Chapter 25: Listening to Animals

Chapter 25: Chapter 25: Listening to Animals

Beast Language Ability +1?

Beast Taming Skill +1?

Obtainable Attribute—Essence Blood Enslavement?

’What kind of effect would this Essence Blood Enslavement have?’

’Use my essence blood to control a target, turning them into my slave?’

Gu Qing looked at the text prompt before him, then glanced at the [Beast Taming King] tag above Liu Zhiyi’s head.

He thought to himself.

’This isn’t a Beast Taming King at all.’

’She’s clearly a slave driver!’

Just then,

Liu Zhiyi brought the little female cat over.

She said softly to Gu Qing,

"Here, try communicating with it through physical touch."

"Alright, I’ll give it a try."

Gu Qing dismissed the text prompt and turned his attention to the small female cat before him.

The little cat was also looking up at him, letting out a few soft and sweet meows.

Gu Qing was just about to comment on how winsome the kitten’s meow sounded.

The next second, a semi-transparent text prompt appeared before his eyes.

[Human, handsome, pet me]

’Is this... what that little cat’s meows just now meant?’

’I can understand animal sounds now?’

’Just a +1 to Beast Language Ability has such a noticeable effect.’

’If I get more points in the future, I’ll probably be able to hear their thoughts directly.’

’It might even upgrade further, evolving into telepathic communication with animals...’

As he thought this,

Gu Qing reached out and stroked the little female cat before him.

The kitten was clearly enjoying it, purring and meowing involuntarily.

[Pet, feels good, pet, feels good...]

Looking at the text prompt that appeared again,

this time Gu Qing could finally confirm that he really could understand animal sounds.

At the very least, he could understand this little female cat’s cries.

Over the next while,

Gu Qing tested it on other animals.

When he reached for a hamster, it struggled relentlessly, squeaking non-stop:

[Human, so annoying, get away]

He fed some nuts to a squirrel, which was especially docile. It didn’t struggle no matter how he petted it, and when it felt good, it would even let out a couple of soft chirps:

[Human, helpful, like]

After a series of tests,

Gu Qing came to a conclusion: he could understand the cries of any animal.

Liu Zhiyi had been following him the whole time. Seeing him interact so effortlessly with every single pet in the store, she was filled with disbelief and couldn’t help but ask:

"Have you learned how to communicate with animals before?"

"Nope."

"Then how are you so good at it?"

"Didn’t you just teach me, Sister Zhiyi?"

Gu Qing replied nonchalantly, all while teasing the little fox in front of him.

Liu Zhiyi’s face was a mask of existential doubt.

’What?’

’I just taught you a bit of theory, and you’ve already perfectly put it into practice?’

’Then what does all my years of hard practice count for?’

At that moment,

Liu Zhiyi felt truly crushed.

Her resolve suddenly wavered, and she felt that maybe she wasn’t cut out for running a pet shop to make money.

Meanwhile, Gu Qing, standing to the side, had no idea he had just shattered Liu Zhiyi’s conviction.

He was still enthusiastically teasing the little fox, savoring the Beast Language Ability he had just acquired.

Time ticked by, second by second.

Before he knew it,

another hour had passed.

[You have trained animals with your friend Liu Zhiyi for over one hour]

[Beast Language Ability +1]

[Beast Taming Skill +1]

[Accumulate 100 points in Beast Taming Skill to obtain the Attribute—Essence Blood Enslavement]

[Current points obtained: 2]

The moment the text prompts appeared,

Gu Qing clearly felt his Beast Language Ability and Beast Taming Skill grow stronger.

Before, he had to be very close to an animal to understand its cries.

Now, he could easily understand them from several meters away.

It was the same for his Beast Taming Skill.

Previously, he had to pet an animal for a while to find its sweet spot.

Now, a casual touch was all it took to make an animal cry out in pleasure, instantly conquered.

"Bro, it’s already five o’clock. We should go home."

Gu Yao said, seeing the time and reminding her brother.

Gu Qing checked the time. It was indeed five o’clock, so he stood up and said to Liu Zhiyi,

"Sister Zhiyi, my sister and I have to go home. We’ll come visit your shop again sometime."

"Oh right, Sister Zhiyi, I don’t think we’re WeChat friends yet. Let’s add each other."

"If any of my friends want to get a pet in the future, I’ll recommend your shop."

As he spoke, Gu Qing took out his phone, opened his WeChat QR code, and held it in front of Liu Zhiyi.

Seeing this, his sister beside him also took out her phone, opened her own QR code, and said,

"Sister Zhiyi, add me too! A lot of girls in my class want to get pets. I’ll share your WeChat with them when I get home tonight."

"In that case, let me thank you both in advance. If business picks up because of this, I’ll treat you to a meal."

Liu Zhiyi said with a smile, then took out her phone to scan their QR codes and add them on WeChat.

Leaving the pet shop,

Gu Qing was in an excellent mood.

’With Liu Zhiyi’s [Beast Taming King] tag,’

’I can now grind Attributes with someone even when I’m home on vacation.’

’I won’t have to be idle like before anymore.’

...

「That evening.」

The family of four sat around the dinner table, eating.

Wen Wanyi looked at her son and casually brought up a topic:

"I heard from your sister that you ran into your high school English teacher today?"

"Yeah, she was my English teacher for one semester in my first year of high school. But she quit teaching a long time ago. Now she runs a pet shop across from our apartment complex."

"Your first-year English teacher... then she must be quite a bit older than you, right?"

"Probably about six years older."

Gu Qing replied while shoveling rice into his mouth.

Wen Wanyi frowned. "It’s fine if the man is six years older, but if the woman is six years older... Mom doesn’t think you two are a good match."

Gu Mingbo disagreed. "Son, I think your English teacher is quite pretty. She’s a perfect match for your ridiculously handsome face."

"Besides, what’s that saying? Marry a woman three years your senior, and you’ll be holding bars of gold."

"In your case, you’d be holding two solid gold bars. Dad supports you!"

"..."

Wen Wanyi quickly retorted, "No way, absolutely not!"

"I heard from Yaoyao that the woman used to come from a wealthy family. She even looked down on the ’iron rice bowl’ of a teaching job, quitting just like that."

"Even if her family has fallen on hard times now, she’s still high-maintenance to the bone. She definitely couldn’t handle a normal life. An ordinary family like ours can’t afford to wait on her."

"..."

Gu Qing was speechless. "Seriously, what are you all imagining? I just happened to run into my old English teacher and we caught up a bit. That’s it. There’s nothing more to it."

As soon as he finished speaking, his sister muttered under her breath, "Still pretending. You two were standing so close in the shop earlier. You definitely have ideas about her."

Gu Qing’s mouth twitched. He immediately shot back a threat, "Silly Yao, you wouldn’t want your classmates to find out about your obsessive foot-picking, would you?"

At these words, Gu Yao instantly chickened out, raising her hands in surrender. "I was wrong, I was wrong! I’ll shut up right now and not say another word. Please, spare your little sister."

Just as the brother launched a fierce counterattack, crushing his sister with a single, devastating blow,

their mother, Wen Wanyi, suddenly looked at the two siblings, her expression grave. "Do you two remember that drunkard who attacked someone with a knife at the entrance to our complex?"

...