Nonsense! How could my adopted son be a villain?

Si Yuan's eyes immediately filled with sympathy, and he no longer thought the little brat was impolite. He said patiently, "Forget it, you're still a little brat, I won't hold it against you."

The young beast looked him over suspiciously and muttered, "You don't look much older than me, so what are you pretending to be?"

Si Yuan stood up angrily, then slowly sat back down, silently repeating to himself, "I'm not angry, I'm not angry."

He, a cultured and knowledgeable mountain king, would never stoop to the level of a homeless child without parents.

Si Yuan turned to look at Xu Lingguang and Lan Jian, who were silent, and slapped the ground with his paw in dissatisfaction: "Aren't you going to say anything?"

Xu Lingguang said, "Isn't this waiting for you to finish talking first?"

Si Yuan snorted: "I'm done talking, you guys can come now!"

This little brat is completely impervious to reason and persuasion. If it weren't for the fact that she lost her parents at such a young age, he would definitely have given her a good beating.

Since Si Yuan couldn't handle it, they had to switch to Xu Lingguang again.

Xu Lingguang sat cross-legged in front of the young beast and first placed a healing pill in front of her as a gesture of goodwill: "Your injuries haven't fully healed yet, have they? This pill will help you recover."

To everyone's surprise, the young beast reacted unusually strongly upon seeing the pill. She lowered her body and growled at Xu Lingguang, her pupils shrinking to slits, and her long tail curled behind her into a poised and ready-to-attack posture.

Xu Lingguang didn't understand why she reacted so strongly, but after thinking about it carefully, he made a guess when he saw the cub's trembling hind paws.

He tried his best to appear non-threatening, slowly reaching out to take the pill back, then breaking it in half and spreading it out in front of the young beast: "It's just an ordinary healing pill, made from spiritual herbs, not the inner core of a strange beast or demon."

Xu Lingguang tentatively moved his palm closer to the cub: "If you don't believe me, smell it. There's no blood smell."

The cub continued to watch him warily, and Xu Lingguang insisted on not withdrawing his hand.

After a brief, silent standoff, the young beast finally gave in, tentatively lowering its head to sniff Xu Lingguang's palm. Just as Xu Lingguang had said, there was only the fragrance of medicinal herbs, without the slightest hint of blood.

Seeing that her expression was beginning to waver, Xu Lingguang pressed his advantage and took out another pill, placing it in front of her: "Now do you believe me? This pill can help heal your injuries."

The young beast fiddled with the pill with its paw, pressing it to its paw, but still didn't eat it. Instead, it tilted its head and asked, "You really aren't with those humans?"

"of course not"

Xu Lingguang pointed at Si Yuan: "Look at him, if I were with Zhou Yishan and the others, would he still be so fat?"

The Black Scale King, who was called out, immediately bristled and turned around to glare at him, saying, "Where am I fat? This is all solid muscle! Do you know what muscle is?"

Xu Lingguang smiled faintly and remained silent, only gazing at the cub in front of him.

After examining Si Yuan closely, the young beast realized that there was some truth to what he said.

She had seen some strange beasts raised by humans from afar. Most of them were fat and strong, but the black one in front of her was even fatter than those beasts. When it shrunk up, it was almost a ball.

This at least shows that he had a good meal and was quite full.

However, the young beast preferred to run freely in the mountains and fields; she had no desire to be a human's pet.

However, since this human had taken the initiative to show goodwill, she didn't want to embarrass him too much, as it wouldn't do her any good if she angered him.

So the young beast reluctantly said, "Alright, I'll believe you for now."

However, even though that's what he said, Xu Lingguang knew that this young beast's wariness wouldn't be so easy to dispel when he saw that she wouldn't take the pills he gave her.

However, this is also a good thing. In the future, when she lives alone in the wild, her high level of vigilance will actually help her survive better.

Therefore, Xu Lingguang did not persuade her to take the pills again, but said to Si Yuan, "Xiaoqing Town will probably be a bit chaotic these two days. You two stay in the inn and don't wander around."

Si Yuan said, "As long as this little brat behaves, I promise I won't go anywhere!"

Xu Lingguang then handed the cub over to Si Yuan for care.

He himself was going out with Lan Jian to take Zhou Yishan to where he needed to go.

After the two left, only Si Yuan and the cub remained in the room.

The young beast's big eyes darted around as it surveyed its surroundings, its tail, longer than its body, swaying back and forth, as it weighed the chances of knocking out the little pet in front of it and escaping.

Si Yuan saw through the brat's plan at a glance. He lazily lay on the ground and grumbled, "I advise you to give up the idea of ​​running away. You are no match for me!"

Seeing that he had seen through her act, the cub stopped pretending and squatted down under the window, trying to win him over to his side: "Are you really willing to be a lackey of the human race?"

Si Yuan twitched his ears and said, "What nonsense are you spouting, brat? Who's been a lackey for the human race?"

The young beast glanced at him disdainfully: "You're helping the human cultivators guard me, aren't you just being a lackey of the human race, aiding and abetting evil? Do you even remember where you came from?"

Si Yuan sat up with a "heh," pacing angrily on the ground: "I didn't let you go out for your own good! You're biting the hand that feeds you, not recognizing a kind heart!"

The cub didn't believe him at all and continued its beastly attacks: "You've been fattened up by humans so much that you can't even run anymore, can you?"

Enraged, Si Yuan pounced on the cub, knocking it down and biting its young, saying, "Just because I haven't shown my power doesn't mean I'm a pushover."

The cub that was tackled didn't back down and retaliated by showing its claws.

Xu Lingguang carefully selected the detention location for Zhou Yishan in the black market.

Because of the mass exodus of the strange beasts, the black market suffered heavy losses, and shops closed one after another. The cultivators who survived the incident went back to recuperate, leaving the entire black market desolate and no longer as bustling as before.

Meanwhile, Yue Jun and the people from Qingyun Mountain were busy searching for Zhou Yishan and the Queen Mother of the West, and had no time to deal with the mess that was the black market, which conveniently benefited Xu Lingguang.

Xu Lingguang chose the shop in the most secluded corner and said, "Let's do it here."

The shop wasn't very big. In the back were cages for holding strange beasts, and in the front were chopping boards and racks for slaughtering them, with gleaming iron hooks swaying on the racks.

Upon hearing this, Lan Jian raised his hand and drew a circle in the corner where the cages were piled up, just big enough for one person to stand in.

Zhou Yishan, standing to the side, couldn't understand what they were going to do with him, but when he saw Lan Jian raise his hand to draw a circle, he instinctively felt fear: "Young Master Zhuang, what is this? Didn't you say you would spare my life?"

Xu Lingguang pointed to the large, still-wet bloodstains on the ground and said, "Do you remember how many strange beasts you captured?"

Zhou Yishan had no recollection of the past, but he didn't think there was anything wrong with capturing the strange beasts, and said indignantly, "Young Master Zhuang, are you perhaps trying to speak out for these strange beasts?"

He seemed to have heard a ridiculous joke: "I'm not the only one in this world who hunts strange beasts. There are countless cultivators running black markets, not to mention the people in this town. Are you going to seek revenge on them all?"

He found it increasingly ridiculous as he spoke: "You, a human, actually sympathize with these lowly beasts and demons?"

Realizing he had no way out, Zhou Yishan spoke without restraint, sneering, "I've heard that there are hybrid offspring born from the intercourse of humans and demons in Yanling Prefecture. Some resemble demons, while others resemble humans. You can't tell from their appearance that they are demon hybrids. You wouldn't happen to be one of them, would you?"

Xu Lingguang remained unmoved by his provocation, and instead said, "I will not kill you for the time being, but I will imprison you here so that you can experience the fear and pain of those strange beasts."

Zhou Yishan wanted to say something more, but when he opened his mouth, he found that he suddenly couldn't make a sound. He turned his head in fear and saw his brother Zhuang Jian staring at him coldly. Although Zhuang Jian's eyes were calm and unwavering, Zhou Yishan inexplicably felt a strong killing intent.

He lowered his eyes in fear to avoid the other person's gaze, but soon found his legs moving uncontrollably toward the circle the other person had drawn.

Zhou Yishan walked stiffly into the circle and stood still. Xu Lingguang stuffed a fasting pill into his hand and said in a low voice, "You'd better stay here quietly."

After saying that, he and Lan Jian turned and left.

Zhou Yishan tried to get out, but found that he could only move within the circle. He couldn't even sit down, let alone get out of the circle.

He suddenly realized something and started shouting loudly, trying to make a sound to summon people from Qingyun Mountain or Yue Jun to come find him.

He now realized that he had made a huge mistake. Falling into the hands of these two was far more terrible than being captured by Qingyun Mountain and Yue Jun.

However, no matter how much he shouted, there was no response from outside.

Xu Lingguang stepped onto the steps, glanced back at him, and said, "You don't need to waste your energy. This technique is called 'drawing a circle on the ground to imprison you.' You can't get out, and the people outside can't see or hear you."

Zhou Yishan watched in despair as the two figures disappeared at the end of the stairs.

After making arrangements for Zhou Yishan, Xu Lingguang received news that the mission was complete.

His expression shifted slightly, and after subtly signaling to Lan Jian with his eyes, he calmly checked the mission rewards.

As expected of a key NPC in the storyline, Zhou Yishan received very generous rewards from the system. If it were me back then, penniless, seeing such generous rewards, I probably would have truly trusted the system and actively completed the task.

Unfortunately, Xu Lingguang was no longer the penniless man he used to be. He glanced at the rewards and then calmly called out to the system: "Didn't they say that after saving Zhou Yishan, a new storyline would be unlocked?"

Why haven't I seen any new plot developments?

The system mechanically replied, "The new storyline will unlock in two hours. Please be patient, host."

Xu Lingguang was indeed a little anxious that they still had to wait two more hours, but since the system had said so, he couldn't show it too obviously. Therefore, he could only suppress his emotions and continue to probe the system: "I have temporarily settled Zhou Yishan in a safe place. After he survives his ordeal, I will release him and then I don't need to worry about him anymore, right?"

"For example, what if he later made enemies or had an accident?"

The system said, "The host only needs to complete the task according to the requirements. The host does not need to interfere with the subsequent tasks."

Xu Lingguang was fairly satisfied with the answer and said, "Okay, I understand. We'll talk about the next task after I unlock the new storyline."

The system made no comment, simply saying mechanically, "Please keep up the good work, host," before logging off.

Xu Lingguang got the result he wanted and was in a good mood. He smiled and looked at Lan Jian and said, "Let's go back and see that little brat. We've only been out for a short while. Hopefully, Si Yuan didn't fight with her."

If Si Yuan heard this, he would definitely reply indignantly: Not only did they fight, but they fought fiercely.

Si Yuan touched the bald patch on his neck and said angrily, "Are you a dog?!"

The cub spat out the fur in its mouth and quickly retorted, "You're the dog! Your whole family are dogs!"

Si Yuan, in a fit of impotent rage, stomped his feet on the floor with a deafening roar: "Don't think I can't beat you. Wait until Xu Lingguang comes back and see how he deals with you!"

The young beast squatted down, wagging its tail as it watched him jump around, and pondered, "I don't think you're very capable. Are you afraid that if I come, I'll push you off the throne?"

"Don't worry, I would never stoop so low as to be a dog for human cultivators!"

Si Yuan took several deep breaths. If this arrogant brat wasn't given a good beating soon, he was afraid he'd be climbing on the roof and tearing off the tiles.

Just as Si Yuan jumped up, ready to give this arrogant brat a good talking-to, Xu Lingguang and Lan Jian returned.

Seeing the two little ones wrestling and tugging at each other on the floor, and the fluff flying all over the room, Xu Lingguang paused for a moment, closed the door, and asked expressionlessly, "Can you tell me what's going on?"

Si Yuan immediately complained, "That brat is far too arrogant and deserves a beating!"

The young beast bared its long fangs and said, "See? You tattletale who can't win and then complains. And you still say you're not a lackey of the human race."

Enraged, Si Yuan tried to bite the cub's ear, but the cub bit back and tried to bite his neck.

Xu Lingguang: "..."

With a headache, he stepped forward and separated the two cubs that were wrestling together. He handed Si Yuan to Lan Jian, while he took the Queen Mother of the West's cub and brought it to himself.

Si Yuan continued to complain and vent to Lan Jian, trying to get his friend to side with him: "She actually called me a lackey of the human race? How old is that brat? How dare she say such things about me!"

Lan Jian glanced at the wisps of hair flying around his neck, frowned in disgust, tossed him a handkerchief, and reminded him, "Your neck is covered in drool."

Si Yuan looked down and saw that they were all left behind when that brat was gnawing on them.

However, he was too lazy to wipe it, so he threw the handkerchief aside and continued to complain: "Luckily, this isn't my cub, otherwise I'd probably be driven to the brink of death several times over!"

Lan Jian sat a little further away and poured herself a cup of tea.

But when he saw the fluff floating in the teacup, he put the teacup down expressionlessly.

On the other side, Xu Lingguang was trying to communicate amicably with the young beast: "The matter in Xiaoqing Town is almost settled. If nothing unexpected happens, I can send you away in the next two days."

The young beast was surprised by the sudden good news and was somewhat skeptical. It tilted its head and looked at Xu Lingguang: "You really want to let me go?"

Xu Lingguang said helplessly, "Even if I don't let you go, you'll find a way to escape on your own, right? Look at the trouble you've caused Si Yuan."

The young beast glanced sideways at Si Yuan and said dismissively, "It's because he's too weak!"

Xu Lingguang did not argue with the little girl that Si Yuan was giving in to her. Instead, he patiently advised her, "However, there are bound to be many cultivators around Xiaoqing Town recently. If you leave alone, you must be careful and not get caught again."

"As for these pills, it's okay if you don't take them now. Just keep them with you and try them again once you're sure you're safe. If you get injured while living in the wild, it will be very difficult for you to hunt."

Xu Lingguang hung a Qiankun bag around the neck of the young beast.

The young beast listened to his words with some disbelief, but she felt that this human cultivator really wasn't lying to her.

He seems to genuinely intend to let me leave.