Beast Tamer

Chapter 2

Li Jun carried on flying for a while, the scenery underneath him kept changing at a fast speed, though if you paid attention you could notice that the more he advances the lusher the vegetation seems to get, and the more vibrant its colors appear to be as if he was nearing its source of life. Even the number of mystical beasts got fewer and fewer until none were left in sight.

Not long after, Li Jun started to gradually decrease his speed and finally landed in front of a small hut facing a dreamlike landscape. A gorgeous lake with shimmering waters was the focus of the scenery. Although it was huge in size, it wasn't very deep and through the translucently clear water one can easily see its bottom. Not very far from it, was the shabby small hut, its mud walls didn't have a particularly smooth surface and its triangular roof was clumsily made out of straws and bamboo sticks. It stood out from the scenery like a sore thump, presenting a clear evidence of the builder's poor construction skills.

This was precisely the inner section of the hidden medieval dimension and this same lake is the source of its rich spiritual energy. On the other side of the lake, is the territory of the infamous heavenly rank mystical beast; the demonic blood ape. But even with its level, it knows well not to cross the boundary of Li Jun's territory. No, in actuality it's Bai Hu's territory but let's not focus on trifling matters.

Li Jun got inside the hut, still holding the dozing off tiger in his embrace. The inside is not very spacious, but it was neat and organized. The walls are full of shelves holding carved out pots and utensils, various fruits and pickled meat separated within small containers and a whole section filled with treasures he stumbled upon within the dimension; cultivation manuals, martial arts techniques, mystical beasts' cores, rare spiritual herb seeds and some high grade weapons.

There was a wooden table backed up against the wall with an unsteady dainty stool in front of it.

At the other side of the room was an old sleeping bag, on top of which Li Jun gently put Bai Hu to sleep comfortably.

Looking around, Li Jun sighed and started to pack up. Although this place is very lonely where his sole companion for the past five years was none other than his cute contracted beast Bai Hu, the thought of leaving his peaceful home left him feeling very sour. He still remembers how horrible it was when he first got here. No matter how hard it is to believe, this person who lives off wild fruits, hunts low level beasts for meat and leads a solitary primitive life was once a legitimate citizen of the technologically advanced, scientifically modernized earth.

He was 16 years old when he died of a car accident and transmigrated to this place; the medieval hidden dimension five years ago. It wasn't a drunk driver, nor was it a speeding car that failed to adhere to the road rules, it was completely and totally Li Jun's fault. He was dazedly walking home, and without paying attention to the glaring pedestrian red light he crossed the road and got hit hard enough to pass on before any of the pain starts to kick in. Dying without pain in considered lucky but he was indeed carrying a massive heartache that day, as he was just returning from his grandfather's funeral. Even though they weren't blood related, the old man treated him as his real grandson, and did everything in his power to raise him well. So his death struck him really hard.

Before meeting his grandfather, Li Jun lived in an orphanage for 8 years. According to one of the caretakers, he was left in front of the orphanage's front gates with nothing but a paper that read "Li Jun". Growing up he always got mocked for being abandoned by his parents. The other kids always bragged about their late parents affectionate and loving nature and that if it weren't for their deaths they wouldn't end up in that damned place. As he was the only one that was brought there as a baby and no one really knew anything about his real family, they made it a game to come up with the worst background stories about him; being an ugly baby so he was thrown out, being the son of a whore, being a bastard tainting his family's reputation and so on...

You could imagine how hurt he felt, having believed from a young age that he was unwanted. He was avoided as the plague in the orphanage and out of conformity even the newer children chose to do the same.

Kids can be very cruel, especially when the orphanage had poor conditions and neglecting supervisors, stealing each other's food portions, blankets when it gets chillier during winter nights and even clothes was a natural occurrence. Because Li Jun was the youngest and the weakest, he usually was the first to be targeted. He could fight against one or two, but definitely not 10 hungry teenagers twice his size.

He learned the hard way that crying to the elder's will get him slapped in the face, fighting back will get him beat up to a pulp and attempting to steal will get him whipped and caged in a dark room.

Having had enough, and developing a somewhat rebellious spirit he ran away, found an abandoned construction site where he took refuge in and became a beggar. As a hungry child, he naturally had no qualms about begging.

He soon took in a stray dog to keep him company and lived a harsh life on the cruel streets for two years. You might ask why would someone so poor take in a dog that needs to be fed, especially when every bite could keep him from starving to death, the answer is simply for protection. You know, from the organ traffickers, sick pedophiles and perverts or even other beggars like himself, they all wanted a piece of him. God knows how many times he had to run for his life.

Getting to how he met his grandfather; he was 10 at the time. he barged in on his clinic, tears and snot mingling together on his grim, dusty face screaming for help and begging the girl at the reception desk to ask the vet to have a look at his already dead pet laying limply within his embrace. The old man came out to check out the commotion, then kindly tried to resuscitate the dog knowing full well that it was in vain, not to give the child a false hope but to assure him that he did everything in his powers to help him. After that incident, the man didn't have the heart to leave the 10-year old Li Jun living on the streets so he adopted him.

Living with his benefactor, Li Jun finally got to experience familial love for the first time in his life. the old man, never neglected him, fed him, clothed him and sent him to school. They became each other's family, each other's home, since the man also had no living relatives left.

He used to go home every day and spend the afternoon helping his grandfather at the clinic. That's where he discovered much to the shock and surprise of the old vet that he got along with animals really well. His presence seems to have a calming effect on them and without exception they would all try to get close to him and get his attention leaving the pet's owners feeling quite bitter.

'why is it that they like a stranger more than we who spent fortunes to raise them?'

This special ability of his made the vet's job a lot easier and Li Jun was the happiest to get to help repay the old man in some way.

Six years past by like a dream for him, and he managed to learn everything there is to know about animals from his grandfather. He was going to inherit the place and carry on working there after graduating.

Unfortunately, life seemed to have other plans in store for the teenager, for after his grandfather's death, he soon followed, eventually finding himself in this mystical land where nothing made sense to him anymore.