"Old man, you're playing me, aren't you?" Zhou Bai looked at the old man with displeasure, pointing at the Shiba Inu at his feet, and said, "This is Elsa?"
The Shiba Inu stood up happily when it saw Zhou Bai pointing at it, its tail wagging non-stop, and its mouth opened wide as if it were smiling.
The old man said awkwardly, "She has been infected by polluted spiritual energy, and her body has started to show signs of demonic transformation. We have already tried our best to suppress her demonic transformation. It wasn't easy to make her non-dangerous."
"Huh?" Zhou Bai shouted, "I gave you a person, and you return a dog to me? And you're telling me it wasn't easy?"
The old man coughed, "She's not always going to be a dog. If she's strong-willed enough, she might be able to turn back."
Just then, the Shiba Inu suddenly pulled on the leash and stood up, seemingly wanting to pounce on Zhou Bai. When Zhou Bai looked over in surprise, she opened her mouth and made a hoarse sound.
"Zhou~~ Bai~~"
Zhou Bai watched in shock, "This is."
"I~~ am~~ hungry~~"
Zhou Bai was stunned for a moment, then squatted down, patted Elsa's head, and said in a deep voice, "Don't worry, Elsa. I'll take you to eat something in a moment." He looked up at the old man and said, "You come too, tell me what this demonic transformation is all about."
More than half an hour later, when Zhou Bai was walking back with Elsa, he was still recalling the old man's words in his mind.
Demonic transformation is a unique phenomenon that occurs after being infected by polluted spiritual energy, causing both body and consciousness to simultaneously deform and turn into a mindless demon.
Most of these demons can never recover. Out of about ten thousand, maybe one or two can regain some semblance of sanity, but their personalities and understanding of the world are completely twisted, so they can no longer be regarded as human.
Of course, if the rescue is timely, there is a one in ten thousand chance that the half-demonic state will persist, allowing the human to survive. But if the rescue fails, they may end up like Elsa, completely transforming into an animal.
There are cases where someone in a half-demonic state can regain their human form after improving their cultivation.
As for someone like Elsa who has completely turned into an animal, theoretically, they could regain their human form after improving their cultivation. But in reality, the intelligence of those who have completely transformed is too low, and so far, there haven't been any cases of regaining a human form.
Returning to the room with Elsa, Zhou Bai sat on the floor with a frown, while Elsa circled around him a few times before finally laying on his chest and licking his cheek, making a whining sound.
"Zhou Bai, maybe things aren't as bad as you think," Christina analyzed, "Do you remember? When Dr. Zhuang was fighting with that Heavenly Demon, his body showed signs of demonic transformation too."
Zhou Bai's eyes sharpened as he recalled, "I clearly saw Elsa being pierced by the Heavenly Demon, an ordinary kid couldn't survive such a situation."
Christina said, "Exactly, and ordinary kids don't have such big appetites. Do you remember Dr. Zhuang's research goal? Cultivating without being affected by pollution. Maybe he succeeded."
Zhou Bai looked at Elsa, who indeed seemed smarter than the average dog, but still didn't show human intelligence.
Christina reminded him, "Don't forget the Heavenly Court rescue team saved her. Maybe their rescue interrupted Elsa's demonic transformation, preventing her from successfully controlling the demonic power like Dr. Zhuang."
"Then what should we do?" Zhou Bai asked, "Let Elsa come into contact with polluted spiritual energy? Increase her demonic transformation? That's not going to work. She was vaccinated, ordinary contact won't do it. She needs to be out there for over ten days..."
"Don't do anything rash," Christina said, "We don't know enough about demonic transformation. Besides, Dr. Zhuang's research on cultivation and demonic transformation might be unique in the world. I think you should take care of her for now. Didn't Dr. Zhuang leave behind coordinates for his research information? Maybe his experimental results are hidden there. If we find that information, we might be able to cure Elsa."
"You're right, I thought of that too. We'll have to take care of Elsa for now..." Suddenly Zhou Bai exclaimed, "Elsa! Come back here!!"
Christina watched as Elsa, with her butt sticking up, relieved herself on the bed and laughed inwardly, saying in Zhou Bai's mind, "This is the nature of dogs, peeing on the bed. I would never do such a thing."
Zhou Bai said, "Shut up, you don't need to eat or poop."
"If you're unhappy, you can think of it this way. Even though she looks like a dog, she's actually a beautiful girl. Isn't it exciting and thrilling to have such a beautiful girl peeing on your bed..."
Whoosh!
Zhou Bai immediately released Christina, then grabbed her tail and slammed her onto the floor.
"Wait a..."
Bam!
Looking at the dazed expression on the cat's head in his hand, Zhou Bai pointed to the Shiba Inu and said, "From today on, you're responsible for taking care of the dog."
Christina shouted, "But I'm a cat! You're insulting me!"
Zhou Bai replied, "If you refuse, I'll use you to wipe up the pee."
So Christina, with a face full of unhappiness, ran over to the Shiba Inu. One dog and one cat barked and meowed at each other for a while, who knows if they understood each other.
Then Christina's yells got louder and louder, and she jumped up, pawing at the Shiba Inu's head, which made Elsa whine and start nodding.
Zhou Bai looked at the messy bed, then lay down on the sofa and said to Christina, "Oh, don't forget to help me change the bed sheets. You might as well wash them too."
A few minutes later, Christina was scrubbing the sheets while cursing Zhou Bai in her heart, "Rotten skinflint! Exploiting even a cat, are you even human? Washing bed sheets, I'll make you wash them until you die."
Lazy point +10
Zhou Bai lay on the bed, looking at the 10 point increase in his Laziness value, and immediately laughed.
"I see." He looked at Christina, who was washing the sheets for him, then looked at himself lying on the sofa ready to sleep, a light bulb went off in his mind, "No wonder the system gave me a cat, it's for this purpose?"
Christina's body trembled, "Why do I feel like something's wrong, is someone plotting against me?"
Feeling delighted, Zhou Bai used the 10 Lazy Points, increasing his Primordial Spirit value to 72 points.
Early the next morning, Zhou Bai went out to eat at the agreed time, then waited for the vehicle to take him to Donghua City.
Christina had returned to Zhou Bai's mind, while Elsa followed beside Zhou Bai, with that characteristic Shiba Inu silly smile on her face.
The vehicle bound for Donghua City was a huge flying carriage, as tall as a two-story building, pulled by twelve bronze horses at the front. Although it looked old-fashioned, it could hover a meter above the ground and travel much faster than a high-speed train.
With the pollution protection array on the carriage, along with the passengers' own Primordial Spirit adjustments and rune immunities, as long as they didn't leave the city or strongholds for more than seven days, the risk of infection was very low.
Zhou Bai couldn't help but marvel, the immortal-sect technology in this world, in some aspects of daily life, seemed very primitive compared to Zhou Bai's world. But in some other aspects, it was far more advanced, much more advanced indeed.