Stretching his body as he wakes up, Xu Hao finally decides to get out of bed after enjoying a leisurely night sleep. Since they still have left over food, It's not as pertinent to get out into the forest early today. He exits his room and notices Lei Yue already awake at the table, repairing some of Xu Hao’s clothes. “Good morning, Lei Yue. Did you sleep well?”

  Looking up from her work, Lei Yue smiles and greets Xu Hao back. “Yes, up until a loud bang this morning woke me up. Though, something tells me it wasn’t your fault this time.”

  He looks back at Lei Yue skeptically. “Oh yeah? How do you know it wasn't me?”

  Lei Yue giggles, “Because I heard a second thud shortly after the first. How did the floor taste?”

  This comment causes Xu Hao to blush a little in embarrassment. “Miss Han Xi wanted to be let out this morning. She's probably exploring the vilge right about now.”

  Right as he says this, he happens to gnce out the window and notices Han Xi passing by the residence with lightning speed.

  He giggles, looking back at Lei Yue. “Seem’s rather than exploring the town, she is getting some running in. I’ll prepare breakfast today.”

  Lei Yue’s eyes widen a bit. “You’re going to cook for a change? I suppose I’ll sit back and rex then.”

  He grabs some deer meat and starts to prepare it, cooking it carefully. Not more than a few minutes before he is done, Han Xi nudges the door open with her head, walking into the house.

  “Welcome back, Miss Han Xi. I hope you enjoyed your run.” he says, smiling back at her as he finishes cooking breakfast for everyone.

  Feeling tired after running so much, Han Xi ys down onto the floor. ‘It was lots of fun. But for some reason, I feel even more tired than normal after sprinting.’

  [That is because using an enhancement talisman can strain your body, leaving you more tired than normal.]

  Nodding her head zily, she rolls over onto her side and rexes. ‘Yeah, that makes sense. That just means I’ll need to continue increasing my stamina stat so it doesn't bother me as much.’

  Bringing the freshly cooked food to the table, Xu Hao motions Han Xi to come join him for a meal. “I’ve finished cooking us breakfast, Miss Han Xi. Why don’t you join us?”

  Hearing this, Han Xi stands up and jumps onto Xu Hao’s head as all 3 of them enjoy their meal.

  ‘I have to think of some way to communicate to Xu Hao that I intend to evolve tonight. He’s been with me since I came to this world, so it only feels right that he is involved.’ she ponders while enjoying a piece of meat.

  Taking a few more moments to think about it, she comes up with an idea. ‘I can’t speak yet, nor do I know how to write. But pictures can be a form of universal nguage, right?’ She wills her system shop to open and searches the list of skills for something that might help her expin her situation to Xu Hao.

  After scrolling for a while, she comes across a skill she thinks might work.

  [Prehensile Tail]Grants the user a prehensile tail capable of grabbing and maniputing objects.Cost: 5 Skill Points

  Han Xi nods as she decides to purchase the skill. ‘This is an easy decision for me. I can use my tail to draw pictures in the snow, along with the potential for other uses in the future.’

  [Thank you for your purchase. Today’s shopping experience is sponsored by Rage: Shadow Legions.]

  Her brows furrow as she dismisses the intrusive system popup by willing it away. ‘Seriously, System?! You’re showing me ads now for games that don’t even exist here?! Quit it!’

  [I’m sorry, host, I’m afraid I can’t do that.]

  She sighs audibly and then taps Xu Hao on the head with her paw, jumps off of his head and walks towards the door. ‘There’s no use getting upset right now. I need to tell Xu Hao what's going to happen today.’

  He looks back at her questioningly, trying to figure out what she means before replying, “Oh, you want to go back out?”

  Han Xi facepaws, then points at Xu Hao, then herself, and then the door.

  Finally registering what she was trying to convey, Xu Hao stands up and starts walking towards her. “Ohhh. You want me to follow you, right?”

  She nods to confirm he is correct.

  The two of them walk out the door and close it behind them, leaving Lei Yue alone at the table. Han Xi approaches a snow mound nearby and decides to try out drawing now that she has a prehensile tail.

  Xu Hao watches her with a curious expression, trying to figure out what she is doing. “Are you trying to draw something? Wait, are you trying to communicate with me?!”

  She smiles gleefully, happy that Xu Hao is catching on to the important things. “Now that he understands this is me trying to communicate with him, I have to draw something to represent evolution…”

  After drawing in the snow for a few minutes, she draws a poor representation of a 4 legged animal with a tail and ears, an up arrow, and a rger representation of the same animal.

  Xu Hao analyzes the drawing carefully, trying to figure out what she means. “So… is that like a cat or something?”

  Irritated by him calling her drawing of a fox, a cat, Han Xi picks up some snow with her tail and throws it at his chest. ‘I’m not a damn cat! What else could this possibly be?! Use your head.’

  This causes Xu Hao to giggle a bit, brushing off the snow. “Ok, ok, I get it. Not a cat.” He looks at it a bit closer and realizes what she is trying to convey. “Is it supposed to be a fox? Meaning, you’re talking about yourself? The next depiction shows it's bigger. Are you trying to say you are ready to evolve?!”

  She nods her head quickly, not giving a chance for Xu Hao to second guess himself. ‘There you go. Finally got it, Mr. Big Brain.’

  Hearing this, he starts contempting deeply what this implies for himself and the vilge. “Hmm… I think we should do this away from the vilge. Evolving from animal grade to savage beast shouldn't cause a catastrophe for the surrounding area, but we should do it in the forest just to be safe. You are pretty abnormal, after all. Thank you for telling me about this beforehand.”

  This causes Han Xi to smile, as it is less expining for her to do. She returns to the snow and tries to draw a picture of the moon.

  “Is that a picture of the moon? Are you saying you want to do it tonight?” he asks, trying to figure out what it means.

  Once again, she nods, indicating he is correct.

  “Ok, no problem, Miss Han Xi. We can go to the forest tonight to do your evolution. Though, we should prepare a bit, just to be safe.” he replies, starting to think of ways to prepare for her evolution.

  While Xu Hao thinks about preparations, Han Xi remembers something from the other day. ‘Didn’t System tell me that Xu Hao is able to cultivate again thanks to the system meat? Since I’m trying to communicate things to him, maybe I should try to expin that as well.’

  She erases her previous drawings and starts drawing a person sitting in a cross-legged position, meditating. Though, it ends up just being a stick figure since she has no experience drawing, much less with her newly prehensile tail. After, she draws wavy lines going towards the person meditating.

  Han Xi points towards Xu Hao using her tail, and then points towards the drawing. Xu Hao inspects the drawing, trying to figure out her intentions. “This looks like a person, I think? They seem to be sitting down and there are wavy lines around them? What are the lines? Are you calling me smelly?”

  Han Xi scoffs and throws more snow at him, instead, this time, hitting him in the face. ‘You are smelly, but that's not what I’m trying to say, dummy!’

  He brushes the snow off his face and looks at Han Xi with a wronged expression. “Miss Han Xi, I’m just trying to understand what you are telling me.”

  Looking closer at the drawing, he decides to take another guess. “If you aren't calling me smelly, are you referring to cultivation?” She quickly nods her head.

  Xu Hao thinks about it for a moment, and then shakes his head with a frown. “I am unable to cultivate, Miss Han Xi. I’ve tried in the past and have been completely unsuccessful. It’s part of the reason I am in this vilge…”

  Determined to not give up, she points at the drawing more aggressively with her tail, and then points back to Xu Hao.

  “I told you, I can’t cultivate, so there's no point.” he replies in a slightly irritated tone.

  She scoffs and jumps up and sps him in the shoulder with her tail lightly as to not hurt him too badly. Despite her attempt at restraint, he ends up falling to the ground from the impact. Next, she points back at the drawing, and then back at him even more aggressively.

  “M-Miss Han Xi, I can not cultivate! Unless you are trying to say that I should try again anyway?”

  She nods aggressively at him as he is finally starting to understand what she is trying to tell him.

  Standing up, Xu Hao sighs, “I can try, but I don’t see why a new attempt would end differently.”

  Looking back at the snow, she contemptes how she should tell him he was likely poisoned. Ultimately, she draws a circle, along with a picture of a stick figure eating it. After, she draws an arrow pointing to the right and then draws a basic picture of a skull.

  Continuing to inspect her work, this one comes to him easier than the st few. “This is a picture of someone eating a circle, and then a skull. Are you trying to say I was poisoned?! I didn’t die, so the skull probably just means that I ate something bad.”

  Once again, Han Xi quickly nods her head, telling him he was right.

  Xu Hao squints his eyes, trying to figure out what all of this means. “How would you know I’m poisoned? Actually, that doesn't matter. You already defy common sense, so there’s no use asking you that. Since this came up right after telling me to cultivate, I assume you’re trying to say a poison I ingested caused my cultivation to halt, but now I should try cultivating again?”

  Nodding her head, she smiles, satisfied that he finally got the bigger picture. ‘Seems like he is catching on. But, I should probably tell him he is still poisoned.’

  Frowning slightly, she points back at Xu Hao, and then at her drawing of the skull.

  Xu Hao thinks deeply about what she is trying to tell him this time. ‘She already nodded yes, so me being poisoned is definitely what she was trying to say, but she’s pointing at the same drawing again. Maybe she's trying to convey something simir.’

  “You don’t mean that I am going to die, do you?” he asks, trying to crify what she meant.

  She shakes her head no, and points back at her drawing again.

  He continues trying to figure out what she means. ‘So if it's not death, perhaps she is still referring to the poison. Ah, I think I understand what she is trying to say now.

  Looking down at Han Xi a little more confidently, Xu Hao speaks up, “If you don’t mean I am going to die, you are trying to say I am still poisoned, correct? You also told me to continue cultivating, despite me telling you I couldn’t. Putting everything together, you’re trying to say I was poisoned and somehow managed to clear some of the poison, so now I can cultivate, but I’m still poisoned?”

  A big smile grows on Han Xi’s face as she nods at Xu Hao’s theory. ‘That was exhausting. I really can not wait until I am able to talk.’

  Xu Hao’s eyes wander off a bit, deep in thought at how he was put into this position. ‘I have a few ideas at who would want to poison me from back at home… but I can worry about that ter.’

  “Alright, Miss Han Xi. Thank you for telling me, I will be certain to try again soon.” He leans down and pets Han Xi’s head, causing her tail to involuntarily wag. “Let’s go make some preparations for your evolution.”

  AnDwHaT5