Driven by curiosity, Lin Feng brushed his will across the system's "view details" option. A panel unfolded in his mind:
[Individual Data: Mustelid – Novice Treasure‑Hoarding Weasel]
Level: 999 (Error @#￥%&)
Elements: Anemo, Geo, Electro, Dendro, Hydro, Pyro, Cryo
Traits: [#%*&] Elemental Resistance: MAX, Elemental Affinity: MAX
"Finale of the Firmament": MAX
"Mountainfall Cataclysm": MAX
"Thoughtless Severance": MAX
"Doomsday Aftershock": MAX
"Star‑Sea Whale's Voyage": MAX
"Terminal Judgement": MAX
"Absolute Froststorm": MAX
Treasure‑Hunting: 2
Mood: Extremely Hungry
Affection: 100 (It is hungry.)
"…"
In an instant, Lin Feng understood the cause of his own death. Of course the "big bro" was "big bro"—so this was the power of something that existed outside the world rules.
If the Scarlet King had access to this kind of thing, what enemy could he possibly fail to pulverize?
He had always scoffed at people who got killed by their own party carry; right now, he only wanted to say: big bro, respect.
He let out a slow breath. The panic of being alone in the rainforest dissolved without a trace, replaced by that solid, grounded sense of safety that only comes once your survival has been guaranteed.
[Summon this unit?]
[Notice: Once summoned, it cannot be recalled.]
Yes / No
Without a hint of hesitation, Lin Feng chose to bring out his personal insurance policy.
"Squeak?"
Light flashed. A small, utterly ordinary novice Treasure‑Hoarding Weasel appeared in front of him—its fur a mix of grey and white, standing upright on its hind legs, tiny forepaws curled in front of its chest. It blinked, clearly confused about why it had suddenly appeared here.
If he remembered correctly, there were three kinds of Treasure‑Hoarding Weasels in the game:
The novice Treasure‑Hoarding Weasel, the Golden Treasure‑Hoarding Weasel, and the Grand Golden Treasure‑Hoarding Weasel. Their body shapes were similar; what really set them apart, besides color, were the bundles on their backs—the more eye‑catching and ornate the pack, the higher their status in the weasel world.
The one in front of him was the plainest, dullest novice Treasure‑Hoarding Weasel of the lot.
Back to the present.
Lin Feng watched the mustelid powerhouse standing motionless in front of him and, testing the waters, scratched gently at the loose skin on the back of its neck.
"Squeak!"
The little fellow's body shivered twice, but it still stayed exactly where it was.
"Uh… free movement?" Lin Feng tried giving a simple command.
"Boom."
The word had barely left his mouth when the weasel shot off at a speed his eyes could not track. The sonic boom that followed left his ears ringing.
By the time the dizziness cleared and he could see straight again, he nearly felt his eyeballs pop out of his skull.
Using Lin Feng as the center of a circle, everything within range was vanishing at a speed visible to the naked eye. Trees, undergrowth, insects on the ground—even a chunk of stone.
As the small figure flashed back and forth, the lush, primeval forest around him transformed in the space of a heartbeat into something that looked like it had been gnawed bald by a pack of rabid dogs.
"Stop!!!"
A chill ran down his spine. Ten thousand wild horses stampeded across his heart as he yelled, desperate to halt this walking, chittering engine of biological extinction.
"Squeak?"
The Treasure‑Hoarding Weasel, currently gnawing on a tree root mid‑excavation, paused and tilted its head, confusion written all over its tiny face.
Lin Feng exhaled in relief, grabbed the loose skin at the back of its neck, and lifted it up. Once again, the little thing turned limp in his grasp, not resisting at all. He set it on his shoulder; its weight was surprisingly unchanged from when it had first appeared.
Then he looked around.
Within a hundred‑meter radius, not a single blade of grass remained.
He let out a long, helpless sigh and pulled up the weasel's panel again.
[Individual Data: Mustelid – Novice Treasure‑Hoarding Weasel]
Mood: Half Full
Affection: 100 (It thanks you for providing suuuuch a huge feast.)
Seeing that "extremely hungry" had only become "half full," the optimism that had just bloomed in his chest withered all over again.
Confirmed. Eats more than Paimon. I absolutely cannot afford to feed this thing on a salary.
At this rate, forget buying a courtyard in Liyue—he would probably starve to death first.
Letting it continue to chew through the rainforest unchecked was out of the question as well. In the back of his mind, he could already picture the little Dendro Archon, not to mention the other Archons and even Celestia itself, lining up at his door. Back in his previous world, this kind of behavior would have landed him straight in jail.
While he was busy mourning his future, a bright green mushroom standing alone on the bare ground caught his eye.
"Eek—don't eat me, or I'll give you a 'burial of rage' on behalf of the Nara!"
Lin Feng lowered his head and found himself staring at a trembling, green, unknown lifeform.
"…"
"…"
The little figure was obviously a Aranara, and the gluttonous Treasure‑Hoarding Weasel at his shoulder had scared it half out of its wits. A wave of embarrassment washed over Lin Feng.
"Don't worry, we're not going to eat you. I promise."
Drawing on everything he remembered about the Aranara from the game, he crouched down and spoke gently:
"My name is Lin Feng. The one on my shoulder is my companion. We're not bad Nara—we just got lost in the forest. What about you?"
The Aranara covering its eyes stopped shaking and peeked at him through its fingers.
Strictly speaking, he was not exactly a child, but in its eyes, Lin Feng clearly did not fit the image of the dangerous adults Aranara usually feared.
He could tell that the moment it got a proper look at him, its posture loosened.
"Phew… you are good Nara. That's great. Just now, an invisible monster came and ate the forest. Lanromo was very scared."
"It's okay. The monster's gone now. No one's going to eat you." Lin Feng glanced sideways at the innocent‑looking weasel on his shoulder and stuck to the lie anyway.
Aranara were spirits of plants and trees, something like fairies from human tales. They could speak with the flora around them and, under normal circumstances, were not so easy to fool. But given that there probably was not even a single seed left in this patch of ground, "normal circumstances" clearly did not apply.
"Mm. Just now, very scared. But, the little Nara saved the forest. The little spores and little dandelions who are with you say that Nara Lin Feng stopped the monster. They say you are a very, very good Nara."
The praise made his cheeks prickle with heat, but Lin Feng did not let the chance slip by. This was the first intelligent being he had met that he could hold a conversation with; he had to at least ask if it knew a way out of the forest.
"Bad Nara, I saw before. Three times the Moonlotus opened and closed, before that, in the direction where the sun comes up. Very dangerous. Lanromo didn't dare get close."
Riffling through what was left of his memory, Lin Feng translated that into something he understood: it had seen other humans three days ago, somewhere to the east. From the way it spoke, those people were dangerous—most likely Treasure Hoarders, or maybe a particularly nasty band of the Eremites.
But wandering aimlessly through the rainforest was hardly a plan. With the Treasure‑Hoarding Weasel by his side, at least his life had some degree of guarantee. After weighing it, he decided to go take a look.
"Thank you, Lanromo. If I get the chance, I'll visit Vanarana someday."
He thanked the little one who had given him such useful information, then set off as quickly as he could.
Left alone, Lanromo tilted its head, puzzled, at the word "Vanarana" slipping from Lin Feng's lips.
It watched him disappear into the distance, then toddled on its short legs toward one of the surviving giant trees. With a little hop, its body vanished into the trunk, leaving the ravaged clearing silent once more.