I Have a Golden Crow

”Nai~” The Little Immortal Deer squirmed in Du Yu’s arms, tilting her fuzzy little head upward.

”Hehe.” Du Yu couldn’t help but laugh, but after the joy came the harsh reality.

He couldn’t give her a home.

Looking around, Du Yu spotted a big tree, plopped himself down, and began to worry in secret.

The Little Immortal Deer stretched out her little head and gently nuzzled Du Yu’s cheek. With her keen spirit, she seemed to sense Du Yu was troubled.

This simple gesture left Du Yu feeling completely helpless. He took out his phone from his pocket and dialed a number.

In the distance, the horizon was ablaze with red.

The afterglow of the sunset shone over the boy sitting cross-legged under the tree, illuminating the Little Immortal Deer curled up in his arms as well.

”Doo... doo... doo...”

On the other end of the line, a familiar voice teased with a touch of humor, ”Can’t wait until you get home to ask?”

This time, there was no more background noise on her end of the call.

Du Yu lowered his voice, ”Master Qing, sorry to bother you again—I’ve got something else.”

In her home study, Yang Qingqing furrowed her brows slightly, obviously picking up on Du Yu’s low mood. She set down her pen and spoke softly, ”What’s wrong?”

Du Yu hugged the Little Deer in his arms tighter: ”The North Suburban Bookstore’s main quest is to get a Dust Spirit Bead, a Dust Spirit Deer’s Dust Spirit Bead.”

”And then?”

Du Yu: ”Dust Spirit Deer seem to really love absorbing Spiritual Qi. I traded for the bead from them.”

The call fell silent.

As the silence dragged on, Du Yu went on: ”The Dust Spirit Deer Race Leader snuck up on me, knocked me over, and kept sniffing my chest.”

Yang Qingqing’s voice took on a note of praise: ”Congratulations, you got another Library Ring.”

”Master Qing, the problem is... a Dust Spirit Deer cub followed me back. I really don’t know what to do—can you teach me?”

Yang Qingqing’s expression froze for a moment, and she asked: ”The Dust Spirit Deer cub followed you on its own accord?”

Du Yu looked down at the Little Immortal Deer, suddenly feeling a bit less confident at his master’s question: ”Y-yeah, she did! I’d already said goodbye to the Dust Spirit Deer clan and walked quite a distance, but she chased after me all by herself.”

Hearing this, Yang Qingqing was inwardly moved. The traits of the Dust Spirit Deer clan were not just empty talk.

She could imagine that Spiritual Qi was very attractive to Dust Spirit Deer, but not so much as to make them lose themselves.

In all of history, the only Demon Tamers the Dust Spirit Deer willingly chose to follow were those pure of heart.

To Yang Qingqing, this Dust Spirit Deer’s actions were like an endorsement of Du Yu, making her further realize what kind of person her disciple really was.

At the very least, it showed her what kind of person he still was right now.

”Master Qing?”

Yang Qingqing came back to her senses and spoke slowly, ”You said it’s a cub.”

”Yes.”

Yang Qingqing: ”Then it didn’t follow you all by itself.”

Surprised, Du Yu asked, ”Huh?”

Yang Qingqing saw things more clearly and hit the nail on the head: ”Think about it—without the Race Leader’s permission, could a cub leave its clan on its own and then catch up with you by itself?”

Du Yu looked down at the Little Immortal Deer curled up in his arms, and with Master Qing’s guidance, he suddenly understood: ”So the Dust Spirit Deer Race Leader gave me two Dust Spirit Beads—after spitting them out, the Immortal Mist around him all disappeared.”

Yang Qingqing nodded to herself, then suddenly spoke: ”You like her.”

”Yeah.” Du Yu rubbed the head of the Little Dust Spirit Deer in his arms, ”All snowy white, with patterns, literally radiating immortal vibes. And her antlers will even bloom one day. Seriously, who wouldn’t get dazed seeing her?”

That was classic Du Yu—only, unlike before, his tone was a bit downcast this time.

Yang Qingqing leaned her elbow on the tree-like desk, gazing at the sunset outside the window. A gentle smile appeared on her face: ”Such a fateful encounter is rare in this world. Raise her—I’ll help you.”

”Huh? I... huh?”

”Every living being’s traits are gifts from heaven—impossible to abandon, impossible to change.” Yang Qingqing’s usually cool voice warmed, ”But rules are dead—people are alive.”

”You mean, Master Qing...?”

Yang Qingqing got up and headed to her bedroom, ”While the Dust Spirit Deer is a cub, I’ll sign a contract with her, provide her with everything she needs, and you two will grow together.

When you both reach the Fourth Level and cultivate your Demon Soul, I’ll break the contract, at which point your demon souls can merge. Even if you two can’t sign a contract, you’ll still be able to understand each other at heart.”

Hearing Yang Qingqing’s words, Du Yu was stunned. There was such a way?

Her house already has one me, and now she’ll help me raise a deer too? This is...

Standing by her wardrobe, Yang Qingqing’s fingers glided past one beautiful dress after another: ”All-Elemental Demon Tamers are rare after all, and not every human-pet pair running toward each other has matching traits.

Both sides sacrifice a little, break the heavenly barrier of rules, and trade for a long companionship. Many people have done this.

Dust Spirit Deer is a great mount—perfect for you. Such a good match shouldn’t be missed.”

”Th...thank you, Master Qing.” Aside from gratitude, Du Yu didn’t know what else to say. He came to his master for guidance, but never thought she’d go this far for him.

”Leave the Otherworld first. I’ll text you the room number in a bit.”

”Okay.” Hanging up, Du Yu looked down at the Little Immortal Deer in his arms.

”Nai?” The little thing blinked her big black eyes.

”Sister Qingqing is so nice~” In his mind, Little Fen Yang’s sigh came through.

”Yeah.” Du Yu nodded vigorously. This kindness, he owed her big time.

”Heehee~ Silly Du Yu, you still don’t get how wonderful she really is. Contracting with a Dust Spirit Deer is pretty much like a test, you know.”

Du Yu: ”What do you mean?”

Little Fen Yang: ”If someone wasn’t pure-hearted, the Dust Spirit Deer would sooner die than sign a contract. Wouldn’t Sister Qingqing be risking everything, then~?”

Du Yu blinked: ”Doesn’t that just show how confident Master Qing is, and how genuinely she treats us?”

”Exactly, that’s why you don’t realize just how amazing she is.”

”Hmm...”

...

Under the night sky, Du Yu waddled along with his big belly, holding the Ghost Firefly Torch as he headed back to the entrance of the Demon Spirit Realm.

At the entrance, a few Demon Spirit Police officers eyed him strangely.

Of course they didn’t believe Du Yu was pregnant. As Gatekeepers in the Newbie Realm, they definitely had to check what he was hiding under his coat.

One look, and the police officers were utterly floored...

Never had they seen anyone approach a wild Dust Spirit Deer, let alone a Demon Tamer walking out cuddling one!

The Little Immortal Deer in his arms was obviously shy—being stared at, she quickly turned her head and burrowed deeper into Du Yu’s Beard Tree Coat.

And so, this cloaked, hooded, ”pregnant” boy carrying a Ghost Firefly Torch left a mysterious figure behind him as he made straight for the Demon Spirit Bookstore.

He still hadn’t gotten a call from Master Qing and planned to hand in the main bounty quest first.

”Ding-ling~ ling~” The door to the Demon Spirit Bookstore swung open, and the lovely bell startled the drowsy girl behind the counter awake.

Tang Dun blearily raised her head to see Du Yu walk in, his clothes stuffed and bulging.

”Du Yu? You’re back!” Miss Tang Dun flashed a sweet smile, giving Du Yu a sneaky side glance. Clearly, he had made a strong impression on her.

Du Yu said, ”Can we find somewhere quiet to talk? I have something important.”

”Huh?” Tang Dun didn’t expect that from him, but she had such a good impression of Du Yu that she nodded anyway, ”Come with me.”

The young lady led Du Yu to the break room and closed the door behind them. ”What’ve you got in your... whoa!”

As Du Yu turned around, a little deer peeked shyly out from his coat.

Tang Dun’s eyes nearly turned to stars; she clapped a hand over her mouth. ”A...A Dust Spirit Deer?”

Hearing the sound, the Little Immortal Deer burrowed right back into Du Yu’s coat.

Tang Dun stared for what seemed like ages, then looked up at Du Yu and asked dumbly: ”Our bookstore’s main bounty quest was to bring back a Dust Spirit Bead—what exactly did you do out there?”

Du Yu: ”...”

Tang Dun looked utterly incredulous: ”So you couldn’t get the bead, and just stole a Dust Spirit Deer instead? Aren’t you awesome or what!”

Du Yu was speechless. Those things run like the wind—how would I even steal one?

Tang Dun: ”So what really happened?”

Du Yu set down his backpack, pulled out a plastic jar, and said, ”I’m here to turn in the quest.”

Tang Dun leaned against the door, her mind buzzing: ”You stole their baby, and the Dust Spirit Deer still gave you beads?”

Du Yu rolled his eyes in exasperation—Where did this thief business come from?

He rummaged through his bag again, found another little plastic jar: ”The bounty just needs one bead, right?”

Tang Dun: ”Ah!”

Du Yu carefully unscrewed the lids, joined the two plastic jars, and gently shook them to separate the two Dust Spirit Beads: ”So I’ll just turn in one, and keep the other for myself. By the way, do you guys have a buyback price on these?”

He wasn’t planning to sell; he just wanted to know the going rate. After all, Dust Spirit Beads are an incredible tonic for Wind Demon Tamers!

Money? Du Yu had none, and the Li Family didn’t lack any either.

For a precious material like this, it was clearly the perfect thank-you gift for the Li Family.

Tang Dun stared blankly at Du Yu, looking as if she couldn’t accept reality: ”Starts at 80 Points.”

Du Yu’s jaw dropped: ”Four thousand bucks?”

Holy crap~ What kind of price is that?

He’d been in this world a while now, and Du Yu already noticed a harsh truth: the money ordinary people save for months could buy them a decent Demon Pet Cub.

The problem is, you can afford to buy one, but you can’t afford to raise it...

If you just want a pet showpiece, fine. But raising a Demon Pet to its full potential takes crazy resources and money.

Tang Dun nodded: ”And that’s just the base quality, it could go even higher. This is Celestial Materials and Earthly Treasures, 80 Points is cheap—there aren’t any for sale on the market at all... uh.”

Realizing her position as a store clerk, she promptly shut her mouth.

Du Yu screwed the lids back on both jars and handed them to Tang Dun: ”Then help me check which one’s lower in quality—I’ll submit that one for the quest.”

Tang Dun: ”...”

You really do know how to stretch a budget, huh?

She muttered to herself, but Miss Tang Dun still took both jars from him.

Staring at the gaseous beads inside, she grew more and more confused: ”How did you manage this anyway—aren’t you a Demon Warrior? How’d the guards even let you enter the Otherworld?”

Du Yu explained helplessly: ”The Little Dust Spirit Deer followed me out voluntarily, and the beads were given to me by the Race Leader. Feel free to call and check if you want.”

Du Yu didn’t blame her for guessing wildly. After all, ”Spiritual Qi” was definitely something Tang Dun didn’t know, though at least some higher-ups in the Demon Spirit Army did.

”All right, I’ll call and check.” Tang Dun set the two jars on the table, gave Du Yu another look, then turned and walked out.

”Heh.” With the room to himself, Du Yu finally let out a long, relieved sigh—one hand on his ”big belly,” a trace of a smile slowly creeping across his face.