Chapter 16 - I Might Not Be Human
By the time they got home, their parents had already returned from work. The two brothers entered the house carrying fishing gear. Their mother came to greet them.
Su Yue thought that his mother was going to help by taking a few things, so he pa.s.sed the fish bucket in his hand to her.
However, Mother Su did not even spare his younger son a glance as she directly walked to her older son and took away Purple Jade. "Baby, I"ve prepared Flower-scented Cow milk for you. Do you want to drink it?
"Look at your state. You must be exhausted. I"ll give you a bath later, okay?"
"Howl! Ψ( ̄∀ ̄)Ψ"
The cub jumped into the woman"s arms without hesitation and rubbed itself against her affectionately.
Su Yue was speechless. Could this family be any better? He was her son.
Su Bai was equally speechless. Oh, no! How would he trick his pet into training next time?
Their mother did not notice both boys" expressions as she completely ignored them. She was extremely happy to have Water Ripples on her left arm and Purple Jade on her right.
The sibling duo exchanged glances. They silently put down the fishing gear and then cut the fishing rods.
When they were dealing with the fishes, Father Su came over to help them out. Looking at the large plate of small white-stripped fishes, he said happily, "These are delicious when fried. You two are so sensible, knowing when I"m craving some side dishes with a bottle of wine."
Exchanging silent glances, they could only acquiesce to their father"s words despite it not being their original intention.
"By the way, dad, I was fishing in the Construct Reservoir today when I almost got dragged into the bottom of the water by something. It"s probably something big, and I think that it might be a Silver-patterned Tortoise," recounted Su Bai as he deboned a fish.
"A big Silver-patterned Tortoise? Haven"t all the wild Silver-patterned Tortoises been caught and now extinct? Only those raised in captivity are left around. Are you sure there"s one in the reservoir?"
His father shot a skeptical glance at him.
"We"re not sure, either. Erm, can you help us borrow mom"s spirit?We want to take a look tomorrow." Su Yue propped himself on his father"s shoulder and asked cajolingly.
Upon hearing this, their father suddenly stood up and looked at them. "Sigh, I knew there were some ulterior motives behind giving me these side dishes.
"You want me to borrow your mother"s precious pet? Dream on! I don"t want these side dishes anymore."
Their father turned and directly left to wash his hands.
"Sigh… Dad, don"t be so ruthless. How about I catch you two catties of small white-stripped fishes tomorrow? If there"s really a Silver-patterned Tortoise, we"ll be able to pay for Purple Jade"s food."
Su Yue stopped his father cheekily.
"Sigh, forget it. If that"s the case, then I"ll go and tell your mom. It doesn"t matter if you get me a little white-stripped fish or not; the main reason is I"m very pleased to see how sensible you two are. I"ll go and persuade her for you two later."
Father Su nodded solemnly and then squatted to continue dealing with the fishes.
"If there"s a chance tomorrow, remember to let your mom"s spirit catch more white-stripped fishes. It won"t take it much effort, anyway."
...
After processing, washing, and picking the white-stripped fishes, they left the kitchen.
In the living room, Mother Su was teaching Purple Jade to read. She also taught her children knowledge about how to prevent being tricked by bad strangers.
Seeing the cub"s serious face, Su Bai felt like training it might become more difficult in the future.
When Father Su found a suitable time to mention the matter, his wife looked at their older son alertly. "Tell me: What kind of deal did you strike with your dad?"
"There"s no deal, mom. You"re thinking too much. I just thought that there may be a Silver-patterned Tortoise in the reservoir and wanna try catching it. Purple Jade doesn"t have enough rations now. Wouldn"t it make us some money by selling that tortoise?
"Water Ripples can train with Purple Jade, too. So far, it doesn"t have a partner for training and anyone to compare itself to."
While Su Bai persuaded his mother, he gave the cub a hint inwardly. Fortunately, the owner-pet pair was connected with each other, so it quickly gave a pitiful look.
"Howl! (*≧▽≦*)"
"All right, I"ll let my spirit follow you tomorrow morning." His mother finally relented.
Both adults knew that Purple Jade had good talents and were actually thinking of ways to prepare some money for Su Bai to continue training it.
Unfortunately, it cost too much to cultivate pets, and they did not have the funds right now.
If they really caught a Silver-patterned Tortoise, it could give them a lot of money.
It was a pity that Father Su"s warlord pet died in the wilderness many years ago, and he himself had been injured then as well. Otherwise, the family would not be poor and he would have enough money to raise his son"s pet.
"Thank you, mom; I promise that I won"t starve your spirit." Su Bai nodded happily.
After having dinner and returning to his room, Purple Jade howled and nodded at his mobile phone.
"Howl!"
"You want to play games? Okay, play for a while and then go to bed."
He turned on the game interface for it and quickly noticed the ID, Ultimate Invincible. "Hey, is this another spirit playing, too?"
Su Bai took a closer look and found it rather interesting. He realized that that unknown spirit had deliberately refreshed all the rankings and scored one point higher than his cub. No wonder Purple Jade wanted to play the game.
The score of the game now allowed the cub and the one currently in first place to reach a height off-limits to humans.
"Here you go. Go to bed after playing."
Su Bai thought that this was a good thing. If his pet got addicted to games, he could use this as a form of reward to make it train well.
At the thought of this, he suddenly wanted to let Purple Jade play with his mobile phone, but upon thinking of its physical and mental health, he gave up on this idea.
Half an hour later, under the cub"s pitiful-looking eyes, he still mercilessly took his phone back.
Looking depressed, Purple Jade turned its back to its owner and fell asleep.
It was angry.
The next morning, Su Bai woke very early and prepared a nutritious breakfast for his pet. He then called Purple Jade, who had already woken up but was pretending to sleep because it did not want to train.
"Howl!"
Pretending to have just woken up, the cub deliberately rubbed its eyes with its claws.
Su Bai: "…Hurry up and eat breakfast."
"Howl! Ψ( ̄∀ ̄)Ψ"
At the mention of eating, it immediately became energetic.
Other than milk with wood spirit potion, today"s breakfast included the meat of a water monster, the Snow Turtle.
"Come on; let"s go for a run and exercise. I want to run with you, buddy."
Su Bai urged it after the cub finished eating.
The physical fitness of a Pet Tamer was also very important. Having decided to become a professional Pet Tamer and pursue the peak of his career, he must exercise and maintain his fitness.
"Howl!"
Hearing that its master was running with it, the cub happily shot out. The most important thing was that Su Bai promised it that, as long as it trained well, he would not only buy it delicious food but also let it play mobile games.
Su Bai took his pet to the mountain forest near the Construct Reservoir. It was cold in the morning but not dangerous.
There were no strong monsters near human communities, while those weak monsters had long been caught and hunted down by humans.
One would have to be at least ten or twenty kilometers away from human habitation to encounter monsters.
"Huff, huff… huff… Buddy, slower…"
After less than two kilometers, Su Bai could no longer keep up. He obviously lacked much exercise.
"Howl!"
The cub waited while cheering for him.
In the end, he only ran for about five kilometers this morning but already felt as if his legs had turned to lead. Fortunately, his pet was affectionate and it soothed him with the spiritual power of wood spirits. After half an hour, cured of his fatigue and relieved of his body pain, Su Bai was almost back to normal.
"Wow, buddy! You"re so good to me."
He really did not know how to thank it anymore. He felt that he had to train Purple Jade well so that it could stand above all pets.
"Howl!"
The cub nudged him affectionately, unaware of his thoughts.