The train sped across the viaduct, and looking out, there was a clear, azure sky.
Green mountains, clear waters, white clouds drifting—even my mood should be brightening... yeah, right.
Su Hao shifted his already stiff butt and yawned.
Taking the high-speed rail from Ancheng to Changlin Province took way too long, with a transfer in between.
He had originally wanted to fly.
But...
Emmm, spirits generally weren’t allowed on planes, and Su Hao understood—after all, entry-level spirits were too destructive; one accident and it’d be a crash with no survivors.
He checked the time, prepared jade powder food for the Dream Butterfly and the Fire Crow, then walked to the dining car for a not-so-satisfying lunch. Returning to his seat, he unlocked his phone and scrolled.
Whoa,
No signal.
"I should’ve downloaded a few movies beforehand..."
Su Hao racked his brain for ways to kill time.
The Dream Butterfly, clutching the tablet it had fought tooth and nail to get, was equally helpless.
Without Wi-Fi, what’s the point of this crappy tablet, gu no~!
Only the Fire Crow, skilled at zoning out... thinking, didn’t find it boring.
It stood on the seat, staring at the sky outside the window, for a whole hour.
Su Hao rummaged through his suitcase.
A notebook, some spare clothes, toiletries, and so on.
He searched and suddenly paused, pulling out a deck of playing cards.
Heaven knows when or why it had been stuffed into the suitcase.
He looked at it.
Himself, the Dream Butterfly, the Fire Crow... just right, it was fate.
"How about we play some Dou Dizhu?"
"It’s easy to learn. Just do this, this, and this, and you win."
...
Half an hour later,
"Gu no~!"
The Dream Butterfly played a bomb.
Su Hao’s face was ashen.
"Impossible! Unbelievable! Un-spirit-like!"
After over a dozen rounds of Dou Dizhu, except for the first three rounds when the two spirits were unfamiliar with the rules and he won, he lost miserably afterward.
Well, that’s not quite accurate.
He lost when he was the landlord, but when he was a peasant... he won.
Carried by the Dream Butterfly.
That somehow felt even more frustrating.
"I suspect you’re cheating, but I have no proof."
"Gu no (︶︿︶)＝凸"
"Gu no gu no!"
"Keep going? No, no, no, we should balance work and rest. After playing cards for so long, it’s time to study now."
Su Hao hadn’t brought any study materials.
But did he need any?
He started writing, jotting down the training method for the ultimate move "Psychic Shield."
After the fight with Old Chen, Su Hao had been eyeing the Psychic Shield move.
A sturdy shield that could be continuously repaired would give him enough security.
Theoretically,
The Dream Butterfly had excellent mental strength, so learning "Psychic Shield" wouldn’t be too hard.
As the saying goes, illusion and thought are inseparable; it’s just that a Psychic Shield cast by an illusion-type spirit would be weaker.
But the Dream Butterfly didn’t have an illusion attribute now, so it was the same.
The little guy was dumbfounded.
First you want to play cards, then you don’t.
How can you be like this!
Conspiracy, it’s all a conspiracy!
"Gu no~!"
Today, it, the Dream Butterfly, would rise up and overthrow Su Hao’s rule, gu no!
Spirits will never be slaves~!
The little guy glanced at the jade powder in Su Hao’s hand, paused for two seconds.
Maybe next time.
Suddenly,
Commotion broke out ahead. Su Hao, eager to shake off the card-obsessed Dream Butterfly, saw what seemed like a conflict and immediately got up to walk forward.
He saw a big man shoving a middle-aged woman, making her stumble, and she was only saved from falling by someone behind her.
Su Hao frowned.
He caught a strong smell of alcohol.
He looked over; the big man snorted and sat down, lying on his side with one leg propped up on the seat next to him.
He was hogging two seats.
Besides the middle-aged woman, there was a young man who looked angry but dared not speak.
Apparently, neither seat belonged to the big man.
A frowning train attendant was trying to reason with him.
The big man picked his nose.
"Scram!"
"Does the seat have a name on it? So what if I sit here?"
"I’m sitting here, so it’s mine. Why should I show you my ticket!"
The surrounding passengers looked displeased. Someone wanted to pull the big man up but, comparing their own build to his burly, muscular arms, held back.
Su Hao glanced at his own fist, clenched it, and felt it was full of strength, enough to kill an ox... a calf.
Probably not worse than the big man.
He stepped forward, then stopped.
A spirit master doesn’t stand under a dangerous wall.
He said to the Dream Butterfly, which had flown to hover above his head at some point, "It’s up to you."
"Gu no~"
The big man, now impatient, stood up again, spewing curses, his thick arms flailing wildly.
The attendant quickly stepped back but was a bit too slow as the arm swung toward her.
A beautiful big butterfly appeared in front of her.
It locked eyes with the big man.
The big man froze, his arm suspended in midair, his body motionless.
Only his eyes were filled with terror.
Su Hao glanced at a nearby Sleepy Owl, which also seemed ready to act, and shook his head slightly.
Didn’t they know that spirit masters had been increasing rapidly in recent years?
Brawn and bullying just didn’t cut it anymore.
Times had changed.
...
"Hi, I’m Tang Xin. Could I observe your Dream Butterfly up close? Please?"
The girl wore a light sweater with a scarf wrapped around it, her long hair falling loose, hands clasped together, looking at him.
Su Hao’s gaze lingered on her pretty face for a moment, then shifted to her shoulder, where a small bird with gray and cyan feathers perched.
A Sleepy Owl—the evolved form of the Cotton Owl.
Also one of the very few wood-type spirits that touched even a little on the illusion type.
It could learn moves like "Slumber Sound" and "Lullaby," but they weren’t easy to master.
Faced with a cute girl’s request, Su Hao, of course...
First asked the Dream Butterfly for its opinion.
"Gu no, gu no gu no." The little guy generously flapped its wings, then started chatting with the Sleepy Owl.
"Thank you so much."
The girl, Tang Xin, gazed at the Dream Butterfly, pulling out a notebook and pen to sketch and write.
Occasionally letting out exclamations like "Wow," "Ooh," and "So amazing."
She asked, or maybe she was just talking to herself.
"Hey, have you read that paper on Dream Butterfly evolution?"
"The author managed to deduce the evolution conditions from just a few clues—so impressive."
"I’m really curious about the Dream Butterfly’s final form. I wonder when it’ll evolve."
Su Hao: "..."
Doesn’t she know the actual author is right in front of her?
But being praised without her knowing...
Double the satisfaction.
Since you’re so good at complimenting, I’ll let you borrow the Dream Butterfly a bit longer.
"Gu no???"
...
The high-speed rail arrived at Longdu, and Su Hao transferred from there to Changlin Province.
By the time he took a taxi to a small town near his destination, it was already eight or nine in the evening.
"Tomorrow I’ll have to hike over ten kilometers..."
Su Hao looked at the map, feeling a bit dizzy.
The last stretch had no taxis available.
Only on foot.
It only strengthened his resolve to contract a mount.
Times had changed.
The Spirit Illustration had already been updated to v2.0.