Beast Taming: Starting From Zero

However, not calling the police left Qiao Sang uneasy. Having an unknown beast tamer always watching her house was unnerving.

Qiao Sang wrestled with her thoughts. On one hand, she had a rare chance to form a contract with the water creature Water Luriana, whose rarity was on par with mythical beasts. On the other, her own safety was at stake.

Before Water Luriana could be contracted, there was no doubt that any beast tamer who discovered it would stop at nothing to capture it by any means necessary.

It would be manageable if the tamer of this water snail wasn’t too high-ranking. But if they were, there was a real risk she could have a deadly accident.

If only she could contract with Water Luriana right now…

Unfortunately, she hadn’t unlocked the third page of her beast taming codex. Otherwise, she could just go for a forceful contract.

Qiao Sang’s gaze lingered on the unconscious water snail for a full minute before an idea struck her.

Among the 36 stratagems, psychological warfare was often the best.

First, there was a 99.99% chance that this water snail was contracted by a beast tamer from Guwu.

Second, if the beast tamer was from Guwu, they likely tracked Water Luriana from there.

After all, Water Luriana and they both hailed from Guwu.

It didn’t make sense for Water Luriana to be hiding in the backyard pond all this time, only for a beast tamer from Guwu, thousands of miles away, to find it here so precisely.

Following this line of reasoning, she was nearly certain that this person was the very reason Water Luriana had fled from Guwu to Yuhua.

Compared with someone who had forced it to escape across such a distance, it was obvious which side Water Luriana would pick.

Ding-dong…

Just then, the doorbell rang.

Qiao Sang snapped out of her thoughts and glanced at her phone.

3:44 a.m.

Someone ringing the doorbell at this hour? This was… a bit intense!

“Xun Xun~”

Little Treasure heard the doorbell and, curious, wanted to float over to check.

Qiao Sang called it back in time, “Don’t go. The person outside is probably this water snail’s tamer. I don’t think they have good intentions.”

“Xun!”

Little Treasure’s eyes went wide, and he hurriedly floated over to the still-sleeping Yabao, nudging him.

Yabao didn’t respond.

“Xun Xun!”

Little Treasure’s voice grew louder.

“Yap…”

Yabao seemed to be in a sweet dream, his mouth curling in a grin as drool trickled down.

“Xun Xun!”

Little Treasure considered releasing the water snail and waking Yabao the same way he woke his own tamer by pinching their nose.

At that moment, Qiao Sang said, “Go to the pond and find a way to wake Water Luriana. Tell it not to come out. Bring the water snail along and let Water Luriana take a look, but make sure the water snail doesn’t wake up.”

“Xun?”

Little Treasure tilted his head, confused.

“The water snail’s tamer is probably after Water Luriana. Just go and warn it.” Qiao Sang explained.

“Xun Xun!”

Little Treasure nodded in understanding and grabbed the water snail, floating towards the courtyard.

Ding-dong… ding-dong…

The doorbell kept ringing.

Qiao Sang put on her slippers and checked the monitor for the video doorbell.

A man in a black suit appeared on the screen. He was slightly overweight, with narrow eyes and thick lips. It was the security guard she’d felt uneasy about two days prior.

Seems my instincts weren’t wrong after all…

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Li Songhai stood outside, growing anxious.

His inability to recall the water snail troubled him greatly.

He’d already investigated the resident of Unit 1705 two days ago.

It was just a young girl, a minor who had recently moved in. Apparently, she had contracted two pets, probably the ones he saw that day.

He knew a fair bit about Yuhua’s pet beasts, but he couldn’t identify the species of those two he’d seen.

The dog-like beast with red and white fur looked fiery, with an intense keep away expression, an unmistakable fire-type trait.

The other pet, gray with a yellow ring and a scarred face, was harder to classify.

It could be psychic, dark, or ghost-type.

Li Songhai ruled out ghost-type first.

Though it looked ghostly, most beast tamers didn’t form ghost-type contracts in their first three slots, especially not a girl this young.

Next, he dismissed the dark type. Students rarely contracted dark-types.

That left the psychic type, which was widely favored, especially by wealthy families. Their children often leaned toward psychic-type pets.

Based on this analysis, he figured that gray beast with the ring was most likely psychic-type.

The more he thought about it, the more anxious he became.

He couldn’t understand what in this apartment was blocking him from summoning the water slug.

The unknown was the scariest thing of all.

With his thoughts consumed by the water slug, he stopped worrying so much about Water Luriana.

After all, if anything happened to a contracted pet, it could cause significant mental damage to the beast tamer.

And no tamer could afford to neglect the brain.

If something really was inside, he’d have no choice but to summon his initial pet and risk exposure.

Just as Li Songhai’s mind raced with uneasy thoughts, the girl’s voice sounded from the intercom.

“Who’s there?” Though Qiao Sang knew who it was, she deliberately spoke with a bit of irritation.

No one liked being woken up by the doorbell at this hour.

Li Songhai perked up and quickly answered, “Hello, I’m the security guard. We met two days ago. My pet accidentally wandered into your apartment. Could I come in to look for it?”

Qiao Sang replied pointedly, “Why don’t you just recall it?”

“That’s the issue, I can’t summon it back.” Li Songhai explained.

“You can’t recall it?” Qiao Sang’s voice rose in mock disbelief.

“Who are you kidding? Since when can’t a pet be summoned back?”

Li Songhai resisted the urge to barge in.

“I’m telling the truth, I swear.”

As she half-listened to him, Qiao Sang’s gaze drifted and noticed a small puddle of water on the floor. Her eyes lit up.

Finally, you showed up!

At that moment, Little Treasure returned, holding the unconscious water snail.

“Xun Xun…”

Little Treasure floated over, shaking his head helplessly.

He had managed to wake Water Luriana, but it had stubbornly refused to stay in the pond and insisted on coming out.

“It’s fine.” Qiao Sang reassured him, patting Little Treasure on the head.

“You did well.”

Water Luriana was naturally cautious and unlikely to trust easily. If she asked it to stay hidden, it would probably do the opposite.

Sure enough, here it was.

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