Chapter 4: Another Little Beast
Dong Li owned a small medicine furnace and loved using it to concoct all kinds of strange pills.
Most of the time, he would secretly drop them into Supervisor Ba’s cup, then hide nearby and watch to see what happened.
Sometimes he gave them to Lufiel too.
Of course, anything he gave Lufiel was always mild, with no unpleasant side effects.
Like this Grape Pill.
After swallowing it, Lufiel felt as though he had taken a sip of sweet wine with a faint spicy kick.
“What does it feel like?”
Dong Li pressed him for details, touching Lufiel’s face and hands as he carefully observed him. Then he leaned closer to listen to his breathing.
“My heart’s beating faster,” Lufiel said quietly, watching him. “And I feel warmer.”
“That’s it?” Dong Li asked, his violet eyes shining with curiosity. “I put one in Supervisor Ba’s cup yesterday, and he passed out for a whole hour!”
None of these medicines had any effect on Dong Li himself. He couldn’t even taste them.
At that, Lufiel gave a soft laugh.
That was when Dong Li noticed the faint flush creeping over the tips of his ears.
Probably another effect of the pill.
Dong Li’s eyes widened slightly.
Curious, he studied Lufiel for a long moment before edging even closer.
He sniffed the faint grape scent on him and mumbled, “I kind of want to kiss you…”
Lufiel lowered his eyes.
“Mm.”
Dong Li was practically tucked into his arms already.
He leaned in and kissed Lufiel on the cheek.
Lufiel stared at the lashes so close to his face, his breath catching for an instant.
At this distance, it would have been effortless to kiss him properly.
Unfortunately, warning messages kept flashing across his system interface.
[You have entered an NPC’s private space. Please maintain an appropriate distance.]
[You have entered an NPC’s private space. Please maintain an appropriate distance.]
…
By then, the two of them had already become Level-One Partners.
But in the game, Level-One Partners were only allowed slightly more intimate interaction than close friends—and even that depended on the NPC’s willingness.
Most players who partnered with NPCs only did it for quests anyway.
In short, Dong Li was allowed to kiss Lufiel.
Lufiel was not allowed to kiss Dong Li.
Nor could he make any other overly intimate move.
He had to be careful at all times.
Otherwise, the moment the system detected a violation, he would be thrown straight into confinement.
Dong Li knew absolutely none of this.
He simply burrowed against Lufiel’s chest and rubbed his face against him.
Just then, the little fox returned with a miniature bamboo basket strapped to its back, filled with freshly gathered medicinal plants.
“I’m heading back!” Dong Li said.
He stood, scooped up the little fox, and waved goodbye to Lufiel.
…
The brief memory faded.
Lufiel closed his eyes for a moment, then sent his sword aura farther out to continue the search.
Players’ mental energy couldn’t take physical form inside the game world.
In a way, that actually made it easier to use.
Liufeng soon left the Fuling Region as well, choosing a direction away from Dragonbone Town so they could cover more ground.
If they were lucky, Dong Li hadn’t gone far.
They might still find him tonight.
Normally, when an NPC malfunctioned, they became confused and disoriented, wandering aimlessly with no clear destination.
If the faulty data was corrected quickly enough, there was even a chance the NPC would simply return on their own…
But by five in the morning, neither of them had found anything.
Lufiel was almost at Dragonbone Town.
After some thought, Liufeng suggested, “Why don’t you log off and get some rest? Don’t you have training today?”
“It’s still early.”
Liufeng didn’t push him.
“Well, I don’t have class today. My weapon’s still refining in the forge, so I can’t log off yet anyway. I can keep looking for you while you’re gone. Or I could drag Liuye in too…”
“Thanks.”
“Oh, come on. Just lend me your Crimson-Gold Sword next time I run a dungeon.”
While they spoke, Lufiel entered Dragonbone Town.
Liufeng didn’t forget to remind him, “Keep your disguise on. Don’t let anyone recognize you.”
Dragonbone Town had three times as many players as the Fuling Region.
And Lufiel was basically a walking spotlight.
If anyone discovered that he was searching for a particular NPC, Dong Li would inevitably attract attention too.
“Mm.”
Lufiel wore black robes and a metal mask, leaving no recognizable features exposed.
Even so, his tall frame still stood out in the crowd.
After scanning the area, he decided to search the outskirts first.
The town itself was crowded and comparatively safe.
Dong Li, as a fox spirit, had almost no combat ability.
Once outside the Fuling Region, the world was far more dangerous for him—whether because of the players everywhere or the regional monsters that appeared from time to time.
Lufiel headed south along the outskirts of town.
Golden sword aura circled high overhead, nearly impossible to detect.
Suddenly, a notification panel appeared at the corner of his vision.
The signal for an external communication request lit up.
Lufiel opened it.
When he saw who was calling, his brows drew together slightly.
He ignored it at first.
The signal disappeared for a moment.
Then it lit up again.
Lufiel stopped walking.
Eventually, he withdrew his sword aura and said to Liufeng, “Something came up. I’m logging off.”
“Go ahead,” Liufeng replied through the game call. “I’ll contact you if I find anything.”
Lufiel logged out.
Inside his private dorm room, the silver-gray gaming pod slowly opened.
Lufiel sat up and activated the communicator on his wrist.
“Uncle Lin.”
“Young Master,” came the voice of a middle-aged man from the other end. “I’m sorry to disturb you at this hour. The Chief woke up a little while ago. Even in his sleep, he seemed to keep calling your name… Would you come see him?”
Lufiel was silent for a moment.
“All right.”
After ending the call, he stepped out of the gaming pod and changed clothes.
By the time he was ready, a private starship from Tianheng Star had already arrived at the military academy plaza.
Before leaving, Lufiel opened the drawer of his desk, took out two pills, and swallowed them.
—
The private starship traveled smoothly along an exclusive route and soon arrived at a sanatorium on the capital planet.
Butler Lin was already waiting at the docking area and led Lufiel inside.
When they reached the room, the white-haired old man on the bed had his eyes closed and appeared to be asleep.
Lufiel did not enter immediately.
Standing beside him, Butler Lin lowered his voice.
“The Chief’s condition has improved somewhat lately, but he still hasn’t been sleeping well. He wakes repeatedly throughout the night…”
Before he could finish, a muffled cough came from inside.
Then a hoarse voice called, “Water.”
The caregiver waiting outside hurried in to pour a glass.
Seeing that the old man was awake, Butler Lin entered as well.
Lufiel followed and waited quietly.
Once the caregiver left, he stood a short distance from the bedside.
“Grandfather.”
Lu Zenuo settled back against the bed.
His gaze swept over Lufiel before his eyes closed again.
“Why are you here?”
Butler Lin quietly retreated toward the doorway.
“I came to see you,” Lufiel replied.
“What is there to see?” Lu Zenuo’s voice was hoarse, deep, and cold. “You should be focusing on your training. Who knows what you’ve been wasting your attention on instead.”
Naturally, people reported Lufiel’s day-to-day activities to him.
That included the fact that Lufiel had been playing the most popular full-dive game on the market.
Still, Lufiel passed every assessment with perfect results, and his academic grades were flawless.
At most, Lu Zenuo would make a few remarks and leave it at that.
After a moment, he lifted his eyelids again.
“You had a mental-power evaluation yesterday?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“Stable for now.”
The academy had specifically arranged the evaluation for him.
The report had only come out the previous night, so Lu Zenuo had not yet heard the results.
“Heh…” Lu Zenuo closed his eyes again. “They certainly do value you.”
Lufiel remained silent.
The only sound in the room was Lu Zenuo’s low, rasping voice.
The longer he spoke, the slower his words became.
His thoughts seemed to be growing muddled, and eventually even his speech became difficult to make out.
“What a pity… my child…”
“If not for… would it ever have been your turn?”
Lufiel lowered his gaze.
His expression remained calm, as if he hadn’t heard a word.
Behind him, Butler Lin hardly dared to breathe.
Only when Lu Zenuo’s breathing evened out and he drifted back to sleep did Lufiel turn to leave.
Butler Lin said carefully, “Take care, Young Master.”
—
By the time Lufiel returned to Tianheng Star, it was already seven in the morning.
He checked the time and went straight to the training grounds.
He completed his entire training quota for the day in one stretch.
After submitting the record, he messaged his instructor to request leave, then finally returned to his dorm.
At nine in the morning, Liufeng saw Lufiel come online and sent him another voice-call request.
“My weapon’s finished refining,” Liufeng said. “Liuye still hasn’t replied to me, so I’m gonna log off and sleep for a while.”
“All right.”
Liufeng paused.
Then he added, “Try not to worry too much. If we can’t find him, maybe he’s hiding somewhere.”
The game world was simply too large.
Every region was built in extraordinary detail, and even concentrated mental energy couldn’t search every single corner.
“All right.”
Lufiel answered again.
The call ended, and Liufeng logged off.
Standing on the outskirts of Dragonbone Town, Lufiel resumed his original route.
At the same time, he opened his in-game photo album.
It was filled entirely with Dong Li.
Dong Li sitting quietly.
Dong Li talking.
Dong Li lying in the grass beneath the sun.
Dong Li playing with Rongrong…
There were a few videos mixed in among the screenshots too.
Lufiel went through them one by one, moving backward from the most recent.
At last, some of the tension that had been suppressed in his eyes for so long began to ease.
He hadn’t used the game’s camera function much, though.
Most of the pictures had been taken after he and Dong Li became partners.
The last image in the album—which was also the first one he had ever taken—showed Dong Li sitting in front of him with Rongrong in his arms.
At the time, they hadn’t become partners yet.
But that was the day Lufiel learned the little fox’s name.
“His name is Rongrong,” Dong Li had said. “And I’m Rongrong too. It’s my nickname.”
The little fox in his arms gave a soft “mm,” its tail tip swaying.
Its pale-violet eyes were identical to its owner’s.
Lufiel looked at Dong Li.
“Rongrong.”
Meeting his gaze, Dong Li’s cheeks slowly turned pink.
After hesitating for a moment, he hugged the little fox and edged closer.
“You’re really handsome…” he murmured. “Do you live here too?”
…
[Attention]
A notification suddenly chimed.
Lufiel looked up.
[Demonic energy detected at coordinates (75, 154). Concentration: Level 5.]
It was a regional alert informing nearby players of a monster’s presence.
Players could choose to avoid it or go hunt it.
A Level-5 concentration meant the monster was extremely powerful.
Lufiel opened the alert details.
Only one monster in this area matched the criteria: the Bronze-Armored Taotie.
According to its usual hunting cycle, however, the Bronze-Armored Taotie should currently be badly wounded and fleeing somewhere near Dragonbone Town.
Following the coordinates, Lufiel turned toward the side.
—
At that same moment, Dong Li was crouching in the bushes.
Completely focused, he peered at a group of players not far away while taking a bite from a wild fruit he had just picked.
A little earlier, he had happened to pass nearby.
The moment those “outsiders” saw him, all of them became wary, clearly not wanting him to come any closer.
They hadn’t actually done anything to him, though.
Rongrong had been hiding inside his hood at the time.
Dong Li had obediently walked away—or at least pretended to.
In reality, he hadn’t gone far at all.
“Which way did it run?”
“Somewhere around here…”
“Spread out. It’s already weakened, so it’ll be hiding somewhere out of sight.”
They were all in the same party.
Several of the players wore heavy armor that made them look particularly imposing.
“It can’t eat anything to recover right now,” one of them said. “Keep your eyes open. Don’t let another party steal it from us.”
Rongrong had already crawled out of Dong Li’s hood and hidden in the bushes.
Once the players left, the little fox suddenly popped its head up.
Dong Li stood as well, finished the rest of his fruit in a few quick bites, and peered after them.
Those were players, right?
What were they doing?
The surroundings grew quiet again.
Something shifted beneath Dong Li’s coat.
Yuanbao poked its nose out, sniffing the air as it warily surveyed the area.
When Dong Li had woken up that morning, Yuanbao still looked weak.
He had fed it the few fresh pills he had brewed, then tidied the bed they had slept in.
While getting dressed, he had also found an orange stone tucked inside his hood.
Rongrong must have dropped it there yesterday.
Dong Li had sniffed it.
Then tried biting it.
He still couldn’t figure out what it was, so he had casually stuffed it into his pocket.
Afterward, he quietly slipped out of the courtyard and headed toward Dragonbone Town.
He kept both Rongrong and Yuanbao hidden as before.
He wasn’t traveling very fast, and little by little, his attention kept being drawn to the scenery along the road.
That was how he had run into the group of players just now.
Dong Li pulled a second wild fruit from his pocket, opened the map to check his direction, then continued onward.
Rongrong had been cooped up long enough.
Now that no one was around, it raced back and forth through the grass, sniffing here and there.
Dong Li had no idea how long they had been walking when he saw Rongrong dash off into the distance.
The little fox seemed to have discovered something.
It circled a clump of bushes several times, then raised one paw and smacked the branches hard.
Dong Li assumed it had found some kind of medicinal plant.
But as he approached, a series of threatening growls came from inside the bushes.
“Huh?”
Dong Li bent down.
There seemed to be a small animal hiding inside, though he couldn’t make out what it looked like.
He leaned closer for a better look.
Several black metal shards suddenly shot out from the undergrowth.
Rongrong reacted instantly.
A burst of golden flame sprayed from its mouth, knocking every shard out of the air.
They clattered to the ground.
Several branches were sliced clean through, exposing the creature hidden within.
It was a small pitch-black beast, about the same size as Yuanbao.
Armor-like plates covered its entire body, and it was curled tightly in the middle of the bushes.
It was injured.
Several of the plates on its body were cracked, its breathing came fast and ragged, and its crimson eyes glared fiercely at Dong Li as it prepared to attack again.
Rongrong refused to back down.
It bared its teeth and growled, planting itself protectively in front of Dong Li.
The black beast clearly knew it couldn’t win.
But it refused to lose its nerve.
Its entire body trembled faintly.
Dong Li stared at it curiously.
Then he glanced down at Yuanbao in his arms and thought back to the players from earlier.
Could this little creature…be like Yuanbao?
Some kind of dungeon boss too?
The players had injured it.
It was in terrible condition now and might even be close to dying.
With wounded Yuanbao already in his arms, Dong Li couldn’t help feeling sorry when he saw another little beast in the same situation.
After hesitating, he took two pills from his medicine furnace and placed them in front of it.
Yuanbao always loved eating the medicine Dong Li made.
Once it had eaten enough, it could recover.
Maybe this little beast could too…
The creature stared at Dong Li.
Apparently unconcerned about poison or anything else, it opened its mouth and swallowed both pills at once.
Its condition visibly improved.
It rose to its feet, sprang out of the bushes, then turned back to look at Dong Li.
A moment later, it slipped into the grass and disappeared.
Far away, Lufiel arrived at the coordinates of the demonic energy and saw players searching everywhere for the Bronze-Armored Taotie.
