Chapter Forty-Two: Another Approach to Beast Taming

“Let’s move!” Zhao Yihan said.

At her words, everyone, who had paused in their tracks, immediately started walking again.

“Number Four, search carefully. Don’t miss any clues,” Zhao Yihan reminded, still uneasy.

“Got it, boss! Don’t you trust me?” Number Four replied promptly.

Seeing the respect the entire team showed Zhao Yihan, it was clear she was no ordinary person.

As they moved forward, the whole team remained silent, each person focused on their own task. Not a single word was wasted. This must be what military discipline looked like.

Only Long Yu found it uncomfortable. Everyone was so quiet that he felt out of place. He didn’t know what to do. He wanted to talk to someone, but felt awkward about it—after all, everyone was busy.

“Captain, there’s a leopard ahead. Its physical stats are around four hundred. Should we avoid it?” Number Four suddenly asked Zhao Yihan.

“A physical stat that high? Let’s give it a wide berth. No need to get sidetracked,” Zhao Yihan replied cautiously. The Dreamcat was too valuable to them; she didn’t want any trouble.

“Wait. Could you let me handle it? Without a beast, my Beastmaster ability is wasted. I can hardly go around controlling people, right?” Long Yu quickly spoke up when he heard Zhao Yihan wanted to avoid the leopard.

He had no intention of giving up on this leopard. His tiger was still at home protecting his family, and his S-level Beastmaster ability was useless without a beast. Trying to control one during battle was too difficult—he could only manage weaker creatures that way.

Zhao Yihan was silent for a few seconds, then asked, “Are you sure it won’t cause a commotion?”

“Not a sound,” Long Yu assured her at once.

“All right, then,” Zhao Yihan finally agreed. After all, if Long Yu could control the leopard, it would add to their strength. She had no reason to say no.

“Number Four, lead the way. Let’s do this quickly—we can’t waste too much time,” Zhao Yihan instructed.

Under Number Four’s guidance, the group crept through dense forest and the ruins of old buildings—traces of human civilization—toward the leopard’s location.

This land had probably been a small town once. But in just over half a year, it had been reduced to mere rubble. No matter how brilliant our civilization once was, in the vast river of cosmic time, it’s just a drop in the ocean. Once life disappears, all traces of civilization vanish quickly, until even the memory of its existence is erased.

But the people here had no time to dwell on such things. Civilization, or all of humanity, was a topic too immense for the present moment.

Guided by Number Four, they soon found the leopard’s trail.

From about a thousand meters away, Long Yu could already sense the animal’s presence. Number Four and the others stopped moving as well.

They couldn’t go any further; if they did, the leopard would likely detect them. But Long Yu didn’t have a problem—his physical stats were much higher than the leopard’s. If he concealed his presence, he could get several hundred meters closer without being discovered.

But it wasn’t necessary. Beastmastery could be used from this distance as long as Long Yu could lock onto the target’s aura. It wouldn’t affect the outcome.

“Number Two, go east. Number Three, west… Let’s surround it first. Then, at my signal, we’ll all strike at once and make sure it can’t escape,” Zhao Yihan began to assign roles, planning to encircle the leopard from four directions.

“No need. I can catch it by myself from here,” Long Yu interrupted the discussion.

“Are you sure?” Zhao Yihan’s eyes were filled with doubt. “Can you really catch a leopard from this far away?”

“No problem. Just watch me,” Long Yu replied confidently. “I’ve already locked onto its aura. No creature I’ve targeted has ever escaped.”

As he spoke, Long Yu extended his spiritual power into the distance, searching for the leopard’s hiding place.

The subtle ripple of his spirit was completely invisible, passing quietly through the group, through the forest, and past various animals, finally reaching the leopard.

The leopard was sprawled atop a tree branch, resting, utterly unaware that danger was approaching. It was gnawing on a wild boar it had just caught, occasionally lifting its head.

Who knew where all these animals had come from? Were they escapees from the city zoo? Liangzhou had never had such predators before, but now they were commonplace. Long Yu didn’t know their origin either.

He shook his head, brushing these thoughts aside. If he didn’t know, there was no point wasting brainpower on it. That was his habit.

“I’m about to begin. Protect me. I won’t be able to move in the meantime,” he said, and with that, Long Yu devoted himself entirely to the task.

His spiritual power slipped silently into the leopard’s mind. Unlike his usual aggressive approach, he didn’t attempt brute-force control this time. Instead, he let a small stream of his spiritual power enter the brain and, upon encountering the leopard’s own consciousness, withdrew at a distance, careful not to attract attention.

His spirit carefully navigated the barriers of the leopard’s mind, gradually reaching the part that controlled memories.

The leopard began to dream:

It dreamed that its mother had been killed by a tiger when it was just two months old. With its mother’s dying effort, it had escaped into a crevice among the rocks. The tiger didn’t give up, waiting silently for a chance to kill it.

Fear, terror, and the longing for life overwhelmed the young cub.

But eventually, hunger and thirst replaced the fear. Just a sip of water, a bite of meat—even if it meant death, it would have welcomed it…

When it could hold on no longer, the tiger suddenly collapsed. Then a pair of warm hands lifted it up—a human, who had killed the tiger.

Yet the little leopard felt no joy. Its mother had always said humans were the most terrifying creatures in the world, that they would eat its flesh and wear its skin as clothing.

But this person didn’t kill it. Instead, he gave it sweet milk, bought it meat, and played with it.

Perhaps its mother had been wrong. Maybe humans were the gentlest beings in the world. This rescuer was its eternal friend, its dearest family.

It would dedicate its life to protecting him, to repaying him for the rest of its days.

But who was this person?

Ah! Now it remembered—his name was Long Yu. He was the one who saved it from the tiger, avenged its mother, and raised it with milk and meat.

Now it was time to repay him. It would follow him forever, protect him, and always obey his orders—even if it meant death.

A story fabricated by Long Yu slowly etched itself into the leopard’s mind…

Bit by bit, the story replaced the leopard’s original memories. It believed it had been raised by Long Yu—he was its benefactor, its family…