"Can you help me steal something?" Ye Jingwen replied.
Oh, it's not about borrowing money, so that's fine. But stealing...
Qiao Sang looked at Ye Jingwen with a strange expression, realizing she was the type to do something like this...
Ye Jingwen seemed to see the thoughts on Qiao Sang's face.
"It’s not what you think! I just want you to help me sneak out a Magnetic Wave Mouse," Ye Jingwen quickly explained.
Qiao Sang was taken aback for a moment, then exclaimed in surprise, "Steal a pet beast? Did you find a nest of wild Magnetic Wave Mice?"
In rural areas, things were a bit more relaxed compared to cities when it came to wild supernatural creatures.
Since Qitang Town was close to the mountains and rivers, wild supernatural creatures often appeared there.
With no resources or Beast Masters around, these wild beasts remained in their basic forms, unable to evolve further. The local government didn’t usually interfere since the creatures posed no threat. They would only act if someone reported an issue, and without reports, they wouldn’t add to their workload by patrolling.
This led some people to smell opportunity amid the chaos.
Catching wild pet beasts usually happened in secret realms. For a Beast Master, capturing wild creatures could be for the sake of contracts or could be for profit.
If Ye Jingwen had found the nest of Magnetic Wave Mice and wanted Qiao Sang to help her catch a few for sale, that made sense. After all, regulations stated that only Beast Masters could sell wild pet beasts.
And even if regular people managed to catch one, it would be easy to mess up and let it escape, leading to a lack of security.
However, Qiao Sang still found some things puzzling.
How could finding the nest of a wild pet beast be called stealing?
She understood why Ye Jingwen didn’t ask Ye Ranran for help—public officials couldn’t be involved in such transactions—but hadn’t she a Beast Master father?
It seemed strange that she hadn’t thought of her father in making money.
Before Qiao Sang could piece it together, Ye Jingwen explained, “What I mean is, it’s not about sneaking into the Magnetic Wave Mice's nest; rather, my friend caught a Magnetic Wave Mouse on the mountain, and I want you to help me sneak it out and set it free.”
Qiao Sang: “…”
Ye Jingwen continued, “A few days ago, I went up the mountain to look for some soil herbs and ran into a Silk-Spider. It was the Magnetic Wave Mouse that came to my rescue. If it hadn’t been there, I’d probably still be in the hospital.”
Qiao Sang raised her eyebrows, signaling her to go on.
“Then I told my friend about it when I got back, and he said we should take some food the Magnetic Wave Mouse likes to thank it, but when we went just the other day, he actually brought his dad with him.”
At this point, Ye Jingwen sounded quite furious: “He tricked me! Saying it was to thank the Magnetic Wave Mouse, but really it was to capture it.”
Her tone didn’t sound like someone mad at a regular friend; rather, it carried the bitterness of someone scorned by a jerk.
With a change in her tone, Ye Jingwen expressed regret: “If the Magnetic Wave Mouse hadn't recognized me, it definitely wouldn’t have shown itself for some food.”
She still vividly recalled the look in the mouse's eyes when it had seen her.
Qiao Sang was silent for a moment before asking, “This friend of yours isn’t your boyfriend, is he?”
Ye Jingwen: “!!!”
Seeing the shocked look on Ye Jingwen's face, Qiao Sang realized she wasn’t mistaken. She said earnestly, “Early romance is not good.”
She used to think Ye Jingwen focused entirely on studying, but who would have thought she was balancing both love and learning...
“He isn’t my boyfriend anymore,” Ye Jingwen countered.
That indirectly confirmed their previous relationship.
The Little Treasure Ghost had been quietly listening to their conversation, and just as Ye Jingwen finished her sentence, it pulled out a bottle of milk from its circular form and offered it.
“Yun~”
Ye Jingwen blinked.
She glanced at the label on the milk bottle that read “For Young Pets,” and politely declined, “Thanks, but I’m not thirsty.”
After turning down the Little Treasure Ghost, Ye Jingwen seriously said, “Qiao Sang, can you help me get the Magnetic Wave Mouse? I can’t think of anyone else.”
She discreetly glanced at the Little Treasure Ghost, which had returned the milk to its circular form. “Ya Ya!”
“Ya!”
The Fire Tooth Dog held the milk with one paw while patting its chest with the other, wearing an affectionate look.
Qiao Sang said sternly, “This isn’t stealing.”
Ye Jingwen looked somewhat disappointed.
In truth, she had more to share.
If Zhang Huai could properly contract the Magnetic Wave Mouse with a Beast Master, it wouldn't have been a big deal.
However, he told her that his father had found a buyer and was preparing to sell the Magnetic Wave Mouse to a gourmet.
Having a Magnetic Wave Mouse in the hands of a gourmet could only lead to an undesirable fate.
This was something she couldn’t accept.
She had already expected things to take a turn for the worse, but at that moment, her cousin had returned to their hometown.
If her cousin had just the Fire Tooth Dog, she wouldn't have mentioned it, but little did she know that her cousin had also contracted a Little Treasure Ghost.
The existence of the Little Treasure Ghost led her to think about this sneaky plan.
“This isn’t stealing; it’s releasing.” Qiao Sang said with a smile.
Ye Jingwen's eyes brightened, and she quickly agreed, “Right! It’s not stealing! It’s releasing!”
Qiao Sang wasn't typically one to overflow with compassion, but as events were happening to her own family, it was natural for her perspective to lean that way.
Yet, it was easy to talk about, but the execution wouldn’t be simple.
For one, relying on the Fire Tooth Dog wouldn't work, as it only knew how to charge headfirst into things.
Releasing the creature would have to be done by the Little Treasure Ghost.
But the Little Treasure Ghost was only three days old and hadn’t used any skills yet… the thought of letting it act alone made her uneasy.
...
At 11:20 PM, Qiao Sang and Ye Jingwen arrived at a residential area in the town center, riding their bicycles.
The Fire Tooth Dog had long fallen asleep and was stored away in the Beastmaster Codex by Qiao Sang.
The Little Treasure Ghost, being a ghost-type pet, was particularly energetic at night and didn’t like to sleep.
"Is it here?" Qiao Sang asked.
"Yes." Ye Jingwen nodded.
“Yun~”
The Little Treasure Ghost called out, but it remained unseen in the surroundings.
Only Qiao Sang, who had contracted it, could accurately point in a certain direction.
On the other side, inside a dim room, crunching sounds echoed, interspersed with occasional crackles of lightning.
The Magnetic Wave Mouse looked at the unchanged cage with despair.
It stared out at the night, wondering if its beloved knew it was missing... would it find someone else?
The fruit on the mountain should be ripe soon; it wondered if it would have a chance to enjoy it again in the future...
Humans, they are all the same!
The food that had lured it out so decisively was something it hadn’t even had a chance to taste; what a loss!
The more the Magnetic Wave Mouse thought, the hungrier it felt. It furiously stood up and bit the iron cage, turning its sorrow into strength.
Suddenly, a bottle of milk appeared in front of it, floating in the air.
The Magnetic Wave Mouse froze in place, still holding its biting posture.
Then it suddenly realized something and quickly turned to look at its own tail.
Its tail had somehow transformed into a lightning shape.
Oh no!
It realized it had become part of a ghost-type creature!
I’m sorry for the delay…
(End of Chapter)