Chapter 57 Gaining Sentience

"Click, click, click..."

At that moment, a weasel atop the brick wall let out a strange, clicking cry to its companion down below. It sniffed around the wall, slowly approaching a few pieces of raw meat while keeping a sharp eye on its surroundings, its vigilance remarkably high.

Still, it could not resist the temptation of the delicious meal. Before long, all the pieces of raw meat on the wall had vanished into its belly.

Down below, the other weasel was still pacing anxiously around the chicken coop. Chen Ling had reinforced it with wire mesh, making it impossible for the creature to burrow through, though its presence had scared the two old hens into trembling fits, making them hide away in the nesting boxes without daring to make a single peep.

Up on the wall, having finished the meat, the first weasel nimbly climbed down, let out a few more "click, click, click" sounds to its companion, as if communicating something.

The weasel on the ground, however, paid it no mind at all. Its round, beady black eyes darted endlessly around the chicken coop, wearing an expression that suggested it wouldn't give up until it got a chicken.

Seeing that its companion was ignoring it, the weasel that had come from the wall scrambled up the pear tree beside the chicken coop in a flurry of movement and devoured the raw meat hanging from the branches down to the last scrap.

"That's not right!"

Watching this scene from the darkness beneath the eaves, Chen Ling could not help but feel a rising sense of bewilderment.

"Why isn't the weasel on the ground eating a single piece of the meat? This meat was soaked directly in the spiritual space's spring water—surely the aroma spreading outward should be far more alluring than the chickens inside the coop?"

Just as this thought crossed his mind, a rustling sound echoed through the air. The tree branches shook violently, and the weasel up in the tree fell straight down to the ground like a rigid log.

The weasel pacing near the chicken coop gave a startled twitch, cast a wary look all around, and then hurried over to check on its companion.

It found that the weasel that had fallen from the tree was already curled into a tight ball, shivering violently from head to toe. Its paws were clawing frantically at the ground in a frenzy, as if enduring excruciating pain.

Clearly, the rat poison was taking effect.

Rat poison in this era possessed formidable toxicity. Given a sufficient dose, it could kill a human within the span of a single meal; a mere weasel was naturally child's play.

Especially since this particular weasel had devoured every last morsel of the poisoned raw meat.

For a weasel's body size, the ingested amount far exceeded the lethal dose.

"Click, click, click..."

Seeing the agonizing state of its companion, the weasel on the ground immediately let out anxious, shrill cries, darting around and sniffing its partner's body.

Suddenly, the weasel raised its head and, to Chen Ling's astonishment, stared directly at the spot where he was hiding.

Chen Ling's heart skipped a beat as he realized he had been spotted.

"Blackie, Little Gold, go!"

The two small dogs instantly darted forward like a pair of whipping whirlwinds.

At the sight of this, the weasel let out a sharp shriek, grabbed its companion by the scruff of its neck, and bolted.

The little creature moved with incredible speed; even encumbered by its companion, its pace remained unhindered. A yellowish streak flashed through the pitch-black night, and with a swift bound, it scrambled up onto the chicken coop, attempting to escape via the wall.

Ordinary dogs could not possibly keep pace with such a route.

However, the two dogs raised by Chen Ling were no ordinary canines. Thanks to their recent relentless running about outdoors, their physical potential—nourished and awakened by the spiritual space—had been thoroughly stimulated. Their speed was now every bit as fast as the weasel's. They chased closely behind, leaping right up onto the roof of the chicken coop in pursuit.

For a moment, the courtyard was a chaos of flying feathers and barking hounds.

Panicking as it raced toward the top of the wall, the weasel accidentally let its burden slip from its jaws.

"Woof, woof, woof!"

The two small dogs ignored the fallen weasel, remaining atop the chicken coop with their heads lifted high, barking frantically at the weasel now scaling the wall.

"All right, stop barking and get down here!"

Chen Ling picked up the half-dead weasel that had been dropped and said to the two pups.

Once the creature made it onto the wall, the dogs would no longer be able to catch it.

"Click... click, click, click..."

Seeing its companion captured, the weasel on the wall let out a continuous stream of harsh, piercing cries, pacing back and forth in exasperation and refusing to leave.

"Hah, quite the loyal friend, aren't you?"

Chen Ling sneered inwardly. He could already tell that this weasel possessed considerable intelligence.

The fact that it hadn't touched a single bite of the meat showed that it was far more cautious and cunning than ordinary members of its kind. It was sensitive to anomalies while managing to resist the temptation of delicious food.

By comparison, the one currently in his hand looked like a complete fool.

"I grew careless. I never expected to run into one with such spiritual awareness; otherwise, both of them would have been dead tonight."

Chen Ling sighed with regret.

Then, dangling the half-dead weasel in his hand, he shook it at the one on the wall. "I'll be waiting for your next visit..."

Ignoring its frantic, angry screeches, he turned on his heel and walked back inside the house.

Pushing open the door, he found that Wang Susu had not yet fallen asleep. Hearing him enter, she asked, "I heard quite a commotion outside. How did it go? Did the poison work?"

"One of them was poisoned, but the other got away."

Chen Ling washed his hands, undressed, and climbed onto the heated brick kang.

Lying down, he added, "I hung the poisoned one on the outside wall. These creatures hold deep grudges; seeing its companion die at our home, it will definitely come back. Tomorrow, I'll rig up an 'electric cat' in the courtyard and along the wall. Any bastard that dares step foot in this yard will be electrocuted to death."

An "electric cat" was a rural contraption used for exterminating pests with electricity, functioning much like an improvised electric security fence, albeit in an extremely crude form.

Once powered on, fine wires were strung across areas where rodents frequented, kept just slightly lower than a rodent's body height. When a rat or weasel brushed against the wires, it would be stunned or electrocuted to death.

This gadget packed a serious punch; it could kill not only rats and mice, but also small animals like chickens, ducks, cats, and dogs.

When dealing with a cunning creature like a weasel, an "electric cat" proved far more effective than traditional snap traps.

"Then we'll have to keep a close eye on Blackie and the other one tomorrow," Wang Susu reminded him, worried that the two little dogs might accidentally brush against the wires.

Chen Ling grunted affirmatively, telling her not to worry, and the two of them blew out the lamp and went to sleep.

***

Yet, much to Chen Ling's surprise, before he even had a chance to set up the "electric cat," the weasel returned in the middle of the night.

The moon hung high at the center of the sky, casting a bright, silvery glow even through the unlit windows.

The two dogs in the courtyard began barking incessantly once more.

Waking up from their slumber, the couple sat up in bed.

"What's happening outside? Is the weasel back?" Wang Susu asked, sitting up straight.

"Likely so. That bastard really doesn't let a grudge wait overnight. I'm going out right now to set up the electric cat..."

Grumbling curses, Chen Ling dressed and stepped down from the kang.

However, the moment he pushed the door open and walked outside, he froze.

The weasel that had been hung under the eaves was miraculously still alive. Somehow, it had recovered from its near-death state and was struggling in a desperate bid to escape down the wall.

"How is it not dead? The dose of rat poison was substantial."

Chen Ling picked it up, holding it in his palm with a puzzled frown.

"Could it be because those pieces of meat weren't just laced with poison, but also soaked in the spiritual space's water...?"

"Did it neutralize the toxicity of the rat poison?"

Upon careful reflection, that seemed entirely plausible. After all, only the water from his spiritual space possessed such miraculous properties.

Just then, the two small dogs started barking furiously again.

Chen Ling turned his head to look, only to find that the other weasel—the one that had escaped earlier—had reappeared atop the wall.

"Heh, I knew you wouldn't run off too far..."

With a cold glance, Chen Ling strode forward, determined to string up the electric cat along the wall and around the chicken coop right then and there.

Otherwise, if this creature kept coming to cause trouble day after day, they would never know a moment of peace.

Seeing Chen Ling approach with its companion gripped tightly in his hand, a human-like expression of anxiety and hesitation flashed in the weasel's tiny eyes.

Suddenly, it dropped down from the wall directly into the courtyard, blocking Chen Ling's path.

This genuinely gave Chen Ling a start.

Seeing the intruder, the two small dogs rushed forward immediately, barking fiercely and lunging into an attack posture.

To everyone's astonishment, the weasel did not flee in terror from the dogs as expected. Instead, it slowly rose onto its hind legs.

Then, bringing its two front paws together in a human-like gesture of cupped fists, it began bowing repeatedly toward Chen Ling, its small eyes brimming with a profound and desperate plea.

Under the bright moonlight, a weasel suddenly performing such a deeply human gesture carried an indescribable sense of the eerie and supernatural.

The sight made Chen Ling instinctively take two steps backward, sending a chill creeping up his spine.

"This fellow..."

"Could it actually have attained sentience?!"