Chapter 37: Scream All You Want, He Won’t Hear You

“Ying! Ying ying ying!”

At the end of the upper dungeon, the Nine-Colored Deer was full of joy, dragging its chain and circling in place within the cage. And why not? The long-awaited young man had finally returned in triumph!

And…

Just as she had wished, the young man had actually defeated the monster below and brought back the life core to save her!

“Silly deer, do that thing again for this fox lady.” He Yimo paused before the sea of magma, speaking with great interest.

But the Nine-Colored Deer in the iron cage looked confused, as if their joys and sorrows weren’t on the same wavelength.

“Ying?”

“Not that. That’s not how you bleated before.”

“…Bleat?”

“Yes, yes, that’s it! I just told her that the legendary Nine-Colored Deer bleats like a sheep, and she didn’t believe me! Xue Bao, give her a couple of bleats.”

“—???”

He Yimo was full of nonsense, and the Nine-Colored Deer couldn’t help but be filled with question marks.

Since birth, she had been worshipped as a guardian deity in Xue Village. The local villagers even built a shrine for her and worshipped her with great respect.

This was the first time someone had treated her as a source of amusement! The Nine-Colored Deer felt wronged.

During the fight in the lower dungeon, she had been worried sick in her cage, fearing that the rare brave young man would die below. She constantly prayed, blessed, and wished for him…

In the end, the highly anticipated hero, after his rescue, his first act was to tease her, the sacred deer! He didn’t even rush to save the Nine-Colored Deer!

Damn it, doesn’t he have any reverence for the sacred deer!

And at this time of all times, what if that bad guy Gu Wanglan suddenly returned?

“Bleat! Bleat! Bleat! Bleat!!!”

The more anxious she felt, the cuter her bleating became. If she could transform, she would have pointed her little finger at He Yimo and said something hidden.

“Good girl~ As expected of the silly deer destined to be with me.” He Yimo praised with satisfaction, even though the Nine-Colored Deer hadn’t intended to imitate a sheep’s bleating.

And not far away, Jiang Jinyue, who was following behind He Yimo, was also dumbfounded.

She had only been gone for less than half an hour.

And He Yimo had already become so close to the legendary nine-colored spirit?

Honestly, Jiang Jinyue had lived for so many years, and this was the first time she had seen the prophesied Nine-Colored Deer.

She had thought the Nine-Colored Deer’s true form would be so grand…

But unexpectedly, in He Yimo’s words, it was just a silly deer, and it even obeyed He Yimo’s command to bleat like a sheep!

But you have to say, it’s quite cute.

The white deer, with soft fur and nine-colored antlers, gave the impression of a pure and innocent, lovable mascot.

【Save! Save me—!】

At some point, an ethereal, girlish voice reached the ears of He Yimo and Jiang Jinyue.

After the long ordeal and waiting, the legendary Nine-Colored Deer was finally forced to speak human words.

“Wow, the Nine-Colored Deer not only bleats like a sheep but can also speak human language!” He Yimo exclaimed in surprise.

Remembering the important matter, he quickly took out the life core and unlocked the seal.

The mechanism was triggered, and the iron cage was pulled back.

He Yimo drew his sword and cut the chain with a single slash.

“Ying—!”

The Nine-Colored Deer, which had been imprisoned for a long time, finally embraced freedom again at this moment.

With shining spiritual eyes, it leaped out of the iron cage and rushed towards the human boy in front of it—

“Happy? You’re free!”

“Bleat!, Bleat! Bleat—!”

In this atmosphere of joy, He Yimo crouched down and hugged the approaching deer, gently stroking its neck.

The Nine-Colored Deer was also excited, rubbing its little head against He Yimo’s face.

Although He Yimo’s joke just now was indeed a bit excessive, he was still the heroic warrior in the eyes of the Nine-Colored Deer. Now that it was reborn, the Nine-Colored Deer couldn’t hide its affection for the youth.

However, this joy of freedom lasted less than half a minute. With a “click” of a mechanism, He Yimo put a collar with an engraved curse mark on the Nine-Colored Deer’s neck.

This sudden action, not to mention the Nine-Colored Deer itself, even Jiang Jinyue, who was standing on the side, moved by the atmosphere, froze with a smile on her face.

“Don’t be nervous. Let me explain.”

“This is not an ordinary pet collar. This is a good friend collar with a contract function and real-time positioning, which can be used to protect you so that bad people don’t catch you again!”

This is just the function of a spirit beast collar, isn’t it…?

Jiang Jinyue watched silently from the side, unable to suppress her inner thoughts.

But He Yimo looked serious and smiled kindly, speaking while soothing the little deer with his loving hands.

“…Bleat ah?”

The Nine-Colored Deer raised its little face, its innocent spiritual eyes now filled with confusion, as if it didn’t understand what a good friend was.

He Yimo cleared his throat:

“Let me reintroduce myself. My name is He Yimo, and from now on, I will be your mast… uh, good friend, a good friend with a life-and-death bond in this dungeon!”

Hey! You clearly wanted to say master just now!

Jiang Jinyue held her forehead, feeling that the joyous atmosphere of the grand reunion had been completely ruined by He Yimo.

“Silly deer, look how white you are. I’ll name you Wangxue!”

Who gives a name to a companion of equal status!

“Wangxue, you know what? We humans have an old saying: Thoroughbred horses are common, but a good judge of horses is rare.”

Wait, isn’t this an idiom about master and livestock!

“So Wangxue, you need to know that acknowledging a mas… uh, making friends is a skill. Only by becoming friends with a cultured and kind person like me can you get a poetic and tasteful name like Wangxue!”

You clearly let slip ‘acknowledge a master’ again!

He Yimo’s expression was natural the whole time. As he spoke, it seemed he had arranged the rest of the Nine-Colored Deer’s life.

But not far away, Jiang Jinyue, who was also from the Fox Clan, couldn’t find the words to express her thoughts.

If she had encountered such a swindler when she was young, she would have slapped them long ago!

What era is this?

No matter how “pure” and inexperienced a spirit beast is, it’s impossible to really believe such nonsense about making friends—

“Meh meh!!”

—She really believed it?!

Jiang Jinyue had originally been吐槽 with a playful attitude, is the word for an inner monologue where the character speaks to one’s-self. But when she saw the Nine-Colored Deer nodding repeatedly like a chicken pecking rice, and happily nuzzling against He Yimo’s chest, she finally realized the seriousness of the situation.

The legendary Nine-Colored Holy Deer, the millennium guardian of Snow Village, a being prophesied to influence the world’s timeline… had actually been tricked into acknowledging a master by He Yimo.

This was no joke!

With the Nine-Colored Deer’s divine status, even the most powerful elders of major sects would find it difficult to conquer a guardian spirit beast of this level and make it acknowledge them as master!

But He Yimo had simply taken down the Nine-Colored Deer with lies that could deceive a three-year-old?

Wait, is there a possibility…

The Nine-Colored Deer has never had friends, and its sense of caution is really only at the level of a three-year-old?

In this scene, Jiang Jinyue’s mind was filled with thoughts.

But no matter how much reasoning and thinking she did, in the face of such an abstract reality, Jiang Jinyue could only be confused.

The prophecy of the heavens had been changed by a useless teenager destined to be cannon fodder…

While Jiang Jinyue was flustered, He Yimo was still seriously deceiving the Nine-Colored Deer:

“Wangxue, you know, according to the rules of the martial world, a rescued girl should offer herself in return!”

This is the only true sentence.

Jiang Jinyue nodded faintly in her heart.

But soon, she keenly sensed something wasn’t right.

Although Jiang Jinyue knew he was fooling the Nine-Colored Deer, for some reason, she felt like He Yimo’s words were also meant for her…

After all, she and the Nine-Colored Deer were not fundamentally different. Both were spirit beasts of the demon clan. It was just that the Nine-Colored Deer hadn’t transformed yet, while Jiang Jinyue already had the basic traits of a “human” like skin and so on.

And Jiang Jinyue had also been saved by He Yimo before.

Putting aside the actual situation, just from a physiological perspective, Jiang Jinyue seemed more suitable than the Nine-Colored Deer to follow martial world rules and offer herself in return.

Could it be that He Yimo was seemingly tricking the little deer but secretly reminding Jiang Jinyue?

Thinking of this, Jiang Jinyue couldn’t help but lightly grip the hem of her clothes, and her face flushed slightly again.

Although she didn’t dare to make a sound, He Yimo, behind her, was still nagging the Nine-Colored Deer:

“But don’t worry, Wangxue. I, He Yimo, am not such a feudal man. Just like that pretty fox lady in front of you—I saved her too, but I never thought of her offering herself in return…”

“So, Wangxue, you just need to remember the bond between our friends!”

“Although you may not understand me now, you still have doubts about my true identity… that is what time is for, Time is required to build affection between two beings!”

“Anyway, Wangxue, you have nowhere to go now. Why don’t you come back to Ranmo Peak with me? There’s a sword fairy sister with flashy dance moves on that mountain, she can definitely protect you…”

“By the way, do you know the saying that choice is more important than effort?”

“When I bring you back to the Grand Preceptor’s household someday and introduce you to my great-grandfather, who’s a Grand Preceptor, then you’ll know how much easier life can be when you follow… oh, I mean, make a powerful friend!”

“Hey, hey, hey, I’m not bragging. Do you know what it means to be a rich brother or a Master Luo?”

…

…

After a few rounds of brainwashing, He Yimo had completely fooled the Nine-Colored Deer.

The little deer, who had been quite uneasy before, now looked at He Yimo with shining their eyes

Although the little deer didn’t’ understand what He Yimo was saying, she could at least understand what a good friend was!

And as a Nine-Colored Holy Deer that could resonate with nature, it could feel the passionate kindness of the human boy in front of it.

So this is what the children in the village often call a “good friend”!

She had been a deity for so long, always revered and kept at a distance. It was truly her first time making a legendary and precious friend… In short, she was so happy!

“Bleat!!”

“It’s getting late, and this place isn’t safe. Let’s hurry back.”

He Yimo planned to run away after finishing fooling the little deer.

But when he turned around, he noticed the flushed face of the fox lady behind him.

“Senior Sister Jiang, what’s wrong?”

“N-nothing… I’m just moved by your friendship.”

Jiang Jinyue抿 pursed her lips, inexplicably shy, and followed He Yimo’s nonsense.

For some reason, Jiang Jinyue’s heart was racing too.

She might be overthinking it, but even though every word He Yimo said was directed at the Nine-Colored Deer, they hit Jiang Jinyue’s heart precisely, leaving her at a loss…

“Senior Sister Jiang, that is too much.”

“Tonight, everyone has such an intimate relationship; my friends are Senior Sister Jiang’s friends… Look, this is my newly made good friend Wangxue.”

Taking advantage of the recent good friend atmosphere, He Yimo didn’t forget to give Wangxue a sense of belonging.

At the same time, Jiang Jinyue, being stared at by one person and one deer, couldn’t help but enter the ‘good friend’ atmosphere, crouching down in front of the little deer and greeting her with a friendly smile.

After all, this was the legendary Nine-Colored Deer. Making friends with her tonight and leaving a good impression might come in handy someday, right?

Thinking of this, Jiang Jinyue smiled sweetly:

“My name is Jiang Jinyue, He Yimo’s senior sister…”

She tried her best to be approachable.

But before Jiang Jinyue could finish, the Nine-Colored Deer, who had been full of anticipation, seemed to see something terrifying in Jiang Jinyue’s eyes and retreated into He Yimo’s arms.

“Woo… woo woo!”

Wangxue was anxious to tell He Yimo something.

But she couldn’t speak human language. After being anxious for a while, she mustered the courage to stand in front of He Yimo, confronting Jiang Jinyue’s blood-red eyes with her firm, spiritual eyes.

“My god! What kind of piercing gaze does Wangxue have?”

He Yimo, smelling the gunpowder in the air, suddenly remembered Jiang Jinyue’s true identity.

He quickly pulled back the Nine-Colored Deer and said with an awkward smile, trying to smooth things over, “It’s okay, it’s okay. Maybe our Wangxue is just a little stressed!”

In the scene, both humans and the deer actually knew why the Nine-Colored Deer was afraid and wary of Jiang Jinyue.

But neither He Yimo nor Jiang Jinyue dared to reveal this truth.

In the end, only the pure-minded Nine-Colored Deer was kept in the dark.

“Is that so… So divine deer can also get stressed…”

Jiang Jinyue also replied with an awkward smile.

As they spoke, her originally friendly and intimate smile turned somewhat cold.

She hadn’t expected the Nine-Colored Deer to see through her true identity as a witch so quickly.

Luckily, the Nine-Colored Deer couldn’t speak human language yet. Otherwise, He Yimo would know, and Jiang Jinyue’s carefully crafted act along the way would have been for naught!

At the same time, He Yimo had similar thoughts to Jiang Jinyue, and was scared into a cold sweat by the Nine-Colored Deer’s piercing gaze.

“Woo, woo woo…”

Clamped between the men and women with ulterior motives, now it seems that only the Nine-Colored Deer feels wronged.

It kept rubbing against He Yimo’s pants. After all, it was the first good friend it had ever made. It eagerly wanted to tell He Yimo to be careful of this foxy girl who emitted a charming scent!

【She, she she she—】

The Nine-Colored Deer was still trying to communicate with He Yimo using broken human language.

At the same time, Jiang Jinyue also took the initiative to break the awkward atmosphere and change the subject: “I think maybe this place is too gloomy and the bloody smell is too heavy, scaring Lord Divine Deer.”

With her taking the lead, He Yimo quickly followed up:

“That’s right. Wangxue must have some psychological trauma. She’s afraid of getting hurt again if she stays here… Let’s go quickly.”

“Bleat!… Meh?!”

…

…

The Nine-Colored Deer followed He Yimo reluctantly, suppressing its cute voice and humming softly all the way.

But as they walked, Jiang Jinyue, who was originally leading the way, suddenly appeared beside the Nine-Colored Deer.

The fox girl gently placed her hand on the little deer’s head, squinting her charming and enchanting eyes, seeming to say something to the Nine-Colored Deer with imperceptible lip movements—

“Ying! Ying ying!”

Wangxue felt alarm bells ringing in her heart and hurriedly grabbed He Yimo’s pants and shook them.

But no matter how much noise she made, the human teenager next to her seemed to exist in a parallel world, untouchable and unable to hear the Nine-Colored Deer’s cries for help.

【Lord Divine Deer, save your strength.】

【Scream all you want, he won’t hear you.】

—