Bai Tang’s laughter faded as he heard Su Siyuan’s explanation. He showcased a dangerous purple electric arc, raised his head proudly, and said, “Once upon a time, someone wanted to bully me.”
Su Siyuan attentively watched Bai Tang, playing the role of an excellent listener, “And then?”
“Then they got shocked by me!” Bai Tang swayed his small leaves, “There’s nothing that can’t be solved with a shock. If it doesn’t work, shock them again.”
Su Siyuan’s voice carried a hint of amusement, “Little monsters with defense mechanisms are the best.” He walked with Bai Tang in the corridor, dappled sunlight shining through the leaves onto his face, “Sloths have no defense mechanisms. To protect ourselves, we climb very high trees.”
“After transforming into a human, I can’t climb trees anymore. What did I do?” Su Siyuan gazed down at Bai Tang, lightly tapping his small leaves with his fingers, “Then climb to a high position in human society.”
“Although you can’t become a CEO controlling the global economy, growing and strengthening your own company is like growing a big tree.” Su Siyuan’s voice was gentle, “When you become a professional tribulation guide, you will become a formidable ‘big tree.'”
Su Siyuan reached out, and his hand covered Bai Tang’s body. The dry palm felt warm, and with the energy surrounding Bai Tang, he continued, “Even if you remain a small grass in the future, only the size of a palm, in the hearts of bad people, you are like a big tree. Without using electric shocks, no one dares to bully you.”
Bai Tang shifted his small leaves uncomfortably, and Su Siyuan, noticing, withdrew his hand. He spoke softly, “You don’t like me touching you?”
Half of the man’s face was immersed in the serene darkness, while the other half was illuminated by gentle light. His tone was too soothing, making it instinctive for people to relax their psychological defenses.
“No, no,” Bai Tang quickly denied, “It just feels a bit strange.” He could casually touch Su Siyuan himself, enjoying absorbing energy, but when Su Siyuan touched him, Bai Tang suddenly became like a shy young bride.
“Is that so?” Su Siyuan smiled gently, “Actually, I like touching you.”
“…Huh?” Bai Tang looked at Su Siyuan in confusion, while the system made some indistinct noises on the side.
“Because I am a sloth, and I like plants,” Su Siyuan said softly, “Just like how the snail babies like you, I also like you. I want to hug you.”
The night breeze swept through, dispersing the stuffy air. Bai Tang quickly regained his senses and immediately retorted to the system, “He’s a sloth, wanting to touch me because of that. What’s wrong with that? Why are you making a fuss?”
“Oh, is that so?” The system mimicked Bai Tang’s tone, “I’m the system, so I want to make indistinct noises. What’s wrong with that? Why are you scolding me?”
“Is there any necessary connection between the system and making indistinct noises?” Bai Tang replied indifferently.
“Then, is there any necessary connection between the sloth and touching Bai Tang?” the system countered.
Bai Tang: “…”
This lousy system.
Su Siyuan walked into the study with Bai Tang. Su Grandpa was painting in the study. Hearing the noise at the door, he made a few strokes before looking up at Su Siyuan. “What’s the matter?”
“Grandpa, do you know any aquatic creatures that are about to undergo tribulation?” Su Siyuan placed the jade bottle on the desk, and Bai Tang poked his head out of the small bottle, looking curiously at the sheets of paper on the desk.
On the paper were delicately drawn seven adorable snail babies. Their antennae were reaching out carefully to observe the world, captured in intricate strokes.
“There’s a sea otter spirit about to undergo tribulation,” Grandpa Su replied after some thought. “Why do you ask?”
“Bai Tang wants to become a professional tribulation guide in the monster clan. I want him to take his first business order, gain some reputation, and then go cooperate with Zhu Tianji,” Su Siyuan said.
Bai Tang immediately looked spiritedly at Grandpa Su and said, “Grandpa Su, I can absorb thunder and help others undergo tribulation. It’s a piece of cake for me to be a professional tribulation guide.”
“A professional tribulation guide,” Grandpa Su slowly repeated the phrase. “It’s an interesting profession, and no monster has done it before. If you succeed, you’ll be the first to try. Who knows, you might monopolize the industry like Zhu Tianji.”
Grandpa Su took out his phone and logged onto the monster forum, showing Bai Tang the headline news inside. “This is what I saw on the forum before. Here, this is the sea otter about to undergo tribulation.”
Bai Tang looked curiously at the phone screen. The page was predominantly deep blue, divided into sections like “Headlines,” “Recommended,” “Entertainment,” “Videos,” and more. In the headlines section, the first news with an image was “The sea otter spirit is about to undergo tribulation, please do not enter this sea area.”
The accompanying picture showed a lone sea otter floating on the sea surface, with crushed crabs spread across its belly. It clutched a crab in a melancholy manner, gazing at the sky at a 45-degree angle.
“That should be the sea otter,” Grandpa Su said, clicking into the news section for the sea otter family. A variety of dazzling news appeared before Bai Tang’s eyes, and the most attention-grabbing headline was “Protest: Sea otter family faces unfounded accusations of domestic violence, false news hurts otter reputation.”
Grandpa Su put away his phone and asked Bai Tang, “Do you want to help him undergo tribulation?” Grandpa Su analyzed the pros and cons, “The sea otter family is an endangered species, and someone in their family holds a position in the organization for endangered monster species.”
“Our chief in the monster clan is a panda spirit, and that panda spirit also serves as the leader of the organization for endangered monster species. If you establish a good relationship with the sea otters, you can meet the panda spirit through them,” Grandpa Su said solemnly. “With your profession gaining so much attention, if there are influential figures above, the small fries won’t dare to cause trouble.”
Bai Tang listened attentively, feeling surprised by the intricacies among monsters.
“So, it’s this sea otter then. The client looks a bit cute, and it might make your job more enjoyable,” Grandpa Su said.
“I’ll contact them for you.” Grandpa Su, having been a monster for many years, had a high reputation in the aquatic community and a wide network of connections. In no time, he was about to reach the sea otter spirit’s monster network account.
As for why the contacted monster was the sea otter spirit’s mother, it was because the sea otter had been driven to a remote area without monsters to undergo tribulation, to avoid harming others. That area had no signal, making the sea otter spirit unreachable.
As for Chi Cainan, who rushed to the deep mountains where the signal was poor, he was currently also unreachable.
“What’s your monster network account? Add each other,” Grandpa Su said to Bai Tang.
Bai Tang looked completely bewildered.
“Grandpa, Bai Tang hasn’t obtained his spirit certification yet,” Su Siyuan explained on the side.
Every monster with a spirit certification could register on the monster network. In this network, individuals could post tasks, sell items, make friends, and chat. The monster network was an indispensable part of daily life for every monster in the new century.
However, occasionally, humans would accidentally enter and chat with monsters about the foolishness of the bipedal apes (humans) as a species.
“It’s inconvenient to be a monster without a spirit certification. It happens to be the exam season soon. You should work hard to get your certification. In the meantime, it’s perfect timing for Chi Yi and the others to start kindergarten. There’s a well-known certification training class near the kindergarten, so I’ll enroll you in a tutoring class,” Grandpa Su declared with the authority of a stern guardian.
Chi Yi, who was mentioned, had just arrived. Carrying his snail shell on his back, he lifted his head in confusion, unaware of the impending miserable fate of starting kindergarten.
The seven little snails trotted over to Grandpa Su, learning to complain on their own. They accused Su Siyuan of taking away Bai Tang and expressed their grievances, claiming that the encounter with fireflies made the small snails weak, pitiful, and helpless.
“For now, Bai Tang can use my monster network account,” Su Siyuan calmly shifted the topic. He took out his phone and added the sea otter spirit’s mother as a friend.
The seven snail babies were still chattering and complaining. Su Siyuan, unfazed, picked up Bai Tang and said to Grandpa Su, “We need to communicate with that sea otter spirit. We’re leaving.” With that, he confidently left the scene, and his departing figure showed no signs of panic.
Bai Tang’s little leaves scratched at the bottle opening. He waved goodbye to the sobbing snail babies. When he turned around, Bai Tang saw a slight upward curve at the corner of Su Siyuan’s mouth. It seemed like he was in a good mood. But the smile was fleeting, almost making Bai Tang doubt if he had imagined it.
Su Siyuan took Bai Tang back to the bedroom. He logged into the monster network on his computer, allowing Bai Tang to communicate with the sea otter spirit’s mother. After that, Su Siyuan went to freshen up.
Bai Tang crawled out of the white jade bottle, carefully noting the golden sand clinging to his roots to avoid spilling it. Then, he jumped onto the keyboard, ready to chat with the sea otter spirit.
Bai Tang used Su Siyuan’s account, named “Xing Fang Siyuan,” with a profile picture of a sloth hugging a tree.
In the monster network, all user avatars were various animals, and Bai Tang speculated that the avatars must be based on prototype photos. The sea otter spirit’s mother’s avatar was a swimming sea otter, and her account name was “Craving for Big Crabs Today.”
Craving for Big Crabs Today: Hello, I am the mother of Hai Shuangxi. Are you Mr. Bai?
The emerald green little grass tapped the keyboard with its roots, typing away briskly.
Xing Fang Siyuan: Yes
Craving for Big Crabs Today: Su Chenggui said that you can help monsters undergo tribulation. I believe in Su Chenggui’s character. If you can help Shuangxi successfully undergo tribulation, our sea otter family will do anything within our ability for you. In addition, I will also pay you a sum of cash. I wonder when you can come over. We’ve consulted Zhu Tianji to calculate the date of the thunder tribulation, and it’s coming this month.
Bai Tang looked at the screen with hesitation. He hadn’t obtained his spirit certification yet, and a month seemed a bit tight. Did he have to operate his first business without a license?
“No, sweetheart, you can easily spend five hundred points of energy to transform into human form and then get certified,” the system earnestly suggested.
“Don’t think I don’t know; you’re just eagerly waiting to collect transaction fees now,” Bai Tang hit the nail on the head, exposing the system’s ulterior motives.
“Yes, I am waiting to collect transaction fees,” the system boldly admitted, “Will you pay, sweetheart?”
Bai Tang: “…”
Author’s note:
The picture of the sea otter is on the author’s Weibo.
Now the author realizes that there is something more agonizing than naming characters, and that is choosing an online username.
The names of the snail babies are revealed: Chi Yi, Chi Jin, Chi Yu, Chi Jue, Chi Yue, Chi Chen, and Chi Li.
Awarding the “Best Namer” award to the little angel “Red Braised Fish.”
Here are some magical names for the snail babies from the comments:
Chi Zao, Chi Tui, Chi Kuang, Chi Ke, Chi Da, Chi Jia, Chi Dao by Mi Ao.
A mini-drama from the Sauce-flavored Duck:
Little Snail: Charge! Charge towards the green leaves!
Sloth: (Looking at the sun) Oh, it’s about to rain. Let’s go back indoors. (Picked up Bai Tang and left)
Advanced version of the Tortoise and Hare Race: Snail vs. Sloth Racing
We continue to collect monster character designs. Little angels, don’t miss out! If you have any monsters you’d like to see, mention them in the comments with their names, occupations, and personalities. (≧▽≦)
