Soon.
Mao Ruirui handed Lin Yu a pair of clean gloves.
She was wearing a standard pair herself.
But the pair she found for Lin Yu was a thicker, bite-resistant model.
Although the injured stray dog didn’t seem aggressive at all,
safety always came first—there was no room for overconfidence.
Inside the pet grooming room,
a small cage rested on a sturdy rack.
Given what he’d heard—that the dog had been hit by a car and lost its stray companion—
Lin Yu had instinctively assumed the rescued dog would be a larger breed.
But when he saw the small, brown-furred puppy lying weakly in the cage,
he couldn’t help but startle, turning back to say:
“It’s… this tiny?”
Mao Ruirui nodded and replied,
“The one that passed away was about the same size—a mixed breed.”
“They might’ve been two strays born from local dogs.”
“Or maybe someone abandoned them because they couldn’t handle raising too many puppies.”
Lin Yu quickly pieced things together.
If that was the case,
the one that died wasn’t just its companion—it was family.
The feeling of losing family…
Lin Yu’s chest tightened inexplicably.
In his past life, he’d already been approaching forty. Now, reborn into a second life,
many of the unbearable pains of youth, like parting, had faded with time.
But still,
working alone in the city, there were nights when sleep eluded him.
Familiar faces, once as steady as mountains, would appear unexpectedly in his dreams.
Maybe on a drowsy afternoon.
Maybe after a night of empty bottles.
Those wounds he thought had healed would suddenly pierce his defenses and stab straight into his heart.
Some people…
You never consciously think of them, yet you never truly forget.
Lin Yu pulled over a small stool and sat in front of the cage.
Food and water were already prepared inside—no need to fetch more.
All he had to do was convince the puppy to eat.
With the Beast Command in his possession, issuing a direct order wouldn’t be difficult.
Given the dog’s fragile state, obedience was practically guaranteed.
Yet Lin Yu didn’t resort to that. Instead, he spoke softly:
“Hey, little one… It hurts to lose family, doesn’t it?”
“That feeling where sadness chokes your appetite—I get it.”
“I’ve lost family too.”
He leaned closer, addressing the small mutt in the cage.
At the doorway, the three women reacted differently to his words.
Shen Buyao: “Is Lin Yu trying to share his story with the dog? Can it even understand?”
Chang Xiaoxiao: “I never expected Senior Lin Yu to comfort it by talking about his own experiences.”
Mao Ruirui shook her head.
“You’ve both got it wrong.”
“Right now, Xiao Yu probably just wants to share his story with the puppy!”
Shen Buyao: “???”
Chang Xiaoxiao: “???”
So… what exactly had Mao Ruirui thought they said?
The trio didn’t discuss it further, not wanting to disturb Lin Yu.
Because they noticed something remarkable—the puppy was responding to him!
At first,
it simply perked up at the sound of his voice, curious.
But as Lin Yu continued,
the little dog whimpered softly, as if replying to his words.
The grief and pain of the young pup poured out through those sounds, unmistakable to anyone listening.
Lin Yu could feel it too.
His words seemed to be making a difference, however slight.
After recounting his own journey through loss, he concluded:
“Little guy, I know no matter what I say, the pain won’t just disappear.”
“But think of your family, your companion. From now on, you have to live well—for them.”
“We’re the lucky ones, still here in this world.”
“So eat when you’re hungry. Drink when you’re thirsty.”
“Get up. Eat this. Drink that. No more starving yourself!”
At first, the puppy still resisted.
But it could sense Lin Yu’s sincerity—undeniable, especially in his final words.
The almost commanding tone of his closing statement
left the little dog with teary eyes.
With effort, it dragged itself to the bowl and finally began to eat.
[Ding!]
[Masterful move! Your unique beast-taming approach has impressed your Dao Companion!]
[Reward: 50 Spirit Stones.]
[Ding!]
[Masterful move! Your heartfelt words have moved the Spirit Beast Garden’s Elder!]
[Reward: 20 Spirit Stones.]
By the door,
Shen Buyao broke into a radiant smile, barely containing her excitement as she whispered:
“It’s eating! The puppy’s eating!”
“Wow, it’s like it actually understood Lin Yu!”
Chang Xiaoxiao was equally thrilled, clasping her hands together:
“Ruirui-jie, you can relax now!”
“If it’s eating, that means it’s starting to heal emotionally.”
“Didn’t you say? As long as it takes one bite, recovery will follow.”
“Look—it’s eating so eagerly!”
While Shen Buyao and Chang Xiaoxiao celebrated,
they suddenly noticed…
Mao Ruirui standing off to the side, her eyes red from crying.
Her shoulders trembled as she struggled to suppress her sobs.
Shen Buyao: “!!!”
Mao Ruirui: “!!!”
Mao Ruirui: “Sniff… sob…”
Shen Buyao: “Ruirui, why the tears? Is this really that emotional?”
Chang Xiaoxiao: “Ruirui-jie must’ve been so worried about the puppy that seeing it eat made her cry from joy!”
Mao Ruirui waved her hand dismissively.
“Sorry, I’m not in the mood to ‘explain the humidifier’ right now… sob…”
“How could you two not be moved by Xiao Yu’s story?”
“I never knew he was such a sensitive, emotionally deep guy!”
Shen Buyao: “???”
Chang Xiaoxiao: “???”
The two were utterly baffled.
Aside from Lin Yu’s initial words when he sat down—spoken a bit louder—
everything else he’d said to the puppy had been inaudible.
How could Mao Ruirui have gotten so emotional?
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Host! Emergency Quest “Starving Spirit Beast” completed!]
[Thanks to your help, the spirit beast has resumed eating, healing its injured body. The Spirit Beast Garden’s Elder is deeply grateful!]
[Rewards: 200 Sect Contribution Points, 400 Spirit Stones, 1 free System Shop draw.]
…
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
