Su Siyuan left to prepare various procedures for tomorrow. The system was immersed in reading novels attentively, while only Bai Tang lay on the bed messing around with his Monster Network account.
The account has a personal homepage, where you can post pictures, texts, and long videos. There’s also a function to follow other accounts, much like the human society’s Weibo.
Bai Tang’s homepage was blank. Exiting the homepage, Bai Tang wandered around Monster Network, where he found it divided into domains: a forum exchange area and a trading area, akin to a sister version of Taobao but with more features.
For instance, there were wanted notices, bounties, and auctions.
The order in the Monster realm differs from human society; here, killings are allowed and monsters believe in the law of the jungle. With the evolution of time, the definition of “strong” has become more diverse.
The strong are no longer just large animals or carnivores. In fact, in today’s Monster realm, many herbivores and omnivores have climbed to the top of the pyramid.
The best example is Zhu Tianji.
That plump, delicious-looking white pig demon always travels with various bodyguards surrounding him. Even though he looks greasy and tasty, all the droolers can only secretly swallow their saliva behind his back.
Zhu Tianji’s Monster Network account has over one billion followers, with almost all Monster creatures on Monster Network following Zhu Tianji. Among them are tens of millions of fierce raptors and giant beasts, glaring at Zhu Tianji’s account, queuing up and waiting for their turn.
Those with slightly lower psychological resilience, like Zhen Aichi, are probably scared to the point where they dare not even post updates.
As Zhu Tianji is surrounded by a pack of wolves, his daily posts have this kind of tone—
Ah~ the weather today is so nice~
[Selfie picture gif.]
The smiling face of a big white pig pops out of the car window, holding two colorful windmills in its hooves. The windmills joyfully spin in the breeze, and the fair pig head trembles slightly with the bumps of the car.
The comments section, however, is like this—
“Daddy. If I call you Daddy, will you respond?!”
“The weather is nice today. Can Daddy Tianji predict when the thunder tribulation will come?”
“Daddy’s colorful little windmills are so pretty (today’s Zhu was also successfully online).”
“Daddy Zhu, do you still need a driver? I’ve passed the test, can speak human language, and can cook!”
“Daddy, pay attention to safety. Don’t stick your head out of the car window. This picture makes me nervous, afraid that Daddy might have an accident.”
“Thank you, brothers, for your concern for our father!”
…
Bai Tang clicked the follow button with mixed feelings. After following Zhu Tianji’s account, he noticed a small golden badge next to Zhu Tianji’s account, labeled “Divine Calculations.”
This badge is officially awarded by Monster Network and can only be possessed by users with significant influence.
Bai Tang also followed Qing Dai and found a small golden badge next to the ID “Painting Stone Demon,” labeled “Skilled Artist.”
The latest update on Qing Dai’s homepage was a photo and portrait of Bai Tang. The repost count for that post reached as high as twenty million, with over six hundred thousand comments, most of them meaningless “ah ah ah ah ah”. Because of the lighting in the photo, Bai Tang’s features were blurry, giving off a sense of sacred inviolability instead.
The scene anticipated by the system unfolded as soon as Bai Tang appeared, engulfing the Monster Network with the curse of a lifetime of misunderstanding. The most discussed topic with the highest volume was “Finding the Person in the Painting.”
Bai Tang clicked into the forum’s discussion thread and was greeted with a magnified photo of himself as soon as he opened it.
#Tower Image — The Celestial in the Painting#
The main post had two pictures: one was a portrait painted by Qing Dai, and the other was a blurry photo.
All the following comments were tearful praises and irrational cries.
Faced with so many admirers, even if the monsters in the training camp kept their mouths shut, the exposure of Bai Tang’s identity was only a matter of time.
It’s said that the Monster Network officials have already prepared a small golden badge for Bai Tang, named “Era of Beauty”. As soon as Bai Tang’s identity is exposed, they will immediately award it to him.
Bai Tang will be the first, and probably the only one, in the history of Monster Network badges to receive a small golden badge based on his appearance.
Bai Tang: “…”
Bai Tang was frightened. He left his own dedicated forum and wandered through other sections of the forum. One section caught his eye: the “Help Section.” The Help Section and the Trading Section’s bounty notices were interconnected; those in need could post task information in the Help Section and leave a link to the bounty notice in the Trading Section at the end of their posts.
This entire process was protected and supervised by Monster Network. If someone received a bounty but didn’t fulfill their task or delayed payment, they would be detained and their spirit certificate revoked.
The latest post in the Help Section was titled “Seeking Spirit Spring Water.”
Because Bai Tang had recently consumed Spirit Spring Water, he was sensitive to this term and decided to take a look.
Poster: Master has always been so adorable.
Topic Content:
I am a Labrador Spirit, who, by a twist of fate, ended up as a guide dog. My little master is adorable and well-behaved, a kind-hearted young master.
I want to help him regain his sight.
I have obtained an ancient prescription for treating eye ailments and spent four years gathering most of the medicinal ingredients. However, I am missing the most crucial one: ‘Spirit Spring Water’.
My reward is one million Monster coins and the ancient prescription.
#Link—Trading Section#
Bai Tang stared at the screen for a while, first sighing, “Spirit Spring Water is so expensive”, then feeling inexplicably anxious.
Darkness is truly unbearable.
He still remembered being trapped in the dark clouds, unable to see any sunlight. At that time, his mood was extremely oppressive. Sometimes, the reason darkness is so hard to endure is not knowing when it will end.
When did that long darkness end?
In his mind, deep eyes appeared. They were eternal darkness, with the pupils flickering with deep purple lightning as if breaking through the darkness with light.
But what did that person look like? Shattered memories were obscured by thick fog. Bai Tang frowned and pondered for a long time, but his mind remained blank.
Forget it, it’s so tiring. I don’t want to think about it anymore.
Bai Tang shook his head, shook off these perplexities, and the small green sprout on his head also swayed constantly, like a green sprout wobbly doll.
“System, I want to help them,” Bai Tang voiced his thoughts. It’s truly unbearable to stay in the darkness.
Life is like a long journey. That young master just had a stroke of bad luck; the vehicle he boarded went into a tunnel, and he stayed in the dark tunnel for too long, unable to see the beautiful scenery outside the window.
But things are different now. There’s a dog spirit waiting for him at the next stop.
They can hold hands and see the scenery under the sunlight together.
＊
Su Siyuan set aside his work, focusing on the young man in front of him, patiently listening to his words. When the young man paused, he kindly handed over a cup of honey water.
Bai Tang happened to be thirsty and took a sip from the cup.
“Can you send me the link left by that dog spirit?” Su Siyuan whispered softly. “I’ll communicate with him.”
Upon hearing this, Bai Tang quickly took out his phone, copied the link, and intended to send it to his contact. However, he realized that he hadn’t added Su Siyuan as a friend yet.
“My account is ‘Xing Fang Siyuan.'” Su Siyuan stood behind Bai Tang, his arm gently encircling him. Both of his hands rested on Bai Tang’s phone, helping him add a friend.
The overly intimate posture made the young man in his arms blush.
Su Siyuan calmly observed the teenager’s expression. When Bai Tang finished sending the link and turned to leave, carrying a hint of fleeing in his posture, Su Siyuan slowly revealed a smile.
He lowered his head, looking at the account of that dog spirit.
If Bai Tang were also looking at the screen, he would surely be surprised to find that “Master has always been so adorable” had long been lying in Su Siyuan’s friend list.
In fact, Su Siyuan had known that dog spirit four years ago.
Su Siyuan was a famous herbal medicine merchant, and most of the medicinal ingredients in that ancient prescription were purchased from Su Siyuan by the dog spirit. The herbal medicine industry, especially for monsters with unique talents like Su Siyuan, was an extremely lucrative business.
For every medicinal ingredient he sold to the dog spirit, the cost would not exceed a hundred thousand monster coins, and the price would start at least in the tens of thousands.
Through the medicinal ingredients purchased from the dog spirit, Su Siyuan had actually pieced together the approximate content of the ancient prescription. So, the reward offered by the dog spirit didn’t interest Su Siyuan at all.
The man leaned against the recliner, his eyes slightly weary as he half-closed them. The light shone on his amber-colored eyes, a very light brown as if nothing could hide any emotions.
His gaze fell on an unknown point in the void, staring blankly for a while. Then he straightened up, and opened the chat window, where the chat records from the day before yesterday were still displayed:
Master has always been so adorable: Mr. Su, my medicinal ingredients are almost complete, except for the most important one, the Spirit Spring Water. I have no clue where to find this ingredient, so I came to bother you because of your well-informed nature. Do you happen to know any information about Spirit Spring Water?
Xing Fang Siyuan: I don’t know.
Master has always been so adorable: Alright, thank you, Mr. Su, for your time.
The dim light from the screen illuminated Su Siyuan’s face. Su Siyuan blinked his eyelashes slowly, feeling somewhat indifferent in his heart, not wanting to speak.
Not wanting to speak, too lazy to speak.
The Spirit Spring Water was meant for his little monster. Even though only a small cupful was needed for the potion, he didn’t want to give it away.
He liked the sight of Bai Tang cradling the water cup, cherishing each sip in the corner. Every glance softened his heart a little more.
So, he didn’t want to give away any Spirit Spring Water. He would buy up all the Spirit Spring Water offered by Bai Yinhao and then hand it all over to Bai Tang.
…But since Bai Tang had said so.
Su Siyuan’s slender fingers rested on the keyboard as he lazily tapped away:
Xing Fang Si Yuan: I have information about Spirit Spring Water.
Master has always been so adorable: !!! Really?! Thank you so much, Mr. Su!!! Mr. Su, you’re a great person! Thank you very, very much! May I ask who the seller is? I’m willing to…
Su Siyuan yawned lazily and picked up the water cup beside him, his gaze falling on the edge of the bottle. It was the honey water Bai Tang had drunk, leaving his lip imprint on it.
Although Bai Tang hadn’t applied lipstick this time, Su Siyuan still keenly recognized the location of the lip print.
The man lowered his gaze and took a sip of honey water, enjoying the sweet taste spreading on his tongue.
His brown eyes curved slightly, their amber color revealing any emotional fluctuations clearly.
At that moment, his amber eyes shimmered with a gentle smile.
His handsome face slowly revealed a smile.
Ah—
He truly felt happy.
