Astral Pet Store (WN)

Joanna sat in a nursing pen on the side, eyeing both with curiosity.

Su Ping didn’t offer an explanation.

“Get up.”

Su Ping kicked Tang Ruyan and canceled their temporary contract.

Soon, Tang Ruyan came back to her senses. She opened her eyes and looked around, confused.

The store?

She felt her head was heavy.

“What happened to me?” Tang Ruyan rubbed her head and asked Su Ping.

“You got drunk.”

Joanna rolled her eyes.

Can he make up a worse lie?

However, to Joanna’s greater astonishment, Tang Ruyan didn’t seem to doubt that. She simply said “oh,” seemingly having bought such an excuse.

What…

Joanna was dumbstruck.

They had been working in the store for quite a long time; how come she failed to see that the girl was a fool?

How could she have believed that lame excuse?

Su Ping was relieved since Tang Ruyan didn’t question him. He had just asked the system. The Dream Inducer worked on her and would stop working from that moment onwards.

Her memories of the cultivation site were sealed away.

“Do you remember anything before you passed out?” Su Ping decided to sound her out.

Tang Ruyan shook her head. “I don’t. Anyway, why was I drunk? I’ve never been a drinker.”

“I told you to drink some wine with me. Uncle Li next door had a dog that gave birth to some puppies. I decided that it would be good to celebrate,” Su Ping answered.

Joanna: “…”

Tang Ruyan could not believe what she had just heard. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I thought the Tang family was in trouble. Get ready. It’s about time you go back home.” Su Ping waved his hand.

Tang Ruyan came back to her senses at the mention of her family. She crawled up from the ground. “How, how long have I been out?”

“A day or two.” Su Ping heaved a sigh. “You should really practice your drinking. You can’t hold your liquor at all. A girl should learn to drink and smoke.”

Tang Ruyan: “…”

A day or two?

Really?

That long?

She never drank wine and the Tang family forbade drinking. She didn’t even know if she could trust Su Ping or not. “I’m going to go right away,” Tang Ruyan said at once.

Either way, the important task at hand was to hurry back to the Tang family. She was sure she would hate herself for the rest of her life if she were too late!

Su Ping didn’t stop her. “Be careful.”

“Yes, I will,” she said.

She dashed out toward the door, only to see that she couldn’t get the door to open. Su Ping opened the door for her. To her surprise, the store looked different; more spacious, and more elegant.

“What’s this about?”

“Oh, I redid the store while you were out,” Su Ping answered, “We’ve made money, right? I thought it was high time we dolled up the store.”

That makes sense, Tang Ruyan thought.

Su Ping could make the pets become amazing and he did charge princely sums for his services. Still, the customers saw it as money well spent. Su Ping had a stunning daily revenue that no other pet store could compare to. Only the franchise stores operating in major base cities under famous brands could have revenues close to what the Pixie Pet Store made.

“Where’s the bathroom?” Tang Ruyan looked around and asked.

“I thought you were in a hurry.”

“But I cannot go back with messy hair and a dirty face!”

Su Ping pointed the way. Su Ping summoned the Little Skeleton while Tang Ruyan went to clean herself up. He patted its skull and told it again what he had said before.

The Little Skeleton nodded.

Although its reactions could be seen as slow, it was actually quite smart.

Soon, Tang Ruyan came back.

She had fixed her hair and cleaned her face. Now and then, there would be a glint of sharpness in her eyes that had not been there before.

She might not have realized it herself but she was becoming more capable and experienced than before.

Su Ping was less worried.

“This is strange. I think my hair is longer,” Tang Ruyan voiced her doubt.

“Is that so? I didn’t notice.”

“My hair is longer. I’m sure of it.” Tang Ruyan sounded affirmative. Girls were quite sensitive to the length of their hair. Su Ping was forced to come up with an excuse. “I think it’s probably because of the drinking. The alcohol stimulated the female hormones in you, which have in turn made your hair grow. The fact it can happen is proof that you’re not resistant to alcohol at all, because you never drank in the past.”

“…Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure!”

Tang Ruyan moved away from the subject. She cast a look at the Little Skeleton.

“Are you sure you want to lend the Little Skeleton to me?”

“Yes.”

Tang Ruyan was relieved. She would worry less with the Little Skeleton keeping her company.

“I shall go then.” Tang Ruyan looked into Su Ping’s eyes.

She wasn’t sure if she would make it back alive. She felt sad.

Su Ping could tell she was having second thoughts. But he was sure that she would be fine with the Little Skeleton and her improvement. She would only suffer from misfortune if several legendary battle pet warriors were to strike her at the same time.

“Go. Remember to bring us some souvenirs.”

Su Ping was still the ever heartless creature. Tang Ruyan bit her lower lip and eventually turned away.

Tang Ruyan didn’t hear anything else from Su Ping as she reached the door. How disappointing. Although frustrated, she left the store without looking back.

She was afraid that he would see the tears in her eyes.

So, she kept her head low and walked on, faster and faster… until she bumped into a lamp post.

She covered her forehead, walked around the lamp pole, and went away.

Suddenly, she remembered that Su Ping had promised to lend her the Little Skeleton. She turned around, and to her great relief, the Little Skeleton was there with her.

She patted its skull. “I’ll have to rely on you when I get back home.”

The Little Skeleton looked at her. The red glow flickered in its eye sockets as if the Little Skeleton were blinking.

Tang Ruyuan smiled at the Little Skeleton. She looked at the store but Su Ping was not there. Feeling dejected, she went away.

“Xiao Tang, where are you going?” someone said to her.

Tang Ruyan turned to meet the speaker. It was Su Ping’s mom, Li Qingru. Tang Ruyan forced a smile. “I’m going back home.” “Home? Isn’t your home far away?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Do you have enough money for transportation?”

“Yes, don’t worry.”

Tang Ruyan stepped away in haste.

She only freed herself from that sadness after she left that street. She heaved a sigh and focused her mind on the Tang family.

She hailed a cab to get to the train station.

“I think I had a long dream…” While on the way, Tang Ruyan’s mind began to wander. She felt she had a long, long dream but she could not, for the life of her, remember what that dream was about.

This would always be the case with her. She would get up and forget the dream. “What?”

Soon, Tang Ruyan noticed something peculiar about herself.

Her senses were heightened.

She could sense the subtle noises and the energy of battle pet warriors.

She noticed that the astral powers inside her were profound. She was not at the seventh rank… it was the ninth rank!

“What…?”

Tang Ruyan was in shock.

Baffled, she asked herself, Is there something wrong with my senses?

Since when could drinking increase one’s rank?

She recalled stories she had heard when she was a kid.

Rumors had it that people with uncommon constitutions could be awakened after eating certain things and they could find great potential within themselves!

For example, some could possess the power of lightning after being struck by lightning; some were able to climb walls after being bitten by spiders!

So…

Was she one of those people who had uncommon constitutions?

Is drinking the trigger?!

Tang Ruyan opened her eyes wide in exaltation. She got drunk once and she had climbed two ranks. How amazing! If that was the case, she was the luckiest! She could not help but burst into loud laughter. “Ha, ha, ha…” Hiss!

The taxi driver suddenly swerved the wheel. Terrified, he glared at the crazy woman sitting at the back seat through the rearview mirror. He reached toward his phone, thinking about calling the police.

There’s a crazy person in my car!

“What do you think you’re doing!”

All of a sudden, the laughter stopped. Tang Ruyan grabbed the driver’s seat and pulled herself closer to him.

She could sense that the driver was up to no good. She couldn’t tell why she had that feeling but she did sense this. Out of pure instinct, she unleashed her killing intent and she didn’t even realize she had done so. Her hair was dancing, gradually taking the shape of machetes.

“A ghost!!!” the driver screamed. With a bang, the car bumped into the railings. Tang Ruyan stepped out of the car. As she stared at the smoking car, she wondered if the driver had been obsessed with her because of her beauty. She shook her head. She was still happy about her big improvement. Some had stopped their cars, surrounding the car crash scenes. Amid people’s stares, she tried to unleash her astral powers, and then, off the ground she went!

Whoosh!

She was flying!

She wasn’t dreaming that!

She opened her eyes wide in disbelief.

She was a titled battle pet warrior!!

The onlookers were surprised. That driver was surely courting death, having crashed the car when a titled battle pet warrior was a passenger.

Excited, Tang Ruyan flew onward.

Whoosh!

She disappeared from the spot.

“Oh, crap, I forgot to tell her.”

Pixie Pet Store.

Soon after Tang Ruyan left, Su Ping thought of something. He patted his head.

“She must be curious about her rank. I forgot to tell her… I wonder if she has already left the base city.” Su Ping called her at once.

She answered her phone.

All he could hear was her wild laughter.

That sounded all too familiar. She would act like that when she was in the cultivation site.

Has she gone nuts again? He wondered. “Ha, ha, ha, listen up, my dear boss, I am at the titled rank!” Tang Ruyan shouted.

Su Ping could hear the wind on the phone. He supposed she was flying at the moment. He pictured how a girl was flying around, laughing like a deranged person; the image made him shudder.

“Listen up, I’m a super genius. I have a special constitution. I cannot believe that I can become stronger by drinking. Ha, ha, ha. Don’t you envy me?” Tang Ruyan screamed.

Su Ping curled his lips.

The girl needs to see a doctor.

Su Ping interrupted her, “Listen, I transferred some of my astral powers so that you could improve. Get your head right. I called to tell you this.”

Her laughter came to an abrupt stop.