Before he knew it, night had fallen.
A little after ten o’clock, Uncle Pi Qiu, Sun Hongyi, sent a message.
Li Qian wasn’t resting; instead, he was browsing books on his VR glasses.
Seeing the message appear on his VR glasses, he walked over and pushed open the door to his guest room.
Outside the door stood an elegant, pretty girl of about eighteen or nineteen.
The girl was good-looking, but not drop-dead gorgeous. If Li Qian had to rate her, he wouldn’t hesitate to give her an eighty, but a ninety would be a bit of a stretch.
When Li Qian saw the pretty girl, he couldn’t help but smile to himself.
’That Uncle Pi Qiu... Sun Hongyi is old, but his mind is still young. He’s still got a few tricks up his sleeve.’
"Li Qian, my Third Uncle has made the arrangements. He asked me to take you to Red Bridge," the pretty woman said with a smile.
Li Qian was slightly taken aback. "Third Uncle?"
The pretty woman introduced herself, "My name is Sun Ruirui, and Professor Sun is my third uncle."
Li Qian asked skeptically, "Your actual uncle?"
Sun Ruirui covered her mouth and giggled. "The actual one!"
Li Qian found it incredible. He shook his head and lamented, "You two don’t look alike..."
Sun Ruirui’s smile grew wider. "Actually, when he was young, my third uncle was a famous heartthrob in the area."
Li Qian raised an eyebrow. "Then what on earth happened to him over the years?"
"Hee hee hee..."
Sun Ruirui chuckled aloud. "You’re funny. Aren’t you afraid my third uncle will get angry if he finds out?"
Li Qian pursed his lips nonchalantly. "If he finds out, he finds out. I’m not his student, so why should I be afraid of him?"
After a pause, he looked at Sun Ruirui and continued, "Besides, what I just said is between you and me. Professor Sun doesn’t know."
"And I believe that pretty, cute girls usually don’t tattle."
Sun Ruirui picked up on the subtext in Li Qian’s words, a smile playing on her lips. "Are you complimenting me?"
Li Qian chuckled. "Well, that depends on whether or not you tattle."
Sun Ruirui pouted. "I won’t tattle. It has nothing to do with me being pretty and cute, but because you were telling the truth."
Li Qian was struck speechless for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Er..."
’This Sun Ruirui really doesn’t hesitate to throw her uncle under the bus.’
Chatting and laughing, they walked for about fifteen minutes and arrived at the northeastern corner of the manor.
SPLASH... SPLASH...
The moment he got close, he heard the sound of water lapping against the shore.
Out of curiosity, he quickened his pace slightly.
Sun Ruirui began to explain, "That’s the sound of ocean waves up ahead."
Li Qian turned his head to look at the pretty girl, a little confused.
’The sound of ocean waves up ahead?’
’What does she mean?’
’Are we at the seashore?’
Li Qian knew the manor wasn’t far from the sea, but at this moment, he still hadn’t left the grounds.
’Don’t tell me the manor connects directly to the ocean?’
Li Qian was completely baffled.
Sun Ruirui saw the confusion on his face and continued to explain, "There’s a small bay up ahead with a bridge built over it. The manor’s walls cross over the bridge, so strictly speaking, this manor does connect to the ocean."
After hearing this explanation, Li Qian sighed softly. "This is just inhumanly extravagant."
"But with a connection like this, aren’t you worried about the Pet Beasts in the manor sneaking out, or wild Pet Beasts getting in?"
Sun Ruirui shook her head and pointed in the direction of the waves. "No need to worry."
"One of my third uncle’s Pet Beasts lives in that little bay."
"Oh, right, that Pet Beast is a Tidal Sea Spirit."
"Its strength has already surpassed its Racial Potential Limit, reaching Tier Three Emperor. With it living in the bay, you don’t need to worry about any of the things you mentioned."
As Li Qian listened to Sun Ruirui’s explanation, his expression gradually turned a little strange.
He asked for confirmation, "Are you saying the Tidal Sea Spirit in this bay has already reached Tier Five Emperor, and it’s your third uncle’s Pet Beast!"
"Then, doesn’t that mean your third uncle is an Emperor Level Beast Master?"
"Yep!" Sun Ruirui nodded, a sweet smile on her face.
Receiving confirmation, the corner of Li Qian’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch.
At this moment, a herd of grass-mud horses galloped through his mind.
He truly never imagined that Sun Hongyi—the comical-looking man who was practically indistinguishable from a ball—was actually an Emperor Level Beast Master.
Li Qian had assumed that, at most, he was a Dominator Level Beast Master, just like Professor Yan.
After all, Breeders usually focus their main efforts on breeding. Under normal circumstances, their own Level couldn’t possibly be that outrageous.
But he never expected to run into such an outrageous one this time.
If he had known earlier that he was an Emperor Level Breeder, how would Li Qian have dared to be so brazen and joke around so casually?
That was no different than poking a sleeping dragon.
"What, scared now?" Sun Ruirui saw Li Qian flinch, and a lovely curve formed on her lips.
Li Qian nodded honestly. "A little..."
"Weren’t you teasing him just a minute ago?" the young woman asked mischievously.
Li Qian gave a wry smile. "That was before. Ignorance is bliss, as they say."
"But then again, you can’t completely blame me for this. Your third uncle’s appearance is too deceptive."
He hesitated for a moment before adding, "He doesn’t have the air of a powerful expert at all."
After chatting for a little longer, the two arrived at the small bay.
Following the small beach formed by the tides, they took a few more steps and ascended a bridge.
A stone bridge with red railings.
"Professor Sun, could it be that your Hongqiao Manor was named after this bridge?" Li Qian said the moment he stepped onto the Red Bridge, trying to break the ice.
’He had no choice. The atmosphere had become rather awkward, and he needed to quickly find a new topic to move on.’
"It was indeed named after this bridge."
Sun Hongyi, his figure like a ball, was standing on the bridge. He turned to look at Li Qian, who was walking up step by step, his eyes narrowed to slits.
"I never would have thought your manor, Professor Sun, could be connected to the sea by this bridge. It’s truly enviable," Li Qian complimented.
After the compliment, he didn’t pause, continuing, "By the way, I heard from Ruirui just now that one of your Pet Beasts, a Tidal Sea Spirit, lives in this bay. I was wondering, would it be possible for me to see it?"
Hearing this, Sun Hongyi didn’t answer Li Qian’s question right away. Instead, his eyes went wide as he stared at Li Qian. "Ruirui? You little brat, what did you call her? Ruirui?"
"You two just met, and you’re already calling her that?"
"Spit it out, kid. What sweet nothings did you use to trick my niece?"
Faced with Sun Hongyi’s interrogation, Li Qian wore a helpless expression. "Professor Sun, you’ve misunderstood. I... uh... it was just a slip of the tongue!"
Just now, the name had slipped out subconsciously; he hadn’t thought about it at all.
’Thinking about it now, it really was a bit inappropriate. After all, they had only known each other for about ten minutes.’
’The name really was a bit too intimate.’
Li Qian hurriedly tried to speak, but the furious Sun Hongyi seemed to have no intention of listening to his explanation.
Nearby, not only did Sun Ruirui show no sign of helping, but she was instead happily munching on popcorn and enjoying the show.