Discussing The Correct Posture To Enjoy Dog Food

Chapter 162 - Pomegranate Flavored Sentinel Gong (3)

Translated by Hua Li ^_~

“Woof~”

The sound struck Gou Liang as strangely familiar, and his smile froze.

The tiny puppy, still smaller than Xiang Muchuan’s palm even lying flat, wagged its tail against his fingers, licked Muchuan’s palm with a tongue redder than its pink fur, and let out soft, ingratiating yips.

The scene was exactly the same as one he’d once dreamed of.

Could it be… that dream was of this place? But what was with the pink?!

What pained Gou Liang most was that Xiang Muchuan seemed to adore it. Not only did he let the little pink menace run wild, but the way he looked down at it carried a bone-deep familiarity—an expression that copied He Chongfeng’s when gazing at the holographic baby. Only now, that tenderness and doting were more restrained.

This dog was absolutely poisonous…

But Gou Liang didn’t have the energy to dwell on it long.

The silver wolf, unwilling to be ignored, rubbed against his face, as if competing with the yappy pink pup—licking him even more enthusiastically.

“Awoo~”

“Meng-Menghao, good boy, don’t fuss…”

Just the sight of the silver wolf’s face was enough to make Gou Liang forget every worry and doubt.

That safety and joy needed no reason. His smile bloomed again, and in his excitement, he even forgot the host’s speech impediment—until his stutter slipped out, making his face flush red.

Seeing this, Madam Xiang’s last trace of hesitation evaporated.

Though Gou Liang was shy and withdrawn from years of silence, in front of a Sentinel’s 100% matched spirit, a Guide would always reveal their truest self. And for an S-rank’s spirit beast to like him so dearly—this small Guide’s spiritual domain must be truly beautiful. She smiled, shooting her butler a proud look: See? My judgment is never wrong.

Xiang Muchuan raised a brow. “Meng-Menghao?”

“Awoo!”

The wolf, showing off, rubbed against the boy who had given him a new name, wagging so hard its tail was a blur.

“Langchuan, stop.”

Muchuan descended the stairs, holding the tiny pink dog in one hand, frowning as he scolded.

The wolf snorted dismissively, shooting him a look full of disdain, as though it found him utterly beneath notice.

Xiang Muchuan: “…”

—So the difference between the wolf and this dog was just one Meng-Menghao?

Gou Liang couldn’t hold back a laugh. The wolf, delighted, licked at his smile, its tongue brushing his lips several times. Muchuan’s brows furrowed sharply, and purely by instinct, he yanked the wolf up and pressed the pink pup against its face—This is what you can lick!

Even if it was his own spirit beast, the Sentinel’s possessiveness would never allow it to cross that line with his Guide.

In that moment, Xiang Muchuan recognized with absolute clarity: this boy ten years his junior was not just his spirit’s 100% match—but his partner, and his alone.

【Ding! Target favorability updated. Current favorability: +60.】

“Awoo!”

“Shut up.”

When Muchuan grew truly stern, the wolf obeyed, flopping onto Gou Liang’s knees with an air of deep grievance. The pitiful expression on its wolfish face was nothing like Meng Hao’s cool dignity. Gou Liang couldn’t stand it and glared at Muchuan.

Their eyes met—Muchuan’s sharp, unyielding authority against Gou Liang’s soft reproach.

…Gou Liang wilted first, ducking his head.

At once, both the wolf and the pink pup sensed his dejection. Their tails drooped, they whimpered anxiously, “Awoo—woof woof—”

The apparently villainous Muchuan: “…”

Madam Xiang glanced at her frozen son. Clearly, he had no idea how to handle the situation. Stifling a laugh, she smoothed things over: “Alright, enough. Xiao Wang hasn’t even met his spirit beast since awakening—this is harmful to his mood and stability. The same goes for Meng- Menghao. Its presence is vital to his growth as a Guide.”

“Muchuan, their closeness is instinct. You can’t stifle it.”

“Awoo!”

“Woof~”

“….”

Faced with his spirit, the little pink one, and Gou Liang’s cautious, pleading eyes, Muchuan awkwardly pressed a fist to his lips, coughed, and muttered, “I understand.”

Though his words granted permission, one look at the wolf was enough to freeze it mid-bounce. Its paws pressed onto Gou Liang’s lap, but its head drooped onto his chest with a sulky whine.

Gou Liang stroked its head tenderly, patient and soothing.

“Woof!”

Unlike the wolf, the pink pup’s devotion to Gou Liang rivaled even its affection for Muchuan.

Sensing his half-hearted neglect, it barked in distress, climbing over the wolf’s head to fling itself toward Gou Liang’s face.

But it was too small. Standing on tiptoe atop the wolf, it barely reached his chin. Each time, its tiny legs trembled until it slipped, belly-flopping across the wolf’s face—only to be caught on its nose before falling further. Yet the little pink fluff never gave up, scrambling back up again and again—splat!

Gou Liang turned his face aside in silence: There’s no way this dumb pink thing is my dog.

Instead, it was Xiang Muchuan who relented first. At his signal, the wolf lifted its head, boosting the tiny pup upward—sending it splat onto Gou Liang’s cheek, tail flailing wildly in shock.

Gou Liang: “…”

“Pfft—”

The laughter burst out too suddenly; Madam Xiang had to forcibly swallow it back, afraid of making the thin-skinned Gou Liang nervous.

Xiang Muchuan glanced at Gou Liang, whose face was completely buried beneath the pink pup as it eagerly licked away, and even he couldn’t help but curve his lips slightly.

Sitting down, he shifted to business. “Mom, if nothing unexpected happens on this trip, I’ll meet up with Dad. Is there anything you want me to pass along to him?”

Madam Xiang drew her gaze back from Gou Liang and the two spirit beasts, still smiling. “No need. Do you think he’d dare not come back for his son’s wedding?”

She snorted, but still told her son to make sure his father behaved himself—be gentle with the daughter-in-law, stop wearing that constant, severe look that might scare the young Guide away…

Who knew whether her words were meant for Xiang Yuanshuai, or simply a roundabout lecture for her son?

【Oh no! Master, your face is breaking!!】

【??】

The system threw up a surveillance close-up. On a patch of Gou Liang’s face that the pink pup had licked, the skin revealed was completely different from the dull, lifeless complexion of the host’s disguise! Since the pink pup was itself a blind spot, the system hadn’t noticed right away—when it did, it nearly jumped out of its circuits.

Gou Liang was shocked, too. He hadn’t expected this accidental spirit beast of his to feed on medicine and to eat away the disguise potion on his face.

Perfect timing…

Delighted, Gou Liang gave the little pink dog its first ever smile from its master.

Receiving approval, the pup wagged harder and licked more enthusiastically, determined to devour every last drop of the disguise potion.

The system quietly pulled up its master’s spending log in this world’s system shop:

—Soul Mirror Extractor Tool: -9

—Looks Max Buff Item: -998

—Life Space: -10000

Just last night, Gou Liang had adjusted the host’s appearance, then brewed a potion from herbs cultivated in his Life Space to disguise himself as the original host again.

The system, resigned, thought: How am I supposed to save you, my dear drama-king master…

Sure enough, when the pink pup finally slid down from Gou Liang’s face to his neck to lap up more potion, the ever-watchful butler was the first to cry out: “Young Master Yuan?!”

Both Madam Xiang and Xiang Muchuan stopped their conversation and turned, staring wide-eyed.

Under their shocked gazes, Gou Liang turned his head, revealing a completely different visage—

Skin pale and flawless as the finest porcelain, delicate and smooth; his features were similar in structure to the bland face before, yet those subtle differences transformed everything: a high, refined nose, lips like soft pink petals curved in a smile that dimpled his cheeks, and eyes dark and bright, brimming with innocent confusion.

This was no forgettable, nameless face.

This was one in a billion, a youth sculpted personally by the hands of the cosmos.

Even at his age, still carrying a hint of boyish softness, Gou Liang’s beauty was already enough to rival Xiang Muchuan—the man who had held the title of the Empire’s most handsome for ten straight years.

Muchuan, who had already heard whispers of disguise potions, wasn’t truly surprised—though he did feel the strike of awe. The pink pup licking away his neck potion made the truth plain enough.

But for Madam Xiang and the butler, the shock was immense.

If not for knowing that a spirit beast could never mistake its master, they would have thought this youth an imposter.

“Xiao Wang, your face…?”

Madam Xiang’s voice trembled with doubt.

Gou Liang raised a hand to his cheek, eyes widening—then, in a move no one could have predicted, he pressed the little pink pup back onto his face.

Xiang Muchuan: … My wife’s IQ is hopeless, yet why does it feel so adorable? What do I do?

【Ding! Target favorability updated. Current favorability: +61!】

This time, Madam Xiang couldn’t hold it in—she burst out laughing. “You child, you’re far too cute, hahaha!”

A flush bloomed across Gou Liang’s porcelain face, as if the pink pup’s color had stained him.

Awkwardly, he plopped the dog onto the silver wolf’s head, then hugged the wolf’s big head, petting it as though nothing had happened. He tried to act natural, but Madam Xiang’s stifled giggles only grew louder, turning his ears scarlet.

“Mom.”

Xiang Muchuan coughed, cutting off his mother before she could fluster him further.

“Right, right, sorry…”

“Hey now, Xiao Wang, don’t be afraid. Mom wasn’t blaming you.”

Sensing his unease, Madam Xiang quickly stopped, dabbing the tears from her laughter as she continued, “But Xiao Wang, we’re family now. You can trust us completely. With Muchuan’s spirit beast in your arms, you know it means you no harm. So, can you tell Mom—what exactly is going on?”

The story was far too long, and Gou Liang was still unused to his stutter. At her words, he looked to Muchuan for help.

At 100% compatibility, as long as the Guide allowed it, the two could share their spiritual domains completely.

So Muchuan immediately understood what Gou Liang wanted to say. But instead of speaking for him, he said, “Mom and Uncle Chen, they’re not outsiders. You can be honest with them.”

His gaze carried encouragement, urging Gou Liang to cast aside his timidity and face his flaw directly—while also showing he didn’t mind Gou Liang’s stammer in the slightest.

Gou Liang’s hands mussed the wolf’s fur until it was a mess. The spirit beast, blissfully indulgent, sensed his anxiety and nuzzled closer. A dimple bloomed in Gou Liang’s cheek—his fondness for the wolf utterly unhidden.

Muchuan felt an unreasonable pang of displeasure. While Gou Liang was distracted, he pressured the spirit beast, who promptly went limp and played dead against Gou Liang’s chest, refusing to move.

The clash between the Sentinel and his spirit beast lasted only a moment before Xiang Muchuan had no time to keep bickering with the silver wolf.

Summoning all his courage, Gou Liang opened his mouth. “W-when I was little, I had a G-Guide grandpa, who taught me p-potions. I d-didn’t like people l-looking at me, so I hid.”

It had been a long time since he had spoken so many words in front of others. But under the gentle, encouraging gazes of Xiang Muchuan and Madam Xiang, his courage slowly grew.

“H-he left. I l-learned to m-make them on my own.”

He pointed to his face. Seeing that they understood what he meant, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Madam Xiang recalled Yuan Wang’s records carefully. The boy had shown considerable talent with potions—otherwise, he would never have gotten into the Imperial Capital University’s School of Pharmacy despite being only an ordinary person.

Thinking it over, she asked, “So that’s how it was. Back then, Xiao Wang, you must have been very young, right?”

“Mm.” Gou Liang said, “I c-couldn’t t-talk then.”

In other words, even before he could speak, he had met this Guide pharmacist, who not only taught him much about potions but also helped him conceal his appearance.

The original host had spoken his first words just before his fourth birthday.

Before that, though Madam Yuan favored Yuan Xi, she had taken good care of Yuan Wang because of his poor health—this was why, as he grew, his constitution eventually surpassed Yuan Xi’s. At the time, he had been a chubby, fair-skinned toddler, with no hint of the awkwardness to come. Only after his stutter appeared, and repeated therapies failed, did the mounting pressure crush his spirit, leaving him the way he is now.

Xiang Muchuan and his mother knew all this, but hadn’t expected such hidden details.

Madam Xiang sighed. “So, this Guide gentleman is also a great benefactor of our Xiang family. Xiao Wang, can you still find him now—?”

Gou Liang shook his head. Stroking the silver wolf a few times, he whispered, “Grandpa K-Kemi… p-passed away.”

Of course, he would never tell a lie that could be easily exposed. The others immediately thought of that figure, Kemi, so prominently mentioned in Yuan Wang’s past.

He had been a solitary old man of unknown origins, taken in by Yuan Wang’s grandfather long since passed, said to be an old friend. Refusing to eat and drink for free, he took on the role of caretaker for the twin boys.

He was the only one who favored Yuan Wang over Yuan Xi, and his bond with the boy had been even closer than with his own parents or brother.

When Yuan Wang was ten, Kemi left the Yuan household and died the next year. Before his death, he even entrusted his inheritance and belongings specifically to Yuan Wang—a clear testament to the depth of his feelings.

As for his true background, perhaps only old Master Yuan, now long gone, had ever known.

If it had been him, everything made sense.

Seeing Gou Liang’s sadness at the memory, Madam Xiang patted his shoulder gently.

Gou Liang smiled softly and said earnestly, “T-thank you.”

She blinked, then her eyes curved in a smile at his shy sincerity.

【Ding! Target favorability updated. Current favorability: +65.】

Xiang Muchuan was very satisfied with his new Guide, but his departure time was approaching—he couldn’t stay much longer.

Before leaving, he told Gou Liang, “Stay here with Mom, help her prepare for the wedding. Wait for me to come back.”

Gou Liang silently loosened his arms around the silver wolf.

But plans rarely keep up with change.

The silver wolf flatly refused to leave him. When Xiang Muchuan forcibly pulled it back into his mental domain, it grew violently agitated, shaking his mental stability. And that wasn’t all—somehow, it had even smuggled away the little pink pup, and refused to give it back.

“A Guide staying too long away from his spirit beast will suffer. And with your domain unstable, I don’t dare let you go on missions alone. Muchuan, your Guide, has the qualification to accompany you. Take Xiao Wang with you.”

Pausing, Madam Xiang smiled with deep feeling. “Son, you’re not alone anymore. Do you understand?”

Xiang Muchuan considered, then nodded.

Gou Liang secretly gave the silver wolf a rub. Well done, Mengmeng Hao~

I am still confused, so Keng’er was poisoned or the OG host himself did it deliberately? (+_+)?