When Zheng Qing gave Fei Rui that name, he had mainly been indulging his own feelings. He had just finished the college entrance exams then, with freedom in both time and spirit. To give that feeling of freedom tangible form, he named the hamster that had lived in his home for over a decade "Fei Rui."
But he did not know that once he gave Fei Rui the name of freedom, Fei Rui truly became free.
It was a profound spell, and an even weightier contract.
What would a free hamster do? A hundred hamsters might have a hundred different dreams. For Fei Rui, after escaping that long-confining cage and rediscovering itself, what it wanted most was to return to some island hidden deep in the ocean, to return to that Silent Forest.
In its spare time, it could share a few drinks with three or five old friends. When bored, it could hide in the shadows and tease the foolish young wizards at the school. Come on, be merry—there was still plenty of time.
Yet as it returned to its old life, those long, tedious memories buried deep within its soul came flooding back. This was not the freedom it had sought. If it had once lived for a few drinks and a little amusement, it would never have been caught and made into a watchdog mouse for more than ten years.
On the other hand, as the young wizard it had guarded for over a decade set foot in this school, more and more sediment from the lakebed was churned up again. Like hyenas, greedy yet timid, they prowled outside the school gates, low snarls rumbling from their throats while dim red glimmers flickered in their eye sockets.
"I can't be worse than a dog, can I?"
Fei