Don't Lie to Your Therapist—She Already Knows Your Fate

Was this what it felt like to bully people—oh, wait, squirrels?

I have to admit, this feeling was pretty... awesome!

"Since you five can understand human speech, I’ll warn you now. You can live here, but you absolutely cannot harm the humans here. Understand?"

"SQUEAK!"

The five squirrels squeaked in unison.

"Master, they said okay," Little White translated.

"You have to do what you say. If you can’t, don’t blame me for wiping you out!" Wen Ying’s expression was bone-chillingly cold. ’Even though these are protected animals, when human lives are at stake, human lives are obviously more important.’

"SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK!"

"Master, they say they know they were wrong and they’ll never do it again."

Little White, the translator, was back on the job.

"Ask them if they’re the ones behind the rumors." Wen Ying’s voice was calm, but it inexplicably terrified the five squirrels who had gained intelligence.

Their whole bodies were trembling.

"SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK, SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK, SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK, SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK."

One of the five squirrels squeaked nonstop at Wen Ying.

When it finally fell silent, Little White looked at Wen Ying gravely. "Master, this really is their doing, but it’s begging you to spare them. It says they didn’t originally belong here; they all came from different places. They don’t remember the exact day they arrived, just that it seemed to happen after they heard a mysterious voice. They gathered here from all over. Most of the squirrels here haven’t gained intelligence, but these ones can communicate with them.

When they first arrived, they were all very agitated, so they hurt some people, and that’s how the scary rumors started. But they say it wasn’t their intention. After they came to their senses, they gathered all the squirrels that had come here. Those squirrels, just like them, had no idea why they were here, but they all came anyway.

They want you to let them go, Master. They’re clear-headed now and haven’t hurt any more humans."

Wen Ying’s gaze was icy. "They haven’t hurt anyone because no one comes here anymore, right?"

"SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK~"

Another burst of squeaking.

"Master, it says they’re telling the truth. A while ago, a lot of people came here, but they made all the squirrels hide. Those people were carrying some strange things."

Wen Ying thought for a moment. ’They’re probably talking about the film crew.’

"Then why did they try to hurt people this time?"

Wen Ying was naturally referring to the initial attack and the one just now.

"SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK."

"Master, they said some of the squirrels became agitated again for some reason, and that’s why things went wrong. They promise to keep a close eye on the rest of the squirrels from now on."

’As long as no one was hurt.’

After threatening them via Little White, Wen Ying also made sure to tell them that if she could help with their situation, she would.

The two sides had reached a truce.

The five squirrels surrounded Wen Ying, hopping around constantly, clearly very happy.

Just then, Xu Jiali and Song Jiayan slowly regained consciousness.

"Shhh."

At Wen Ying’s "shhh," the five squirrels instantly returned to their spots and began to control the squirrel army.

When Song Jiayan and Xu Jiali opened their eyes and saw the squirrels were still all around them, they wanted to faint all over again.

"Don’t be afraid. They won’t hurt us."

Seeing that her reassurance wasn’t working, Wen Ying took two sheets of talisman paper from her pocket and handed them to Xu Jiali and Song Jiayan. "This is a special psychological medicine I developed. Carrying it will maximize your courage. If that’s hard to understand, you can think of it as a hypnotic protection spell."

Wen Ying was just spouting nonsense.

The key thing was, Xu Jiali grew excited the moment she heard this.

She immediately clutched the talisman paper in her hand. ’These must be from Immortal Xiao Bai!’

Song Jiayan was a bit dumbfounded, but he took it anyway. ’Isn’t this just talisman paper?’

’Don’t tell me... is this how Doctor Wen got her title?’

Song Jiayan was a mature adult; even if he was thinking these things, he wouldn’t say them out loud.

This is what it means to be a proper adult.

But the moment he took the talisman paper, Song Jiayan felt a strong psychological effect.

It was as if the talisman paper really had given him immense courage. As he faced the squirrels, more than half of his fear vanished.

The feeling was truly strange.

"Little White."

Wen Ying called out, and Xu Jiali and Song Jiayan saw Little White pop out from between some thick tree trunks. He then jumped directly onto a squirrel’s head. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

’High and mighty?’

’Oh, no, he actually seemed a little cautious.’

Little White jumped down with a guilty conscience and started to explain, "I didn’t do it on purpose! I just thought... it was fun. None of you have ever played like this before, right? Song Jiayan and Sister Lili have definitely never tried it, right?"

Xu Jiali, "..."

’It does look fun, but give me a heads-up next time.’

Song Jiayan, "..."

’It might be fun, but he really didn’t want to play.’

’Are all these supernatural creatures so childish?’

’Using controlled squirrels to scare people?’

"I... I’m fine," Xu Jiali could only say.

’Of course, she couldn’t blame the Great Immortal or think the Great Immortal had done something wrong.’

’How could the Great Immortal possibly be wrong?’

Song Jiayan remained even more silent.

--

[Congratulations, Host! The squirrels here include: Yellow-footed Squirrel, Pallas’s Squirrel, Blue-bellied Squirrel, Golden-backed Squirrel, Five-striped Squirrel, White-backed Squirrel, Inornate Squirrel, Maritime Striped Squirrel, Père David’s Rock Squirrel, Red-cheeked Squirrel, Red-legged Squirrel...]

"Stop! I didn’t ask you for a lecture on squirrel species, did I? What are you doing here?"

[Host, this System has System-produced, squirrel-exclusive pine nuts! Eating just one can grant them sapience!!]

The system went straight for the ultimate weapon.

Wen Ying, "Just tell me the reputation value."

[One pine nut for 100,000 reputation value! What do you think, Host? Isn’t that a bargain? This is this System’s special ’love and friendship’ price for the Host!]

’One day, I’ll make you kneel and call me Daddy.’

Wen Ying ground her molars.

"To what degree of sapience?"

[They will be able to converse freely with the Host. For some squirrels, the agitation factor within them can even be completely eliminated. Perhaps the Host can find the answers she’s looking for.]

"How much reputation value do I have left?"

[Sixty-six thousand, six hundred and sixty-six.]

"It went down again?????"

The system said nothing.

"What if it’s for those five squirrels to gain sapience?"

[They will be able to speak human words.]

"Better not. Having one Little White who can talk is already scary enough. We’re filming a show right now, and I can’t have another uncontrollable, talking squirrel. Trending topics are nice, but you can’t hog them all the time."

[Is the Host really not considering it? If there’s a squirrel with good comprehension and talent, it might be the next Little White!]

Wen Ying could feel the system tempting her!

"My Little White is one of a kind."

[Heh heh heh, the host of the Forest Protection System next door has a whole zoo~]