Beast Taming: Starting From Zero

The bus cruised smoothly along the road while the sun descended, casting a golden hue on the surfaces of skyscrapers, now beginning to fade.

"The Jiyang Station has arrived. Passengers getting off, please gather your belongings and exit through the rear door," The automated announcement suddenly chimed in.

At this stop, the number of passengers on the bus surged. Not only were all the seats taken, but five or six people were now standing as well.

Three minutes after the bus resumed its journey, Fire fang dog unexpectedly turned its head and barked at the passenger beside it.

The person sitting next to Qiao Sang was a female student dressed in the uniform of the Thirty-Seventh Beastmaster High School, who had boarded the bus at the same stop as Qiao Sang.

The girl glanced at Fire fang dog but didn’t say anything, merely shifting slightly to the side.

Qiao Sang turned Fire fang dog around and asked, "What’s wrong?"

Fire fang dog looked at the girl.

"Yip?"

"You know you can scare people by doing that, right?" Qiao Sang said as she patted Fire fang dog’s head.

"Yip."

Fire fang dog responded promptly and turned back to gaze out the window at the scenery.

Seeing this, the girl smiled at Qiao Sang and said, "It's okay."

Qiao Sang noticed the extra ten centimeters of distance between them and was about to say something when Fire fang dog turned back around, baring its teeth toward the girl in a menacing display.

Startled, the girl instinctively began to rise from her seat.

"Can’t you put that Fire fang dog away? If it scares someone, are you going to take responsibility?" A disgruntled male voice suddenly interrupted.

The speaker was a man with a square face, standing next to the girl, dressed in a gray tank top.

"Yeah, that Fire fang dog clearly hasn’t been trained properly." Added an auntie sitting nearby.

“There’s a whole bus full of people here. Just put it away.” Someone else chimed in.

The girl looked at Qiao Sang with pleading eyes, hoping she would put Fire fang dog away.

Qiao Sang frowned but ignored them. It was common for beastmasters to carry their pet beasts with them, so there was no issue there.

Pet beasts wandering freely wasn't unusual either. These people were only making a fuss because she was young. They wouldn’t dare say a word if it were someone older.

However, this was the first time Fire fang dog had behaved this way on a bus…

“What’s wrong with you?” Qiao Sang turned Fire fang dog to face her and asked.

“Yip.”

Fire fang dog, now acting defiant, turned its head away, refusing to look at Qiao Sang.

It had heard the surrounding comments and thought its beastmaster was about to scold it too.

“Fire fang dog.” Qiao Sang grabbed its head and held it still, forcing it to look at her.

Firefang’s moist eyes were both stubborn and full of grievance.

Qiao Sang stared into its eyes and said seriously, “I believe in you. You have to believe in me too. If something’s wrong, you can tell me. You know I understand you.”

Hearing its beastmaster’s words, Fire fang dog immediately perked up.

“Yip yip yip!”

“Yip, yip.”

“Yip yip yip yip, yip!”

Fire fang dog barked excitedly, gesturing with its small paws as it spoke.

“You’re saying something suddenly appeared on her and then disappeared?” Qiao Sang confirmed.

“Yip!”

Fire fang dog nodded vigorously.

“And it startled you when it appeared?” Qiao Sang asked as she stroked Fire fang dog’s head.

“Yip.” Fire fang dog buried its head in Qiao Sang’s chest and whimpered softly.

The girl sitting next to them watched their interaction in a daze.

Fire fang dog… is this its true personality?

It’s kind of cute…

Maybe I should consider contracting a fire-type pet for my second contract position...

“It's okay now, everything’s fine.” Qiao Sang comforted Fire fang dog before turning to the girl and saying, “You heard what it said.”

The girl snapped out of her thoughts and hesitantly asked, “You mean something suddenly appeared on me?”

Qiao Sang nodded.

“But…” The girl hadn’t finished speaking when a voice interrupted her.

“Don’t listen to her nonsense. She’s just making up excuses to avoid putting the Fire fang dog away. I’m warning you, you’d better put it away right now, or if someone gets hurt, I’ll make sure you pay for it!” The square-faced man standing next to the girl threatened harshly.

“Yeah, just put it away before someone gets hurt.” Echoed the auntie sitting nearby.

“Put it away. Everyone is worried.” Another voice added.

“I don’t think this girl is lying. Maybe there’s a wild ghost-type extraordinary creature on this bus.” A different voice suddenly suggested.

The noisy bus instantly fell silent.

Of all extraordinary creatures, ghost-types were the most eerie. Once a supernatural event involved a ghost-type extraordinary creature, it seemed to make sense.

Mysterious disappearances, sudden power outages, or cold drafts in rooms were all minor incidents.

Ghost-type extraordinary creatures were unpredictable and had strange personalities.

For instance, the Attached Spirit.

It liked to possess different people. The possessed person remained conscious but couldn’t control their body, helplessly watching as they did bizarre things.

Long jumps, dancing, and diving were mild enough, but encountering an Attached Spirit that enjoyed streaking was truly a stroke of bad luck.

Among those who had a love-hate relationship with the Attached Spirit were the police.

Not only did it possess the living, but it also loved to possess the dead. Two years ago, mysterious corpses would frequently appear out of nowhere at the police station in Guangshi.

Upon examination, some had been dead for a day, others for a year, or even ten years.

One of them was Lu Baiqian, a school beauty whose disappearance three years ago had made headlines.

The police reviewed the surveillance footage and saw the Attached Spirit controlling the corpse to bring it to the station entrance.

Initially, they didn’t know what it was, but once the short-statured Attached Spirit emerged from the corpse, they realized it was behind the incidents.

There was definitely love-love for the Attached Spirit, who could help the police locate bodies that they couldn't find.

But there was also hate-hate for those bodies that had only been dead for a day or two, because the Attached Spirit would drag them out, completely compromising the primary crime scene.

Then there was the Soul Lantern, which would appear to guide lost people to safety, but in return, it would drain some of their life force.

It seemed like a reasonable exchange, but it was not as simple as that.

Recently, in Nankou City, a woman had left a bar late at night and called for a taxi, waiting on the roadside.

Maybe because she was swaying or her gaze was unfocused after drinking, the Soul Lantern mistook her for being lost...

Before the taxi could arrive, it forcefully led her home and drained her life force, leaving the woman shocked when she saw her haggard reflection in the mirror the next morning, thinking she had been utterly drained.

The misdeeds of ghost-type extraordinary creatures were countless.

Encountering one that merely played pranks was one thing, but stumbling upon a malevolent wild ghost-type extraordinary creature could be fatal.

Suddenly, everyone on the No. 66 bus was on edge.