Chapter 242: Contract, Right Now

"Ya!"

Glorious fur, an overwhelming aura, a cry that made one's heart tremble.

The beast summoned in the star array gave off an intensely oppressive feeling.

The plaid-shirt man sucked in a cold breath, scared nearly to the point of crying out.

Holy crap!

Who could tell him why the pet beast this kid summoned was a Flame Listener Hound!

Wasn't it said online that there was only one so far?!

Most importantly—

Why was the star array green?!

How the hell is this a star array a high schooler still carrying a backpack should have?!

Cold sweat broke out down the plaid-shirt man's spine. Before he could recover from the shock, the Flame Listener Hound before him had already opened its mouth and spewed a spiraling blaze.

"Annoyance Fiend! Save me!" The plaid-shirt man screamed, terrified, hugging his head and crouching on the ground.

"Annoyance!"

The Annoyance Fiend was clearly not adept at combat. Faced with the sudden situation, it didn't react in time, but instead let out a frightened cry from the side.

Just as the flames were about to hit the plaid-shirt man, Qiao Sang shouted in time: "Psychic Force!"

The flames, only 0.1 centimeters from the plaid-shirt man, were suspended in midair by a force, then abruptly reversed direction and struck the Annoyance Fiend not far away.

The searing flames hit the unprepared Annoyance Fiend dead-on.

"Bang!"

The Annoyance Fiend's body was sent flying backward, slamming hard into the wall behind.

"Annoyance!

!"

A pained wail spread throughout the room.

Hearing the sound, the plaid-shirt man's face went pale. Trembling, he lowered his hands and turned to look, only to find the Annoyance Fiend already lying on the ground with its eyes closed.

It's over... The plaid-shirt man's gaze went blank, and he collapsed limply to the floor.

Qiao Sang wiped the sweat from her forehead. Although the process had deviated a little from what she'd imagined, at least she'd taken down the Annoyance Fiend without causing much damage.

Speaking of which, she truly hadn't expected this plaid-shirt man to be so weak.

Judging by his villainous demeanor at the start, she'd thought he was some tough character—but this was it?

And she'd even strategized so far ahead for nothing.

She'd originally figured that even though the Annoyance Fiend was only Beginner-tier, it was still a Psychic-type pet beast and should possess skills like teleportation.

They were indoors now, and the quest issuer was still beside that plaid-shirt man. If she attacked the Annoyance Fiend directly, it would likely cause massive damage to the room, and the plaid-shirt man might even take the quest issuer hostage to force her to comply.

So she'd planned to have Ya Bao pretend to attack the plaid-shirt man first. Either the Annoyance Fiend would block the attack, or the flames would force the plaid-shirt man away from the quest issuer's side.

She hadn't expected it to end up like this.

"Ya!"

Ya Bao turned to look at her beast master, saw her expression was off, and called out worriedly.

"I'm fine." Qiao Sang smiled.

Luckily she'd broken free of the hypnosis at the critical moment, otherwise the consequences...

Qiao Sang suddenly thought of something and froze on the spot.

Her attention had been entirely on the plaid-shirt man of unknown identity just now. Thinking back now, she recalled that the star array that had summoned Ya Bao seemed to be green...

Did she just—break through?!

Without the Annoyance Fiend's control, the man scrambled to his feet, grabbed the plaid-shirt man by the collar, and punched him square in the jaw.

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The plaid-shirt man collapsed to the ground.

That punch also brought the plaid-shirt man's focus back. He glared at the man with unwillingness, let out a cold laugh, and said: "My luck ran out. Go ahead and call the cops. When I get out, I'll come find you again."

"Your sister!" The man threw another punch, seething: "Still daring to threaten me after all this!"

Qiao Sang heard the commotion and came back to her senses. She stepped forward and asked: "Is he the one who was stalking you?"

The plaid-shirt man had looked utterly defiant while being beaten, but when he saw Qiao Sang approaching, his pupils shrank and he silently swallowed the saliva he'd been about to spit.

Flame Listener Hound.

A D-rank beast master carrying a backpack.

He couldn't afford to mess with her...

The man, still unaware he'd narrowly dodged a saliva attack, turned and saw Qiao Sang. His expression softened as he said: "That's him. This guy's been tailing me lately. While you were unconscious just now, he confessed everything."

"Why was he stalking you?" Qiao Sang asked curiously.

"I don't know that. The guy hasn't said yet." The man finished speaking, then grabbed the plaid-shirt man by the collar and demanded fiercely: "Speak! Why were you following me!"

The plaid-shirt man snorted coldly, turned his head away with a disdainful expression, and happened to meet Qiao Sang's gaze.

His heart gave a jolt. He'd been about to put on a tough front, but then he saw the Flame Listener Hound staring at him from the side as well.

In an instant, the plaid-shirt man's little heart started pounding several times faster.

He took a deep breath, turned and shoved the man's hand away, and roared: "Don't you know perfectly well what you've done yourself!"

The man frowned: "What did I do? Make yourself clear."

"If you hadn't been clinging to Yu Xinyan, showing off your love online with her every day, how would she have had no time to train!" The plaid-shirt man grew angrier as he spoke: "It's all because of you! You've made her put her whole mind into romance now, so much that she won't even attend the regional tournament qualifying exam!"

The man was stunned: "You're a fan of Xinyan?"

The plaid-shirt man sneered: "Or yours?"

The man: "......"

The man gritted his teeth and said, "Whether she goes or doesn't go to the regional competition assessment is her business — it has nothing to do with me at all!"

"Pah!" the plaid-shirt man said hatefully, "Scumbag!"

"Hah, if you don't believe me I'll just let you hear exactly how she put it." The man picked up the phone that had just fallen on the ground, dialed a number, and switched on speakerphone along the way.

The plaid-shirt man held his breath.

Qiao Sang quietly crept closer — she smelled the scent of gossip.

"Hello." Soon a crisp voice came from the other end of the line: "What made you suddenly think to call me? Is it time to shoot another video?"

"No." The man got straight to the point: "I'm just asking — are you really not planning to enter next year's regional competition?"

"Hahahaha, enter what regional competition? You don't know me by now? With my level, I couldn't even qualify." The person on the other end of the line prattled on:

"Before it was to set up a positive, go-getter persona, and it just so happened there was content to film videos and livestreams. This year I've already switched the direction of my livestream content."

Hearing this, the plaid-shirt man was like a bolt from the blue, utterly unwilling to accept this fact, muttering, "Impossible, this is absolutely impossible......"

"Who's next to you?"

"Your brain-dead fan and career fan."

"Huh?"

The man didn't keep chatting — he hung up the phone.

He looked at the plaid-shirt man, who had lost his spirit, and said, "You heard everything clearly."

The plaid-shirt man was still in a daze and didn't answer.

The man continued, "Since you now know the situation, I hope you properly repent. After you get out of the police station, don't come looking for me again."

After saying that, he looked at Qiao Sang and revealed a gentle smile: "Would you mind accompanying me to the police station?"

Qiao Sang was taken aback: "Aren't you not reporting it to the police?"

The man said sheepishly, "I originally thought it was just a sasaeng fan or someone with a crazy crush on me, and I wanted to give them a proper talking-to. I didn't expect that wasn't the case. If you hadn't woken up just in time, there's no telling what this guy would've done."

"Now that the person's been caught, naturally we have to send him in and teach him a proper lesson."

"I......" Qiao Sang had just started to speak.

The man said again, "Don't worry! I'll definitely give you a five-star review!"

I should get that five-star review even if I don't go to the police station... Qiao Sang grumbled inwardly, but said aloud, "Fine, where's the bathroom? I want to go first."

The man hurriedly pointed to the left and said, "Just keep walking straight that way."

Qiao Sang followed the direction he pointed and arrived at the bathroom, locked the door, and opened her backpack.

Looking at the blinking-eyed Water Ruiana staring at her, she barely held back her excitement and said in a low voice:

"Contract. Now."