Gao Peng opened the door to let Goldie in.
However, the door was a bit too high for it. Goldie tried to climb into the car a couple of times, but ended up tumbling backwards each time. Its yellow feather coat was now covered in grime.
"Quack!" Goldie angrily kicked the car door.
Gao Peng narrowed his eyes at the dented door and said sternly, "Kick it again, and I'm taking back that coat!"
Goldie looked at him apologetically. "Quack!"
Goldie had gained two levels, now Level 16. It had also grown three feet taller, just barely reaching Gao Peng's shoulder.
The feather coat that he had bought for Goldie had originally been a bright yellow color. However, after a month's wear, there was now a layer of grime on it.
Realizing that Gao Peng was looking at it, Goldie quacked loudly at him.
Its quack was then translated into a single word in Gao Peng's head. "Go!"
Gao Peng stepped on the gas pedal, and the car drove out of the villa with a roar.
Goldie, who had never experienced such speed, was simply thrilled by the experience. It stuck its head out of the window and quacked joyfully in the wind. Its hood had also come off, revealing its bald head, but Goldie was too excited to care at that moment.
When they finally reached the university, Gao Peng opened the door for Goldie, who stumbled out of the car, its face flushed with excitement. It waddled over to Gao Peng and hugged his legs with its wings. "Let's go one more time!"
"Next time," said Gao Peng, pushing Goldie away. "Come on, it's getting late."
"Gao Peng?" a voice called out uncertainly behind him.
Gao Peng turned around and saw Xu Qingzhi closing her car door and looking at him strangely. She said, "It's really you. For a second, I thought I was going crazy."
Gao Peng smiled. Just then, a duck wearing a yellow feather coat waddled out from behind him.
Xu Qingzhi's eyes widened when she saw Gao Peng's duck. However, after noticing the strange blue markings on Goldie's balding head, she quickly rephrased what she wanted to say. "Is this one of your familiars? Such a... poor thing, already losing its hair at such a young age," she said sympathetically.
Gao Peng tried to stifle a laugh and pulled Goldie's hood back over its head. "Keep your hood up. You don't want everyone to see your bald head now, do you?"
Goldie quacked quizzically at him. What is this human talking about? Are they talking about how good looking I am?
Xu Qingzhi smiled at the sight of Gao Peng teasing his duck. It was a side of him she had never seen before.
"Don't you usually stay at your grandfather's place?"
Gao Peng's face tensed. In a low voice, he said, "I just wanted to experience the hardships of the common folk... Don't blow my cover for me now."
"Oh, I see," said Xu Qingzhi, nodding. When Gao Peng finally walked away, she realized what he had said. Hardships of the common folk my *ss! she cursed at him.
"Qingzhi, who's the cutie you were talking to? Is he your boyfriend?" asked a tall girl who had rushed over to Qingzhi from the entrance of the parking lot.
"No way. He's just the son of my dad's colleague," replied Xu Qingzhi moodily. "I see being single for so long hasn't improved your taste in men at all."
"Here I am, showing concern for you, and this is how you show your gratitude? For shame!" retorted the tall girl.
Goldie didn't take up much space at all inside Gao Peng's room.
Some familiars couldn't stand sleeping under the same roof as other familiars. Like horses and hunting dogs in the olden days, these familiars preferred to live by themselves.
However, Gao Peng had never encountered such an issue, as he had always slept with Da Zi in the same room. Sleeping with his familiars usually gave him a sense of security.
The night passed without a sound from either one of them.
The next day, after waking up, Gao Peng brought Goldie out for a jog near the lake.
"We need to keep our bodies in good shape all the time!" said Gao Peng sternly to Goldie.
"Look at how short you are! Barely even five feet tall! That won't do! If you want to grow any taller, you better start exercising now. Do you hear me?" Da Zi had always jogged with Da Zi and the others in the past. This was the first time he had brought Goldie out for a run.
Goldie nodded seriously.
"See this lake?" said Gao Peng, pointing at the 100-hectare-wide lake.
"Yes!" quacked Goldie.
"Let's set a mark here and run once round around the lake."
Gao Peng then began leading Goldie around the lake. The duck's tail bobbed up and down behind it as the duck waddled steadily behind Gao Peng.
After jogging once round around the lake, Gao Peng turned around and saw that Goldie was calmly waddling towards him without any sign of exhaustion, as if it could still run another lap.
Have I underestimated its physical capabilities? Gao Peng thought. It might look slow-witted, but it's still a Legendary grade monster.
"I'll practice my martial arts for a bit. You can go play around if you want. Don't go too far now," said Gao Peng.
Goldie nodded and waddled off into the tall grass nearby.
Gao Peng began practicing the martial arts that his grandfather had taught him, making sure that every muscle was amply stretched with each move. It was a form commonly practiced for people to keep themselves in shape. His grandfather had told him that this form could be used to defend oneself only against other humans, warning Gao Peng that he would be better off using something else against the monsters in the wild.
After practicing his form two more times, Gao Peng suddenly heard panicked quacks and derisive laughter from a nearby flower bed.
"Hahaha, it looks so stupid! Does it really think it can hide the fact that it's got no feathers by wearing a feather coat?"
"Whose familiar is it? What a bloody joke."
"This duck's got blue markings all over it as well. Must be going through its rebellious phase, eh?"
Gao Peng was able to hear their every word all too clearly.
He stopped what he was doing and turned towards where the voices were coming from, frowning.