Chapter Twenty-Seven: Wisdom

Da Bai turned around, somewhat embarrassed, and relayed the words of the wooden carving to Fan Bei exactly as they had been spoken.

After hearing this, Fan Bei immediately understood and nodded. “Yes, that’s what they deserve—it’s theirs to take.”

Hmph, I see. What you’re saying is, if it’s not mine to take, I shouldn’t have it. Such is the greed of mortals. You must know the value of these spirit cores, especially since you just traded with outsiders, didn’t you?

The little wooden dog pondered these thoughts but kept them to itself.

Da Bai, meanwhile, cheered up and threw himself back into the fray.

More than half an hour later, the long cross-shaped corridor was finally cleared. Now, any of the three doors leading out could be opened without fear of having their escape route cut off.

“Master, I’ve leveled up! Xiao Bai told me to put points into agility!” Da Bai exclaimed joyfully.

“Oh? What are your attributes now?” Fan Bei asked.

Though he could have used the “Father of Systems” to check the status of any activated system directly, now was clearly not the time or place.

“Oh, my strength is 3, agility is 8, intelligence is 2, and charisma is 9,” Da Bai declared, quite pleased.

“Then do as she says. After all, you’re up against unknown spiritual entities now; higher agility will help you dodge attacks.”

“I actually want to add more to charisma, since we dogs rely on our looks to get by. But Xiao Bai keeps refusing and calls me a dumb dog…” Da Bai said, a little deflated.

I couldn’t agree more, thought Fan Bei. Thankfully, I’m not the one who has to play the villain here.

He tried to comfort Da Bai. “Xiao Bai has a point. In the future, you’ll have to rely on your paws and teeth, and you’ll be protecting your master. Even if you don’t boost your charisma, I’ll always like you.”

“All right then, I’ll put more into agility. Xiao Bai said that once I break through 10 points, I’ll unlock a new extraordinary skill that’ll make me much faster,” Da Bai explained in detail.

“That’s something to look forward to. Keep working hard, Da Bai,” Fan Bei said, pleased.

Immediately, Da Bai turned to the wooden carving on his backside and crowed, “See, Xiao Bai? Master is very happy with my progress and doesn’t have any of those nasty motives you mentioned.”

“Of course he’s happy. When you make your system strong enough, he’ll get a powerful system for free,” scoffed the wooden carving.

“Then I’ll give it to Master right now, so I can go back to charming everyone with my looks,” Da Bai replied, utterly unconcerned.

“Outrageous! Squandering such a treasure…” The wooden carving paused, then said, “Go ahead and try giving it away. Let’s see if your master truly cares about you.”

“Fine, I will!” Da Bai retorted, a little sulky.

At that, Da Bai turned around and barked at Fan Bei.

Fan Bei listened, and a deeply moved expression slowly came over his face. He crouched down and patted Da Bai’s head.

“Thank you for your loyalty, Da Bai. But this opportunity was granted to you by fate, and I cannot take it. You must make good use of it—bring blessings to the world, to humanity, to your kind, and help build a better home for all. You must persevere, no matter what.”

Fan Bei’s face was the very picture of noble selflessness, without a hint of personal desire. The little wooden dog watched, utterly perplexed.

Through its psychic senses, it could tell that this foolish master truly did not want the system. He’d only just begun practicing meditation; there was no way he could lie in front of the wooden dog. Its psychic scan, at such close range, could detect every micro-expression; any liar would surely give themselves away. Fan Bei, however, was genuinely sincere.

Impossible!

Could it be true, that a master and his dog can resemble each other so closely? These two idiots were actually trying to push this treasure on each other!

A system of such profound mystery, a treasure rare even in the multiverse, being passed back and forth like this? Never mind the other features—just the ability to upgrade and assign attribute points could crush countless other cultivation paths.

If I’d known Fan Bei was this honest and good-hearted, I wouldn’t have played the villain in Da Bai’s ear every day. I should change tactics—speak kindly, treat them sincerely, and, once I’ve built a deep bond like theirs, find an excuse to ask for the system. I could even pretend to have some fatal illness that can only be cured by binding a system…

Still, it’s not too late. The persona I’ve crafted as a higher spiritual being can still come in handy. Yes, I, Tian Bai, am truly clever!

Meanwhile, Da Bai was deeply moved, sprawling at Fan Bei’s feet, his thoughts adrift.

Comparing the two, his master truly was great. Xiao Bai, you don’t know this, but Master knew from the very first day I had the system. If I failed my timed meals or washing my own bowl, the system would punish me. Yet he never asked me for it, nor does he ever bring it up.

Not like you—you talk a good game, but in truth you’re always scheming, always thinking about my system. Did you really think I couldn’t tell? When I’m protecting my food, I notice the instant anyone so much as looks at my bone.

But Xiao Bai, I can’t give you the system, because you’d just run off and wouldn’t protect me, or Master, either.

If I gave it to Master, I’d still be his dog. Even if he used the system to become immortal, I’d ascend with him.

So you’d better just stick to being my advisor. I’m too lazy to use my own dog brain, anyway.

Ah, I really am so smart!

…

Just as Fan Bei, Da Bai, and the wooden white dog diligently cleared the shelter and leveled up by fighting monsters, a new convoy appeared on the road to Shelter 364.

This convoy had only two types of vehicles: a large truck at the back, and an armored car in front. All of them were painted silver-white, with huge labels reading: “Silver Chamber of Commerce.”

Compared to Lang Sheng’s Copper Fortress convoy, this one looked much more professional.

Someone in the convoy was speaking over the radio. “Up ahead should be Shelter 364. We got word from Copper Fortress—they just went there. And after their visit, their boss suddenly decided to turn over a new leaf, which led to a mutiny.”

“A good person? Maybe he didn’t go to a shelter—maybe he went to the Western Spirit Mountain… That ruthless Wolf Wei wanting to become a good person? Ha, that’s the coldest joke I’ve ever heard.”

“Yeah, in this heat, that joke saves on air conditioning.”

“Hmph, a bunch of fools!” someone scolded.

“Manager, we were wrong. Please instruct us,” the laughter stopped at once.

“The scientific explanation is that he had a stroke of fortune there—most likely, he encountered a high-level spiritual entity aligned with good. In order to gain greater benefits—like power or longevity—he decided to become a good person. Do you believe that if those so-called tyrants and villains found out that being good could make them immortal, they wouldn’t turn themselves into saints?”

“Manager, you’re brilliant. That must be it. It’s laughable that the people at Copper Fortress couldn’t see it. And those traitors who died—they were fools as well.”

“They didn’t understand because they were too greedy. The mutiny may well have been just an attempt to seize Wolf Wei’s good fortune. I’ll have to report this. None of you are to discuss it further.”

“But a lot of people already know…” someone replied, nervous.

“Idiot! Wolf Wei is a fool too—such a dramatic change in behavior, anyone could see something’s off. Couldn’t he have played it cool and changed gradually? He’s only fit to lord over a tiny Copper Fortress—soon enough, the Silver Chamber of Commerce will swallow them up!” The manager’s voice was cold as steel.

“Yes, yes. With a leader like you, one of our top five talents, the Silver Chamber is destined to become the number one merchant guild for a thousand miles around!” the others flattered.

“All right, all right, get moving. Given the circumstances, we need to take Shelter 364 seriously. No more of our old tricks. We can’t afford to offend a possibly benevolent high-level spiritual being. A little shelter is nothing compared to such an entity—even the possibility alone is worth our caution.”

“Understood. Manager, you are wise.”

“Haha, you all should cut back on the flattery and read more books. This isn’t the culture we want in our guild. Remember: knowledge changes fate, and technology shapes the future.”

Laughter rippled through the convoy.