Unsheathed

She reached out to pat her little head with a warm smile as she remarked, "You're still so short, even though you've had several hundred years to grow. What a waste! But it's alright, I won't look down on you. I am my master's first-ever disciple, and I'm not the type of person to judge a book by its cover!"

Zhou Mili had been learning the Great Li Empire's official dialect the entire way here, and even though she still wasn't a fluent speaker, she could understand everything.

"I'll be leaving Zhou Mili in your care," Zhu Lian said with a smile. "That's the arrangement that Young Master Chen made. What do you think? If you don't want her here, I can take her back to Downtrodden Mountain with me."

"Of course I can't go against my master's orders!" Pei Qian said as she took a glance at Zhu Lian out of the corner of her eye. "Leave it to me to look after this little shortie from now on. I'll make sure to feed her..."

"Anything but fish!" Zhou Mili yelled.

"Good girl," Pei Qian said with a smile as she patted her on the head.

Zhu Lian departed, while Shi Rou was grinning with amusement.

From that day forth, there were two little girls in the shop on Dragon Riding Alley.

That dog would also often come to the shop, and each day, at around the time Pei Qian was expected to return home from school, Zhou Mili would squat at the entrance of the shop with the dog, awaiting Pei Qian's return.

On this day, Pei Qian rushed back from school, and as soon as she caught sight of Zhou Mili and the dog, she immediately grabbed onto the maw of the latter before giving it a twist as she asked, "Did anyone pick on the little shortie today? Answer me!"

The dog had already attained intelligence, and it had half a mind to die.

How am I supposed to say anything?