Chapter Sixty-One: Loyal Servant—The Deceitful Beast

“Sir, we're about to close. Would you please—”
The teahouse waiter came over to remind Wu You.
“Oh, all right, I'll leave right away.”
Wu You stood up, dusted himself off, and headed downstairs from the teahouse.
Across the street, the Tianbao Pawnshop was finally closing as well.
Tonight, only Wang Fugui was tidying up; the usual two shop assistants were absent.
...
Wang Fugui shut the pawnshop door and was just about to lock it from the outside.
He was considering stopping by San Gou's house on his way home.
Before he could insert the lock, a powerful force struck him from behind, pushing his whole body through the door.
Staggering a few steps into the shop, he turned, unable to see clearly who had come.
The door slammed shut with a bang.
The candles inside had already been extinguished, plunging the room into semi-darkness.
Wang Fugui felt a surge of fear.
Was he about to be robbed?
Usually, closing time meant he was accompanied by two burly assistants, but tonight he was alone, and it had to happen now.
“Uh, sir... brave sir, surely you're here for money, not murder? I, Wang Fugui, am only the appraiser here; the owner’s cash box isn’t under my control.”
Seeing the intruder standing silently in the doorway’s shadow, Wang Fugui continued,
“But I can't let you leave empty-handed. There's ten taels of silver in my purse. If you don't mind, please take it.”
He unfastened his purse from his waist, intending to hand it over.
“What if I want both your money and your life?”
A cold, detached voice spoke.
Wang Fugui’s hand trembled; the purse fell to the floor.
He recognized that voice—the young man who had pawned the Blood Jade earlier that day.
Wang Fugui immediately dropped to his knees and began to kowtow to Wu You, the sound of his head striking the floor echoing.
“Sir, those two assistants left the shop with sticks, sneaking off as if up to no good.
The owner isn't here, I couldn't stop them. I meant to report it to the authorities after work. I'm glad you're unharmed—it has nothing to do with me, Wang Fugui!”
Wu You suddenly felt irritated.
He stepped forward and pressed Wang Fugui’s head firmly to the ground. The contact between his face and the stone floor squashed him like a deflated leather ball.

“I never said it was your two assistants who angered me. As for the cash box, you needn’t worry—I’ll open it myself.”
Wu You increased the pressure of his hand.
Terror filled Wang Fugui’s eyes.
“Help... mmm...”
His mouth, just opened to cry out, was covered, and then his neck twisted like a broken branch, with a sharp crack.
All strength drained from his body, but Wang Fugui still retained a shred of consciousness.
In a haze, he realized he was being enveloped by a strange black, sand-like substance. Then a suction pulled at him, and he knew nothing more.
Wu You proceeded to the back of the pawnshop.
He easily located the conspicuous cash cabinet.
The two cabinets were as large as wardrobes, made of solid hardwood wrapped in layers of iron, with several brass locks on the doors.
They were sufficient to deter ordinary thieves, but not Wu You.
While his current strength was considerable, it wasn’t yet enough to tear metal apart bare-handed.
He was about to unleash his supernatural powers to break the locks when a thought struck him.
He recalled an old tale.
"E'er Beast: a creature with a human face and rabbit body, able to speak human language, cunning and deceptive."
As the saying goes, a sly rabbit has three burrows. This highly deceptive nature demonstrates that wild rabbits are nothing like the naive creatures people imagine.
Wang Fugui, the pawnshop owner, was equally sly and cunning.
As someone whose employees scoured materials for his company, Wu You had no trouble obtaining wild rabbit specimens.
...
He opened the system and selected Level One Alchemy.
From the materials warehouse, he chose a wild rabbit and, from the human category, Wang Fugui.
Prompt: Select male wild rabbit, male human. Confirm?
Upon confirmation, the familiar alchemy sketchpad appeared.
Although the E'er Beast was said to have a human face and rabbit body, Wu You wanted the human form to dominate.
The physique and appearance remained mostly similar to Wang Fugui, but the concept of a human-faced rabbit body lingered subconsciously, causing the sketchpad to add unexpected features.
The drawing process was irreversible; Wu You couldn’t redo it.
The final image depicted a creature ninety percent similar to Wang Fugui, but with gray rabbit ears atop his head and a back covered in fine gray fur from neck to heel.
A rabbit tail protruded from the base of his spine.
Fortunately, with more alchemy attempts, Wu You could roughly gauge the creature’s grade. If successful, it would not exceed Iron-Black.

System evaluation: Physical arrangement rationality 63%, alchemy success rate increased by 6.3%.
Current success rate: 70% + 10% (consciousness resonance) + 6.3%.
Proceed with alchemy?
He selected alchemy directly. At this success rate, Wu You hadn’t failed a Level One alchemy in ages.
Wang Fugui and the wild rabbit were transformed into streams of light and absorbed by the sketchpad.
The creature gradually solidified from a phantom into reality.
Moments later, it lifted its head, revealing a flawless, amiable smile.
Prompt: Alchemy successful. Please name.
Name chosen: E'er Beast, Wang Fugui
Alchemical Creature: E'er Beast, named Wang Fugui
Innate Traits: Cunning, Affable
Abilities: Interpretation, Eloquence, Visual Deception
Base Rating: Iron-Black Intermediate (cultivable)
System Description: This is a beast that sees into the human heart.
Visual deception!
Wu You was very familiar with this ability—worthy of the E'er Beast. With this, it had no obvious flaws.
...
Now came the crucial moment. If things went as Wu You hoped, his task of gaining a foothold in this world would be easily accomplished.
He selected Summon: E'er Beast Wang Fugui.
After a wave of black light, a humble figure appeared before Wu You.
His face wore a gentle smile, as if saying: harmony brings wealth, harmony brings wealth.
“Greetings, Master!”
Wang Fugui bowed deeply in ancient salute to Wu You.
This was the first time Wu You had heard a creature he created speak.
“Wang Fugui, do you remember what happened before—before you became the E'er Beast?”
Wang Fugui’s smile remained.
“Does Master mean eating grass and hiding from hawks and hounds in the wild, or being the Tianbao Pawnshop owner? I recall both memories perfectly. Mimicking a rabbit is harder now, but continuing as Wang Fugui is no trouble at all.”
Wu You’s eyes flashed sharply—indeed, alchemical lifeforms understood his intentions thoroughly.