Astral Pet Store (WN)

A vigorous girl's voice was heard. Su Ping turned around and saw a girl wearing a pink dress and a pointy hat. She was standing in front of the statue near the door with her back bent as she curiously observed.

A plump creature was hiding in the shadows of the statue. It was none other than the Lightning Rat.

The creature had purple fur all over its body. Although a rat, it was actually as big as a cat; it was actually getting fatter by the day because it would always lay there and never exercise.

The little one woke up and opened its eyes upon hearing the sound, but then closed its eyes again and no longer bothered to respond when it saw the girl who had blocked the sunlight.

Some customers had noticed the fat rat laying underneath the statue while Su Ping did business in his store. Some people offered it food, but the critter would simply throw it away in disdain.

"Whose rat is this? Is it ownerless?"

The girl looked around, but didn't see anyone watching her. She soon noticed Su Ping, so she asked curiously, "Sir, is this your pet?"

"It's currently without an owner." Su Ping shook his head.

The Lightning Rat had been lying there for a long time. It had been moping there, waiting ever since Su Yanying passed away during the battle on the Blue Planet.

Su Ping knew what it was waiting for.

However, when some people were gone, they would never come back.

"Without an owner?" Dazed, the girl asked with glittering eyes, "Really?"

She felt delighted as she looked down at the Lightning Rat hiding in the shadows. She lowered her back and tried to pick it up.

Another fashionable girl quickly stopped her. "Xiao Xin, don't. This rat is too dirty; it may be carrying unknown bacteria!" They seemed to be close friends.

"That's all right. It's so cute; it'll be clean if I give it a shower. I can take it to a vet if it does carry bacteria. What if it's sick?"

Yu Xin extended her hands towards the Lightning Rat, disregarding her friend's advice.

But the Lightning Rat opened its eyes exactly at that moment; coldness flashed within. It extended its silver sharp claws and slapped the girl's fair hands.

"Watch out!" the girl next to her exclaimed in shock. Her dog—full of dark brown spots—roared and dashed out, snapping at the Lightning Rat's claws.

The Lightning Rat suddenly hopped and stepped on the dog's back, leaving deep wounds.

"Lion Dog!" the girl exclaimed with anger and regret, "You hurt my Lion Dog! Damn it, Four-Winged Fiery Dragon, teach it a good lesson!"

There was a roar, and then a four-winged dragon—almost ten meters tall—landed there, covered in flames and imposing great pressure.

The Lightning Rat changed its expression and positioned itself on the ground like a cat ready to fight. Its muscles were taut, like a fully-stretched bow that would be loosened at any moment.

However, given its excessively fat appearance, its battle stance didn't seem intimidating, at all. Instead, it looked rather cute.

"No!"

Yu Xin dashed forward and stood in front of the Four-Winged Fiery Dragon. She said to her friend, "Put away your dragon already. You're scaring it."

"It tried to hurt you just now!" Her friend was obviously infuriated. "You would have gotten hurt were it not for my Lion Dog. This wild animal is maybe carrying all sorts of dirt on its claws. You'll get in trouble if you get infected!"

"I was too rude just now. It wasn't on purpose," said Yu Xin quickly.

Her friend was almost vomiting blood. She asked in confusion, "What is it about this rodent that you like? It's just a fat rat. If you want that, I'll buy you an exactly identical one; it would be much better trained."

Yu Xin's expression changed a bit. To be honest, she also knew it was just a wild creature; still she liked it the moment she saw it for some reason.

In particular, she liked the creature's eyes.

She didn't know whether or not it was her illusion, but she felt that the rat's tiny eyes contained a lot of secrets.

There was also… a feeling of loneliness.

Do pets get lonely too?

She wasn't sure, but she did feel it. Perhaps, it was because she felt lonely too. For reasons she didn't know, she wanted to take the rat home and look after it.

"Go away. It may attack you again soon," said her friend anxiously.

Yu Xin grabbed her arm and said, "Wait, let me try again. It's normal for wild creatures to be aggressive. If they weren't, they'd get killed easily; I can work in having it drop its wariness. Trust me."

"…"

Her friend was so angry she couldn't speak; but couldn't convince her friend, at all. She could only ask her Four-Winged Fiery Dragon to stay on guard and kill the little creature if it hurt anyone.

It was ownerless in any case; nothing would happen even if it were killed.

Yu Xin turned around and looked at the Lightning Rat, only to find that it wasn't scared of the Four-Winged Fiery Dragon, at all. It simply crawled back to the shadow where it stayed, as if that place were its nest.

With affection in her eyes, Yu Xin slowly squatted and kept her head at the same height as the rat did. They seemed equal in a way. She took some exquisite pet food out of her storage space and put it in her hand. She said softly, "I don't mean to be invasive. Don't be scared."

The Lightning Rat sniffed. It looked at her pet food for a moment, but then withdrew its gaze.

Yu Xin placed the food closer to the little beast. She smiled in relief upon seeing that it didn't attack her. "Would you like to come home with me? I'll give you a lot of food; I'll help comb and clean you. You'll have a lot of friends to play with."

The Lightning Rat glanced at her, then focused its attention on the pet food. Three seconds later—it suddenly picked up all the food on the ground and gnawed it.

Both Yu Xin and her friend were shocked by the astonishing speed. Yu Xin took out more pet food with a smile, seeing that the Lightning Rat was having a good time. "Take your time. I have more food here."

She placed more food as she spoke, this time even more closely, as if testing how soon the beast would be on guard.

The Lightning Rat clearly sensed what she was doing. It simply glanced at her and enjoyed the food.

It soon finished the food and grabbed another serving.

Yu Xin chuckled and grabbed a handful of pet food again. This time, she gently extended her hand to the Lightning Rat after leaving the food; she was attempting to stroke the little fellow.

Normally speaking, a wild creature wouldn't accept a stranger's food unless they were friendly and dropped their guard; that was why she dared to have done that.

But exactly at that moment—the Lightning Rat changed its expression and bared its fangs aggressively.

Yu Xin stopped right away. Her friend couldn't bear watching any longer. She snapped, "Such an ungrateful creature! You should kill it!"

"Let me try again." Yu Xin quickly appeased her friend. She kept squatting in front of the Lightning Rat with hands on her knees. She looked around curiously and asked, "Hey, why are you lying here? Aren't mice scared of light? There are so many people here. Aren't you afraid they'll take advantage of you?"

The Lightning Rat seemed to be relaxed again, then continued eating the pet food, showing no interest in responding to her question or even looking at her.

Yu Xin took out more food after the pet finished.

Her friend couldn't stand it anymore. "Your pet food is too precious for such a worthless rat. It won't be worth it even if it's fed to dragons!"

Yu Xin waved a hand. "That's fine. I can always buy more."

The Lightning Rat didn't refuse any of the food.

Yu Xin attempted to draw closer to the Lightning Rat. Seeing no reactions, she moved further closer. Then, she slowly took out a necklace, which could confine a wild creature in the pet space. She planned to take it back and ask a trainer to reduce its aggressiveness before she contracted it.

However, the moment she took out the necklace, the Lightning Rat seemed to have noticed something. It seemed to be enraged, and was about to charge at her abruptly, with coldness on its claws.

Nobody expected that. Also, the Lightning Rat was too fast for Yu Xin to react. Neither could her friend or the Four-Winged Fiery Dragon protect her. All of them were in shock.

Exactly at that moment—a hand came out of nowhere, and clutched the Lightning Rat that was about to charge.

The Lightning Rat waved its claws angrily while caught in the nape,

Su Ping placed the Lightning Rat back on the ground and said angrily, "Little thing, it's not easy to meet someone who's interested in you. Have some respect."

The Lightning Rat raised its head and looked at him. It regretfully returned to the shadows, knowing that the guy was too strong for him.

"The person you're waiting for is not coming back. Don't miss other opportunities. Do you want to lie there for the rest of your life?" Su Ping frowned and asked, feeling it was time the Lightning Rat accepted reality.

Creak! The Lightning Rat's fur stood up, making it look like a pointy hedgehog. Purple lightning bolts slithered all over its body. It seemed that it would go on a rampage any moment.

It glared at Su Ping with bloodshot eyes.

Su Ping looked back at it peacefully. A long time later… the red light in the Lightning Rat's eyes faded away, and a tear fell. As if having lost all its strength, its fur flattened as it returned to the shade.

Su Ping heaved a sigh. The Lightning Rat had been too greatly influenced to move on.

Still, he could understand this. The girl who was his first customer had indeed been nice to the Lightning Rat.

The critter had been badly tortured before it became so strong. However, it had lived happily with the girl; that was why it couldn't forget her even after her passing.

Even though it had no contract and had lost many of its memories, it still returned to that place. Maybe, deep down, it knew that something important was awaiting.

However, it didn't know that its master was already gone.

"Take a good rest." Su Ping stroked the Lightning Rat's smooth fur and sighed.

The little one responded with absolute silence.

Both Yu Xin and her friend were astonished to see how such an unapproachable creature would simply let Su Ping touch it.

"I don't think it's the same as other mice," Yu Xin couldn't help but say to Su Ping.

Su Ping nodded. "Its previous master died. It has been waiting; so, it rejects strangers and the idea of leaving this place."

Yu Xin was stunned. She suddenly understood why that rodent's eyes were so lonely.

So, it was waiting for someone…

"If a master dies, won't the pet contract erase all the memories they have about them? Why is it waiting here?" asked her friend curiously.

Su Ping shook his head. "Even though the memories have been erased, perhaps something remains. Perhaps, it's their instinct."

Both girls felt dazed. They couldn't help but look at the rat.

Yu Xin's friend changed her expression too. She found the critter to be less disgusting and dirty than before. How loyal must the pet have been if it still remembered its master with instinct alone…

"If you want to take it as your pet, give it more time," Su Ping said to the gentle girl.

Yu Xin looked at the Lightning Rat thoughtfully and nodded. "I will. I will wait for it to walk out of this shadow!"

Su Ping smiled; he then went to the door.

The Lightning Rat was the very first pet he had trained; he wanted the little thing to find someone else that could take care of it.

A pet that died of old age was not necessarily lucky, and one that died on the battlefield was not necessarily unlucky. The pets that were mistreated by terrible masters and those who outlived their good masters were the real unlucky ones.

Yu Xin gazed at the Lightning Rat for a while longer after Su Ping returned to the store, then she left with her friend.

Night fell.

The girl visited Su Ping's store again, only to find that the place was still crowded.

"It sure is a thriving business," Yu Xin couldn't help but remark.

Her friend said, "I heard that there's a very famous guy on this planet. I don't know where he is. Since we're already here, why don't we meet him if we have time?"

"Maybe later." Yu Xin went to that planet for traveling purposes; she would have been somewhere else having fun with her friend if she hadn't met the rat. At the moment she simply wanted to take the little creature away so that it could live a happy life.

Yu Xin squatted in front of the Lightning Rat, then took out a handful of pet food she had bought and offered it to the Lightning Rat.

The Lightning Rat glanced at her, then ate the food lazily while she eagerly watched.

The little one began to sleep after eating its fill.

Yu Xin smiled delightedly, and left with her friend.

Yu Xin returned the next day and offered more food to the Lightning Rat until it was full. Then, she turned around and left, without trying to touch it.