Beast Taming: Starting From Zero

Under the night sky, with the stirring sound of a violin playing in the background, Qiao Sang and Crowned Meow locked eyes, as if brought together by fate.

The next second…

Crowned Meow flicked its tail and walked away.

Qiao Sang: !!!

"Yabao! After it!"

Qiao Sang leapt forward in style, landing gracefully on Yabao’s back.

"Yap!"

Yabao instinctively prepared to dash forward at his Beast Master's command, but just as he lifted his front left paw, he seemed to reconsider and pulled back.

"Yap?"

Qiao Sang: …

“It’s that short-legged creature up ahead with the bag!” Qiao Sang pointed to the spot where Crowned Meow was almost out of sight, walking elegantly.

"Yap!"

Yabao barked, signaling he had locked onto the target. He crouched low, his right hind leg digging into the ground twice.

Little Treasure, realizing what was happening, quickly floated to the top of Qiao Sang’s head, holding an unfinished hotdog in one paw and clutching her hair tightly with the other.

"Xun Xun!"

The moment Little Treasure braced himself, Yabao vanished in a flash, leaving only a bewildered little girl standing alone in the wind.

When her young father found her, she was standing still, staring off into the distance.

“Didn’t I tell you not to wander? How did you end up here?” He asked in a raspy voice, ruffling her hair.

The girl snapped back to reality and looked up, smiling.

“Dad, I just saw a Flame Hound!”

Thinking of his recent encounter, the father twitched his mouth. “Are you sure you didn’t mistake it for something else?”

The girl protested, “Of course not! I even touched it!”

“Is that so?” Her father took her little hand, saying, “Then let’s go home and tell Mom.”

In the square, the figures of father and daughter, one big and one small, slowly faded into the distance.

“Dad, when I grow up, I want to be a Beast Master too!”

“Alright.”

“I’ll make a pact with a Fire Fang Dog and evolve it into a Flame Hound!”

“Alright.”

“Dad, are you done with your big project?”

“…"

"Can we go buy a Flame Hound model now?"

“…"

---

In the night breeze, Crowned Meow ran ahead while Yabao chased after it.

In terms of speed, Yabao should have caught up quickly. But Crowned Meow was small, nimble, and kept darting into tight spaces with obstacles, making it difficult for the slightly larger Yabao to keep up, even after five minutes of chasing.

Sitting on Yabao's back, Qiao Sang felt a rush of adrenaline from the speed and a slight ache in her scalp.

She'd thought about letting Yabao use a skill to catch up, maybe his telekinesis could hold the target in place.

But once Yabao used telekinesis, his speed dropped, and his accuracy was off. Qiao Sang realized that using skills required focus and energy, which was hard to maintain while running.

Physical attack skills were fine, as they involved the body directly, but special skills were a different story. This was why in battles, Beast Masters often had their pets stand still to unleash special attacks.

Using teleportation was also out of the question. Yabao’s teleportation was only beginner-level and couldn’t carry someone along. If she tried, she’d end up kissing the ground.

Fortunately, she had more than one pet.

Seeing Crowned Meow duck into an alley, Qiao Sang immediately commanded, “Little Treasure, block it off!”

"Xun!"

Little Treasure vanished from Qiao Sang's head, still clutching the half-eaten hotdog.

Feeling the weight lift from her head, Qiao Sang’s mood lightened. Arriving at the alley entrance, she saw Crowned Meow, dressed up as a Iron Paw Cat, blocked by Little Treasure. Her mood lifted even more.

“Go on, keep running.” Qiao Sang grinned, delivering a classic villain line.

“Yap Yap!”

Yabao grinned, mimicking Qiao Sang’s expression.

Meanwhile, Little Treasure took a bite of his hotdog.…

"Crown...” Crowned Meow, trapped, reluctantly took the bag hanging around its neck and held it out.

Qiao Sang paused, unable to resist saying, “If anyone saw this, they’d think I was mugging you.”

“Crown?” Crowned Meow blinked.

Isn’t that the case?

Qiao Sang ignored its confused look and continued, “You were walking just fine earlier, why did you suddenly start running?”

“Crown…”

Crowned Meow pouted. If she hadn’t chased it, would it have run?

“Come with me. Your Beast Master is looking for you. I'll take you back.”

“Crown…”

Crowned Meow hesitated but eventually shook its head.

Qiao Sang didn’t understand its words but got the gist from its actions.

“Why? Just because we made you practice that fart trick?” Qiao Sang asked.

At the mention, Crowned Meow looked aggrieved.

“Crown! Crown!” Crowned Meow protested.

Qiao Sang was silent for a moment, then said, “Yabao, translate.”

“Yap.”

"Yap Yap." Yabao translated earnestly.

Meanwhile, Crowned Meow noticed Little Treasure nearby, still focused on his hotdog. An idea flashed in its eyes.

Crowned Meow tossed its bag to Qiao Sang, then turned to look at Little Treasure. With a flash of blue light in its eyes, it yanked the hotdog from Little Treasure's grip.

“Xun!”

Startled, Little Treasure quickly used his telekinesis, stopping the hotdog just a centimeter from the ground.

“Xun…”

Little Treasure sighed in relief.

Just then, Crowned Meow leapt up, using its impressive agility to jump onto Little Treasure’s head, swiping his ring in the process. Then, with a strong push, it shot into the air.

Feeling the lightness on his head, Little Treasure touched his head, only to realize what had happened.

“Xun!!!”

A scream echoed through the alley.

At the same time, the hotdog fell to the ground.

“Xun Xun!” Little Treasure turned around, glaring furiously at Crowned Meow.

“Crown."

Crowned Meow, sensing Little Treasure's anger, turned and smiled mischievously before tossing the ring five meters away.

Catching the bag that Crowned Meow had thrown at her, Qiao Sang looked up and saw Crownned Meow escaping with Little Treasure's ring.

At first, she was confused.

But Crowned Meow’s next move made it clear: it had thrown the ring to distract Little Treasure, leaving it free to escape.

Impressive… Qiao Sang almost wanted to applaud.

Unfortunately, Crowned Meow hadn’t realized that Yabao had psychic abilities too.

“Yabao, use tele—”

Qiao Sang froze, her eyes widening at the sight before her.

Under the moonlight, every shadow in the alley shifted, coming alive. Threads of darkness extended like black satin, shooting toward a shadow on the wall.

With a sharp tug, the black satin pulled, dragging Crowned Meow from mid-air back to the ground.

“Crown?!!”

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T/N: Thanks for your worries.❤️ We're safe and the electricity finally came back!