Chapter Seventeen: The Old Gentleman

Fan Bei slept straight from morning until afternoon, waking up feeling thoroughly refreshed. He shook his head, and a sudden thought struck him.

"Wait a minute, before I went to sleep, I think I heard Da Bai barking—was he begging for food?"

"Heh, that mutt must have been truly starving. Well then, let him go hungry a while longer."

He grumbled to himself. That dog had been napping away, completely oblivious to the fact that Fan Bei had almost lost the first system son he’d ever created.

So he leaned back against the headboard, crossed his legs, and leisurely opened the system log.

He rubbed his eyes to clear his mind, then began to read slowly.

But after just a glance, he leapt out of bed, not even bothering to put on clothes, and rushed to open the door.

The moment he stepped out, he saw Da Bai lying in the kitchen, belly so sunken his ribs touched, looking even scrawnier than usual. He’d always been a picky eater and a bit thin, but never so emaciated.

Forcing a kindly smile, Fan Bei called out, "Da Bai, are you all right? I’ll make you dinner right away."

Da Bai immediately scrambled to his feet, dropping the wooden carving of a white dog he’d been holding, and bounded over to Fan Bei.

Fan Bei grabbed his front legs, pushing away that gaping maw. "Poor thing, Da Bai. You’re so hungry you can barely leap into my arms anymore."

Da Bai whined pitifully, angling for sympathy.

"Master, I’ve been diligently cultivating. I’ve learned powerful new skills and can protect you now. I didn’t want to disturb your sleep, so I held out even though I was nearly passing out from hunger. I didn’t even go to the kitchen to scrounge for food."

Fan Bei rolled his eyes at the dog's babbling. Just a moment ago, he’d looked about ready to doze off again.

Still, he patted Da Bai’s head with genuine praise. "Good job. You remembered my teachings. I’ll make something tasty for you today. By the way, if you’re as strong as you say, and you manage to reclaim our food storage from the cold room, I’ll make you beef bones, pork ribs, and fried chicken every day."

At the mention of those delicacies, Da Bai’s mouth watered, and he couldn’t help but recall the days when the place was bustling with people and he’d scavenge bones under the tables.

Just a few days ago, he’d gotten hold of a bone at last, only for it to be snatched away by that villain who now haunted his mind.

He nodded vigorously, casting a smug, slightly mocking glance at the wooden white dog lying on the floor.

"See how good Master is to me? It’s nothing like you said—he cares about me."

"Naive," came the silent retort.

Oblivious, Fan Bei released Da Bai and headed to the kitchen to cook.

He checked the drawer—there were twelve cans of meat left. Gritting his teeth, he took out seven.

He opened them all, then fetched a dozen large potatoes from the fridge, preparing to make a huge pot of Da Bai’s favorite: potato stew with meat.

Not just Da Bai’s favorite—Fan Bei loved it too. Though in the past, he ate most of the meat while Da Bai made do with potatoes…

After today, it looked like the roles would reverse.

Fan Bei considered himself a fair man: whoever did more work deserved the better food.

That was the surface reason, of course. The deeper reason was that he couldn’t let that unknown being lure away the dog system he’d painstakingly created.

As he cooked, Fan Bei mulled over what he’d just seen in the system log.

"Da Bai, after a long period of seclusion, has successfully comprehended the silver-tier ‘Evil-Banishing Dog Claw’ skill, based on the ‘Basic Dog Claw’ and ‘Nameless Meditation Technique,’ with the patient guidance of the unknown entity. Attack power greatly increased."

"Da Bai refused the persuasions of the unknown entity and chose to stay with his master. Willpower +1. Loyalty attribute greatly increased."

"The ‘Celestial Dog’ system has activated the achievement ‘Together with Master’: when Da Bai is within fifty meters of Fan Bei, his combat power increases. Since the current system lacks an achievements module, this cannot be activated."

Sighing, Fan Bei resolved to win over this dog properly from now on.

But it was no trouble—if Da Bai ate well and happily, he’d naturally work harder, and in the end, seventy percent of the mental energy profits would still be Fan Bei’s. He’d take the lion’s share.

He felt just like those conscientious bosses who, to boost productivity, would stoop to catching mosquitoes for their employees in the dormitories.

If others could do it, so could he.

He just hoped Da Bai would turn a profit soon so he could start handing over mental energy. Otherwise, Fan Bei would be stuck covering the deficit, and forget seventy percent—right now, he was losing out entirely.

Half an hour later, the potato stew was ready.

Da Bai had obediently run to his food bowl in the living room to wait for his meal.

He’d even brought his little wooden companion along—although the companion couldn’t eat, letting it smell the aroma was nice. At the very least, it made Da Bai eat with more gusto.

With these thoughts, Da Bai dug in, paying no heed to the new voice whispering in his mind.

"A single pot of potato stew is all it takes to buy you? You sell yourself too cheap. Be careful, or your future pups won’t be able to afford a home or a mate."

"If you’d just listen to me, you could be feasting on shark fin and bird’s nest, dragon liver and phoenix marrow, every day in the future."

...

Fan Bei, meanwhile, sat at the dining table, unhurriedly enjoying the fruits of his labor.

There was one advantage to cooking for himself: he didn’t have to worry about mysterious ingredients, a crucial point in a post-apocalyptic world.

"It smells wonderful—my cooking’s improving."

He ate contentedly, quickly finishing his late lunch.

Checking the time, he saw it was just past six in the afternoon.

In July, the sky would still be bright at this hour.

Now that Da Bai had mastered the silver-tier evil-banishing technique, he could handle not just the shelter’s evil spirits, but even venture into the valley’s lair if necessary.

He’d heard from Lang Sheng that with only a bronze-tier meditation technique and an exorcism fist, the man could travel freely between various strongholds in the wasteland.

Still, it was best to play it safe and keep a low profile, especially with an unknown entity watching. He couldn’t risk exposing his true identity as the system’s creator; he had to keep playing the part of Da Bai’s master and live off his dog.

The system log made it clear: the unknown entity wanted to lure Da Bai away.

Though there was no detailed record of their conversation, Fan Bei could easily guess the reason. The entity wanted to win Da Bai over because that silly dog had revealed the existence of the Celestial Dog system.

For Da Bai, the rare chance to talk to someone freely—especially another dog, even if it was attached to a wooden carving—was precious. After years of not seeing another dog, he naturally considered the newcomer a trustworthy companion.

If Da Bai were the protagonist of a novel, revealing his special abilities to a friend would’ve driven countless readers away.

Thankfully, he wasn’t; he was just a dog equipped with a system by Fan Bei.

And certainly, he wouldn’t spill the secret again. The unknown entity surely didn’t want more competitors eyeing its prize.

Fan Bei couldn’t afford to make Da Bai’s mistake. He had to keep his identity hidden at all costs.

Fan Bei carefully reviewed the events of the past ten days.

He realized that, aside from displaying some oddities when purifying evil spirits, he’d shown nothing that could give away his true identity.

As for the purifying anomaly, he could blame it on his meditation technique—a new breakthrough, perhaps. After all, Lang Sheng had said meditation alone could purify evil spirits.

Then, a sudden chill ran through Fan Bei—he’d thought of a glaring flaw!

He’d once stored the wooden carving inhabited by the unknown entity using the "System’s Creator" book, and had stored many other items in the shelter.

Now, there were two possibilities to consider.

Fan Bei leaned back in his chair, deep in thought.

First, perhaps the unknown entity within the wooden dog only awakened after the mission rewards were distributed and was unaware that its host had been stored away. Since then, it had been kept close by Da Bai, with limited perception. The items Fan Bei stored afterward were done while Da Bai was asleep, so the entity couldn’t have witnessed his actions.

If that were so, its attempts to persuade Da Bai to leave likely came from regarding Fan Bei as useless—a burden to be cast off so Da Bai could be molded into its puppet.

Its persistent guidance suggested as much.

The second possibility: the unknown entity was powerful and had sensed everything Fan Bei had done.

In that case, its attempt to lure Da Bai away would be a divide-and-conquer strategy.

In this scenario, it would assume Fan Bei had a system too, and that storing objects was one of its abilities.

Once it dealt with Da Bai, Fan Bei would be next—starting with the easier target.

Fan Bei narrowed his eyes. Either way, the entity couldn’t possibly know his true identity or that he could view the system log and track its movements and motives.

Though Da Bai refused to speak of it, Fan Bei was certain this was not a benevolent being—at best, it was driven by self-interest.

But whatever the truth, the entity was definitely weak for now. That was why it stayed hidden and forbade Da Bai from telling Fan Bei of its existence.

Little did it know, this caution only revealed its vulnerability.

Hmph, the more mysterious you are, the more determined I am. When I’ve gathered a hundred thousand units of mental energy, I’ll purify you completely! For now, keep teaching Da Bai—let him become your grave-digging dog…

Fan Bei’s eyes gleamed with a piercing sharpness.