Morning mist still lingered in the forest, and birdsong drifted down from the branches.
Lin Heng pushed open the wooden door, let out a yawn, and stepped into the courtyard—carrying a hatchet in one hand and a basket of wild vegetables in the other.
The courtyard was nothing special: a few wooden huts, several vegetable plots, and corn and yams drying in the corner. The only unusual thing about it… were the four "pets" living there—
A black dog lay sprawled across the courtyard wall, its fur as dark as night, eyes lazily watching the distance. Under the eaves sat a white cat, tail flicking like it was plotting something. At the edge of the garden, a turtle rested in its shell—its shell etched with strange patterns that sometimes glimmered faintly. And perched on a tree outside the wall was a five-colored bird, its feathers gleaming gold in the morning light.
Lin Heng had always thought they were just ordinary animals—
Their only flaw was that they ate too much and loved to quarrel, especially the cat and the dog, who tipped over the water jar every few days.
Today's plan was simple—go to the back mountain to chop a few bundles of firewood and pick some mushrooms for soup.
But halfway up the mountain, he heard the sound of hooves ahead.
Three knights in silver armor were circling an injured silver-horned elk, their spears glinting coldly. The elk was on its last breath, blood dripping from its antlers.
"Take it alive! Deliver it to the city lord for spirit medicine!" one of them barked.
Lin Heng froze—wasn't this the legendary spirit deer that could guide travelers through the forest? His grandmother had told him that anyone who saved such a deer would have good fortune for life.
He didn't think twice. Grabbing his hatchet, he rushed forward, chopped aside a spear, and shouted, "Bullying an animal? That's your idea of skill? Get lost!"
The three knights paused for half a second—then sneered.
"A mortal? Doesn't know his place!"
In the next instant, Lin Heng saw a flash of silver stabbing toward his throat. Instinctively, he rolled aside into the grass. When he looked up—the knights were gone.
Only toppled horses and scattered armor remained, with a faint scent of blood still in the air. From the distant forest came several shrill screams… abruptly cut short.
Lin Heng rubbed his head. "Weird… why'd they run off so fast? I didn't even make a move."
He had no idea that in that very instant—
The black dog from his courtyard wall had silently appeared on the mountainside, scarlet light flickering in its eyes. With just one step, the knights' spears shattered into dust, their armor crumbled, and their bodies were crushed by an unseen force. The survivors fled in terror, stumbling headlong into the woods.
The black dog licked its paw as if nothing had happened, then vanished back into the mist.
Lin Heng looked at the spirit deer, thinking he'd really lucked out today.
"Come on, I'll get you to the other side of the mountain."
The deer looked at him deeply and slowly nodded, its gaze holding a reverence no human could understand—it knew the suffocating pressure from earlier hadn't come from this mortal, but from that silent figure crouched on the courtyard wall… a god.
When Lin Heng returned home, the cat and dog were facing off across the water jar, the turtle was lazily sunbathing, and the five-colored bird was cracking melon seeds.
Hands on his hips, he said, "Quarreling again? No extra meat for you later!"
The cat and dog immediately went quiet, looking as though they'd just been given divine orders.
Lin Heng snorted and went to make soup, completely unaware that—half an hour earlier—he had already been listed by the Southern City Intelligence Bureau as a "suspected secluded master above the Transformation Realm."