Chapter 235: The Power of Love

Li Songhai's eyes darted about as he said, "I think there might be some misunderstanding between us. I wasn't following you. I was just staying there on my own, and it was your Ghost-type pet beast that inexplicably used Hypnosis on me and knocked me out."

"Is that so," Qiao Sang said. "By that logic, your Flying-type pet beast ambushing me from behind was also a misunderstanding?"

Li Songhai nodded frantically at her words. "It really was all a misunderstanding. I haven't contracted the Rain Swift Swallow for long and haven't trained it well yet, so it just randomly used skills on the road."

Qiao Sang stared at Li Songhai, her pitch-black eyes like she was watching a performing clown. After watching him for a while, she opened her mouth and said, "Then what about your Steel Armor Foot Monster grabbing the pet beast in my backpack later?"

Li Songhai braced himself and met her gaze, immediately feeling the pressure multiply.

He hadn't expected a Gao Zhongsheng to be this intimidating.

What was even more unexpected was that the Steel Armor Foot Monster, even after he had fainted, still remembered to go grab the Shui Lu Yana.

How was he supposed to find an excuse for that...

"Do you know Memory Read?" Qiao Sang asked at this moment.

Li Songhai was stunned for a moment. "I do."

Memory Read, a high-level skill of Ghost-type pet beasts, can directly read the memories deep within a target's consciousness by drifting into their brain.

Although this skill could be called a divine technique for interrogating criminals, the League had regulations prohibiting its use on humans until the pet beast's proficiency in Memory Read reached Mastery.

On one hand, it involved privacy and other human rights issues.

On the other hand, Memory Read with insufficient proficiency could easily cause cerebral paralysis, and in severe cases, even symptoms of dementia.

Li Songhai didn't immediately understand why the girl in front of him suddenly brought this up—it was rather creepy.

Qiao Sang put her friendly smile back on. "If you still won't tell the truth, I'll have my Treasure Ghost use Memory Read on you."

"Treasure~"

The little Treasure Ghost grinned at just the right moment.

Li Songhai looked up in astonishment at the little Treasure Ghost.

"Your pet beast knows Memory Read?!" Li Songhai asked in disbelief.

No matter how he looked at it, this pet beast clearly resembled a beginner pet beast—how could it possibly know a high-level skill!

Wait... Li Songhai suddenly realized something, and his nerves instantly tensed up.

If this Ghost-type pet beast really was as simple as it appeared on the surface, how could his Steel Armor Foot Monster and Rain Swift Swallow have possibly gone down...

Just as Li Songhai was half-believing, half-doubting, Qiao Sang administered the final dose of strong medicine.

"Little Treasure, Memory Read," Qiao Sang said.

"Treasure~"

The little Treasure Ghost was very cooperative, making a show of drifting toward Li Songhai's head.

"I'll talk! I'll talk!" Li Songhai shouted desperately, afraid that if he was a second too late, this Ghost-type pet beast would really drift into his brain.

Becoming paralyzed was a small matter; having his memories read and his secrets exposed was a big one!

Although he still didn't quite believe that this Ghost-type pet beast, which looked like a beginner pet beast, knew high-level skills, he didn't dare gamble on it.

A man could die, but he absolutely could not die of social embarrassment!

Heaven knew how many secrets he'd accumulated since childhood that he didn't want anyone to know.

"Little Treasure," Qiao Sang called out in time.

The little Treasure Ghost stopped.

Li Songhai took a deep breath, slightly calming his emotions, and said, "It's for the pet beast in your backpack."

Qiao Sang said nothing, just stared at him.

Li Songhai's scalp went numb, and he said, "I came from the Ancient Mist Region to the Yuhua Region just for it."

Qiao Sang looked at him, still saying nothing.

Li Songhai swallowed, then continued, "The pet beast in your bag is called Shui Lu Yana. In our Ancient Mist Region, it's a pet beast on the verge of extinction. Normally, pet beasts on the verge of extinction would be protected by the League, and ordinary people wouldn't be able to come into contact with them at all, but this one is an exception."

"It ran out from a crack in a secret realm a few months ago." At this point, Li Songhai's expression changed slightly. He hesitated for a moment before continuing:

"I also received this mission on the dark web."

Qiao Sang: "!

!"

Qiao Sang's face remained impassive on the surface, but inside her heart, monstrous waves were surging, and her mind was filled with "Holy crap."

It turned out he didn't want to contract the Shui Lu Yana himself!

Didn't that mean there were other people who knew about the Shui Lu Yana's existence!

Li Songhai, afraid the girl in front of him didn't know what the dark web was, gave an explanation:

"The dark web is an encrypted network built on top of the existing internet, where anything can be traded. A few months ago, someone posted a mission on it to find the Shui Lu Yana, giving the specific location where the Shui Lu Yana had last appeared. At that time, besides me, several other people had also taken this mission."

Qiao Sang tried her best to maintain her current expression.

Good lord, there were actually several other people.

Li Songhai saw that the girl in front of him still wasn't speaking, and his scalp went numb wave after wave.

He'd already said so much—why wasn't she reacting at all?

Li Songhai braced himself and continued, "I was just incredibly lucky back then. I happened to discover the Shui Lu Yana's tracks, so I followed it all the way here."

"Don't worry, besides me, no one else knows the Shui Lu Yana is here. I won't tell anyone else."

Hearing this, Qiao Sang breathed a slight sigh of relief and decided to stick with her original plan for now.

"Is the Shui Lu Yana you mentioned this one?" Qiao Sang turned around, opened her backpack, and took out the "Shui Lu Yana."

The "Shui Lu Yana" looked at Li Songhai with its round, bright eyes, an innocent and harmless expression on its face.

Why did she take the Shui Lu Yana out? Wasn't she afraid he'd just snatch it? Well, he couldn't snatch it right now anyway... Li Songhai said with a somewhat deflated expression, "That's the one."

The moment the words fell, Li Songhai's eyes suddenly widened.

He saw the "Shui Lu Yana" in front of him begin to melt, and finally slowly reassemble into a pet beast with a big head, shiny black eyes, light blue horns on either side of its head, a short tail, and slippery blue skin all over its body.

Li Songhai was completely dumbfounded.

This, this freaking thing isn't a Water Lulu Yana at all!

Qiao Sang spoke up: "This is an Illusion Water Baby. It can transform into the appearance of other pet beasts — it's not the Water Lulu Yana you're looking for at all."

"Illusion!"

The Illusion Water Baby cried out, then its body melted and reshaped into a Treasure-Seeking Ghost, and then melted again, forming a small version of a Flame Hound.

Li Songhai stared at the scene before him, mouth agape, as if petrified. He stood stunned for several seconds, then muttered, "Why did it turn into the appearance of a Water Lulu Yana?"

Qiao Sang said calmly, "A while back I saw someone on the forum discussing Water Lulu Yana, so I looked it up online. It looked pretty cute, so I had the Illusion Water Baby transform into one."

"Oh, right." Qiao Sang said, as if casually: "I remember that person said they saw it on something called Dawn Crow Street in Tribute City."

Tribute City? Dawn Crow Street? The Ancient Mist Region?!

Li Songhai: "!

!"

Qiao Sang returned home and immediately went to her room, sat cross-legged on the bed, and began meditating.

She hadn't expected more than one person to know of the Water Lulu Yana's existence, which gave her an undeniable sense of crisis.

The most important thing right now was to quickly develop her brain domain, add another page to the Beast Codex, and contract the Water Lulu Yana as soon as possible to avoid any more surprises.

In the courtyard.

Ya Bao was performing Blazing Charge for the Water Lulu Yana to see.

Flames wrapped around Ya Bao's entire body, and then it charged toward a stone about 50 centimeters across.

"Bang!"

With a tremendous crash, the stone instantly shattered into pieces.

"Ya."

Ya Bao stopped its movement, turned, and nodded to the Water Lulu Yana.

"Lu Lu Lu!"

Seeing Ya Bao nod at her, a surge of energy welled up inside the Water Lulu Yana.

It regulated the energy within its body, and a stream of water rose from its tail.

The next second, the water stream suddenly shot up and wrapped itself tightly around the Water Lulu Yana's entire body.