Small Forest

Wu Ya wandered through the Small Forest hesitantly. This was where she had first seen Little Guy.

She did not know what species Little Guy was, but girls were naturally helpless against cute, furry little creatures. Little Guy was tiny; even with its imposing presence, she only found it adorably tsundere and awkward.

Though its appearance was strange, after her initial surprise, Wu Ya had cautiously tested the waters and approached it. When it neither rejected nor harmed her, she inexplicably began to care about Little Guy.

She did not know whether Little Guy was a pet or wild.

She had only seen it once by chance. She had been returning from the library then, and it was already late. The moonlight was bleak and pale.

To take a shortcut, she tried her best to ignore the couples making out and hurried through the Small Forest toward the dormitory building.

That was when she saw Little Guy.

Amid the dimness, its silver-gray fur flowed with a hazy, gleaming radiance.

It was clearly an ordinary grove, yet such a... uh... magical creature had appeared.

Was this... a mouse? Or a rabbit?

Could it be a hybrid?

Wu Ya was somewhat unsure and unconsciously took a few steps forward. "Crack~" The sound of stepping on branches and leaves was so distinct in the silent night that her heart seemed to stop for a moment.

When Wu Ya came back to herself and looked over, that strange creature had already vanished without a trace.

Ah~ Wu Ya ran forward and searched all around, but found nothing.

Had her eyes been playing tricks on her just now?

Unwilling to give up, over the next few days, she deliberately or casually lingered in the Small Forest, hoping to see Little Guy again.

Hm? He seemed to have seen this girl here every day lately, always looking hesitant and uncertain. Was she searching for something?

Xiao Xiao was a little puzzled, but did not think much of it. He merely found it strange after seeing her so often.

As he passed by the girl, he vaguely heard her talking with her companion.

"I clearly saw it here last time. Could it have left?"

"Maybe. Do you think its owner found it and took it away?"

"Forget it. You said it looked like both a mouse and a rabbit—what kind of creature is that?"

"Yeah, maybe it was too dark and you saw it wrong?"

"No... it was silver, really obvious... Could I really have seen it wrong?"

Xiao Xiao paused for a moment. Silver... looked like both a mouse and a rabbit... Could it have been an Ear Mouse?

So there were other people who could see it?

Xiao Xiao could not help turning back to glance at the girl. She had a playful short haircut, the ends lightly curled. Her features were delicate, and her expression carried a trace of confusion and unwillingness.

She was a girl he did not know. Xiao Xiao naturally turned his head back after a glance, but he had taken note of her.

During a public elective class, huh? Xiao Xiao's gaze paused. It was that girl.

"What, taken a fancy to that girl?" Zhang Bo grinned rather lecherously and nudged Xiao Xiao.

"Hey, which one?" The other dorm mates immediately crowded over, stretching their necks to look.

"No." Xiao Xiao calmly withdrew his gaze, without the slightest embarrassment or shyness at having his "secret affair" exposed.

The others in the dorm immediately looked as though they had been doused with cold water and listlessly withdrew their gazes as well.

"Hey, Xiao Xiao, no need to be embarrassed."

"Those girls aren't from our department. They should be in finance."

"They're pretty cute."

Zhang Bo and the others were somewhat unwilling to let it go. Mainly because Xiao Xiao usually seemed as pure of heart and desire as an enlightened Eminent Monk. Was it because his family ran a teahouse that this guy's temperament had been polished into that of an old man?

Whenever he saw a pretty girl, all he ever said was, "Mm, pretty," and that was it.

It was simply intolerable.

They were determined to lead Xiao Xiao onto the "right path."

Unfortunately, all they got in the end was a contemptuous look from Xiao Xiao and a lofty declaration:

"I'm not like certain animals, indiscriminate when hungry."

Naturally, they all proceeded to rough the kid up together.

So when it came to a girl who could catch Xiao Xiao's attention, they were a million times curious.

But she was not particularly gorgeous, was she? After giving those girls a thorough look, they accepted Xiao Xiao's answer.

It must have just been a coincidence.

Xiao Xiao naturally had no idea what they were thinking.

But when he saw that girl again, he could not help thinking of the Ear Mouse once more.

His hand rose to touch his cheek. He could still seem to recall the stabbing pain from before.

After class, Xiao Xiao felt like going to the library, perhaps hoping that he might see the Ear Mouse again.

Only Zhao Luzheng answered the call and went with him.

Zhang Bo and Zhuge An, meanwhile, were wholly focused on returning to the dorm to game.

The shadows of the trees swayed, light and shade scattered across the ground.

There was a touch of coolness in the air, along with the fragrance of grass and leaves.

Xiao Xiao unexpectedly saw that girl again.

She still had not given up?

Xiao Xiao found it somewhat amusing. Such persistence...

But as his gaze shifted, he abruptly froze.

Beneath a tree diagonally behind the girl, a familiar figure entered his sight.

Wasn't that... the Ear Mouse?

Its glossy, satin-like fur was especially eye-catching.

Its long tail hung quietly behind it.

Yet Xiao Xiao looked at the girl's dejected, disappointed expression. It was clearly so close—yet she could not see it?

Hadn't she said she could see it?

Xiao Xiao was puzzled and somewhat disappointed. He had thought they were kindred spirits, but it had turned out to be nothing...

"What's wrong, Second Brother?" Zhao Luzheng turned around and noticed that Xiao Xiao had stopped behind him, clearly confused.

"Nothing." Xiao Xiao shook his head. After giving the Ear Mouse one last look, he happened to meet those scarlet eyes. His heart jolted, but his expression did not change. He naturally withdrew his gaze and quickened his pace to catch up with Zhao Luzheng.

Monsters were certainly fascinating, but rather than giving him the special ability to see them, it would have been more practical to tell him the winning lottery numbers.

What use was it if only he could see monsters? Or they could at least have given him the ability to command monsters.

Then at least he could have monsters scare people for him?

He suddenly remembered the black notebook he had found before. He had studied it over and over for a long time afterward, yet gained nothing from it. He could not help wondering: Could it really just be an illustrated guide?

Unfortunately, there was too little information, so he could only set the matter aside for now.

Since he had seen the Ear Mouse in the Small Forest, Xiao Xiao settled down and stopped trying to search for monsters in the library.

While he was reading, Zhao Luzheng, who had just returned to his seat, suddenly nudged Xiao Xiao's arm. "Hey, have you heard? Someone got possessed over by the Small Forest."

"Hm?" The Small Forest? Xiao Xiao gave him an inquiring look.

"I just heard about it." Zhao Luzheng wore the expression of someone eager to share gossip. "Apparently, a couple got scared by something last night. They're still lying in the hospital now, shouting that they saw ghosts, that they saw ghosts. They were scared half to death..."

"I wonder if it's true. If there really are ghosts, I'd really like to see one..." Zhao Luzheng looked eager.

"Are you sure you wouldn't end up in the hospital too?" Xiao Xiao teased, though his mind had begun to turn the matter over.

"Were they hurt?"

"Apparently, they got some scrapes while running away. The details aren't very clear. All I know is that the couple was genuinely terrified. When they were found, they couldn't even speak."

Could it have been the Ear Mouse? But how could it have scared them so badly? That girl's persistent search showed that the Ear Mouse's appearance was still quite appealing. Even if it was a little strange-looking, it was not frightening enough to cause that kind of reaction. Though its gaze was rather unsettling.

And neither he nor that girl had been harmed...

Then could it have been another monster?

Come to think of it, ever since returning from Mount Mengzi, it felt as though there had been more monsters around.

Xiao Xiao scratched his cheek, unable to figure out what exactly had triggered his yin-yang eyes.

In novels, protagonists always had to get hurt or shed some blood before unlocking their so-called cheat abilities.

But he had not bought anything from a street stall, nor did he have any family heirloom on him. So how had it simply opened up just like that?

Xiao Xiao carefully recalled his recent experiences, but still found nothing. He stopped forcing himself to think about it. He would find out when it was time to know.

The only thing worth being thankful for was that these yin-yang eyes let him see monsters rather than ghosts.

At least in his opinion, monsters should be a little better than ghosts, right?

Heh heh, why did he suddenly feel such a bizarre sense of relief?

Xiao Xiao was speechless with himself.