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.]
…
orn and Humiliation】【Forced Love】 In his past life, Lin Ran was betrayed and murdered by his girlfriend and family, while the yandere female aristocrat, who had treated him as a mere plaything, avenged him by doing in his enemies. Upon seeing the yandere female aristocrat lying in the same coffin, ready to die with him, Lin Ran realized how profoundly mistaken he had been. Reborn, he abandoned the fickle campus beauty and wholeheartedly embraced the yandere female aristocrat's arms. "Ran! If I dig out your eyes and turn them into a specimen, you'll only be able to look at me!" Lin Ran: "Darling, kiss me!" "Ran! If I break your legs, you won't run away anymore, right?" Lin Ran: "Love, hold me tight!" "Ran! If..." Lin Ran: "Hush now! Love me more!" Luo Yao: ... Seeing his scumbag dad: "Take him out!" Seeing his stepmother: "Get rid of her!" Seeing his brother: "Eliminate him!" Seeing his white moonlight: "Send that to Southeast Asia!"
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
iaobai: "Councilor Dad, front me some funds. I want to hire ten thousand professional miners for a project!" [Five-Star Mission Issued: Capture the leader of the Blood Heaven Pirate Gang, who is on the run in the Radiant Star Sector. It is said the gang has over a hundred members. Proceed with caution.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, lend me the family's hundred-thousand-strong Lu Army!" [Seven-Star Mission Issued: Subdue a juvenile Void Dragon Beast.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, I'm taking your tamed Void Dragon Beast King out for a family reunion!" I said, System, don't you have any slightly more challenging missions? You're just not up to par! [Nine-Star Mission Issued: Become the Human Councilor.] Lu Xiaobai: "Dad, there's a small matter I'd like to discuss with you..."
