Chapter 5: Food Guarding
The moment he saw the furry creature, Chu Jiu was stunned.
This… a spirit beast?
The difference between this and the divine beast he imagined was too great.
However, when this little guy raised its head and “meowed,” Chu Jiu’s heart softened, and he instantly threw the idea of “summoning a domineering beast” into the abyss of the universe.
He walked quickly to the furry creature, squatted down, and gently touched its head, whispering, “Oh my, where did this little cutie come from…”
Chu Jiu’s voice was originally a clear and melodious young man’s voice, and now he unconsciously softened it a little, making it sound even clearer and more natural, like a flowing stream.
The furry creature shivered slightly and froze in place.
It was very confused now.
Who was it? Why was it here?
It vaguely remembered that it came here to eliminate an insect.
Where was that insect?
Did this human in front of it know?
Also, who exactly was this human?
The furry creature asked warily, “Who are you?”
This guarded question turned into an incomprehensible “meow meow, meow meow.”
The kitten-like voice made Chu Jiu’s heart tremble.
He carefully picked up the furry creature and said softly, “Are you hungry? Wait a moment, let me see how to feed you.”
From just now, the system had been popping up prompt boxes one after another, which Chu Jiu hadn’t had time to read yet.
Now he read them one by one from the beginning.
First was the basic information of the “spirit beast”:
[Species: Unknown
Skills: Unknown
Favorite things: Dried fish
Hated things: Insects]
Chu Jiu couldn’t help but smile: What’s unknown about this species? It’s clearly a kitten.
Chu Jiu continued to read the prompts.
[How to obtain spirit beasts: The host can obtain the first spirit beast through summoning.
After successful summoning, the host will gradually master the “capture spirit beast” skill and can capture more spirit beasts.]
Ah, this kitten was also a unique summoned spirit beast.
Seeing this, Chu Jiu couldn’t help but gently press the furry creature’s little forehead: “So you’re so special.”
The furry creature tilted its head: ?
Chu Jiu looked at the next prompt.
[How to communicate with spirit beasts: Spirit beasts do not speak human language. As the spirit beast’s hidden favorability towards the host increases, the host can gradually understand the language of each spirit beast.]
So you had to rely on favorability to communicate…
Chu Jiu clicked on another prompt:
[How to assign work to spirit beasts: Click on the spirit beast icon to bring up the “work schedule.” Drag the recipes that the host needs to make onto the schedule to start work.
Note: You need to ensure that the host has enough raw materials and corresponding tools for the spirit beast to work properly.
Note: You cannot let the spirit beast be hungry for a long time, otherwise it will seriously affect work efficiency and cause a decrease in hidden favorability.
Note: Different spirit beasts have different skills and hobbies. If the assigned work is far from the spirit beast’s hobbies, the spirit beast will refuse to work.]
…Wait, could this tiny kitten really be sent out to work? What kind of black-hearted capitalist would do that?
Just as he was wondering, the system popped up a new prompt—
[Special note: Spirit beasts need to work! Spirit beasts that do not work for a long time will experience spirit power degradation and health damage!]
…It seemed that he had to be a black-hearted capitalist.
Chu Jiu decided to feed the kitten some dried fish first, at least to let the little guy eat a little, and then send it to work.
*
Chu Jiu was worried that a whole piece of dried fish would be too big and the kitten would choke, so he tore off a small strip and handed it to its mouth.
“Come on, this is my own dried fish, see if you like it.”
The kitten’s nose moved slightly, its blue eyes first glancing at Chu Jiu, then fixing on the dried fish in front of it.
It shouldn’t eat food from unknown sources.
But the dried fish smelled so good.
It licked its lips unconsciously.
Chu Jiu smiled and shook the dried fish: “It’s made from fresh river fish, with a slight sweetness.”
The dried fish shook.
The kitten’s eyeballs followed the dried fish, moving back and forth.
In an instant, as if out of instinct, the kitten leaped forward and opened its mouth—
The dried fish disappeared.
It was so fast that Chu Jiu didn’t even see how it ate it.
Chu Jiu nodded: “Not bad, you ate well.”
The kitten was also stunned—what was it doing? Eating from a stranger’s hand?
Chu Jiu tore off another small piece of dried fish.
The kitten’s mind hadn’t figured out what was going on, but its body lunged forward again, swallowing the piece of dried fish in one gulp.
Unknowingly, this fish slice, which was half the size of a washbasin, was eaten clean by this palm-sized kitten.
Chu Jiu was worried that the kitten would get a stomachache from eating so much—but then he thought, spirit beasts probably eat more.
After all, it would have to work later!
Chu Jiu made a disposable small bowl out of leaves, fed the furry creature some clear water, and then prepared to take it to work.
When he went out, Chu Jiu still held the little guy in his hands.
The kitten, who had been aloof just now, was now dizzy from eating, unable to stand up, and could only nestle in Chu Jiu’s hands, looking around blankly.
What was happening to it?
Shouldn’t it have come to kill insects?
Why did it forget everything as soon as it ate the dried fish?
And that dried fish, how could it be so delicious?
It seemed that it had never eaten anything so delicious, and had never been so full…
What should it do after it was full…
After being full… it should probably sleep…
Purr purr…
*
Chu Jiu took the kitten to the place where he was going to build the fence.
According to the system’s prompt, he found the spirit beast icon with a chibi kitten head and opened the “work schedule”—
Weird, why were all the days in the schedule “ZZZ” symbols?
Chu Jiu didn’t understand.
He didn’t think too much and dragged the “fence” facility blueprint into today’s work schedule.
[…The spirit beast refuses to build facilities.]
Eh?
He tried again.
[“Building facilities” is far from the spirit beast’s hobby, the spirit beast refuses to execute.]
…I see.
He couldn’t force the kitten to do work it didn’t like.
Chu Jiu decided to let it try farming.
Chu Jiu found a sunny spot at the edge of the forest.
Although he didn’t know how to farm, he at least knew that most crops needed plenty of sunlight.
However, after Chu Jiu dragged the “field” blueprint over, the prompt he received was still [The spirit beast refuses to work].
As if to match the system prompt, the furry creature nestled motionless, without even looking at Chu Jiu.
This posture clearly expressed: I don’t want to farm.
Ah, this…
It couldn’t build a fence, and it couldn’t farm?
Then what kind of work could he arrange for it?
Chu Jiu thought for a while and tried dragging the recipe for dishes into the schedule.
Although the dishes didn’t say that they needed a spirit beast to make, maybe the kitten would be interested in this?
After all, in games like “Monster Hunter,” there were cat meals made by cats, and eating them could add buffs.
However, the kitten yawned.
[The spirit beast refuses to work.]
[No need to arrange work for it.]
Chu Jiu: …
Wait, didn’t the system just emphasize that “spirit beasts need to work”?
The system, which originally didn’t have a question-and-answer function and never answered Chu Jiu’s questions, now supplemented and explained as if to make up for it:
[After testing, the spirit beast’s work schedule already has content. No need to arrange work for it.]
Chu Jiu looked at the series of “ZZZ” in the kitten’s schedule and couldn’t help but laugh:
It turned out that its schedule was to sleep all day and snore with “ZZZ.”
This kitten refused all work and didn’t want to do anything.
Chu Jiu: …He was a little jealous.
He sighed secretly, thinking that it was hopeless to expect this little guy to be an all-around helper or a farming expert, so he might as well raise it as a pet.
Anyway, he had always wanted to have a cat.
Thinking like this, Chu Jiu casually put the kitten in the chest pocket of his shirt. This way, he wouldn’t have to worry about the kitten getting lost, and it wouldn’t affect him cutting down trees with a knife later.
The kitten seemed to like the chest pocket very much. After getting in, it put its two paws on the edge of the pocket, drooped its head, closed its eyes, and began to snore.
Chu Jiu listened to the purring sound coming from his chest, his eyes curved, and he whispered, “Sleep well.”
*
Because he spent 30 spirit points to summon the kitten, the remaining spirit points were not enough for [Greased Soles].
Chu Jiu didn’t dare to go deep into the forest rashly, so he could only cut wood near the pioneer hut.
After half a day, he cut 40 pieces of wood and accidentally dug up [Potato Fruits X4] and picked up [Windbird Feathers X3].
Potato fruits were really good things. Not only could they be stewed and roasted, but there was also a small line of text in the illustrated card: “Can be given to spirit beasts with planting skills for seedling cultivation.” Although his kitten didn’t have planting skills now, he would always catch a spirit beast that could farm in the future, right?
As for the windbird feathers, not only were the colors beautiful, but they could also be used to make equipment, which could add special attributes.
Chu Jiu, who had gained a lot, decided to go home and replenish his stamina before continuing to make furniture.
On the way back to the hut, he saw the young woman from yesterday again.
She was still walking back and forth under the road sign, occasionally peeking in this direction.
Chu Jiu turned a corner, walked towards the woman, and waved his hand, asking, “Hello? Do you have something to ask me?”
The other party was stunned for a moment, hesitated for a moment, and finally whispered, “Yes… yes…”
“I, I want to trouble you to find something…”
Her hands clenched the edge of her long skirt tightly, and she said quickly as if she had made up her mind:
“I have something to exchange!”
“I can exchange it with a pair of socks and a roll of cloth!”
Socks? The “Pioneer Gift Pack” provided Chu Jiu with enough changes of clothes, so he wasn’t worried about not having socks.
However, Chu Jiu really needed some cloth—sleeping on a bed sheet would definitely be more comfortable than sleeping on a dry grass mat.
But Chu Jiu didn’t agree immediately.
He asked, “What do you want to exchange?”
The other party said, “I heard that you caught the Screaming Mushrooms from the forest for the village chief, and also caught a big fish for Granny Zhu…”
“I want, I want to ask you to bring back some meat from the forest.”
Chu Jiu: “Huh? Fish meat?”
“I don’t plan to go fishing in the forest again today, but I have some roasted fish jerky here, do you want…”
Before he could finish speaking, the kitten that had been sleeping in his chest suddenly perked up, raised its head, and let out a low “meow.”
This time, Chu Jiu actually understood.
The kitten was saying: No, you can’t give away the roasted fish jerky!
