Beast Language

When Xiao Jie used Beast Identification again, there was no trace of the Weird Goat anywhere.

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Had the system despawned the quest NPC?

Looking at those sheep gave Xiao Jie a creepy feeling. Forget it. He had made an oath, and an oath was not something to break lightly. If he could not find it, then so be it.

He felt somewhat regretful. Of the three skills, he had learned only one. His base attributes were still too low. It looked like he needed to hurry up and prepare to level up.

Before that, though, he needed to test the effects of Beast Language.

This skill was not a passive effect. It had to be activated, and he needed to maintain concentration for it to remain active.

Xiao Jie opened the Skill Bar. Beast Language—activate!

The goats' previously chaotic bleating immediately turned into language he could understand.

Goat: "Eat grass, eat grass. Oh my god, this is way too delicious."

Goat: "Hurry and eat. That kid will be herding us back into the pen soon."

Goat: "This grass doesn't taste quite right today. It's a little salty. Did one of you pee on the grass?"

What the hell... Xiao Jie was speechless. The things these sheep said were actually pretty damn funny.

He did not make a fuss and silently herded the flock back into the sheep pen. After collecting his 100 Copper Coins, he was about to leave when Old Yang suddenly called out, "Kid, how did you lose one of my sheep?"

Xiao Jie was startled and hurriedly counted them. Sure enough, there were only forty-nine sheep left.

Old Yang said anxiously, "What kind of work is this, young man? You actually lost a sheep. Deduct his pay, deduct his pay."

System Notification: Old Yang demands that you pay 200 Copper Coins in compensation. Accept? Yes/No.

A dialog box popped up before him.

Option 1: Hand over 200 Copper Coins and accept the punishment.

Option 2: "I've got no money, only one life."

Option 3: "Sir, how about I herd your sheep for another two hours to make up for the wages?"

This...

Xiao Jie was speechless. Naturally, he could not fall out with Old Yang, nor was he interested in continuing to herd sheep. He could only helplessly choose to pay up and get away.

After leaving the Livestock Pen, Xiao Jie felt thoroughly depressed.

Great. Not only had he worked for nothing all morning, he had even lost an extra 100 Copper Coins.

Fortunately, he had saved up quite a bit of money before, so it was not enough to seriously hurt him.

There was no need to think about which sheep had run away. It had to be that Weird Goat. It seemed this Serendipitous Encounter was a one-time event. Once he triggered it, no one else would likely ever encounter it again.

But he had already made an oath, so why had it still run away?

Did it not trust the integrity of a mighty Returnee like him? Hmph, it was really looking down on him.

Still, he had learned the most valuable skill, so it was not a loss.

Xiao Jie was still looking forward to Beast Language.

Used well, this thing would definitely be incredibly valuable.

Players usually had to interact with NPCs to trigger quests.

There were only so many NPCs in the village. According to Wang Kai, more than two hundred players had come through over the past three years. Any special quests that could be openly triggered had probably already been triggered long ago.

The rest were either too difficult to complete, or open-ended jobs like farming and herding sheep.

But now, he had gained a whole bunch of animals he could interact with. In other words, he had suddenly gained a large number of NPCs he could interact with. If any hidden quests existed among these animals, there was a good chance he would stumble across them.

After all, there were still plenty of animals in the village.

And basically nobody had ever spoken to these animal NPCs. In other words, if these animals had any quests, no one would be competing with him for them.

The more Xiao Jie thought about it, the more excited he became. He could not wait to start chatting with animals.

First were several old yellow oxen near the Farmland. As the village's main labor force for plowing fields, they had to work whenever someone farmed and normally stayed around the Farmland.

Since no players were farming at the moment, the three oxen were gathered around a patch of grass, resting and grazing together.

Exhausted Old Ox: "I'm so tired. Working every day... when will it ever end?"

Resigned Old Ox: "Sigh, that's just fate. We're oxen, after all. In the next life, let's be reborn as humans. Then we can make oxen work for us."

Thinking Old Ox: "I've been thinking about something. Why do we have to work for humans? We don't even eat wheat or millet. We only need grass, and grass is everywhere. Why should we work ourselves to death for them? Why not go outside the village, explore the world, and seek our freedom?"

Xiao Jie found it amusing and could not help but interrupt. "Hey, guys, there are lots of monsters outside the village. You three are livestock, so I doubt you have much combat ability. Wouldn't going out there just be suicide?"

Resigned Old Ox: "Exactly. I hear those monsters are terrifying. Better to farm honestly."

Thinking Old Ox: "Moo—that must all be made up by you humans to scare us oxen. Don't think you can fool me."

Xiao Jie could not help laughing. "Fine, whatever makes you happy. By the way, do you want me to help you escape? If you have something good to offer me, I might consider it."

Thinking Old Ox: "Moo, what is something good? Can you eat it?"

"Equipment, skills, treasures, that sort of thing. Do you have any?"

Thinking Old Ox: "We're oxen. How could we have the things you mentioned? I can plow fields, though. Do you want to learn?"

"Uh, no thanks."

Xiao Jie decisively took off. Next, he set his sights on the Big Goose that ran around all over the village.

Big Goose: "Honk honk honk honk, the weather's nice today. Honk honk honk honk, I'm gonna eat my fill. Honk honk honk honk, whoever blocks my way. Honk honk honk honk, I'll peck him till he runs away."

It even rhymed...

Next came the fat pigs in the pigsty, followed by the flock of chickens raised by the aunt at the eastern end of the village...

After making a full round, Xiao Jie had listened to every animal in the village.

It was certainly interesting, but he gained nothing special. The hidden quests he had imagined did not exist at all.

Thinking about it, that made sense. A bunch of livestock did not possess any private belongings. Even if they gave quests, they probably could not offer any decent rewards. What, a handful of grass or a scoop of rice?

As for skills, there was even less reason to hope. These animals either plowed fields or laid eggs. Those pigs only knew how to eat and wait for death. There was simply nothing players could learn from them.

Moreover, animals did not seem to count as NPCs in the strict sense. He could communicate with them, but they apparently lacked the ability to issue quests.

That Weird Goat from before was probably an exception.

Still, he did hear quite a bit of useful information.

Whose wife was having an affair, which militiaman had slipped away in the middle of the night, and things like that.

Finally, Xiao Jie arrived at Hunter's Cabin.

The hunter Yang Baichuan did not live inside the village. Instead, he had settled on a hillside north of the village, where he had built a separate wooden cabin. Outside it stood a long row of kennels, where he kept a pack of Hunting Dogs.

The Hunting Dogs were completely different from the Wild Dogs outside the village. Every one of them looked imposing, and they all had green names, marking them as friendly units.

Their combat power looked quite formidable as well.

Looking at the Hunting Dogs, which averaged level four or five, Xiao Jie could not help feeling tempted. If he could bring one of them out to level, it would definitely make things twice as easy.

Unfortunately, he knew neither Taming nor Dog Training, so there was nothing he could do.

Then Xiao Jie suddenly had an idea. Although he did not know Taming, since he could speak with animals, why not simply talk a Hunting Dog into following him? It sounded a little ridiculous, but there was no harm in trying.

He acted as soon as he thought of it, walking straight toward the kennels.

When the Hunting Dogs saw Xiao Jie approach, several of them looked over at him. He had come by once while investigating jobs a couple of days ago, so they were acquainted.

Xiao Jie smiled at the Hunting Dogs.

"Say, are any of you interested in rolling with me? Follow me, and I guarantee meat buns at every meal."

Scar (Hunting Dog): "Woof. You think meat buns are enough to buy us off? Dream on."

Black Claw (Hunting Dog): "We only obey our master's commands. You are not our master. Go away."

Meatball (Hunting Dog): "Yeah, yeah. What are meat buns? At the very least, it would have to be roast chicken or smoked meat."

Broken Tooth (Hunting Dog): "Meatball, all you know is meat, meat, meat. I never see you this enthusiastic when we're hunting."

Meatball (Hunting Dog): "That's because I'm not full. Of course I can't run when I'm hungry."

"Shut up! Woof!" A deep growl suddenly rang out, silencing every dog present.

Then a massive black dog slowly emerged from the shadows of the kennels.

It looked somewhat old. Its fur was jet-black, but a tuft of white hair grew beneath its chin.

It was blind in one eye and missing one ear, weathered and aged, yet its powerful body showed no sign of frailty.

Xiao Jie had never seen this dog before. He examined it with Beast Identification, and a line of data immediately appeared before him.

[Black Whirlwind (Hunting Dog Leader): Elite Unit. Level 7. Health: 190.

Taming Difficulty: Hard.

Skills: Bite LV4, Tendon Severing LV3, Tracking LV2, Sprint LV1, Pack Leader LV2.]

While Xiao Jie was examining it, the huge black dog was also examining him.

"Human, you can actually understand the language of us dogs?"

Xiao Jie was startled. This dog was rather unusual—it had actually grasped the key issue.

Most of the animals he had encountered seemed not to find it strange that he could communicate with them, probably because they were not intelligent enough. This was the first dog that had realized it.