Chapter 457: Chapter 457: 272: The Unusual New Resident_3

But he didn’t say much more, and after the two of them entered, he slowly closed the door of the Washing and Protection room.

Washing and grooming the Golden Whisker Mouse, which was rather small even among small Pet Beasts, didn’t take Xu Ran much time. About ten minutes later, a rejuvenated Golden Whisker Mouse lazily lay in Li Tutu’s palm, coming out of the Washing and Protection room.

Compared to when it went in, its fur was now a brilliant dark gold color, becoming exceptionally smooth and shimmering with a bright gold luster under the light, looking like a precious treasure.

Its several slender pure gold whiskers were also made perfectly straight after Xu Ran’s care and trimming, adding a touch of nobility to it.

Li Tutu was clearly very satisfied with the grooming results, and the smile on his face couldn’t be contained as he came out and paid without any hesitation.

“Mr. Xu, thank you so much for the washing and grooming! Jin looks so good now.”

“It’s what I should do,” Xu Ran smiled, “You don’t need to keep calling me Mr. Xu, just call me Boss Xu like the other customers do.”

“Alright then, Boss Xu,” Li Tutu readily agreed.

“Hmm…” Xu Ran nodded, looking at the Golden Whisker Mouse that Li Tutu was constantly cradling in his palm, he couldn’t help but voice the doubt he had during the washing and grooming, “Your attitude towards your Pet Beast seems a bit special?”

“Eh?” Li Tutu looked at Xu Ran and then at the Golden Whisker Mouse in his palm, “What’s special about it?”

“I feel like you’re treating it like a pet,” Xu Ran pondered for a moment and then spoke slowly, “Throughout the entire washing and grooming process, you showed excessive concern for it, as if it isn’t your Pet Beast, but your pet.”

Hearing these words, before Li Tutu could react, the always lazy Golden Whisker Mouse in the palm of his hand opened its tiny eyes and looked at Xu Ran with an acknowledging gaze.

“Pet Beast… pet…” A blank expression appeared on Li Tutu’s face. He thought for a moment, then shook his head, “Boss Xu, what’s the difference?”

“Of course there’s a difference.” Xu Ran was dumbfounded, “Pet Beasts are the partners of Beast Masters, they should have a relationship like comrades-in-arms or friends, whereas pets would not be like that.”

“Partners, huh?” Li Tutu looked at the Golden Whisker Mouse in his palm, his face lighting up with a warm smile, “Boss Xu, actually Jin’s awakening was an accident.”

“Initially, it was just a pet hamster that I kept.”

“A long time ago, I found Jin dying beside a pile of trash. When I saw it was still breathing, I hurriedly took it home to take care of.”

“Maybe it was because Jin was strong, but it really did pull through from the brink of death under my care, and recovered its health.”

“Since then, we became dependent on each other.”

“Is that so?” Xu Ran’s face revealed a surprised expression.

He suddenly remembered that when he first explained Ziyun’s origins to others, he had said that Ziyun was a Stray Cat that had accidentally awakened into a Transcendent Being.

Of course, the story of Ziyun’s past was made up—its actual awakening was through the use of an Awakening Stone.

But it appeared that this young man’s Pet Beast really did have an accidental awakening.

“So, what was the situation with its awakening?” Xu Ran couldn’t help asking further.

“That…” Li Tutu touched the Golden Whisker Mouse, a thoughtful look crossing his face, soon recalling the details of that time, he slowly began, “Back then, just like now, I was working as a guide for human Beast Masters in the Monster Wooden Marketplace.”

“Back then I wasn’t a Beast Master yet, being a guide was just a way to earn Money to help the family, so I only took Money as compensation.”

“Then one day, a customer didn’t have Money on them, and gave me an Earth attribute Transcendent Resource as compensation instead,” Li Tutu’s face broke into a smile.

“That Resource was worth four to five Beast Master Points, several times more than my guide fee. Although I didn’t need the Resource, I accepted it.”

“At that time, Jin showed a special liking for that Earth attribute Resource. Seeing that it liked it, I didn’t exchange it for Money but kept it for Jin to play with.”

“Later one day, when I woke up, I found out that the Resource was eaten by Jin, and Jin had transformed into its current form.”

“I guess, its awakening must have been because it ate that Resource, right?” Li Tutu’s voice carried a hint of uncertainty as he spoke.

After all, he had never heard of such a situation before.

“Eating a Resource, huh…” Xu Ran stroked his chin.

Ordinary creatures that consumed a Resource containing Transcendent Power would meet only one fate, and that was to die on the spot.

An extraordinary awakening couldn’t possibly be such a simple matter.

However, from Li Tutu’s description, Xu Ran did have some other speculation.

Perhaps this Golden Whisker Mouse intrinsically had some affinity with Earth Extraordinary Power, so after living with that Earth attribute Resource every day, it gradually absorbed enough Earth attribute Power to complete its awakening.

The Earth attribute Resource was just the first meal it had after its awakening.

Thinking like this, things started to make sense.

“As for what you said, Boss Xu, about me treating Jin as a pet…” Li Tutu scratched his head, “Maybe it’s because I interacted with it in such a way before it awakened, so I’ve gotten used to that?”

“Squeak~”