It Didn't Want to Change, It Couldn't Change
Lin Yuan hadn't expected a single question from him to stir such strong emotions in an old dog that seemed to have made its peace with the world.
But that surge of emotion also added detail to the [Status] section of the panel—
[Fortune Dog] had a powerful defense mechanism around its innermost secret. Once triggered, it would immediately react to the stress.
It had undergone ten evolutions, all of which had failed, leaving it with numerous hidden injuries. At least a hundred Beast Tamers with [Spirit]-attribute talents had examined it. Through repeated encounters with them, it had gradually learned to hide what was on its mind.
It had also begun to resent the humans who tried to pry open the lock on its heart and make it change.
It didn't want to change. It couldn't change.
Lin Yuan felt a headache coming on as he read this...
What on earth had this old dog been through?
How could one or two keywords provoke such a strong reaction?
Ever since his two talents had awakened, the [Status] section for each pet beast had changed with its emotional state. If there was a problem, it would also provide a specific solution.
This was the first time Lin Yuan had seen a problem without any solution at all.
A wound of the heart...
That lay in an inner world, invisible to the eye.
"Fortune Dog, easy. Calm down." Huang Tao was momentarily at a loss too.
The last time Fortune Dog had barked this loudly was two months ago, when he had invited a four-star healer to his home. No matter how he tried to soothe Fortune Dog, it wouldn't stop barking. It had even fainted from breathing too hard.
Remembering that, Huang Tao hurriedly recalled it to his Beast-Taming Space.
The private room fell quiet at once. Only the Wonderstar Grass looked left and right, wondering where Uncle Big Dog had gone. Then it immediately toddled over to Huang Zixuan's feet, snuggled against him, and fell asleep again within seconds.
"Sorry, Little Yuan... Fortune Dog usually isn't like this," Huang Tao said apologetically.
"It's fine." Lin Yuan waved a hand, still turning things over in his mind.
The three of them ate in silence, and the atmosphere grew awkward.
If Huang Tao wasn't going to speak, Lin Yuan couldn't press him. That would be too presumptuous.
Five minutes later, Huang Zixuan broke the silence. "Dad, Brother Yuan is incredible. Even before his talent awakened, a lot of teachers found his insights inspiring, especially when it came to his understanding of pet beasts and how keenly he picked up on things about them."
"Now he's awakened the A-rank [Living Creature Affinity]. That's an emotional-perception talent second only to the S-rank [Instant Spirit Thought]."
"Maybe he really can sense what Fortune Dog is feeling. What if there's something it doesn't want to tell us?"
Huang Tao's thoughts had been elsewhere the whole time.
He knew what made his [Fortune Dog] lose control.
What troubled him were the words Lin Yuan had used: "something on its mind."
What else could be weighing on Fortune Dog that he didn't know about? Or rather, what didn't Fortune Dog want him to know?
Lin Yuan had been thinking too.
Before [Fortune Dog] was recalled, the information added to its [Status] section had been useful.
Especially those words: "It didn't want to change. It couldn't change."
His instincts told him at once that what Fortune Dog believed about not being able to change lay at the heart of its suffering.
When it came to pet beasts, Lin Yuan believed in respecting their wishes and letting them live in whatever way felt most comfortable to them.
But he had just encountered something new: in this pet beast, he had felt a grief so deep that it would rather reach the end of its life than change a thing.
And there was also... a steadfast desire to protect something.
That was what it wanted. But if it was "sick," did that mean what it wanted was right?
Huang Tao came back to himself. "Sorry, my mind was on something else. Little Yuan, Zixuan trusts you so much, so I'll be frank."
"Over the years, plenty of people have wanted to do business with me. A few even went out of their way to learn about my past, hoping to use Fortune Dog to strike a deal with me and get better terms."
"It works on me. As long as Fortune Dog can live better and be happier, I'm happy too."
"You've been watching it since you came in. I'm sure you looked into my story with Fortune Dog beforehand."
"You're clever. But at the end of the day, we're here to discuss business. This deal won't have much impact on the Yellow Crane Tower Shop. It matters to me because I want Fortune Dog's last two years to be better."
"Before I tell you the details about Fortune Dog, I need to ask you a very serious question."
"When you say you sensed something weighing on its mind, did you really notice something unusual, or did you make it up to get better terms?"
Huang Tao's voice was still warm, and he spoke unhurriedly. But compared with before, the atmosphere in the private room suddenly seemed tense.
Huang Zixuan tensed up too. His father's familiar manner was back.
This time, though, he didn't feel he could speak up for Lin Yuan. He had always thought Lin Yuan was amazing, but the answer mattered too much to his father and to Fortune Dog...
Lin Yuan knew he had intended to use [Fortune Dog] as an opening to get a better outcome from the talks. That was only human.
He also knew Huang Tao, who had spent years in business and met countless people, could hardly have missed it.
But he would never lie for a better deal. Both the faint emotions he had sensed and the information plainly displayed on the panel confirmed what he had said.
And during those five minutes, Lin Yuan had made up his mind.
"Uncle Huang, I didn't make it up. I sensed it. And from the moment it started barking at me until you recalled it to the Pet Beast Space, I felt even more from it."
Lin Yuan looked Huang Tao in the eye as he spoke.
Huang Tao set down his chopsticks and held Lin Yuan's gaze for a full five seconds. Then he finally smiled.
It was the first expression he had shown all day.
"All right. Tell me what you sensed first, and I'll see how to respond."
"Okay." Lin Yuan nodded. "When Fortune Dog barked at me, I felt its panic and fear."
"It wants to spend the last stretch of its life in peace. It doesn't want the slightest thing to change."
"It doesn't want to change. It... can't change."
"What's weighing on it is heavy. I think that's the reason it doesn't want to change."
"I can feel how torn it is."
"It was like my Zilan, who produces [Spirit Dew]. She didn't want to evolve before either, because she was uncomfortable and had something weighing on her mind."
"Once that burden was lifted, maybe she could evolve. And maybe... she could live longer."
Huang Tao froze. This was the first time he had heard such an explanation.
"It doesn't want to change?"
There was a barely perceptible tremor in his voice. "But both before and after I formed a contract with it, I could feel that it wanted to live longer!"
"I formed a contract with it so it could live longer."
"I had it try to evolve so it could live longer."
"I bought it more medicinal ingredients and spirit treasures so it could live longer too."
Hearing that,
Lin Yuan froze as well.
"Uncle Huang, tell me something. Is Fortune Dog waiting for someone or something? Waiting in the same body, in the form it had before evolution, but whoever or whatever it's waiting for still hasn't come?"