Beast Taming: I Can Add Points

Su Zhi blinked. "Sorry, I forgot you were here too."

Shen Chuqing rested her chin on her hand, her expression blank.

"Ahem, this is the lady... uh, the older sister I told you about, who wanted to spar with me."

Su Zhi corrected himself quickly and aimed the camera at Shen Chuqing. When he saw her brow twitch and then relax, he breathed an inward sigh of relief.

’Dodged a bullet.’

"Pfft." Shao Ya stared at Shen Chuqing for a moment before bursting out laughing. When she spoke, it was in a perfect Hundred Rivers accent:

"Well, look at you, Ah Qing. It ain’t easy becoming a ’big sister,’ huh?"

"Cut it out. Don’t you dare come to Hundred Rivers, you good-for-nothing Bai Mao, or you’ll be in for it!"

"Alright, alright. Our Eldest Sister Shen is a real tough one, ain’t she?"

"Hmph."

Su Zhi asked, curious, "You two know each other?"

Shen Chuqing whipped her head to the side. "Never met her."

"Haha, of course we do! We lived in the same housing complex when we were kids. I even stayed at her place for a while when I went to Hundred Rivers for middle school. I can’t believe she’s the guide you were talking about."

"Are you talking about the Common Defense Alliance’s family compound?"

Su Zhi’s gaze fell on Shen Chuqing, and his heart skipped a beat. ’Wait a minute, you said you’ve lived with your granduncle since you were little... Don’t tell me...’

"My granduncle is Shen Zechuan."

"Holy shit!" Su Zhi was stunned.

’Is this some kind of cliché power-fantasy plot with a rich girl hiding her identity? And speaking of which, is Luo Sen really that influential? He even managed to rope in the Grand Alliance Leader’s grandniece...’

’No wonder she already has a Tier Four Beast Taming Space at such a young age, and her Pet Beasts are so powerful. The girl’s running on a protagonist’s build while the rest of us are just plebs. How can we even compare... Ahem, though she did lose to me.’

"You don’t have to look at me like that. My granduncle is my granduncle, and I am me."

Shen Chuqing said coolly, "He is my granduncle, but the fact that he’s the Common Defense Alliance Leader has nothing to do with me. That’s how he’s taught me since I was little—to not live in his shadow."

"Eldest Sister Shen has a point~" Shao Ya said teasingly. "Su Baby isn’t very strong, and it’s his first time in Hundred Rivers. I’ll have to trouble you to look after him, Eldest Sister Shen!"

"Of course. Your Su Zhi tastes pretty good, so I suppose I can reluctantly take him under my wing."

With that, Shen Chuqing shot Su Zhi a playful, flirtatious wink.

"!!!" Shao Ya’s eyes went wide.

Su Zhi felt his scalp tingle with dread. He snatched his phone and fled.

Watching Su Zhi’s panicked retreat, Shen Chuqing felt a great deal more cheerful. Whistling, she lay down on the grass and closed her eyes to rest.

"CHIRP..."

Shan Bao, the resident war correspondent, had witnessed the entire exchange, and an excited blush was already creeping across its face.

’I really want to follow Su Zhi and see what happens next... Nah, never mind. It’s bound to be something super dramatic!’

’Big Brother Yu Bao seems busy researching something amazing, too. No time for me, I guess.’

Shan Bao glanced around, then flew off with a FLUTTER FLUTTER toward another part of the village.

’I’ll just go find Big Brother Wu Bao to play with, then~’

·

「In a deserted corner of the village.」

Su Zhi held his phone. On the screen, the girl frowned, her cheeks puffed out. Her large, azure eyes were glistening as she stared at him, blinking.

"She was just messing with you. Don’t listen to her."

Shao Ya remained expressionless.

"We really just had a Pet Beast Battle! She was saying *Yu Bao* tasted good! She definitely wasn’t talking about me!"

Shao Ya remained expressionless.

"I swear, if I messed around, I’ll let Shan Bao smash me to death tomorrow with Super Heavy Gold Fall and Hardening!"

Shao Ya continued to remain expressionless.

After a moment, as if she couldn’t keep up the act any longer, she snorted with laughter and started rolling around on her bed, howling.

Su Zhi was a bit dumbfounded by her laughter, just as he was thinking that if his oath wasn’t enough, he could have his accomplice, Yu Bao, get smashed to death alongside him...

"I was just messing with you! I always believe in my Su Baby."

The girl said softly, the corners of her lips turning up in a slight smile. Her eyes were filled with the image of him looking so anxious and flustered just moments ago.

"It’s getting late. Get some rest, or you’ll be tired tomorrow. Congrats to Su Baby and Yu Bao on consolidating your gains! And if you don’t succeed, it’s okay. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself."

"Yeah, okay." Su Zhi nodded, smiling as well.

"However—" The girl’s tone shifted, and she suddenly wrinkled her nose.

"Even though Shen Chuqing is your guide, you don’t have to listen to everything she says. You have to use your own judgment! Don’t let some bad woman lead you astray."

"Alright, alright, I know." Su Zhi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

’One second she was acting completely unconcerned, and the next she was like a little kitten guarding its food, trying to act fierce as she bared her claws.’

’This is nice.’

"What about you? How was your weekend?"

"Ugh, it was dead boring." At the mention of the weekend, Shao Ya sighed helplessly.

"I wanted to go to the Battle Hall with Katie, but she said she was busy. I asked our class’s academic rep, but she was busy too. Then I tried to find Cao Mingyu, but I couldn’t get in touch with him. The principal said he took a long leave of absence to go traveling. Even Fang Yuan had something going on... Everyone’s just been really busy lately."

"Is that so? Alright." Su Zhi smiled. "In that case, I’ll try to get back as soon as I’m finished here."

The corners of the girl’s mouth lifted slightly, her smile as sweet as sugar.

"It’s late. You should get to sleep."

"Okay! Good night, Su Baby!"

The call ended, and the quiet of the night settled back in.

As Su Zhi walked back, he suddenly felt a surge of gratitude for advanced modern communication technology.

’Praise be to Luo Sen!’

·

In a room somewhere in the village, Wu Bao looked at its newly published Chapter and rubbed its hands together piously.

’Human technology is truly amazing!’

He had been worried that leaving the city’s signal towers would affect his tablet’s internet connection, but to his surprise, he could get online even here.

He’d heard that someone named Luo Sen had invented aerospace signal stations, allowing devices to connect to the network from anywhere on Blue Star. Although it was more expensive than a conventional connection, it was also incredibly convenient.