[Female-oriented dual male leads story, mind-reading and gossip theme. If you don’t like that, don’t read!
Top (gong): Yu Beixuan; Bottom (shou): Si Er. The gong appears a bit later.
The shou has a rather laid-back personality, but his strength is about the same as the gong’s—always the strongest at his level.
Because Si Er has come to save the world, the mind-reading mechanism works like this: as long as someone pays attention to Si Er and harbors no ill intent toward him, they can hear his inner thoughts.]
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Chapter 1: The Rabbit Takes Me to Eat Melon
On the Continent of Ten Thousand Beasts, outside Central City.
Si Er wore a small green mushroom on his head, held a big white rabbit in his arms, and rode a red ostrich, leisurely following the crowd toward the city gates.
His lineup didn’t look strange among the crowd, because this was a world where everyone was a Soul Pet Master.
People on this continent cultivated soul power from a young age. At six years old, they would search for a magical beast or magical plant that resonated with their soul and attempt to form a contract. Those who succeeded would officially become Soul Pet Masters.
Those who failed to contract any beast or plant would be treated as cast-offs and sent to the Wilderness City, where they would live out an ordinary yet peaceful life.
These few days marked the recruitment period for the Four Great Academies of Central City. Anyone who dared to apply believed themselves fairly talented, and most had at least two soul pets by their side.
The green mushroom on Si Er’s head was eye-catching, but since it was so small, most people assumed it was just a hair accessory and thought his taste was rather… unique.
Si Er was completely unaware of the strange looks. He curiously observed everything around him while listening to gossip transmitted into his mind by the rabbit in his arms.
[See that boy up ahead with the red rooster-comb hairstyle? He’s like you—also here from some small mountain village to apply. His whole family’s favorite soul pets are chickens!]
[His dad contracted a crowing chicken. It crows on the hour every half hour—works just like a clock.]
[It even makes different calls depending on the weather. Absolutely indispensable for farming folks.]
[When danger approaches, it gives warning cries in advance. What a good chicken! An unparalleled good chicken!]
[His mom contracted an egg-laying chicken. As long as it’s well fed, it lays five eggs a day! Another good chicken!]
[He’s even more impressive! He contracted a Flame Chicken! It can breathe fire from its beak, fan flames with its wings—a truly excellent fire-starting chicken.]
Si Er listened with great interest.
He had always loved animals. In his previous life, his dream was to become a zookeeper, and he had even majored in veterinary medicine for that purpose.
An orphan who had finally grown up, graduated college, and successfully passed his interview—only to be crushed to death on his way home by someone who jumped off a building…
The jumper survived.
Si Er had been furious. With the resentment he felt at the time, he figured turning into a vengeful ghost wouldn’t have been impossible.
Perhaps his intense soul fluctuations attracted something—because a system appeared, bound itself to him, and brought him into a transmigration novel.
His current identity was the Third Young Master of the City Lord’s Manor in East Radiance City on the Continent of Ten Thousand Beasts. He had been maliciously swapped at birth and left to drift outside.
By the time the Si family finally found the original body, the boy had already starved to death for over half a year.
Si Er arrived at the exact moment the original body died of hunger. It was utterly miserable.
When he opened his eyes, he saw an irregular patch of blue sky framed by a broken roof. Reaching to the side, he felt uneven, muddy ground.
A palm-sized field mouse had wobbled past him, kindly leaving behind two peanuts.
Si Er had been so moved he nearly cried—almost wishing he could die again.
But the system quickly transmitted the world’s background settings to him. Si Er immediately sprang up and ran into the mountains to find his destined beast.
In this world, raising any animal was perfectly legal. It was heaven!
Although far more dangerous than his previous world, Si Er was more than willing.
He traveled through forests and deserts, successively contracting a healing jade-green lingzhi mushroom, a Mingxi Holy Rabbit that could identify all kinds of gossip just by seeing someone’s face, and a Wind-Flame Ostrich that could fan wind, spit fire, and run incredibly fast.
All three were of excellent quality; the first two were even top-tier soul pets.
For a moment, Si Er had almost suspected he was the chosen one.
Unfortunately, he was merely a minor cannon-fodder character without even a proper appearance. The true male lead was the fake young master who had taken his identity—Si Ran.
Ever since being crushed to death, Si Er had developed a deep awareness of his cannon-fodder fate. He had no intention of acknowledging the Si family.
After all, the system bound to him was called the Soul Pet Cultivation System, not the Cannon Fodder Counterattack System. No need to waste that effort.
But after drifting in the wild for months, Si Er longed to settle down somewhere. Eventually, he set his sights on the Four Great Academies, which provided room and board.
The Si family and the two male leads were at Azure Dragon Academy. Fine—he’d apply to one of the other three academies! Not a big deal.
As long as he stayed reclusive enough, he wouldn’t run into anyone from the plot.
Just as Si Er thought this, the rabbit in his arms—Guagua—started shouting in his mind again.
[Er Er, look! That beautiful boy in green at your left front looks just like you!]
[And that beautiful boy in red next to him looks a little like you too!]
Where? Where?
Si Er curiously looked in the direction Guagua indicated and indeed saw two handsome youths—one in green, one in red.
The one in green looked slightly older, refined and handsome, with a gentle and elegant temperament. A small emerald bird perched on his left shoulder, and a large eagle with black-and-green feathers rested on his right arm.
The one in red was slightly shorter. His features were stunningly beautiful, yet his temperament carried a touch of delicate innocence…
Si Er didn’t quite know how to describe it, but he knew most men in this world would feel protective upon seeing him.
Because he had transmigrated into a boys’ love novel, and that red-clad beauty—with a red butterfly resting on his hair crown and a red dragonfly perched on his shoulder—was the universally adored male lead shou, Si Ran!
The styling, the soul pets—everything matched the book’s description exactly!
And the youth in green was the cannon-fodder second brother of this body, Si Xu.
Si Er couldn’t help glancing at him twice—and met Si Xu’s gaze.
Startled, Si Er quickly turned his head away, but Si Xu remained staring at his profile in a daze.
Realizing the other party was still looking at him, Si Er hurriedly buried his face in Guagua’s fluffy fur.
[Oh my god, Er Er, you and that boy in green are actually blood brothers! No wonder you look so alike!]
[And that boy in red is your cousin! Hurry up and acknowledge them! They look rich. If you go back, you could immediately—]
[Huh? Wait! That cousin of yours actually stole your identity!]
[Oh my god! Your third uncle crippled your soul power and had someone dump you thousands of miles away just so his illegitimate son could replace you?]
Guagua was utterly shocked, its fluffy ears standing straight up as it lightly patted Si Er’s cheek with its paws.
[How can we swallow this kind of injustice? Go! Tear that imposter apart!]
Forget it, forget it. I heard big families have lots of constraints. Let’s just lie low outside.
Si Er didn’t dare approach them. Even Si Xu, who had received elite training in the Si family since childhood, couldn’t outmaneuver Si Ran. How could an outsider like him confront them head-on?
What was that sound?
The passersby who had been eyeing the green mushroom on Si Er’s head now looked at him curiously. They had clearly heard this boy speaking just now—
But his lips hadn’t moved at all.
