, so most Beast Taming students could recognize Qian Qi. Seeing her with a Flame Hound that was quiet and obedient, they showed open envy.
“Why is her Flame Hound so calm?”
“Yeah, the others are howling and look so scary.”
“But why is this one missing so much fur? Is it sick, and that’s why it looks so tired?”
Qian Qi glanced at the droopy A Tu and, feeling guilty, patted its smooth head. [It was just a small mistake during the race, and I accidentally hit your, well, you know. No need to be this gloomy.]
She had asked Senior Su Xing Le, and he said a Flame Hound’s jewels were tough. They wouldn’t break.
A Tu gave her a complicated side eye: [Sure, they won’t break. But they hurt.]
Chapter 58
Qian Qi tugged the Flame Hound’s sharp ear and tried to coax it: “Don’t be mad. As long as you agree to sign a Beast Contract with me, I’ll put you in charge of Fire Qilin Fruit… uh, one fruit a week!”
A Tu cut her a cool side look. He was a “dog,” so he did not understand what she was rambling about. He only knew he was angry and feeling shut down. He was mad because someone hit his family jewels, and he was closed off because he had just won first place in a race. That should have been something to brag about in the dog circle, but since Qian Qi had ridden on his back while he ran, the other Flame Hounds looked down on him.
If this spread after they went back to the Magibeast storage room, he would be shunned. He already looked bad with his shedding, and now he was the shame of the dog circle. No wonder A Tu was furious.
A Tu turned his head away, folded all four legs under him, lay flat, and closed his eyes with a cold snort.
He could not be coaxed. Not in this lifetime. Unless she rode every Flame Hound for ten laps around the Beast Taming plaza, then maybe he would forgive her.
Seeing that he would not budge, Qian Qi scratched the back of her head and muttered: “What do I even do with you…” This dog was harder to soothe than she had thought. She could not just flip him over her shoulder; that would be way too blunt.
[Oh, my dear Boss Qian, are you troubled by the situation and don’t know what to do?]
The System Panel pressed right up to her face, afraid she would miss a single word:
[Got a problem? Find the System. The System helps you solve everything!]
Qian Qi squinted at it and thought: [What are you up to now?]
[Dear user, do you want to win a Flame Hound’s heart? Do you want it to ask to Beast Contract with you first? Do you want the Flame Hound to go crazy for you and pound the big wall for you?]
[Scan the QR code below and pay 2.5 million to get the “Dog-Petting Guide” and capture your Flame Hound’s whole heart and soul.]
On the blue System Panel, countless little arrows pointed wildly at the QR code at the bottom, urging Qian Qi to stop thinking and start paying.
Qian Qi backed up two steps, grabbed the blue panel, and, swinging her arm like she was bowling, hurled it away as she snapped: “Get out of here!”
[Hmph, you wish.]
“Two point five million? Are you calling me a 250, an idiot? You think I’m dumb enough to pay 2.5 million for your so-called Dog-Petting Guide? Dream on!”
The System traced a bright arc across the sky as it tumbled: [Huh?]
[Who am I? Where am I? What was I doing?]
It had thought Qian Qi was super into Beast Taming and would pay any price for its carefully recommended guide. She tossed it so easily, and all over money? Just for a few stinky coins?
The System got mad. It zipped back to float inches from her nose and declared: [Do you not know how amazing I am? I know everything. I know the secrets of the whole universe!]
Qian Qi tilted her head and asked: “Then what is the origin of the universe?”
The System froze, then answered: [That question costs 3 million trillion.]
Qian Qi clicked her tongue and said: “Tch.”
The System clicked its own tongue and bargained: [Fine, give me 100 and I’ll let you try a sample.]
It believed that once she sampled the Dog-Petting Guide, she would beg for another chance with tears in her eyes.
Qian Qi pushed messy bedhead out of her face and bargained right back: “Tell you what, shave off a zero. For 250 I buy your Dog-Petting Guide, and I’ll admit I’m a 250.”
For money, she could sell her pride.
The System flickered: [Seriously? You have principles, huh.]
[Two million,] the System gritted out. [Not a coin less. I’ll throw in a little gift.]
Qian Qi thought it over. Two million was acceptable. The System did not usually quote nonsense, so the Dog-Petting Guide was probably valuable. Also, she was curious about the little gift.
She tapped her Light-Brain and transferred the two million, saying: “Deal.”
[Ding. Your “Dog-Petting Guide” has arrived. Please check.]
A white-covered book appeared on the blue panel with the big title “Dog-Petting Guide.” Qian Qi touched the cover. A wave like Psychic Power tunneled into her mind and wrote the book’s contents into her brain.
Dog-Petting Guide – “How to Make Your Dog More Flexible?”
[Gou San was a forever-single dog. He lived alone for years until one day his owner brought home a female dog. The two dogs began a shameless life together. Soon, though, they grew cold, especially Gou San, who got gloomy and could barely eat. The owner, eager to have puppies, tried everything to bring them back together but failed. With no other choice, the owner took them to the pet hospital. After the Doctor examined them, the owner finally learned the problem. Turns out Gou San was disliked for not being flexible enough to give his wife the poses she wanted, so he shut down. After a session of the Doctor’s bone-opening massage, Gou San gained a flexible body, made up with his wife, and returned to their shameless life. So what is this bone-opening massage? First, you…]
Qian Qi stared and thought: […This does not seem very wholesome.]
She checked the blue panel again and noticed a tiny “18X” in the bottom right of the Dog-Petting Guide.
She rubbed her forehead and thought: […Great. Now I want to read it even more.]
But after waiting, she realized the second chapter did not appear. What was going on? Where was chapter two?
She tapped the panel. The book flipped to a new page that read: “To unlock Chapter Two, scan the QR code below and pay 500,000.”
Qian Qi’s temper spiked and she stomped forward, but the System had already fled at top speed.
[Hahaha, silly Qian Qi, you did not expect that, did you? You have your tricks, and I have my ladder over the wall. You are still too green to fight me!]
Qian Qi almost coughed blood from anger. She had never imagined the System could be more shameless than her, slicing the book into paid chapters. She marked this grudge in her heart.
She shot a fierce look at A Tu and set her jaw. Next…
A Tu shivered. Some strange sense of danger made him snap his eyes open, just in time to see Qian Qi reach out with both hands and seize the neck of his fate.
He blinked as if to say: [Again?]
Qian Qi felt along the sides of his neck and found two points. The “bone-opening massage” from the guide rose in her mind like a ghost, guiding her hands as she gave A Tu’s neck a precise twist.
Crack.
The sound was so clean that A Tu did not even have time to react. He tilted his head. Huh? What just went crack?
Qian Qi caught his front paw and gave another quick press.
Crack.
A Tu’s eyes went wide as a flood of feeling washed through him. He thought: [What is happening? Why does this feel so good? Why does my whole spirit feel rinsed clean?]