The water glass on the coffee table suddenly rose in mid-air, tilted to a 75-degree angle. The water didn’t spill onto the floor; instead, it vanished as soon as it left the cup's rim.

“Hey! How many times have I told you? Don’t just stuff food and drinks into your mouth when I’m inside you!”

A voice grumbled from beside the coffee table as Yang Du, his hair still damp, pulled himself out of the zippered pouch of a pet beast named Edamame.

“Zip...”

“Xun!”

Before the zipper was fully closed, Little Treasure suddenly popped up from somewhere, diving in excitedly and extending his paw to pull the zipper shut.

“Zip…”

Endamame stopped Little Treasure, glancing down at its own belly.

“Xun~”

Little Treasure smiled warmly.

“Zip.”

Edamame was unmoved, reaching into its own stomach to pull Little Treasure out.

“Xun!”

Little Treasure floated over to Qiao Sang, pouting in frustration.

“Is this Treasure-Seeking Demon also your pet?” Yang Du asked, eyes wide.

Ever since discovering Water Luriana’s existence, his entire outlook had changed significantly.

“Yep.” Qiao Sang nodded.

“Edamame, that wasn’t very nice of you.” Yang Du said, patting Edamame, who was adjusting its zipper.

“The little one just wanted to play inside for a bit. Why be so rough?”

“Zip…”

Edamame, still looking clueless, zipped itself up again and called to Little Treasure.

“Xun~”

Little Treasure beamed and floated back in happily.

Watching Edamame disappear again, Qiao Sang asked, “Isn’t this pet beast from the Xilu region, a Edamame?”

Beast tamers are usually only familiar with the pet beasts native to their region; they only have partial knowledge of creatures from other areas.

They might recognize one on sight but be unable to name it, or perhaps only know its form at one stage of its evolution, not the entire evolutionary line.

Some pet beasts, however, are exceptions, like each region’s emblematic beasts or those most frequently contracted.

For instance, people in other regions might not know Fire Fang Dog, but they would recognize creatures like Fat Dove, White Sand Fox, Short-Tailed Snake, Sand Rat, and Deep-Fur Turtle, including their entire evolutionary lines.

Nido is one of these.

As one of the most commonly contracted pet beasts among beginner tamers in the Xilu region, Qiao Sang was somewhat familiar with it.

Nido, the second-stage evolution of Lala Daze, has a dopey yet endearing look and a hiding ability that allows it to unzip itself and store items, or even living things, in its stomach.

This feature is popular among housewives and househusbands for convenient shopping and grocery storage.

“That’s right.” Yang Du chuckled, “Sharp eye, young one.”

Young one…

Qiao Sang’s face twisted slightly. Given that the man in front of her was actually 53, being called young one didn’t seem out of place…

They chatted for a while, becoming a bit more familiar with each other.

Qiao Sang asked, “Uncle Yang, are you sick and in need of treatment?”

Since the mission reward was medical care, it was natural to assume that anyone accepting it had an illness they wished to cure.

“You kiddo, I’m too young to be called uncle!" Yang Du sipped his water.

“Just call me Yang.”

Uncle? 53 years old… not exactly young.

Qiao Sang asked again, “Uncle Yang, what illness do you have?”

“It’s not me.” Yang Du said, setting his cup down.

“It’s my wife.”

Qiao Sang leaned in, listening intently.

Recalling his wife’s condition, Yang Du’s expression darkened, his face clouded with sadness. He sighed.

“My wife’s brain domain suffered severe collapse from attempting a forced breakthrough. She’s currently in the hospital, where they keep her under deep hypnosis and on a nutrient drip.”

“When she wakes up, she can’t understand anything anyone says because of the headaches. She even loses control of her actions, grabbing anything nearby to smash against her head. Even if we clear the room, she’ll bash her head against the walls.”

Qiao Sang was surprised.

“Why would she attempt a forced breakthrough in her brain domain?”

The brain domain is the lifeline of beast tamers and cannot be tampered with lightly. Even if development in the domain seems to stall, forcing a breakthrough is dangerous.

This has been the bloody lesson of countless beast tamers throughout history!

Who would’ve thought that even today, someone would make such a reckless choice.

Yang Du rubbed his temples, voice low.

“It’s my fault for not being around enough. I came home once intending to surprise her. When I arrived, she wasn’t there, but a friend of hers happened to visit. Since I knew her friend, I invited her in without much thought.”

“Unfortunately…” Yang Du hesitated, realizing Qiao Sang was still a minor, and skipped some details.

“Anyway, I didn’t do anything, but my wife happened to come back and misunderstood.”

“Later, she wanted a divorce. I refused, so she filed for it in court. We have a child, and she wanted custody. But I’m a B-rank beast tamer and hadn’t done anything wrong, so the court rejected her claim.”

“She thought the main reason the court sided with me was my B-rank status, so she pushed herself to develop her brain domain to surpass me. That’s what led to this.”

She went all out just to divorce you… Qiao Sang thought, finding herself strangely sympathetic.

What she thought would be a tragic medical story had turned into unexpected gossip.

In a way, Qiao Sang could understand Yang Du’s wife’s actions.

She probably felt an immense sense of betrayal by both her friend and husband, fueling her anger and clouding her judgment.

If the friend had been a stranger instead, she might not have done something so reckless as to force a brain domain breakthrough.

Just as Qiao Sang was about to say something, she noticed Little Treasure going in and out of Nido’s stomach in the corner of her eye.

“Lu lu.” Lubao called to Little Treasure as he floated out.

“Xun~” Little Treasure, still in a playful mood, ignored her.

Beside Lubao, Yabao was frozen in place, looking like a wooden stump.

Seeing this, Qiao Sang paused, then seemed to have a thought. She looked from Lubao to Yabao to Little Treasure, back and forth a few times.

Then suddenly, she exclaimed, “I’ve got it!” She stood up abruptly.

Yang Du jumped, startled.

“What is it?”

Qiao Sang laughed.

“An epic play.”

She gave Yang Du a deep bow.

“Thank you for the inspiration.”

Yang Du: ???

That evening, Yang Du settled in, finding a room on the second floor. Since there were enough household supplies, he didn’t need to buy anything extra.

Qiao Sang returned downstairs, quietly calling Yabao and Little Treasure into her room for a little chat.

Ten minutes later, Little Treasure floated out, full of excitement.

Behind him, Yabao followed with a Who am I? Where am I? expression.

Meanwhile, Qiao Sang went to her desk and wrote in her notebook:

“Countdown to Lubao’s evolution: 8 days.”