Chapter 23: Beast Taming King

Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Beast Taming King

"Sure. When I get a chance, I’ll take you to see the lab."

Zhou Yuan agreed without a second thought.

Gu Qing was a little surprised he agreed so readily. He immediately struck while the iron was hot and asked:

"Brother Yuan, when do you think that chance might be?"

"When the lab’s empty, I’ll sneak you in."

Zhou Yuan didn’t mince his words. He was direct and to the point—a real down-to-earth guy.

Gu Qing praised him sincerely, "Brother Yuan, you’re a true friend!"

They played a few more games.

Suddenly, Zhou Yuan said he had something to do and couldn’t play anymore. Leaving a "let’s play again next week," he muted his mic and got busy.

Seeing his target had stopped playing, Gu Qing lost the motivation to continue.

He simply told the remaining two, "You guys go on, I’m a little tired. I’m going to lie down for a bit."

As soon as he lay down on his bed, a thought occurred to him, and he pulled up his panel to check his Attributes.

[Name: Gu Qing]

[Age: 21]

[Devouring (Upgradeable/Fuseable): Your Digestion Ability is greatly enhanced]

[Lightning Reflexes (Upgradeable/Fuseable): Your Reaction Speed is greatly enhanced]

[Extraordinary Comprehension Acquisition Progress: 38/100]

[Muscle Knots Acquisition Progress: 41/100]

He gave it a casual glance.

Gu Qing fell into deep thought.

Gao Fei went to the beach and wouldn’t be back until Sunday night.

Xia Shuran also went home and wouldn’t return to campus until Sunday night.

He couldn’t get Yang Yuntong to go out and grind problems with him.

And Zhou Yuan was only free to play games next week.

’Thinking about it, there’s no point in staying at school this weekend.’

’Forget it.’

’There’s no one to grind Attributes with.’

’I might as well go home.’

With that thought, Gu Qing decisively got out of bed and said goodbye to his two roommates.

He took the bus home for lunch.

It wasn’t even ten in the morning yet, so he had plenty of time to get home for lunch.

...

「A little over an hour later.」

Huaxuan Residence, Building B, Apartment 608.

The moment Gu Qing walked in, he saw his younger sister, Gu Yao, lying on the sofa playing on her phone. She had one leg propped up nonchalantly, her foot bobbing up and down in a very unladylike manner.

Seeing his sister’s fair little foot, he couldn’t help but remember the sight of her furiously picking her feet last week, and he burst out laughing.

"What are you laughing at?"

Seeing her brother staring at her and grinning foolishly the moment he got home, Gu Yao was completely bewildered.

Gu Qing chuckled. "Nothing, I just remembered you picking your feet in your room last week."

"Get lost!"

Gu Yao, both embarrassed and angry, grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. "You’d better forget about it, or I’ll sneak into your room tonight and smack you with a bat until you get amnesia!"

Seeing his sister was genuinely getting angry, Gu Qing stopped teasing her.

He headed for the kitchen to see if his parents needed any help.

...

「Half an hour later.」

The family of four sat around the table, eating.

Midway through the meal, Gu Yao suddenly asked curiously:

"Bro, I saw the video of you being a hero last weekend. That guy was swinging a kitchen knife around wildly. How did you dare to go up and stop him? Weren’t you afraid of getting slashed?"

In her memory, her own brother had always been a very rational person.

She couldn’t understand how Gu Qing had dared to rush in bare-handed that night to subdue an armed assailant.

"I was a bit impulsive that night. I was pretty scared myself afterward," Gu Qing explained casually.

Gu Yao put on the air of an elder and lectured, "I’m telling you, Little Qing, you need to be more careful from now on. Don’t keep making Mom and Dad worry."

The words had barely left her mouth when their mother, Wen Wanyi, gently tapped her on the head with her chopsticks and said irritably:

"You girl, watch your mouth. Have some respect for your elders. Now eat!"

"Oh."

Gu Yao pouted and lowered her head to eat.

...

「After the meal.」

Their parents went out for some unknown reason.

The two siblings were in the living room, playing on their phones.

"Bro, I was scrolling Douyin and saw a new pet shop opened up across from our complex. The pets there are trained so well, even the cats can do backflips. I have no idea how they trained them."

Gu Yao stared at her phone, her face full of amazement.

Gu Qing was skeptical. "Isn’t that just AI?"

"I’m not an idiot. You think I can’t tell if it’s AI or not?"

"But you are an idiot."

"You’re the idiot!"

Gu Yao shot her brother a fierce glare, then forwarded the video to him. "I sent it to you. See for yourself if it’s AI."

Gu Qing opened the video and took a look. It really didn’t seem to be AI.

The little animals in the video, from their expressions to their movements, were all incredibly realistic. He couldn’t find any trace of AI.

"The owner of this shop is really something else, to even teach a dumb creature like a Hakimi to do a backflip."

Gu Qing sighed with emotion as he watched the video. "If this were the world of Pocket Monster, they’d be a master trainer, guaranteed."

"Bro, the shop is right across from the complex. Why don’t we go check it out?"

"No, I’m not interested in pets."

"But I am! Just come with me!"

"Nope."

"If you come with me now, when I get to college, the moment I meet any pretty female classmates, I’ll introduce them to you first."

"Whether or not they’re female classmates isn’t important. What’s important is that I want to be a good big brother."

As he spoke, Gu Qing got up from the sofa and urged his sister, "Don’t just sit there. Get up, put on your shoes, and let’s go to the pet shop."

Gu Yao gave him a look of contempt. "Heh, you sure changed your tune fast. On behalf of my future sister-in-law, I look down on you."

...

「A little over ten minutes later.」

The brother and sister left their complex and arrived at the entrance of the pet shop.

"Huh? Little Fairy Pet Shop?"

Gu Qing stared at the name on the door, finding it a bit cringey. He couldn’t help but complain to his sister, "I wonder if they sell Pikachu in there. If they do, I’ll definitely have to buy one. Then if you misbehave, I’ll have it give you some electroshock therapy."

Gu Yao rolled her eyes at him and scoffed, "If anyone’s getting shocked, it’s you. You’re the most disobedient one in this family. I’m much better behaved than you are."

The two bickered for a bit at the entrance before heading inside together.

The shop wasn’t large.

Maybe sixty square meters by his estimate.

But the decor was exquisite.

And very distinctive.

The walls were covered in Pocket Monster posters.

Anime figurines of Pikachu, Charmander, Psyduck, Bulbasaur, and others were visible everywhere.

You could tell the owner was a huge fan of the Pocket Monster anime.

He did a quick scan of the pets in the shop.

There weren’t many.

But the variety was quite complete.

There were cats, dogs, rabbits, parrots, hamsters, and squirrels.

No snakes, of course.

"Welcome to the Little Fairy Pet Shop!"

A woman who looked to be in her late twenties, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, a form-fitting, pure white knit top, and black stockings, walked toward the siblings with a gentle and intellectual smile.

Gu Qing turned his head toward the voice.

The moment he saw the woman, he froze.

There were two reasons he was stunned.

First, a very peculiar tag was floating above her head—[Beast Taming King]

Second, she was his high school English teacher—a beautiful, wealthy woman who, back when she was a fresh graduate interning at their school, had instantly become famous throughout the entire campus for her outstanding figure and looks, as well as her expensive, brand-name clothes.

...

PS: The bowl is out, asking for monthly and recommendation votes!