Chapter 32
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Chapter 32: Fire Spirit Mouse
Lou Yun was just about to voice his thoughts when this man interrupted him, but since he wasn’t in a hurry, he shut his mouth and waited for the shopkeeper to finish the current transaction first.
Seeing that Lou Yun had no objections, the shopkeeper hurriedly apologized with a smile, stood up, and walked over to the man. He said, "I say, Boss Song, could you keep your voice down? Don’t scare all my customers off."
Boss Song laughed heartily and answered, "This voice of mine is natural; it can’t be quiet. When I woke up this morning, I found this little thing lying at my doorstep. It looked like a mouse but couldn’t be one. My big tabby cat took one glance at it, turned tail in fear, and hasn’t returned yet. I figured it was a demon beast, so I brought it to you. Tell me how much it’s worth."
As he spoke, he passed the little creature he was holding over to the shopkeeper.
While the shopkeeper examined it, Lou Yun also took a closer look. It did resemble a mouse closely, but the differences were its long red fur all over its body—seeming smooth like satin—and its big, fluffy tail spread out like an umbrella. Its ears were larger than a mouse’s too, and its red eyes were exceptionally alert. Even while held in Boss Song’s hand, it wasn’t idle; its gaze kept darting about.
Releasing his spirit sense, Lou Yun confirmed it was indeed a demon beast with only beginner one-star cultivation.
Just as Lou Yun was looking at the little creature, its eyes met his. Suddenly, its nose twitched vigorously a few times, and its body, which had almost gone still, started struggling fiercely again with huge movements.
Boss Song clearly hadn’t expected the little thing to have such strength. Caught off guard, it managed to break free.
Although it fell from a height, it was extremely agile—tucking its big tail under itself, it flipped in the air and landed steadily on the ground. After shaking itself off, it suddenly darted straight toward Lou Yun.
Boss Song was still shouting, "Hey, don’t run! Don’t run!" and chased right after it.
Seeing the little creature run toward him, Lou Yun was greatly surprised. But given how cute it looked, it probably wasn’t dangerous—otherwise, Boss Song, an ordinary man, couldn’t have caught it—so he didn’t react.
He watched as it reached his feet, then leaped forcefully onto his leg while making "chirping" sounds. Its front paws clasped together and wobbled up and down repeatedly, imitating a human’s bow as if begging Lou Yun to save it.
Lou Yun’s playful instincts kicked in, and he grew fond of the little thing. He thought to himself that something this clever might be worth keeping as a pet.
Right then, Boss Song arrived too. Spotting the creature on Lou Yun, he was about to reach out when the shopkeeper shouted, "Boss Song, what are you doing?"
Startled by the cry, Boss Song looked up at Lou Yun’s attire, realizing he wasn’t an ordinary person. He retracted his hand and put on an apologetic smile. "Sir, sorry, I didn’t notice you. Please don’t mind it."
Lou Yun waved a hand with a smile. "It’s fine, Boss Song. Don’t you want to sell this little thing? It looks fun, and I’d like to buy it. Name your price."
Hearing that, Boss Song quickly turned to the shopkeeper. "Shopkeeper, I’ve no idea what it’s worth. Could you help quote a price?"
The shopkeeper walked over to Lou Yun’s side, bent down, and scrutinized the little creature—now clinging tightly to Lou Yun’s thigh with its four small paws and bushy tail. After a long moment, he straightened up and shook his head. "Forgive my ignorance, but I truly can’t tell what kind of demon beast this is. The price is hard to guess."
On hearing that even the shopkeeper, who specialized in demon beast trade, couldn’t identify the thing, Boss Song stood dumbfounded. Lou Yun thought it over and said, "Alright, shopkeeper. For that beast soul of mine, I don’t need extra. Just trade it for ten two-star beast souls, and five each of three-star, four-star, and five-star beast souls. Give the leftover money to Boss Song."
The shopkeeper did some quick mental calculations and almost immediately saw he could profit. He nodded eagerly. "No problem, Young Master Lou. Wait a moment—I’ll fetch your beast souls right away! Boss Song, come with me; I’ll pay you directly."
Lou Yun naturally understood the shopkeeper was deliberately calling Boss Song to the back yard so he wouldn’t see the amount paid—any surplus would be the shopkeeper’s profit. But since this was a business deal, he figured the man should make some gains. So he didn’t speak up and instead started playing with the little thing on his leg.
Strangely, it seemed to understand human speech. Knowing Lou Yun had saved it and it was safe, its little face became serene. Yet, it kept twitching its nose as if some scent was attracting it to Lou Yun, and it was searching for the source of that smell.
A short while later, the shopkeeper returned alone—Boss Song was gone, clearly sent away through the back door. He packed all the beast souls Lou Yun had requested and placed them before him.
Lou Yun stood up and gave a flick of his hand. Instantly, the twenty-five beast souls vanished into thin air, stored in his ring. He waved at the stunned shopkeeper and left, taking his new pet with him.
The little creature obediently hopped onto Lou Yun’s right shoulder, nestled down quietly without moving, seeming perfectly well-behaved.
Back home, Lou Yun’s new small pet drew unanimous love from the Lou Family women. But even the well-informed elders couldn’t identify its origins, and Lou Yun didn’t dwell on it. After all, he’d bought it just as a pet—its background was unimportant.
The little thing clung tightly to Lou Yun. Others could stroke it, but when anyone tried to hold it, it wrapped all four paws and its tail around Lou Yun, fearing it might be taken away and refusing to move an inch from him.
Only after entering his own room and closing the door did Chang Xiang appear before Lou Yun, staring hard at the little creature.
Lou Yun glanced over and asked casually, "What? Do you like it too?"
Long moments later, Chang Xiang suddenly questioned, "Do you know what it is?"
"No. Why, do you?"
After another pause, Chang Xiang stated, "I know a little, but not in much detail."
"Tell me then!"
"It’s probably called the Fire Spirit Mouse. It’s naturally drawn to fire and even feeds on it. I suspect it’s clinging to you so intensely because it senses the Fusang Fire inside your body."
"Fire Spirit Mouse? Feeds on fire?" Lou Yun extended a finger and gently tapped the mouse’s slightly warm nose tip. "At that tiny size, if it touched fire, it’d turn to ash instantly. How could it possibly eat it?"
Chang Xiang shook his head in puzzlement. "That, I don’t know. I only learned of its existence ages ago from an ancient book. This is my first time seeing one today. Supposedly, it’s extinct, so I can’t definitively say it is the Fire Spirit Mouse, never mind how it consumes fire!"
Lou Yun rolled his eyes. "Then how about we give it a try?"
Chang Xiang flared up. "Try your head off! What do you plan to test it with? Fusang Fire? If it truly is a Fire Spirit Mouse and it gulps down the Fusang Fire, where would you find another heavenly flame?"
"Is it that exaggerated?" Lou Yun grumbled. But after Chang Xiang’s warning, he dared not try—after all, his cultivation relied on the Fusang Fire.
Chang Xiang suddenly added, "But if it really is a Fire Spirit Mouse, you’re incredibly lucky, young man!"
"How so?"
"Reportedly, since the Fire Spirit Mouse instinctively loves fire, it has a special sense for all flames. It could easily locate fires anywhere. Think about it—if you trained it, it might help you discover the positions of heavenly flames like Fusang Fire. Wouldn’t that be a massive stroke of fortune for you?"
Heavenly flames were rare and precious, usually hidden in unimaginable places. If the Fire Spirit Mouse could indeed find them, it would be a tremendous benefit to Lou Yun.
Lou Yun slapped his forehead. "Fire’s easy enough—we could just burn something and make it."
Chang Xiang gave him a disdainful look. "Though I don’t know the taste difference between heavenly fire and ordinary fire, since it can supposedly detect heavenly flames, why would it bother with fire from burning mundane things?"
Lou Yun agreed that was logical but tried anyway. Sure enough, the Fire Spirit Mouse showed no interest in ordinary flames, just lying motionless on his shoulder.
"Hey, didn’t you mention human fire too? How does that get cultivated? We could use it to test if this really is the Fire Spirit Mouse!"
"You can only produce human fire once you become a mid-level magical weapons master. You can’t do it yet yourself."
"Oh, alright. Then we’ll have to try later."
But they didn’t have to wait long. That night, Lou Yun took the little thing to the back mountain cave for forging weapons. When Fusang Fire appeared in his palm, the creature’s eyes suddenly glowed brightly. Then, under Fusang Fire’s light, its once-human-like pupils slowly turned into two dancing flames.
At the sight, Chang Xiang instantly pushed the Fusang Fire back into Lou Yun’s body. "It is the Fire Spirit Mouse! Don’t release Fusang Fire again until you train it properly—it would absolutely gulp it down uncontrollably!"
As the Fusang Fire vanished, the little creature’s fiery pupils faded back to normal eyes, showing clear disappointment.
Lou Yun had no idea that this Fire Spirit Mouse was actually released when he broke free of that restriction in Tianliang Forest.
As for how it had ended up in Tianliang Forest, no one knew. But after Lou Yun shattered the restriction, the mouse happened to be nearby and caught the scent of Fusang Fire. It rushed over urgently. At that time, Lou Yun was running deeper into the forest, while the mouse feared other demon beasts inside, so it didn’t pursue directly. Instead, it escaped through the gap—only to be caught by Boss Song. Then it happened to meet Lou Yun again, smelling the familiar Fusang Fire, and now it clung to him stubbornly, refusing to leave.
Lou Yun also noticed the Fire Spirit Mouse’s eyes swallowing hunger; he knew Chang Xiang was right. Powerless, he shelved his forging attempt and started training the Fire Spirit Mouse first. To make summoning simpler, he named it Xiao Huo.
