Chapter 202: The Obedient Leng’Er
Ling Chen had bought over one thousand dolls, and the beautiful saleswoman was ecstatic, but still looked at Ling Chen somewhat strangely.
Dolls and other toys were cosmetic items. One could put a maximum of 200 of the same toy in one space in their bag. However, as there were six hundred different types of toys, this would take up six hundred spaces on Ling Chen’s bag, which definitely would not be possible. However, Ling Chen was not worried about this at all. Toy Stores always provided a Shopping Bag that had an incredibly large storage space, to make it more convenient for players with limited storage space in their bags. When making the purchase, the beautiful saleswoman put all of the dolls Ling Chen had bought into such a bag. However, this Shopping Bag could only store toys, and nothing else.
Ling Chen did not immediately give all of these dolls to Leng’Er. Leng’Er watched as Ling Chen put away all of those dolls, said goodbye to the beautiful saleswoman and walked out of the Toy Store. She carried the big dolphin doll in her arms, and chased after him.
“I want… dolls… I want…”
Ling Chen secretly smiled inside. This time, without him saying anything, Leng’Er had run after him. He had walked to a space beside the Toy Store where there was not anyone present, and smiled as Leng’Er floated over. Leng’Er stopped in front of him, and looked at him with a pleading expression… she had clearly seen him buy many, many dolls, all of which were extremely pretty and cute. She wanted every single one of them.
Although she was still a little bit afraid of this person who had killed her companion, her love of dolls was greater.
“Dolls… I want… Please give me dolls…”
Her voice was as soft and gentle as a little kitten’s mewing, and did not contain a bit of the coldness or resentment from back when Ling Chen had first met her. Seeing her like this, Ling Chen did not feel she was complicated or mysterious at all, but rather pure and naïve. She had already completely forgotten about the giant skeleton and the Forest of Bones, and her desirous expression for dolls was extremely cute, just like a little child’s.
Ling Chen smiled, and leaned forward. He revealed what he had been hiding behind his back. In his hand was a doll wearing the same type of black dress Leng’Er was wearing. It was an extremely beautiful princess doll. He held it in front of Leng’Er and asked, “Leng’Er, do you like this?”
It was probably the first time Leng’Er had seen a humanoid doll. This doll was extremely well-made and beautiful, and was as cute as Leng’Er herself. It had been extremely expensive- Ling Chen remembered clearly that it had costed 60,000 gold.
It was clear that Leng’Er extremely liked this doll. This incredibly cute doll caused her eyes to sparkle brightly, and she stared unblinkingly at it. After a long time, she stretched out her hands, while gently saying, “So pretty, so cute, I want…”
Perhaps it was because she only had half a spirit, and adding on the fact that she had lived for so long away from civilization in the Forest of Bones, it was quite difficult for Leng’Er to talk smoothly. Just as her two little hands were about to come into contact with the princess doll, Ling Chen pulled his hands back, and put the doll behind his back. Afterwards, he smilingly said to her, “Leng’Er, did you know, in the outside world, only good and obedient kids can have dolls as rewards. Is Leng’Er going to be obedient?”
“Obedient?” Leng’Er was a bit confused.
“Yes. For example… I’m now Leng’Er’s master, so if Leng’Er calls me ‘master’, I’ll give this doll to the obedient Leng’Er.” Ling Chen smiled. It was extremely easy to please children!
“Oh…” Leng’Er hugged the big dolphin doll, blinking her eyes, as if she was trying very hard to understand what “obedient” and “master” meant. However, none of this mattered in comparison to the doll. For the doll, she called out, “Mas…ter…”
Being called master by a girl was a weirdly nice sensation to Ling Chen. He took out the princess doll from behind his back, and put it in Leng’Er’s hands, “Leng’Er is so good and obedient! This princess doll is Leng’Er’s reward. As long as Leng’Er is obedient, master will give Leng’Er lots of cute dolls. If Leng’Er is really obedient, maybe she’ll get lots of dolls.”
Not only did giving her dolls raise her favourability, but it also gave him a chance to talk to her. This way, she would naturally not be afraid of him after some time, and would grow closer to him.
“Ding… Leng’Er’s favourability towards you +12.”
This time, Leng’Er’s favourability towards him had increased by 12, raising her favourability to -10. Right now, Ling Chen’s actions were sufficient to get rid of Leng’Er’s hostility and fear of him, and assured her that he would not harm her. Rather, following him would result in her having lots of dolls.
Leng’Er put away the dolphin doll, and took the extremely cute princess doll into her arms. Leng’Er closed her eyes, and an extremely radiant and satisfied smile appeared on her face… indeed, it was a smile that was full of happiness and joy. It was the first time Ling Chen had seen such a smile on Leng’Er’s face- evidently, she loved this doll immensely.
In that case…
Of course, Ling Chen wouldn’t take out the best doll from the very beginning. After a short while, he took out a princess doll wearing a rainbow dress. It was as large as the other one, but it was much more colourful and pretty. The moment he took it out, Leng’Er’s intense gaze told him that she wanted this doll greatly as well.
“Leng’Er, remember what I said just then- only good, obedient kids can have dolls as rewards. If Leng’Er wants to hug her, Leng’Er has to listen to master, okay?”
“I will… listen… be obedient…” Leng’Er had no resistances against cute and pretty things. Right now, her greatest desire was to have this doll. In order to have it, she was willing to do anything Ling Chen told her to.
“En, that’s right.” Ling Chen nodded, and said, “So, tell me, what’s your name?”
“Name?” Leng’Er opened her mouth, and gazed at the princess doll in Ling Chen’s hands. After a moment, she quietly said, “Leng’Er…”
“Right!” Ling Chen contently nodded his head, “I’ll call you Leng’Er, and what will Leng’Er call me?”
This time, Leng’Er didn’t have to think, and answered, “Mas…ter…”
“Haha, Leng’Er’s so smart. In that case, I’ll give this cute doll to Leng’Er as a reward.”
Ling Chen could feel that the emotional distance between Leng’Er and himself was rapidly shrinking. He smiled, and gave the princess doll to Leng’Er. Leng’Er happily took it into her hands, and holding one princess in each arm, the warm and radiant smile once again appeared on her face. Her ridiculously happy expression was so cute that Ling Chen spaced out staring at her for a while. He couldn’t help but walk a bit closer, wanting to stroke her long hair.
Ling Chen moving close to her caused Leng’Er to take fright. By the time his hand almost reached her head, she shot away like a scared little cat. Far away, she tightly hugged the two dolls, her face slightly shaking as she looked at him with a bewildered expression.
Ling Chen’s hand froze in mid-air, and he inwardly kicked himself… he had been too rash! Although he had shortened the emotional distance between Leng’Er and himself, her favourability towards him was still in the negatives. It was natural that she would act in such a way when he tried to touch her… luckily, her favourability did not drop because of that.
This was something that could not be rushed. From today’s progress, it seemed that as long as he was patient, in not too long, Leng’Er’s favourability towards him would no longer be negative.
“Leng’Er, don’t be afraid, I’m your master, so I’ll only protect you and give you lots of cute dolls. I’ll never hurt you.” Ling Chen said smilingly. Of course, the best method was… he took out another doll, “Look! This one’s also very cute; I’ll give it to Leng’Er.”
Attracted by the doll, Leng’Er’s fright disappeared, and she floated over, and embraced the new doll. As long as it was a doll, she would like it. It seemed that she would never get sick of dolls.
After successfully calming her down, Ling Chen looked at the time and found that it was nearly dawn. He bent down, and said to Leng’Er, “Leng’Er, when master comes back, if you’re good and obedient, you’ll get even more dolls tomorrow.”
After Leng’Er returned to the Pet Dimension, Ling Chen let out a breath, able to rest assured that she wouldn’t run off. He rubbed his face, and felt that what he had just done was even more tiring than fighting an intense battle. Right now, Leng’Er’s favourability to him was -10; if it kept increasing at the current rate, it would be positive by the next day. However, thinking to the fact that he would have to keep up this up for a long time, he couldn’t help but sigh.
Afterwards, Ling Chen decided to log off. In the afternoon, he would have his duel with the Sword Emperor. He was confident in his strength, but definitely would not underestimate his opponent. After all, the Sword Emperor’s strength was undisputed and was like a legend to Chinese players. In order to be at his peak condition, he needed to rest, so that his mind and spirit could cope with whatever was thrown at him.