"Yap!"

The luxurious fur, imposing aura, and terrifying cry, this summoned beast radiated a pressure that could make one’s heart tremble.

The pet beast that appeared within the star array gave off an overwhelming presence.

The plaid-shirt man gasped sharply, almost letting out a scream.

What the-!

Can someone tell him why this kid managed to summon a Flame Hound?! Wasn't it rumored online that there was only one in existence right now?! And more importantly...

Why is the color of her star array green?!

Is this the kind of star array a high schooler with a backpack should have?!

Sweat broke out on the plaid-shirt man's back. Before he could snap out of his shock, the Flame Hound in front of him opened its mouth and spewed out spiraling flames.

"Nightmare Beast! Save me!" The plaid-shirt man screamed, squatting down with his hands over his head in terror.

"Nightmare!"

The Nightmare Beast clearly wasn’t skilled in combat, as it failed to react immediately and let out a frightened cry beside him.

Just as the flames were about to reach the plaid-shirt man, Qiao Sang called out in time, "Psychic!"

The flames, mere millimeters from the plaid-shirt man, were suddenly halted mid-air by an invisible force and then abruptly redirected, hurtling toward the unsuspecting Nightmare Beast nearby.

The searing flames struck the unprepared Nightmare Beast with pinpoint accuracy.

Bang!

The Nightmare Beast’s body was flung backward, crashing hard against the wall behind it.

"Nightmare!!"

A painful howl echoed through the room.

Hearing the cry, the plaid-shirt man turned pale, trembling as he lowered his hands and looked over.

To his horror, he found the Nightmare Beast lying unconscious on the ground with its eyes closed.

It was over. The plaid-shirt man’s face went blank as he slumped to the floor.

Qiao Sang wiped the sweat from her forehead. Although the process didn’t go exactly as she had imagined, she had managed to take down the Nightmare Beast without much damage.

To be honest, she hadn’t expected this plaid-shirt man to be so weak.

From his initial villainous demeanor, she thought he might be a formidable opponent. But this was all he had? And to think she had been so cautious earlier.

She’d originally assumed that, while the Nightmare Beast was only a beginner, as a psychic-type pet, it would have skills like teleportation.

Since they were inside and the client was right next to the plaid-shirt man, a direct attack on the Nightmare Beast could have caused significant damage to the room.

The plaid-shirt man might even have tried to coerce the client to force her to submit.

So, she planned to have Yabao feign an attack on the plaid-shirt man, hoping the Nightmare Beast would intercept the flames or the plaid-shirt man would be forced to leave the client’s side.

But now things had turned out like this.

"Yap!"

Yabao turned his head toward Qiao Sang, his beast master, looking concerned.

"I'm fine." Qiao Sang said with a smile.

It was a good thing she snapped out of the hypnosis in time; otherwise, the consequences-

Qiao Sang suddenly realized something, freezing in place.

Her focus had been entirely on the unidentified plaid-shirt man just now, but now that she thought about it, she remembered that the star array she’d used to summon Yabao had been green.

Did she... have a breakthrough?!

With the Nightmare Beast’s control broken, the man beside her promptly stood up and grabbed the plaid-shirt man by his collar, delivering a punch to his jaw.

The plaid-shirt man crumpled to the ground.

That punch seemed to bring the plaid-shirt man back to his senses.

He looked at the man with resentment and sneered, “Consider me unlucky. Go ahead and call the police. Once I get out, I’ll come after you again.”

"Screw you!" The man punched him again in frustration.

“You’re still threatening me after all this?”

Hearing the commotion, Qiao Sang snapped back to reality and approached, asking, “Is he the one who’s been following you?”

The plaid-shirt man had an unyielding expression as he was beaten, but his pupils shrank when he saw Qiao Sang approaching. The spit he’d been about to launch was swallowed back down.

A Flame Hound.

A high schooler Beast Master with a backpack.

Not someone he could mess with.

The man, oblivious to how narrowly he’d avoided a spit attack, looked at Qiao Sang, his expression softening.

“Yes, he’s the one who’s been following me. He confessed to everything just now when you were unconscious.”

“Why was he following you?” Qiao Sang asked curiously.

“No idea. He hasn’t said.”

The man lifted the plaid-shirt man by his collar and said fiercely, “Speak up! Why were you following me?”

The plaid-shirt man scoffed, turning his head away disdainfully, only to lock eyes with Qiao Sang.

His heart skipped a beat. He’d intended to act tough, but then he saw the Flame Hound also staring at him.

In an instant, the plaid-shirt man’s heart raced.

He took a deep breath, angrily shook off the man’s grip, and shouted, “You seriously don’t know what you did?!”

The man frowned.

“What did I do? Explain.”

“It’s because of you constantly clinging to Yu Xinyan and flaunting your relationship online! That’s why she doesn’t have time to train.” The plaid-shirt man’s frustration grew as he spoke.

“It’s all because of you! She’s so focused on your relationship that she won’t even participate in the regional tournament’s preliminary trials!”

The man froze.

“You’re a fan of Xinyan?”

The plaid-shirt man sneered, “Who else would I be a fan of?”

The man: …

He gritted his teeth, “Whether she takes the trials or not is her choice, and it has nothing to do with me!”

“Pah!” The plaid-shirt man spat angrily.

“Scumbag!”

“Heh, if you don’t believe me, I can let you hear what she has to say.” The man picked up his fallen phone, dialed a number, and put it on speaker.

The plaid-shirt man held his breath.

Qiao Sang leaned in quietly, sensing some gossip in the air.

“Hello?” A clear voice answered on the other end of the line.

“What’s up? Are we filming again?”

“No.” The man got straight to the point.

“I just want to ask, are you really not planning to join the regional tournament next year?”

“Hahaha, join the regional tournament? You know I’m not at that level, I can’t even qualify.” The voice on the other end prattled on:

“I used to keep that upbeat image just to have content for my videos and streams, but I’ve been changing the focus of my livestreams this year.”

Hearing this, the plaid-shirt man seemed like he’d been struck by lightning, muttering, “No, this can’t be true…”

“Who’s that beside you?”

“Your delusional career-fan.”

“Huh?”

The man didn’t continue the conversation and hung up.

He looked at the dazed plaid-shirt man and said, “You heard it all.”

The plaid-shirt man remained silent, still reeling.

The man continued, “Now that you understand the situation, I hope you reflect on this, and after getting out of the police station, don’t come looking for me again.”

Then he turned to Qiao Sang, flashing a warm smile. “Would you mind coming with me to the police station?”

Qiao Sang blinked.

“Weren’t you not planning to report him?”

The man scratched his head.

“I thought he was just a crazy fan or someone obsessed with me. I wanted to talk it out, but now that you intervened just in time, who knows what he would have done.”

“Since we caught him, it’s only fair to give him a proper lesson.”

“I…” Qiao Sang was about to reply.

The man added, “Don’t worry! I’ll give you a five-star review for sure!”

Even if I don’t go to the police station, you should still give me one!

Qiao Sang thought with a wry smile, saying, “Alright. Where’s the restroom? I’d like to use it first.”

The man quickly pointed to the left.

“Just go straight down.”

Following his directions, Qiao Sang found the restroom, locked the door, and opened her backpack.

Looking at the little Water Luriana staring up at her with wide eyes, she struggled to contain her excitement as she whispered.

“Let’s form the contract, right now.”

T/N: Yayyyy! Luriana's now in the team!