Chapter 021: Mike the Dog

With high spirits, Mike hung up the phone. Li Lekang also put down his mobile, glancing back at the husky. It was sitting in front of its food bowl, propped up on its front legs but not touching the food.

“You don’t want this?”

“Awoo! Awoo!” it cried.

Li Lekang couldn’t understand dog language, but after a moment’s thought, he called Juǎn Ling over to interpret. Remarkably, the spirit managed to understand: “It says it wants to eat something with a fallen soul.”

“I forgot you’re a hellhound!” Li Lekang had been too preoccupied with his call to notice. He decided to try a soul himself and see how it tasted.

He still had over six thousand trading points in his account, so he bought two right away—free shipping, and they arrived in a flash.

The ordinary quality fallen soul looked like a white M&M. He brought it to his lips and took a small bite; a cool sensation slid down his throat and spread through his whole body.

Oh, wow!

Li Lekang shivered lightly. It was like stepping into an air-conditioned mall on a sweltering July day, every pore greedily soaking up the chill—blissfully comfortable.

He tossed the rest of the soul into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. The sensation continued to surge. He felt refreshed, his mind clear, and a deep reserve of energy for his spells.

He felt as if he could unleash a major spell and still be raring to go, rather than cowering in a corner waiting to recover. So this was what it felt like to pop a mana potion in a game!

Clearly, he couldn’t just tough out the drain with his body alone. He’d have to keep replenishing.

He looked over at the little husky, its eyes fixed on him eagerly. Li Lekang was about to toss the soul to it, but then he paused. He went to the kitchen, crushed the soul with a wine bottle, and, right before the dog’s eyes, sprinkled the powder onto its food, stirring it in with a finger before pushing the bowl over.

Throughout the process, the husky watched him with a piercing, sidelong gaze.

Juǎn Ling dutifully translated: “You’re even more of a dog than me!”

“I didn’t ask you to translate that!”

“Eat up. Our conditions aren’t great right now. I checked your care manual: you need food from both the mortal world and the underworld to grow up strong.”

The dog was clearly reluctant, but with the soul already mixed in, it had no choice but to bury its head and start chomping.

No ordinary dog could match a human for cunning.

Li Lekang sat back and watched with amusement. It seemed he’d have a new line item in his budget: this dog, unlike himself, didn’t eat much for now—just one fallen soul a day, meaning a daily expense of a thousand points, but that would increase.

This dog would out-eat him… Li Lekang rested his chin on his palm, watching as the husky inhaled its food and wiped the bowl clean. Then another thought struck him: “I haven’t named you yet. What would you like to be called?”

The satisfied husky sat quietly.

“How about Jerry? No? Tom? Too cliché…”

Li Lekang tried out a string of names, but got no response. Finally, when he offhandedly said “Mike,” the dog barked!

“Well, aren’t you something!” Li Lekang tapped its head.

“Don’t like any other name, just have to be named after my friend, huh? Mike? I bet you picked up the name when I was on the phone earlier, didn’t you?”

“Awoo!”

“Mike, Mike, Mike!”

“Awoo! Awoo! Awoo!”

Well, judging by its excitement, Mike it would be. After repeating it a dozen times, “Dog Mike” was set, and Li Lekang silently apologized to his friend—what could he do, the name was just too catchy.

Having played to its heart’s content, Dog Mike flopped over and dozed off. Li Lekang tidied up the dog bed, tucked it in, then returned to his own room, sat on the bed, and went through his daily spell practice.

Only through practice could he cast quickly, accurately, and effortlessly—subtle and ever-changing at his fingertips… By noon, he was exhausted, while Dog Mike, well-rested, began teaching itself, without any instruction, how to dismantle its own bed.

“Damn it, Mike! You little rascal!”

Li Lekang grabbed it by the scruff, Dog Mike’s four legs still clawing at the air.

“So young and already learning to wreck the house… time to take you out!”

He fastened a collar and leash, then took the dog out for a walk.

He hadn’t ignored the vet’s advice: a dog that tears up the house is usually just bored!

He made it run twenty or thirty laps around the garden below, or found a bike for the dog to pull, wearing it out completely so it’d lie quietly at night.

Hence, the phrase “dog-tired.”

Meanwhile, on the third floor, the two neighbors who had partied late into the night were just waking up. The graceful Sandra, wearing only a thong, yawned as she headed to the bathroom.

Daisy, brushing her teeth in front of the mirror, watched Sandra sit on the toilet and spat out her foam. “So, no one scored last night?”

Sandra propped her chin on her hand, her body curving seductively as she frowned in thought.

The two friends had actually made a private bet: who would win over Lekang first.

Don’t think women are innocent—nothing is off the table when they talk in private, and there’s no limit to how wild the conversation gets. After they both admitted their interest in Li Lekang, they agreed to fair competition, with a harmless wager: whoever succeeded first would be queen.

That explained last night’s enthusiasm. With Lekang’s big entertainment success, it should have been a night of wild celebration and release, yet he’d remained unmoved until the end.

“Maybe he likes men,” Daisy suggested, her imagination running wild. Then she laughed. “But honestly, that just makes it more of a challenge!”

“You’re such a complete bitch,” Sandra shot back with a sidelong glance.

“Or maybe it’s because he’s an introverted Easterner,” Daisy guessed again.

Sandra wasn’t buying it. “No way. He used to check out my ass and said it was the proper appreciation of beauty… Damn it! The more famous he gets, the more bitches will swarm around him, and here I am, stuck in the slow lane!”

Daisy applied lip balm, then tossed out a bold idea: “Clearly, you can’t handle him alone. Why don’t we team up and lock him down between us?”

Sandra, hot-bodied but not as uninhibited in thought, refused: “I don’t share my man. I only enjoy the thrill of solo victory!”

Daisy sneered, “Some help I am! You’ll just have to watch as other girls throw themselves at him, get papped, land ad deals and modeling gigs, and walk the path to your dream ahead of you!”

Sandra was annoyed, but her sharp tongue soon found a retort: “Don’t forget you’re the same—a mouth full of filth but clueless in action. Your ‘sweetheart’ act doesn’t work on him; how pathetic!”

Daisy bristled. “You dare say that to me? Bitch, I’ll kill you!”

The two glared at each other, and the spat quickly escalated as they wrestled, limbs entwined in a tangle that would have given anyone watching a nosebleed.

Outside, walking the dog, Li Lekang sneezed. He had no idea what he’d missed the night before, but even if he did, he wouldn’t have minded. After all, opportunity always waits for those with real ability.

Those without it would only regret the chances they missed, never to see them again, while someone as capable as him would see opportunity come knocking again and again, until he was satisfied.