Bai Tang stayed in the jade bottle, absorbing energy. He was held by Su Siyuan while observing Grandpa Su painting colorful patterns on the snail shells for the snail babies.
The painting pigments were non-toxic. They had to put these paints because the snail babies looked identical and were difficult to distinguish. Grandpa Su came up with this method.
This method was inspired by Chi Cainan. Chi Cainan has loved beauty since childhood and once brought home a snail shell painted in seven colors, startling Grandpa Su.
This can be understood as a conservative old-fashioned person suddenly encountering a punk with hair dyed in seven colors. Grandpa Su, leaning on his cane, accepted the baptism of the new culture and walked shakily through the gateway to the new world.
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple corresponded to Yi, Er, San, Si, Wu, Liu, and Qi respectively. Grandpa Su painted Chi Yi’s small shell with red paint. With years of practice in calligraphy and traditional Chinese painting, his hands were incredibly steady. He carefully held the snail baby and intricately drew patterns on its shell.
After finishing the painting, the snail babies felt admiration. Grandpa Su placed a large mirror in front of Chi Yi, and Chi Yi looked at himself in the mirror with surprise. His two antennae swayed excitedly.
“Yiya~” A childish voice sounded. This was Chi Yi’s voice.
The baby born of a monster was still a monster, and it was the second generation of monsters. Without cultivation, it could speak and transform into a human form. However, this transformation would take time; it would start speaking after a while and then transform into a human form later.
Perhaps the snail babies inherited Chi Cainan’s love for beauty. They swept away the fear they had towards Grandpa Su before and started calling out enthusiastically, making sounds only they could understand.
The snail babies moved slowly towards their target, the magic-wielding1Translator’s note: For the snail babies, they thought what Grandpa Su did was magic Grandpa Su. They all wanted to exchange for a beautiful new shell. Grandpa Su enjoyed the treatment of being adored by the babies, laughing so much that he couldn’t close his mouth.
After all seven snail babies got their new colored shells, Chi Yi, the leader, and his siblings chattered for a while. As if they had planned it, the seven snail babies formed a rainbow squad and marched in unison towards Bai Tang.
“Look, system. I’m so popular,” Bai Tang said.
“You’re being silly. Do you know that snails eat grass? In their eyes, you’re like a walking pastry. If they don’t chase you, who else will they chase?” The system ruthlessly shattered Bai Tang’s illusion.
Bai Tang: Well, I can’t argue with that.
Su Siyuan looked at Bai Tang in his palm and inexplicably felt that Bai Tang’s temperament was somewhat melancholic. “What’s wrong?” Su Siyuan asked in a low voice.
Bai Tang stood up and climbed back into the white jade bottle. “I want to bask in the sun and calm down.”
Upon hearing this, Su Siyuan immediately took Bai Tang to the garden, leaving the snail babies moving at a snail’s pace. The snail babies looked at Su Siyuan taking Bai Tang away at high speed. They gathered together and cried.
Grandpa Su felt sorry for the snail babies. He holds them in his hands and comforts them, “Grandpa will take you there too. Don’t cry, don’t cry.”
The Su family had a large garden. Su Siyuan lay on a recliner while holding Bai Tang in his hands. They basked in the sunlight together, witnessing a beautiful scene in the garden—
A thousand-year-old tortoise with snails in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet colors on his shell, leisurely strolled through the garden.
The warm sunlight bathed Bai Tang, signifying energy. However, this energy was too little. Bai Tang’s mission in this world was to absorb enough energy. The more energy absorbed, the higher the mission evaluation.
To achieve a high mission evaluation quickly, the most efficient method for Bai Tang was to absorb the power of thunder. This was related to his true nature.
He was the Jade Grass from the immortal realm, born from lightning. He is capable of controlling the power of thunder. Absorbing electrical energy was the most convenient for him.
After relaxing for a while, Su Siyuan went back to get his laptop to start working. With the accumulated tasks from yesterday and today, Su Siyuan rubbed his temples, focused, and began to work diligently.
Bai Tang watched Su Siyuan work and couldn’t help but ask, “Do all monsters work in human society?”
“Not necessarily. Some monsters engage in human society, like me and Chi Cainan. Others specialize in business within the monster realm. I know a pig spirit who can predict the period when thunder tribulation will occur,” Su Siyuan replied in a low voice.
“He only calculates once a year. Despite his high fees, countless monsters still line up to seek his services,” Su Siyuan continued, shaking his head. “I also sought him out, but I’ll have to wait until next year. Unexpectedly, thunder tribulation arrived this year, a twist of fate.”
With each sentence Su Siyuan spoke, a lightbulb lit up in Bai Tang’s mind.
He could provide a comprehensive tribulation service with that pig spirit, mutually beneficial, and expand the industry among the monster tribe!
“System, system, it seems like I’ve found the path to wealth and success!”
“We can go find that pig spirit!” the system and Bai Tang’s voices overlapped.
After Su Siyuan finished speaking, he noticed that the little plant in his palm began to cheer up. The small leaves happily shook, and then it patted his hand, “I want to go find that pig spirit. Can you take me to see him?”
“His whereabouts are uncertain. It might take some time before I can give you an answer,” Su Siyuan pondered for a moment before responding.
“Sure.” Bai Tang planned to share his entrepreneurial plan with Su Siyuan. “In the future, I want to become a… professional tribulation guide, you know, helping monsters through tribulations. Do you think it’s feasible?”
Su Siyuan knew Bai Tang’s abilities. His eyes lit up upon hearing this career plan, and he agreed, “It suits you very well.” Then, he shifted the conversation, “However, in the monster tribe, you need a license as proof that you became a spirit to start a business. Do you have this license?”
Being an unregistered spirit, Bai Tang: “…”
Seeing Bai Tang suddenly freeze, Su Siyuan guessed the answer. There was a hint of amusement in his eyes as he said, “Without a license, you’re not allowed to start a business, and you might be caught by the law enforcement officers of the monster tribe.”
Bai Tang’s little leaves drooped sadly.
“It can be applied for,” Su Siyuan lifted the jade bottle, his eyes focused and gentle as he looked at Bai Tang. “There’s an interview and a written test, but as long as you pass, you can get the license.”
The man’s eyes curved slightly. “With me around, you’ll definitely get the certificate.”
Suddenly, Bai Tang felt Su Siyuan’s gaze coming over a bit intense. The roots hidden in the golden sand couldn’t help but curl up. “Th-thank you.”
“No need for thank you between us,” Su Siyuan whispered. “If we have to say it, it should be me thanking you.”
He lowered his head and counted on his fingers, “One thank you, two thank you… how many thank yous should I say? It’s probably the sum of all the leaves in the world.” Su Siyuan lifted his face and reached out to Bai Tang. His hand was beautiful. The back of his hand revealed the clean and sharp contours of his bones.
The rounded fingertips touched Bai Tang’s leaf surface.
Just like the first time they met. The sloth extended his paw, gently resting it on top of the leaf. Only this time, no electric arcs were shooting out.
Su Siyuan held the smooth leaf surface, lowered his gaze, and softly said, “Thank you for saving me.”
When you don’t know what to say, a smile is enough. But Bai Tang, in his current form as a little grass, couldn’t smile.
Bai Tang didn’t have much attachment to the human form; he hadn’t even carefully examined what he looked like in human form. He had transformed into a human a few times before, but he felt a sense of rejection.
Otherwise, why would people look away when they saw him? In a hurry and flustered, as if they had encountered some ancient behemoth.
Fortunately, Bai Tang didn’t dwell on it for long, and Su Siyuan voluntarily let go of his hand.
“You need to transform into a human for the interview,” Su Siyuan looked at Bai Tang. “The assessment criteria are – whether you look like a human or not.”
“Can you transform into a human?” There was a hint of secretive anticipation in Su Siyuan’s amber-like eyes.
“Yes, I can.” Bai Tang replied. He then explained that he could transform into a human using the energy from the flower. Without using the methods of the main god space, based on the current rate of absorbing energy from the golden sand, he should be able to transform into a human within a week. “I should be able to transform within a week,” Bai Tang added.
Whether it was Bai Tang’s illusion or not, he seemed to see a subtle gleam in Su Siyuan’s eyes. This light was fleeting, making it elusive. Su Siyuan blinked and said seriously, “Let’s start preparing for the written test first.”
Su Siyuan went to the study and brought a stack of materials, placing them in front of Bai Tang. “These are reference materials for the examination for becoming a spirit. You can take a look at them in the next few days.”
Bai Tang curiously glanced at the names of the materials:
《Perfectly Disguising Yourself as a Human: Pay Attention to a Few Details》
《The Long Road to Being Human: Guidance for Non-Confused Monsters》
《I Heard Humans Must Wear Long Pants》
《Ten Years to Grow Trees, a Hundred Years to Cultivate People》
Bai Tang: “…”
It looks like something quite profound.
So, while Su Siyuan was working in the office, Bai Tang silently flipped through the materials. The two supernatural beings seemed very harmonious.
After dinner, Su Siyuan and Bai Tang gazed at the night sky in the garden. The night sky was beautiful, like a jewelry box overturned on black velvet.
Bai Tang saw the stars twinkling in the sky, and then bright little stars flew out from the dense tree shadows.
“Those are fireflies,” the system explained.
Bai Tang had never seen fireflies before. He admired the beauty of the night and enjoyed the rare tranquility. Unexpectedly, a burst of crying broke the silence.
“Waahh—!” Chi Yi cried out tearfully, “Beat, beat the bugs!”
“What’s going on?” Bai Tang was puzzled.
“Oh no! Fireflies can prey on snails by injecting anesthetic. The snail babies are in danger,” the system suddenly spoke faster.
Bai Tang realized the seriousness of the problem. He swiftly crawled out of the jade bottle, intending to grab Su Siyuan to rescue the snail babies. Just then, he saw seven little buns emerging from the darkness.
These were seven soft babies with big eyes, cherry-like mouths, two snow-white antennae, and colorful snail shells on their backs. Tears welled in their eyes as they ran towards Bai Tang with short legs, panting.
Faced with the crisis, the snail babies were stimulated to transform into human forms.
One of the babies, carrying a red snail shell on his back, hugged Bai Tang. His chubby little hands gripped the jade bottle, and he tearfully said, “Tang, I’m scared.”
Other babies also crowded around, expressing their worries to Bai Tang in a babbling manner. It seemed like they mistook the palm-sized little grass for their father.
“Don’t cry, don’t cry,” Bai Tang comforted in a fluster.
“Um, if Tang gives me a kiss, I won’t cry anymore,” Chi Yi sniffled and said.
On the sidelines, the silent Su Siyuan stood up and heartlessly said, “I’ll let Grandpa give you a kiss.” After speaking, he carried Bai Tang away, leaving behind a group of sniffling babies.
“They are snails and they eat grass. I was worried they might take a bite out of you,” Su Siyuan explained to the bewildered Bai Tang.
Author’s note:
The photos of the snail shell paintings are on Weibo. The author’s Weibo name is: 甜画舫
The voting results for Bai Tang’s plant name are out: Jade Grass.
For the snail babies’ names, the options are:
① Chi Yi, Chi Jin, Chi Yu, Chi Jue, Chi Yue, Chi Chen, Chi Li by a Red Braised Fish (Reason: The snail shells resemble white jade, and with the surname “迟2Chi,” these characters all have the meaning of jade, meaningful and pleasant-sounding.)
② Chi Jun Yi, Chi Jun Er, Chi Jun Sa, Chi Jun Si, Chi Jun Wu, Chi Jun Liu, Chi Jun Qi by Ou Ruo La (Reason: The chosen names create a sequence when their last characters are combined, representing one, two, three, four, five, six, seven.)
③ Chi Tian Shu, Chi Tian Xuan, Chi Tian Ji, Chi Tian Quan, Chi Yu Heng, Chi Kai Yang, Chi Yao Guang by Radish (Reason: Named after the Big Dipper’s seven stars.)
④ Chi Xiao Han3小寒 / Xiao Han – Minor Cold, Chi Li Chun4立春 / Li Chun – Start of Spring, Chi Jing Zhe5惊蛰 / Jing Zhe – Waking of Insects, Chi Gu Yu6谷雨 / Gu Yu – Grain Rain, Chi Li Xia7立夏 / Li Xia – Start of Summer, Chi Li Qiu8立秋 / Li Qiu – Start of Autumn, Chi Shuang Jiang9霜降 / Shuang Jiang – Descent of Frost by Winding Smoke and Rosy Clouds (Reason: Suggested names based on solar terms, like “迟惊蛰10Chi Jing Zhe,” “迟霜降11Chi Shuang Jiang,” etc., corresponding to different times of the year.)
What kind of monsters would you like to see? Feel free to mention it in the comments, and you can also suggest names and professions for the monsters!
Mini Theater:
Chi Yi: Our name is—
Snail Babies: Rainbow Team!
Chi Yi: Our goal is—
Snail Babies: Bai Tang!
Su Siyuan: (Throws a bunch of fireflies with one hand and takes away Bai Tang)
Snail Babies: Waah waah waah QAQ
