Yue Guan Sat Down After Just Three Steps

The second "Hu Liena" took a step back.

Her outline wavered slightly as the golden short dress and loose hair dissolved at the same time. In the blink of an eye, only a small dark-gray fox remained by the door, with black fur around its neck and a tuft of dark-red fur standing atop its head.

The training roster fell to the floor with a slap.

"This is mine." Hu Liena walked over and picked up the roster.

The little fox crouched where it was, its tail lightly brushing the doorframe, with not a trace of guilt in its eyes.

Yue Guan had already stepped in front of it. "Change back into that form from earlier."

The little fox tilted its head.

The next moment, it actually did as told.

This time, it transformed into Yue Guan.

That face, those clothes, even the slightly critical look when it raised its eyes were copied convincingly. The only problem was that the "Yue Guan" it had transformed into was squatting on the floor and letting out a crisp fox cry.

"Zorua."

Hu Liena turned her face away, her shoulders twitching slightly.

Yue Guan slowly turned his head. "If you want to laugh, laugh."

"I'm observing its abilities."

"You'd better be."

Seeing that the two seemed unable to tell real from fake, Zorua smugly swished its tail before changing back and running to sit beside Xia Che's feet.

Xia Che bent down and picked up the wooden sign, checking the crack first. The board had merely been shaken loose from its rope fastener rather than broken in the fall. It could still be used after being put back.

"Half will do," he said.

Yue Guan's eye twitched. "You really intend to make me pay?"

"You pulled it."

"If I hadn't pulled it, how long were you planning to sleep?"

"I would have opened the door after waking up."

The words made no sense at all, yet Xia Che said them with complete calm.

He had been on Douluo Continent for over three months. At first, the shop had remained hidden in an independent space, and Xia Che and his companions had spent considerable effort getting the rooms in order. Three days ago, the system had notified him that the shop's placement was complete, and he had assumed it had long been visible outside.

Now, it seemed that the people of Spirit City had only truly discovered the building this morning.

The system had always cared only about results and rarely explained the process. Xia Che had asked twice, and both answers had been, "The procedures are legal." Since that was the case, he was even less inclined to make up excuses for it.

Yue Guan looked at the young man before him. "Do you know who I am?"

Xia Che glanced at the elder's token hanging from his waist. "From Spirit Hall."

"And then?"

"Half a wooden sign."

This time, Hu Liena truly could not hold it in and lowered her head with a cough.

Yue Guan did not get angry. He had seen people afraid of Spirit Hall, and he had seen people deliberately putting on airs of lofty detachment. Yet this shop owner only cared about the wooden sign from beginning to end, making him unable to gauge the man's depth.

"Tell me." Yue Guan placed the money for half a wooden sign on the counter. "What kind of shop have you opened?"

"A place to find companions for Pokémon."

"Companions?"

"People willing to live, train, or work together with them."

Hu Liena looked at Pancham. "They get to choose too?"

"Of course."

"What if the other party is a powerful soul master?"

"They still choose."

"What about status?"

"They don't recognize tokens."

As Xia Che finished speaking, Pancham happened to raise a paw and nudge the elder's token Yue Guan had just set down to one side so it would not press on the soft cloth atop the counter.

The gesture was remarkably fitting.

Yue Guan looked down at it for a moment, then suddenly asked, "So if I wanted to take Zorua away, I would have to ask it first?"

Zorua immediately shrank behind Xia Che's leg, revealing only half its face.

"It already answered," Xia Che said.

"It only hid."

"Isn't that clear enough?"

Yue Guan naturally understood.

He had only tested it casually just now, yet Zorua had truly understood him and even knew whom to hide behind. Along with Indeedee cleaning the access pass and Pancham voluntarily returning the item, the intelligence displayed by these three unfamiliar creatures was enough to overturn the assessment of them as "young soul beasts."

Hu Liena walked to the wall and picked up a visitor's notice. It did not boast extravagantly about how strong Pokémon were, only listing several simple rules: no forceful hugging, no using soul power to coerce them, and no entering the resting area without permission.

"Their resting area is behind there?" she asked.

Indeedee stood in front of the low door leading inside and nodded gently.

"I want to take a look," Yue Guan said.

Xia Che rehung the wooden sign on its thin rope. "No."

"A group of unknown creatures suddenly appeared in Spirit City. I need to know how many there are."

"There are three in the front hall."

"What about behind there?"

"Ask again tomorrow."

Yue Guan stared at the low door without continuing the argument. He stepped forward, intending to see for himself how Indeedee would stop him.

Pancham suddenly jumped onto the soft rug.

It shifted the leaf in its mouth to the other side and crooked a paw at Yue Guan.

"Pancham."

Yue Guan stopped. "It wants to fight me?"

"It says that if you use only strength comparable to its own and can cross this rug, it will let you look through the doorway," Xia Che translated.

The soft rug stretched from the counter to the low door, only six steps at most.

Hu Liena frowned. "Elder Yue's body has been tempered by soul power. Even if he suppresses his strength, he is still far stronger than an ordinary person."

"That is why he may only use the same amount of strength," Xia Che said. "If he uses more, he loses."

Yue Guan smiled.

He retracted the soul power emanating from his body and even tied the sleeves of his robe at his wrists. A dignified Title Douluo would not truly fuss over winning or losing against a little creature, but this was a good chance to test the abilities of Pokémon.

"How do we begin?"

Pancham dragged out a small hourglass from beneath the table and flipped it over with a slap.

As the first grain of sand fell, Yue Guan took his first step.

Pancham did not meet him head-on. It circled to the left, first bracing its shoulder against the outside of Yue Guan's knee before swiftly retreating when he shifted his center of gravity.

Yue Guan's stride paused, but his second step still landed steadily.

"Not bad eyesight."

"Pancham."

The little fellow clearly took that as praise, and the leaf in its mouth tilted even higher.

When the third step fell, Yue Guan suddenly changed his rhythm. He feinted with his left foot, but his right leg was the one that truly stepped out. His arm also sealed off the position Pancham might approach in advance.

The change came extremely fast.

Hu Liena thought Pancham would be forced back, but it instead lowered its body and slipped beneath Yue Guan's arm. One paw hooked his sleeve, the other pushed against his waist, while its short legs hooked Yue Guan's ankle just as it landed.

The three movements flowed together almost seamlessly.

Yue Guan tried to steady himself and immediately realized that the force he was using had reached the agreed limit. He hesitated for only half a breath before Pancham sharply turned with the momentum carrying him forward.

"Pancham!"

Yue Guan's entire body left the soft rug and landed in the broad-backed chair beside it.

The chair cushion sank, then steadily sprang back.

The room fell silent for two breaths.

Hu Liena looked at the rug that had only been crossed halfway, then at Yue Guan sitting in the chair. She could not hide the surprise on her face.

Pancham had already returned to its original spot, clasping its short paws behind its back as it lightly nodded in imitation of a Spirit Hall instructor.

Yue Guan slowly sat upright. "Again."

"No," Xia Che said.

"I was only testing it just now."

"The hourglass ran out."

"I can pay more."

"Its wrist is red."

Xia Che crouched down and lifted Pancham's right paw for a look. When it had borrowed Yue Guan's momentum earlier, the side of its wrist had borne Yue Guan's weight, and a patch of red had already appeared beneath its fur.

Indeedee quickly brought over a cold compress. Pancham had originally wanted to continue posing, but after one look from her, it could only sit obediently on the cushion.

Yue Guan saw the red mark as well.

He abandoned the thought of trying again, and his expression became far more serious than when he had first entered.

This Pokémon's strength was far inferior to his, yet it knew how to wait, deceive, and borrow momentum when it moved. It could even set fair conditions itself. That judgment alone made it rarer than many battle beasts that only knew how to charge at orders.

Hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside.

The city patrol hall member who had gone to search the archives rushed in carrying a stack of old ledgers, his expression even stranger than when he had seen Yue Guan seated in the chair.

"Elder, we found it."

Yue Guan rose and took the ledgers. "Who approved the land?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

The hall member flipped to one page and pointed to the unmistakably genuine Spirit Hall seal at the bottom.

"The deed for this shop has been in the archives for five years."

Hu Liena hurriedly took the old ledger.

The edges of the paper had yellowed, and the ink varied in shade, clearly not something artificially aged in haste. Even stranger, the district tax ledgers for each of the past five years listed this shop, though the amount had always been zero, with the note, "Not yet open to the public," beside it.

"You were in Spirit City five years ago?" Yue Guan asked.

"No," Xia Che answered quickly.

"Then whose name is this?"

At the bottom of the old ledger was written the shop owner's name, Xia Che, followed by a clear fingerprint.

Xia Che took it and stared at those three characters for a while. He had only been in this world for over three months. The system had never mentioned records from five years ago, and it was even less possible that he had traveled back in time to leave his name in person.

Pancham and Indeedee also leaned closer.

Zorua poked its head out from behind Xia Che's leg, sniffed lightly at the fingerprint on the paper, and suddenly had its back fur stand on end.

It turned toward the backyard, a low warning growl rumbling in its throat.

A knock had just sounded from that direction.