"All right." Ryou glanced at Chang the Ninth. "Let me see it."
"Please." Chang the Ninth placed the manuscripts on the table.
Ryou picked them up and started reading.
It only took a short while for the problems to show. The opening was weak, the plot did not land, and the whole thing felt unfocused. By the time he reached the second manuscript, he had seen enough and set it down.
"Let me look." Keqing took the pages from him and skimmed through them. "I don't know much about novels, but even I can tell the story isn't clear. The descriptions have problems too."
She looked back at Ryou. "Now I understand why you said that earlier."
Chang the Ninth's shoulders sagged. "I… I understand. Looks like I'm just not cut out for this."
"Leave the opening with me," Ryou said. "I'll have someone send it back to you later. Once you see the difference between an amateur and someone who knows what they're doing, you'll understand."
Chang the Ninth blinked. "Ryou-san, are you going to revise it?"
"Mm." Ryou nodded.
"Thank you." Chang the Ninth gathered the rest of his manuscripts and hurried away.
"That boy is still dreaming in broad daylight," Ryou's father said, shaking his head.
"We've tried talking him out of it," Uncle He said. "No idea how many books he's written by now, but every submission sinks without a sound. If his ancestors hadn't left him some property, he wouldn't have lasted this long."
He lifted his teacup, took a sip, and immediately froze.
"Ryou, this tea…" Uncle He stared at the cup. "No wonder they call it adeptal tea. One sip and I feel wide awake. This is incredible."
"Drink another cup if you like it," Ryou said.
Then he looked outside. "Father, Xingqiu and the others still aren't back?"
"I'm not sure." Ryou's father frowned. "I sent someone to look for them, but there's still no sign of them."
"I'll go," Uncle He said, standing up. "I know Qingce Village better than you."
"We'll go together." Ryou also got up. "Too many strange things have happened here. I'm worried they ran into trouble."
"Ryou, I'm heading back to Liyue Harbor first," Hu Tao said, standing as well.
"All right." Ryou nodded.
Ryou took Keqing with him, and the two searched the area.
They made a full round and still found no sign of Xingqiu's group.
"I really should've brought Mona," Ryou muttered. "Finding people in the dark like this is a pain."
"What do we do?" Keqing asked.
"Xingqiu and Chongyun stand out in Qingce Village. Someone should have seen them. If they vanished without anyone noticing, that's already strange. And Dehya and Dunyarzad were with them too."
Ryou looked around. "It's too late to knock on every door and ask people. Have you seen any dogs around?"
"Yes!" Paimon said. "When Paimon and Tabibito were catching fish, there was a dog wandering around beside us."
"Take me to it," Ryou said.
"Oh, okay." Paimon nodded and led the way.
She brought them to a tree, where a dog was lying on the ground. It seemed to sense them coming and lifted its head.
"That's the one!" Paimon pointed at it.
"You're not thinking of asking a dog to help us find them, are you?" Keqing tugged lightly at Ryou's sleeve.
"Mm." Ryou walked over and gently patted the dog.
[Ding! You have granted the dog Holy Light status!]
[Ding! You have infused the dog with Adeptal energy. The dog is gaining intelligence!]
[Ding! Hand entering Darkened Mode!]
[Ding! Hand Darkened Mode active. You can use your hand to tame animals. Current beast-taming slots: 1.]
[Ding! Hand Darkened Frenzy active. You can heal, strengthen, evolve, and otherwise improve dogs.]
Ryou stared at the reward.
What was this?
Was the system trying to turn him into a beast tamer now?
He looked at the dog again. Keeping a dog did not sound bad, actually. It could guard the house when he had nothing else for it to do.
He pushed the thought aside and noticed the dog staring at him, as if it had understood something.
"Follow me from now on," Ryou said.
"Woof!"
[Ding! You have successfully tamed the dog. Beast-taming slot consumed!]
[Dog: Master!]
[Ryou: ???]
[Ryou: You can talk?]
[Dog: I couldn't before. Now I can!]
[Dog: Thank you, Master!]
Ryou stroked the dog. "I'll show you a few people. Have you seen them?"
[Dog: Master, they went into the back mountain. It's close to Wuwang Hill. There are ghosts there.]
Ryou was not too surprised.
He had felt something wrong as soon as he came here. That eerie cold was not caused by the weather. There really were ghosts moving around Qingce Village.
The death here was probably not as simple as it looked either.
"Take me to them," Ryou said.
[Dog: Follow me, Master!]
The dog ran ahead to lead the way. Halfway through, it even stopped and looked back, as if worried Ryou had not kept up.
Ryou was about to say something, but when he turned around, Keqing was staring blankly at him.
From her point of view, Ryou had touched a dog, apparently talked to it, and now the dog was obediently leading the way.
What was going on?
Since when was Ryou a beast tamer?
"R-Ryou," Keqing asked, baffled, "what just happened? Why is that dog listening to you?"
"That's a secret." Ryou winked at her. "Come on. Finding Xingqiu and the others comes first."
The dog was fast, jumping up the mountain path in a few bounds.
Ryou brought Keqing and Tabibito after it, and before long, they reached an open patch of land.
Faint ghostly lights drifted in the air. Something flashed between the trees, and the temperature dropped so quickly that even the wind seemed colder.
"W-What kind of place is this?" Paimon shrank behind Tabibito.
Tabibito stared at their surroundings for a while. "I think this is Wuwang Hill."
"I heard Hu Tao does cremations and burials here."
"T-Tabibito, don't scare Paimon!" Paimon trembled.
"Even if there really are ghosts, there's no need to be afraid. I'll protect you." Keqing drew Splendor of Tranquil Waters and watched the area carefully.
She kept summoning Shadow Ninjas with her mental strength, placing them around the group as guards.
Tabibito looked at the Shadow Ninjas and remembered how Keqing had used them to send Ningguang away before.
Keqing definitely had not gained those things on her own. They had to come from Ryou.
Thinking about what Ryou could do made Tabibito feel a little complicated.
"Dog, can you smell them?" Ryou asked.
[Dog: Master, they're in the dense woods ahead. That area is strange. Stay close to me!]
Ryou nodded. "Follow the dog."
"Okay!" Keqing and Tabibito answered.
They followed the dog into the woods and quickly realized how wrong the place felt.
The trees seemed alive. They kept shifting positions, and within moments, Tabibito could no longer tell which way was north.
She froze for a second, dizzy from the changes.
Then Ryou's voice snapped her back. "Why did you stop? Keep up."
"Oh, right." Tabibito hurried after him.
The dog led them into another clearing. Not far ahead, several people were leaning against a tree, all looking terrible.
"Cousin?"
"Chongyun, Cousin found us!" Xingqiu brightened the moment he heard Ryou's voice and quickly called to Chongyun.
"Cousin…" Chongyun's voice was weak. "Thank goodness you found us. We almost couldn't hold on anymore."
"Let's get out of here first." Ryou looked them over.
Xingqiu, Chongyun, and Dehya were still holding together, but Dunyarzad was clearly badly shaken. Her face had lost all color, and she clung tightly to Dehya's clothes without saying a word.
Ryou could tell her condition was poor. Before he arrived, Xingqiu's group must have gone through something else.
But right now, getting everyone back to Qingce Village mattered more.
Thankfully, the dog knew the way. Ryou led everyone back safely.
By the time they settled everyone down, quite a while had passed.
Ryou sat in the hall and glanced at the dog. After eating some food, it had recovered a lot and looked much better than before.
Now it was lying beside Ryou, resting.
Ryou turned to Xingqiu. "What happened to you?"
"Cousin, a ghost possessed Chongyun," Xingqiu said. "It led us to Wuwang Hill. After that, we got trapped in a ghost loop. No matter which way we went, we couldn't get out."
He shivered at the memory. "If you hadn't shown up in time, we might really have been in trouble."
"Cousin, thank you for saving us," Chongyun said.
"It's fine. It's late now, so eat something first, then rest. We can talk about the rest tomorrow."
Ryou kept his voice calm, trying to settle them down.
"Come with me," Keqing said, standing up.
"Thank you, Keqing-san."
"Dunyarzad, I'll help you." Dehya thanked Keqing, then helped Dunyarzad inside.
Once they were gone, Paimon looked at the dog. "Ryou, why did you bring the dog back too?"
"You're not planning to take it home, are you?"
"I'm thinking about it," Ryou said. "It helped us a lot."
He glanced at Tabibito. "Besides, those eyes can see things you can't. Sometimes it's even more useful than Paimon."
"Nonsense!" Paimon folded her arms, offended. "Paimon is a guide!"
"All right, you two should get some rest too. If you're hungry, go have a late-night snack," Ryou said.
"Tabibito, let's go eat a little!" Paimon tugged at her.
"Paimon, you already ate," Tabibito said.
She did not want to leave. She still wanted to talk to Ryou.
"But Paimon still wants to eat!" Paimon kept pulling. "Come on!"
Ryou watched Tabibito get dragged away and shook his head.
He stroked the dog, and its stats immediately appeared in front of him.
[Dog, unnamed]
[Size: 1]
[Stamina: 7]
[Agility: 6]
[Strength: 5]
[Notice: Can be strengthened!]
[Note: Human maximum is 10.]
Seeing the strengthening option, Ryou stroked the dog again.
[Ding! Strengthen the dog?]
[Yes!]
[Ding! Dog strengthened successfully. You have received 3 enhancement points!]
Ryou added one point to size and the other two to agility.
[Dog, unnamed]
[Size: 2]
[Stamina: 7]
[Agility: 8]
[Strength: 5]
The dog soon grew a size larger than before, and its body looked sturdier too.
It seemed to sense the change and rubbed against Ryou's side.
[Dog: Thank you, Master!]
[Ryou: It's nothing. Rest well.]
Ryou patted the dog and let it sleep.
When he looked up, Keqing was coming out from inside. There was worry on her face.
Ryou stepped forward and pulled her into his arms. "Keqing, what's wrong?"
"Ryou, Dunyarzad is very weak," Keqing said. "I gave her Adeptal juice, but it didn't help much. Could you take a look at her?"
Ryou thought about how pale Dunyarzad had looked and frowned slightly.
Of course he knew her condition was bad.
It was Eleazar, a terminal illness.
But could he cure it?
[End of chapter]
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