Chapter Sixteen: Master and Dog

Big White’s belly was sunken, and he gazed longingly at the bedroom door. He barked for a while, but there was no response. He tried scratching at the door, but still nothing happened. Finally, he could only lie on the floor in dejection, pretending to be a dead dog.

From July 3rd, with Fan Bei’s anticipation weighing on him, he slept all the way through to July 10th—a full seven days. Even though he had eaten enough for ten days before, now all of it had already been digested, and naturally, he was starving.

At that moment, the white wooden dog he was hugging suddenly had its two black eyes shift slightly, and then a voice sounded in Big White’s mind.

“Stop wasting your effort. Your owner doesn’t care about you at all. Listen—he’s inside, snoring away, not caring whether you live or die.”

“You’re a dog with a system now. Why stick to such a useless owner? Listen to me—let’s go out on our own. If you want to eat something, take it. If you want to play, just steal it. Wouldn’t that be so much freer?”

Big White shook his head vigorously, whining in protest:

“No, my owner understands what I say. He’s just too tired and doesn’t know I’d wake up at this time. When he wakes up, I’ll talk to him, and everything will be fine. I can’t become a bad dog who steals and robs from others…”

“Fool. The only reason he can understand you is because you have this marvelous system. That’s how you’re able to transmit your thoughts to him directly! You didn’t know the truth of the system before and treated it as some evil spirit, so he still doesn’t know about it. But if you tell him the truth now, he’ll definitely try everything to take it from you, maybe even cut you open to search for it!” The wooden dog threatened, “We have to get away from him as quickly as possible.”

“If my owner wanted it, I’d just give it to him. All I care about is good food and fun. This thing that keeps shocking me—whoever wants it can have it...” Big White said as if it were obvious. “It’s a pity it’s stuck to me so tightly that I can’t get rid of it. My owner is a good person; if I tell him the truth, he definitely won’t do what you’re saying.”

If it were possible to give it up, do you think you’d still be alive now… The “wooden dog” said no more, merely thinking coldly to itself. Still, as long as I can make you my puppet and get what I want, it’s not much different.

“Huh? Why do I feel a chill?” Big White muttered, rubbing his empty belly, then wandered over to the kitchen door, peeking inside hopefully.

“Oh, you’re so hungry? There are cans of food in the kitchen. With your abilities now, you could easily get them open…” the wooden dog continued to tempt him.

“No, my owner said I can’t go into the kitchen or dining room because I shed and would contaminate the food.” Big White fought back his hunger and anticipation, shaking his head repeatedly.

“You really are a fool. Are you going to stick to his rules even if you’re starving to death?”

“I won’t starve. My owner usually wakes up after six hours of sleep.”

“Stupid. Stop talking about your owner all the time. You need to have your own ideas. You have a system now—you’re destined to become a mighty celestial hound!”

“Uh, celestial hound?” Big White looked down at the wooden dog, curiosity piqued. “My owner told me about them before. Legend says they can eat the whole moon. I have a question: does the moon taste anything like a mooncake?”

“They’re both hard. So hard they’ll break your teeth!” the wooden dog snapped, exasperated.

“Then I’d better let my owner soak it in warm water before I try it. Seems like anything left too long gets hard.” Big White mused, full of anticipation, and for a moment, his hunger faded.

“Forget it—just do something useful,” the wooden dog decided to be patient a little longer. “Now that you’ve mastered the silver-grade Evil-Banishing Divine Claw I taught you, even if it’s just the lowest level, it’s enough to handle the evil spirits here. It’s time to level up. Do as I say: put your points into strength, then agility. Forget about intelligence—too much and you’ll go mad.”

“No, I need to do my scheduled eating task now. I’m too hungry to run around.” Big White flopped down dog-style at the kitchen door, sniffing the air and closing his eyes as if that alone could bring him food.

“You can’t go on like this. Haven’t you heard the saying?” the wooden dog said helplessly.

“What saying?”

“Only by suffering the worst hardships can a dog truly rise above the rest. If you don’t work hard now, you’ll be crushed by other dogs in the future.”

“Uh, that’s terrible. I’m a male dog, after all,” Big White froze, then relaxed again. “But I have an owner. I’m not a stray—I don’t have to worry about them.”

“Hmph. Your useless owner just learned a couple of trashy bronze-level skills recently, and he hasn’t achieved anything with them. He can only deal with hidden evil objects for now. If a level-one bronze evil spirit shows up, he won’t be able to handle it. You expect him to protect you in the future? Keep dreaming, you silly mutt…” The wooden dog sneered mercilessly.

“Ah, Little White, if that’s the case, does that mean I’ll have to protect my owner from now on?” Big White asked anxiously.

“Yes, he’ll be your burden in the future. Have you read Journey to the West? You’ll be Sun Wukong, he’ll be the monk Tang Sanzang—except he doesn’t have the golden headband, so why stick with him?” The wooden dog continued to egg him on.

Only by getting this dog with a system to leave its owner could its path be fully guided by me, the wooden dog thought. I don’t want anyone else to reap the benefits this dog will bring in the future. Teaching it to fulfill its potential is no easy matter.

“No, that won’t do. My owner saved my life and has cared for me for years. A dog must know to repay its owner. That’s a dog’s basic principle,” Big White refused righteously, scratching his head. “Besides, I don’t know how to cook. My owner has to make food for me, bathe me, give me shots, and, most importantly, buy me toys…”

“Fool. Just hire a servant for those things—why keep an owner over your head? Can’t you survive without one?” The wooden dog was nearly beside itself with frustration.

“Oh, without my owner, life just feels empty. I’d have no one to rely on, wouldn’t know where to go. I definitely need an owner. And I’ve heard lots of servants are mean—they wouldn’t take good care of me,” Big White shook his head again and again. “Why make things complicated?”

The wooden dog fell silent. This silly canine, for all its foolishness, clearly knew what mattered most to it and became shrewd when it counted.

It was just that what the dog valued seemed utterly laughable in its eyes.

Nothing it said would work now. If this were a human, it was sure the person would immediately think of leaving their so-called boss and striking out alone, never risking exposure of the system and losing such immense good fortune.

Better to take it slow. The wooden dog knew all too well the depths of human greed, and that human called Fan Bei would be no exception.

The day Big White, this silly mutt, finds himself dissected on a table will be the day he fully trusts the wrong side. Only when betrayal piles up will so-called dog-like loyalty be truly tested.

With that in mind, the wooden dog’s eyes slowly swiveled, revealing a human-like anticipation.