bullyxtreme Chapter 55...The dog I keep by my side
Chapter 55...The dog I keep by my side
"...The dog I keep with me."
Li Tingyun answered calmly.
This time, it was Mei Shiyu's turn to be unsettled.
"Are you kidding me?!"
"No kidding."
Li Tingyun looked at him with sincere eyes, "Since I promised you I would tell you the truth, I definitely won't lie to you. Whoever lies is a fucking dog!"
Mei Shiyu: "Then are you a dog?"
Li Tingyun: "..."
His eyes were clear and innocent.
It really looks like a puppy getting rained on.
"Yes, I am a dog, so what? Master just called me a 'little beast,' and he was absolutely right."
Li Tingyun grabbed Mei Shiyu's wrist and moved it upwards little by little, covering her fair and delicate fingers with his palm and forcefully prying them apart one by one.
He was secretly playing a game of strategy in his mind.
He was gambling. He was gambling that Mei Shiyu's emotions would be unstable due to the shock, and that his judgment would be even slightly off... So be it. He desperately needed a reason to reinforce his precarious facade, at least to prevent it from falling apart before he recovered his cultivation!
That would definitely kill people.
Li Tingyun feigned nonchalance: "What, you don't believe me? You think it's absurd?"
"It is indeed absurd... but how many absurd things have you said! Whether I believe it or not, is it up to me?"
Mei Shiyu really didn't want to have too much contact with him, so when he tried to crack his fingers, she loosened her grip.
The boy smoothed out the wrinkles in his clothes, leaned against the wall crookedly, and smiled, looking every bit the charming little hooligan.
Even a thug can have a certain charisma.
Youthful spirit, so dashing.
"Master, you know, I am also a reborn person. I lived for more than two hundred years in my previous life, and I am no longer a child. Therefore, I can distinguish my feelings. I like you, and my liking for you is even deeper than that of a dog gnawing on a bone, woof."
In any case, Li Tingyun has no shame whatsoever.
He actually dared to add a little dog bark at the end of his sentence, the kind of cunning little mongrel that knows to droop its ears and face the wall to be scolded after making a mistake, but will keep one eye open to peek at its owner's reaction, quick-witted and resourceful.
It's a slippery mudskipper that you can't catch!
"That's enough. Don't bring up this kind of thing with me again."
Mei Shiyu really had no way to deal with him.
The only solution is to ignore it.
I thought to myself: They really do say dogs resemble their owners...
The young man in front of me has the exact same temperament as that Li from the Taiji Hall... despicable, shameless, vulgar, shameless, with a cheap sense of morality, no, he has no morality at all!
Mei Shiyu closed her eyes.
Li Tingyun did indeed have a large yellow dog by his side. It had lived for over two hundred years and was already a spirit beast. It not only understood human nature but also possessed cultivation.
But a dog is a dog. Mei Shiyu had spent so many years in the Taiji Hall, yet she had hardly ever interacted with this dog, except for knowing that it had a very down-to-earth name—
"Weren't you called 'Wangcai'? Why did you change it to 'Yuanbao'?"
"Anyway, they all mean 'bringing in wealth and treasures,' so why bother with such a big deal about a dog's name? If Master likes it, you can call me 'Qian Duoduo' or 'Xiao Fugui' tomorrow, and I'll accept it."
Li Tingyun thought to himself, "How can Mei Shiyu remember even the name of a dog in the Taiji Hall so clearly?!"
Does that mean he knows all the villain's secrets?
No wonder the villains failed to kill the protagonist despite their numerous attempts to capture him; it seems his master's undercover work was very successful.
Furthermore, those four traitors in Sixiang City who "abandoned darkness for light" were probably all turned by him.
They've rebelled, they've all rebelled.
Damn it, I'm rebelling too!
Li Tingyun smiled slightly and said firmly, "Master, I will follow you for the rest of my life."
Mei Shiyu was not yet aware of the seriousness of the situation.
So much so that even a long time later, he still couldn't figure out exactly when he had taken over the entire Taiji Palace without firing a shot.
"It's a dog... how could it be a dog..."
Mei Shiyu was still immersed in the sad "fact" that "his apprentice was a dog" and could not extricate himself. What saddened him was that he had no idea how to raise spirit beasts. He had even decided that after leaving the territory, he would have to go to the Beast Taming Sect to learn from them.
He wanted to know why a spirit beast would fall in love with its master. Was it because it was in heat? Could it be that spirit beasts could mate across genders and species?
And most importantly, is it harmful to a dog's health to eat random things? His apprentice can eat ten or eight bowls of wide noodles in one meal, drink a small bottle of vinegar, and his mind is only on snacks. Is this really normal?
He still has many questions, and he needs a copy of "The Beast Taming Guide".
Is this book sold at the border market? Are they genuine copies? Will reading a pirated copy have any negative effects?
Mei Shiyu remained silent, as did Li Tingyun.
They looked at each other in silence.
“…Master?”
"come here."
Mei Shiyu caught him and said, "Test your spiritual roots."
Li Tingyun knew he couldn't escape this time, so that was fine. He might be able to dispel Li Tingyun's doubts by taking this opportunity.
He reached out, made a small cut, and pressed it onto the crystal that Mei Shiyu had taken out of the Bodhi Ring. It flashed with iridescent colors for a moment, and then remained still.
The result is obvious: a mixed five-elemental spiritual root, utterly useless.
Li Tingyun was not surprised at all.
Without spiritual roots, no matter how many tests are conducted, he's still a "Muggle".
Mei Shiyu finally stopped associating the boy in front of him with the Lord of Taiji Hall. Even though he still didn't know the boy's spiritual root attribute, he was certain that he was not a mixed spiritual root.
How could Li Tingyun possibly have mixed spiritual roots?
No one in the world would believe such a thing.
But Mei Shiyu was still very depressed.
He was worried about the future of his incompetent apprentice.
In his limited understanding of spirit beasts, the lower the spirit beast's aptitude, the harder it is for it to shake off its wildness and habits as a "beast," just like a dog can't change its nature (beep—).
Mei Shiyu raised her hand to cover her eyes, then wiped her face.
Heartbroken.
"Master, what are you thinking about?"
Seeing that his expression was a bit strange, Li Tingyun couldn't help but ask, "You don't have mysophobia, do you?"
He meant that his master might dislike cats and dogs that shed a lot of fur or have a strong odor...
But when Mei Shiyu heard these words, they took on a different meaning.
If he hadn't asked, things would have been fine, but his question chilled Mei Shiyu to the bone.
"You, how were you before...?"
"Ah, it's alright. I feel very free with my master."
Li Tingyun: Wandering means having nothing but freedom.
How's your diet?
"It's alright, it follows its master and licks the bowl clean after every meal."
Li Tingyun: How would I know? The dog cooked all the food for me.
Mei Shiyu felt somewhat relieved. That made sense; he wasn't a stray dog, and Li Tingyun probably wouldn't let his spirit beast roam around eating things (beep—)
Then, he quietly raised a rather sensitive issue:
"Then why don't you go find your master in this life?"
"I betrayed him."
Li Tingyun said it casually: "He is cunning and treacherous, bad and stupid, has a bad temper, likes to hit people, and is very stingy. If you follow him, you can only lick the bowl clean and never get enough to eat. I hate him the most, so I also chose to betray him."
Mei Shiyu pursed her lips and remained silent. Betrayal...
betray.
At this moment, thousands of miles away, Wangcai, carrying the elixir, was rushing towards Fengdu when he suddenly sneezed loudly.
He flung the omnipotent isatis root several meters away in one breath.
Wangcai waddled over and picked up the elixir, his mind filled with thoughts of finding his master, wagging his tail, barking at him, and circling around him! After that, he was eager to see Xuan Yu and play with the cat.
What wrong could a simple-minded dog possibly do?
Little did he know that his owner, who was full of empty talk, spoke without any conscience and completely disregarded the most precious quality he possessed as a dog—loyalty.
A dog doesn't mind a poor home, right? During the days he wandered with the boy, he was very happy licking the bowl. He even felt that as long as he was with the boy, even if they had to pick up trash, they would still be doing quite well.
It's so much better than the anxiety of standing outside the empty Taiji Hall every day, wondering if you'll step on a landmine with your left foot first!
However, the boy will eventually grow up, becoming someone he no longer recognizes—cold, ruthless, a bloodthirsty killer with enemies everywhere.
Storytellers in the mortal world often murmur a phrase:
A thousand-mile-long pavilion can only provide shade; all good things must come to an end. We watched him build his grand mansion, watched him host his lavish banquets, and then… his mansion collapsed.
Throughout the entire process, regardless of whether his master was good or bad, kind or evil, Wangcai never considered betraying him.
All he remembered was that a long time ago, someone told him, "I may be a homeless person, but you will never be a stray dog, because from today onwards, I am your master. If I have a bite to eat, you will have a bowl to lick..."
The boy's voice gradually faded away.
But it left an indelible mark on Wangcai's dog life.
What does "betrayal" mean?
The word doesn't even exist in the puppy's dictionary.
This may also be due to their nature.
Whether rich or poor, dogs will never abandon humans, just as cats will look down on everyone equally, whether rich or poor.
……
a long time.
Mei Shiyu had been pondering for a long time.
Li Tingyun looked at him and spoke frankly:
"Master, why did you betray that person back then?"
"Betrayal... those two words are too heavy."
Mei Shiyu chuckled softly, "I have never submitted to him, so how can I talk about 'betrayal'?"