âYoung Master, youâre out.â Yang Ling hurried to greet Li Qiye after he left the room. She looked rather enthusiastic.
âYouâre in a good mood. Whatâs the event this time?â He stared at her with a smile.
âYou know already?â She didnât expect him to know before she said anything.
He answered with a mysterious smile.
âLet me tell you, the hug mouse appeared!â She waved her hands in excitement because after hearing this news, the first person to pop up on her mind was him.
âOh?â He remained nonchalant.
âAre you not excited?â She found his lack of reaction puzzling.
âShould I be?â
âBecause youâre definitely the fateful one, the hug mouse will bring you a great gift. No one else but you can win its favor.â She responded, thinking that it was a matter of course for Li Qiye to obtain all the fortunes tied to fate in this world.
She has grown used to seeing miracles around him, from Myriad Beast to Duality and now, Wish Ward. In her opinion, this miraculous man was the heavenâs favorite. Everything was his from the start.
âIs that so?â He was amused by her blind confidence in him.
âOf course, fewer than few were able to lift the hammer on the peak, and then how many got a treasure out of the golden spring? Young Master, you did all of this, so no one but you will win the favor of the mouse.â She proudly declared.
âForget it, itâs fine to not get involved in this.â He shook his head.
âWhy not, everyone is searching for it right now.â She became surprised. To earn the attention of this mouse was an honor and an immense opportunity.
âNot interested.â He smiled and elaborated: âThat little thing will give some decent stuff, but they donât mean much to me.â
Yang Ling was okay with this response after thinking it through. After all, this was someone who refused the great treasury in the wooden house. The hug mouse was also a great opportunity, just not enough to interest him.
âOkay, forget it then.â She lowered her head dispiritedly.
âYou really want to take a look?â He asked.
âI heard this mouse is very mysterious and I havenât seen it before. It would be nice to see what it looks like.â She replied.
âThatâs not difficult. Since you want it so bad, Iâm sure youâll have your wish granted. Letâs go.â He smiled.
âReally? We can really see the mouse?â Dejection turned into excitement right away.
âYes.â He nodded.
âThen let me go get ready, we can leave right away.â She jumped from excitement, trusting Li Qiye.
Anyone else would find meeting the mouse prohibitively difficult. It had to do with fate and oneâs own abilities. On the other hand, Li Qiye made it sound as if the mouse was nothing more than his pet, that he could see it whenever. Nonetheless, Yang Ling had zero doubts.
âNo need to leave, this place is fine.â He shook his head.
âWeâre not leaving? Itâll come to visit our place here?â She stood there in a daze.
âWhy not?â He smiled.
âReally?â She found this astonishing: âItâs here right now?â She started looking around, focusing on a corner first then shifted her gaze towards the chair.
âCalm your imagination down.â He said: âItâs not here, obviously, but we can bring it here.â
âWhat do we have to do for it to come?â She asked, feeling quite lost.
âReady some corn kernels, white mast flowers, black olive beans, ardent goat furâ¦â He listed a dozen strange things. Of course, they werenât expensive and could be found anywhere.
She wrote them down on a list and told a servant to go buy them. It didnât take too long due to the relative availability and cheap cost.
He then fried them with a strange technique never seen by her previously.
Finally, a plate filled with various grains and crops was presented. The only similar characteristic was a golden color.
She swallowed her saliva after just looking at the plate, not even considering the alluring aroma. Her stomach started making sounds.
âThat looks delicious.â She wanted to grab a handful for a bite.
âItâs not for you, unfortunately, you wonât be able to handle the added vigor. Itâll turn you red like a cooked shrimp.â He smiled.
She looked embarrassed after hearing this, turning slightly red.
He placed the plate on the table and pulled her closer: âOkay, watch carefully, the show is about to begin.â
She watched with bated breath, feeling quite nervous before the mouse even got there. She clenched her sweaty fists tightly.
The plateâs tantalizing aroma was irresistible but she had no choice other than restraining herself.
Nothing was happening for a long time so she started losing her patience. Right at that moment, something flashed on the table.
âThe mouse!â She blurted out before covering her mouth.
Strangely enough, the mouse that came out of nowhere didnât hear her.
This was the famed creature, looking like a squirrel with a long and fluffy tail, also far more pleasant to look at.
Its fur was golden from top to bottom with the exception of its eyes and whiskers. Each strand seemed to be made from delicate strings of gold. The tail, in particular, made others want to come and hug it.
Its eyes were a dark blue, looking quite profound and insightful. The whiskers next to its mouth were gray, seemingly a sign of its archaic age.
âItâs really the hug mouse!â She thought to herself.
Though she has never seen it before, she was certain that this creature in front of her was the famous hug mouse.
The mouse looked cautiously around after landing on the table, ready to escape at the first sight of trouble.
Yang Lingâs heart was hanging on a thread, afraid of being spotted. For some reason, the mouse looked around and didnât see them.
She realized that it must be due to Li Qiye.
The mouse then focused on the plate while saliva dripped down its lips. It couldnât help taking a deep breath to inhale the aroma. It still hesitated, afraid that this might be a trap.
Unfortunately, it couldnât resist the temptation in the end.