Chapter Eight: Bait
Fan Bei was so pleased with himself that he couldn’t help but laugh aloud. At that moment, Da Bai’s scratching sounded at the door.
He was surprised—how could that fellow be up so early? Normally, Da Bai would sleep in until Fan Bei went out for his morning rounds, which was usually after nine.
He turned and opened the door, only to see Da Bai at the threshold. Somehow, the dog had found a strap and fastened the little white wooden dog sculpture onto his back…
Hmm, perhaps he was afraid it would disappear like the meaty bone had, though Fan Bei couldn’t imagine how Da Bai managed such a difficult maneuver.
Right then, Da Bai stretched out his paw and pointed at the kitchen, then at his large food bowl in the living room.
“So, you want breakfast?” Fan Bei was even more astonished.
According to the mission prompts, “eating at set times” required Da Bai to eat with him. It was just half past six; he usually started cooking at seven and ate at seven-thirty. Da Bai could easily have slept another hour.
But here he was, so proactive.
“Da Bai, you’re very motivated today.” Fan Bei had no intention of discouraging him. He patted the dog’s head and praised him.
Da Bai grinned foolishly, his face full of pride.
“All right then. Your master will make breakfast for you. Eat well so you can grow strong quickly.”
Fan Bei went into the kitchen and started preparing breakfast—just rice with pickled vegetables, some seasoning, and a stir-fry of assorted greens.
Soon, breakfast was ready. Da Bai ate with great enthusiasm, even finishing off the cucumber slices he usually disliked.
Afterwards, he took his own dog bowl to the bathroom and washed it under the tap.
There was no need for the task prompt anymore…
This made Fan Bei suspicious. When things are out of the ordinary, something is surely up. The change in Da Bai’s behavior had begun after he’d received the little white wooden dog through the system mission.
Could it be that he was hoping for more rewards and thus had become so diligent?
Fan Bei pondered for a moment, then suddenly slapped his forehead, walked over to Da Bai, and seized his two front legs.
“Da Bai, why are you working so hard today? Tell your master the reason.”
“Woof woof, woof woof woof…” Da Bai twisted his head, howling.
“What? You can’t say? What could you possibly keep from your master? I’m your whole world, don’t forget that. You eat my food and drink my water; what are you trying to hide?” Fan Bei feigned displeasure.
Da Bai immediately drooped his head, looking dejected as he whimpered.
“Really can’t say? Fine, I won’t force you. But if you suffer for it later, don’t blame me.” Fan Bei gave him an early warning.
Da Bai instantly brightened, flashing a fawning smile.
“All right, off you go. Don’t just play around—train hard and get strong for your master.” With that, Fan Bei released his grip and let the dog go.
Da Bai turned and dashed away.
He didn’t go off to play as usual but instead opened a door himself and bounded straight for the hall of the agricultural zone.
Seeing this, Fan Bei frowned. Da Bai certainly knew how to open doors, as long as they weren’t locked, but he’d never dared enter the agricultural zone alone before; he always waited for Fan Bei to take him there.
Now, suddenly bold—clearly something had happened.
With that thought, Fan Bei opened the system log and immediately understood.
“Da Bai has received instruction from an Indescribable Being. Experience +50.”
“Da Bai has been further instructed. Experience +120.”
“Da Bai has reached level 2. Allocating attributes: Strength +1.”
“Da Bai has been taught by an Indescribable Being. ‘Basic Dog Paw’ and ‘Nameless Meditation’ are attempting to merge.”
An Indescribable Being? That must be a reference to an evil spirit!
Fan Bei’s heart tightened. He checked the time stamps in the log—it all happened last night while he slept.
He narrowed his eyes, gazing past the living room door at Da Bai frolicking in the agricultural zone. A smile crept onto his lips.
Indeed, having the system is remarkable. This silly dog had already caught the attention of some unknown entity.
Which was understandable, since Da Bai had been targeted by an evil spirit before… though he’d resisted that time.
He recalled a “Spirit Control Class” he’d once attended, where the instructor mentioned some people had heard the voices of evil spirits. Not the insane, chaotic kind, but voices that were relatively rational, even imparting useful information. Some gained benefits, though more failed and became corrupted.
When Fan Bei heard this, he’d been reminded of certain novels with Cthulhu-like settings—stories about the whispers of eldritch gods, beings unfathomable, indescribable, untouchable—much like the real evil spirits of this world.
“Interesting, very interesting. Let’s see if this ‘Indescribable Being’ can outmatch the system I’ve set for Da Bai…” Fan Bei rested his chin on his hand, putting on an air of contemplation.
At that moment, new notifications began scrolling across the system page…
“Da Bai attempts to locate a hidden evil entity; attempt failed. Da Bai’s mysterious olfactory knowledge has increased.”
“Da Bai attempts to locate a hidden evil entity…”
Similar messages kept appearing.
Fan Bei was itching with curiosity. Clearly, that unknown being was dangling bait for Da Bai.
Yet, it was clever—offering only knowledge, not tangible benefits. Why not just grant Da Bai ten thousand points of spiritual power? With the revenue split, he’d get seven thousand, enough to unlock a new system.
After reviewing and finding nothing new, Fan Bei shut the virtual white book and went about his own affairs.
Until Da Bai matured, he still had to keep up his daily routine: rounds, cooking, meditation, training, reading…
The day quickly passed in these repetitive and tedious yet vital activities.
Still, Fan Bei would occasionally glance at the system log, and found a sort of child-rearing game joy in it.
Except the main character was a dog, and the pace a bit slow…
But under the shadow of real danger, this training game felt all the more important—a game he could never abandon.
By evening, busy with anticipation for Da Bai’s growth, Fan Bei soon drifted off to sleep.
…
On the third day since receiving the “Father of Systems,” Fan Bei’s alarm clock rang at six, right on time.
He rolled out of his soft mattress, switched on the desk lamp, and warm light flooded the room, driving away all darkness and fear.
He glanced at the digital date on the clock: July 3rd.
By his reckoning, the next outbreak of evil tides would come in just over ten days, as usual, about once every half-month.
He opened the virtual white book, “Father of Systems,” and checked his spiritual power reserves.
Seeing “Spiritual Power: 659.4 points,” he resolved to make daily accounting a habit. He was nearly spending more than he earned—what progress had Da Bai made overnight?
He hurried to the second page to check the “Heavenly Dog” system, and was pleasantly surprised.
“Da Bai has learned the extraordinary skill ‘Mysterious Scent.’ Effect: can sense hidden evil entities.”
Not bad—not bad at all. Another skill for Da Bai.
Which meant that by consuming spiritual power from the system book, he too should be able to use this skill…
But when Da Bai used it himself, it shouldn’t require any extra spiritual power, since it was his own skill now.
At that, Fan Bei seemed to understand why spiritual power was consumed.
“Wishing makes it so”—is creating something from nothing.
And the more complex or advanced the effect desired, the more spiritual power it consumed.
Previously, when he’d used the thought “purify,” drawing on the system book’s spiritual power to destroy the evil spirit that attacked him, that was also creating something from nothing.
He didn’t really understand the principles of purification, nor the specific methods to vanquish an evil spirit—just some general strategies.
So, if Da Bai could learn a method to destroy evil spirits, defeat them, and seize their “evil spirit cores,” he could truly solve his deficit problem!
He believed, with the unknown being accelerating things, that day would come much sooner than he’d expected.