Silence and darkness enveloped the wilderness, filled with an eerie quiet.
A black figure suddenly approached, emitting a cackling laugh.
It had no limbs, just a body the size of a human head floating in the air, its dark red eyes staring at the girl in white as if looking at prey.
In the next moment, the limbless body suddenly grew a hand with only two fingers, reaching for the girl's heart.
The hand went through the girl's body, hollowing it out.
The black figure's eyes widened in disbelief.
The girl lifted her head, and a face without features slowly appeared in the frame...
"Yah!"
The Fire-Toothed Dog plunged into Qiao Sang's arms.
It didn't want to watch anymore!
Qiao Sang patted its head, feeling somewhat regretful...
...
...
The next two days were the weekend, and Qiao Sang declined Fang Sisi's proposal to go out and chose to study at home alone.
Apart from taking some time to register her Beast Tamer identity and the Fire-Toothed Dog's registration at the Beast Taming Center, the remaining time was almost entirely spent in books.
Perhaps it was the awakening of her brain domain, but her memory had improved a lot compared to her previous life, only needing to read a book once to remember most of it.
Soon, it was time to go back to school.
"Fire-Toothed Dog, be good, I'll let you out after school," Qiao Sang coaxed.
Ever since the Fire-Toothed Dog grew tired of the game in the Beast Taming Codex, it hadn't gone into the Codex again.
This time Qiao Sang wanted it to go back in, but it showed some reluctance.
It preferred staying outside to being in the Codex.
"Yah."
The Fire-Toothed Dog shook its head, indicating it didn't want to go in.
Qiao Sang felt somewhat helpless; the school didn't explicitly forbid bringing Pet Beasts, but having the Fire-Toothed Dog out in the open was too conspicuous when everyone else hadn't contracted their Pet Beasts yet.
Qiao Sang didn't want to be the center of attention.
"If you go in, I'll buy you Red Luan Fruits to eat when we get back," Qiao Sang tempted.
The Fire-Toothed Dog arrogantly turned its head to the side.
It didn't want them.
The corner of Qiao Sang's mouth twitched.
Her mother had bought six Red Luan Fruits last time, and she fed four to the Fire-Toothed Dog on the first day, and one each on the following two days.
Had it grown tired of them already?
"If you don't go in, I'll have to leave on my own."
"I'm leaving."
"I'm really leaving."
Qiao Sang crouched at the entrance, put on her shoes, and pretended to head out.
"Yah!"
The Fire-Toothed Dog leaped into her arms and looked up at her with pitiful, wet eyes.
"If you want to come with me, you have to go in first. I promise I'll let you out as soon as school is over," Qiao Sang said.
"Yah." The Fire-Toothed Dog hung its head and responded listlessly.
Qiao Sang's heart softened into a mush.
It was still a child.
Qingcheng Jiayuan was within the school district of Shengshui Middle School, only 9 kilometers away, reachable by bus lines 23, 36, 57, or by the fifth and seventh subway lines.
Qiao Sang didn't choose the subway as usual.
On bus line 36.
The Fire-Toothed Dog joyfully stuck its head out of the window in Qiao Sang's arms, the wind messing up its fur as it blew in their faces.
It excitedly watched the outside world.
"Remember, you have to go in obediently once we get to school, okay?" Qiao Sang said with a smile.
"Yah!"
The Fire-Toothed Dog responded with a full spirit.
Qiao Sang couldn't help but pat its head.
When they got off the station, the Fire-Toothed Dog obediently let Qiao Sang put it into the Beast Taming Codex and even happily wagged its tail.
...
Class 37 of Wencheng Junior High School.
"Have you finished your homework? Let me copy it."
"Can't you see I'm still copying myself?"
"..."
"Did you watch the competition in Lianbo District yesterday?"
"Nonsense, I've been waiting in front of the TV since 7 p.m., Lin Jinyang's Blood Canglong was so cool!"
"Right, right, right, and that Scale-Eating Ant in gold, I've never seen one in gold! Nearly blinded me with its shine!"
"..."
"I heard that Dai Shushu from Class 9 got a direct pass to Shengshui Middle School."
"Wasn't it rumored last time that it was Litian Royal Beast High School?"
"Seems like the slot got taken away."
"Worthy of being the ace high school of our province, even Dai Shushu can't get in."
"You try getting into Shengshui Middle School for me to see."
"..."
A slim figure appeared at the classroom door.
As the figure walked in, the volume of the discussion suddenly dropped.
Qiao Sang took her seat and noticed some classmates sneakily looking at her.
Feeling the odd atmosphere in the classroom, Qiao Sang touched her nose and asked Fang Sisi in a lowered voice, "Did you tell the class about my awakening?"
Fang Sisi was still furiously copying homework and only realized Qiao Sang had arrived when she heard her speak.
"Big Leg, you finally came." Fang Sisi's eyes sparkled as she leaned in, "Without your permission, how could I ever say it? Do you need me to promote it in class for you?"
"Absolutely not." Qiao Sang quickly shook her head, then confusedly asked, "Then why are they all staring at me?"
"Didn't your mom come to school twice? And then you took a day off and skipped a day of classes, everyone's guessing if something happened to you," Fang Sisi explained.
Qiao Sang was stunned, "Skipped a day of class?"
"Yeah."
Although she guessed that her mother might have forgotten to ask for leave, Qiao Sang still felt a bit depressed when her guess turned out to be right.
The homeroom teacher wouldn't call her to the office for a spittle attack again, would he...
That's when Fang Sisi added, "Also, everyone knows you are the one who scored zero on the test."
The homeroom teacher didn't directly criticize her by name in class out of consideration for Qiao Sang's dignity, but afterwards had summoned Qiao Sang to the office and even called her parents to school.
If it had ended there, no one would have been interested—after all, it wasn't unprecedented for Qiao Sang to be criticized in the office due to her poor grades.
But calling in the parents made the situation much more serious.
Normally, aside from fighting, the homeroom teacher rarely called parents to school.
At that time, after school ended, if Qiao Sang didn't tell, if the study monitor didn't tell, and if the homeroom teacher didn't speak, there wouldn't have been many people who knew.
But the next day, Qiao Sang took a leave of absence, and the day after that, she outright skipped class.
Asking for time off and skipping class at such a critical moment was telling enough, and the gossip fires blazed brightly, with the cause and effect becoming common knowledge in no time.
Qiao Sang couldn't help but laugh and cry, but it didn't much affect her.
News travels fast in the school's small world.
Her scoring zero and getting a parent called in wasn't a twisted fact and children of this age might feel embarrassed to have others know, but Qiao Sang didn't have that kind of psychological pressure.
"Hey, did you do your Spirit Plant Analysis homework? Let me copy it," Fang Sisi touched Qiao Sang's arm to get her attention.
"How would I know what homework there is when I haven't been here? Besides, you're the fourth from the bottom in our class, isn't it embarrassing to copy from me, the third from the bottom?" Qiao Sang said, somewhat speechlessly.
"Big Leg, I won't allow you to talk down about yourself like that," Fang Sisi scolded and then put on a pitiful face, "I thought your mom brought you the homework when she came to school on Friday. I'm so envious of you people who don't have to do homework."
Qiao Sang: "..."
Ignoring Fang Sisi's antics, Qiao Sang fell into thought.
It seemed she still didn't know why her mother came to the school last time.