Before Jiang Ran could speak, the shepherd cat spoke first.

"Master, please set off immediately."

"The shepherding task for today is not yet finished."

Can tigers—oh wait, sheepcats—talk?

[Rule 5: You must drive your flock to pasture 50km away before dusk every day, and then lead your flock back to the shepherd's hut without missing a single sheep before nightfall. You must do this every day, it is mandatory.]

What's in the grassland 50km away? Are there any directional requirements?

Jiang Ran asked the sheep cat.

It only said it was a grassland 50km away, but it didn't specify which direction to go. As for whether it was dangerous... Jiang Ran felt there was no need to ask. It would be strange if it wasn't dangerous!

“It doesn’t matter,” the sheep cat replied. “No matter which direction you go, as long as you stay a certain distance away, you will definitely get there.”

"Is there anything there? Nothing at all, just a feeding area for the sheep."

Jiang Ran countered the sheepcat's question: "Can't we eat the grass here? Why do we have to go to that place?"

It didn't answer, but simply looked up at the sky: "We should get going."

Even if you're about to leave, you'll have to wait for me.

Rule Two: If you want to leave the shepherd's hut, you'd better leave enough marks, otherwise you might never find it again.

Jiang Ran returned to the cabin and whispered to Lin Zhi, "Help me find something that can be used as a marker."

"Okay!"

The shepherd's hut wasn't very big to begin with, and after searching for a while, the two of them quickly found a packet of blue powder.

This stuff is perfect for sprinkling a little on the road as a marker, but... can just one packet really cover a full 50km?

However, there didn't seem to be anything else more suitable in the room, and he couldn't very well just take all the tools in the room and leave them lying around.

"We'll just have to use it sparingly."

Jiang Ran put the powder in his pocket and walked out of the room with Lin Zhi.

The sheepcat had been waiting for a long time.

"It's time to set off."

Before Jiang Ran could reply, the shepherd cat ran to the front of the flock. After a roar, the lead sheep started to move, and then the whole flock was led by it!

A thousand white sheep moving forward on the grassland in the gentle breeze is undoubtedly a magnificent sight!

Jiang Ran and Lin Zhi each picked a white sheep that looked pleasing to the eye, sat on its back, and moved forward with the flock.

Lin Zhi patted the sheep's back and slowly approached Jiang Ran.

"Brother Jiang Ran, what dangers do you think we might encounter on the road?"

No matter what, Lin Zhi is an SS-level ghost story teller, not a simple little girl.

How bad can someone who can become an SS-rank ghost story writer be?

Driving a flock of sheep 50km away to graze is anything but normal; problems are bound to arise. The question is whether the problem occurs on the way, upon arrival, or perhaps both.

As the flock of sheep moved forward, Jiang Ran repeatedly went over all eight rules in his mind.

[Rule Seven: Constantly check your flock, pay attention to sheep with vertical pupils. If you find such a sheep, drag it out of the flock immediately and slaughter it in front of the other sheep.]

Rule 8: Beware of prairie wolves

The most likely dangers on the road will stem from these two rules!

"Lin Zhi, did you change your talent build after the last dungeon run?"

"No."

In that case, Lin Zhi's talent should still be the same as before.

[SS-Rank Talent: Resonance]

[Effect: The user can create an absolutely safe mental space, teleporting any non-dead unit from any location into the space. The user can create an unlimited number of spaces, but each space lasts for a maximum of five minutes. Once the total time exceeds five minutes, this talent will enter a three-day cooldown. The time flow rate in the space is ten times that of the real world, and it has the effect of slowly restoring stamina.]

Feel the connection with me, after all, we're friends.

An absolutely safe space with a flow rate ten times faster than reality, meaning five minutes can be used as fifty minutes. For Jiang Ran, isn't this the perfect space to restore his mental strength?

Fifty minutes... Although it's not enough to fully restore your mental energy from zero, it's enough to recover it!

"What's wrong..." Lin Zhi poked her finger. "Am I too weak?"

"No." Jiang Ran smiled. "I think it's pretty good."

The rule mentioned that one should be careful of certain red flowers during the day, but Jiang Ran hasn't seen a single one yet. What worries him is that he doesn't have clairvoyance or X-ray vision, so he can't see through the flock of sheep to observe everything on the ground.

They may have already passed by these red flowers, but he simply couldn't see them because they were blocked by the flock of sheep.

"Is it raining?"

Jiang Ran raised his right hand, and dark clouds suddenly appeared, the sky darkened, and a light rain began to fall.

The sheepcat rushed up to Jiang Ran, pointed into the distance with its paw, and said, "It's raining. There's a cave up ahead. Let's go in and take shelter."

Neither Jiang Ran nor Lin Zhi answered immediately.

What a coincidence, it started raining as I walked here, and there just happens to be a cave in front of me?

Jiang Ran smiled: "What kind of cave can hold thousands of sheep?"

"Let the sheep get soaked outside," the sheepdog replied. "Master, you can go inside and take shelter from the rain. After all, why get soaked when you can take shelter?"

“I think it’s unnecessary.” Jiang Ran raised his hand and lifted another sheep to cover his head. “See, it’s so simple.”

However, this caused the sheep carrying Jiang Ran to contort its face. It was fine to carry Jiang Ran alone, but now that another sheep has been added, what kind of evil has it done?

“Master, you can do that, but what about this young lady?” The Shepherd Cat turned to Lin Zhi. “A proper gentleman would not let a young lady get wet in the rain.”

Lin Zhi immediately waved her hand: "I'm fine with getting wet, I don't need to!"

Jiang Ran looked up at the rainwater, which was noticeably darker than usual: "Indeed, it's best to avoid getting wet in this rain if possible."

He threw down the sheep in his hand and jumped to the ground. Lin Zhi was stunned. Just when she thought Jiang Ran was going to follow the sheepcat to the cave, Jiang Ran bent down and picked up two umbrellas from the ground.

"Look! Problem solved! Two wild umbrellas!"

Lin Zhi was instantly dumbfounded.

So... where did this umbrella come from?!

Jiang Ran tossed an umbrella to Lin Zhi, then returned to the sheep's back and opened the umbrella.

He smiled slightly at the sheepcat: "Let's go."

The sheepcat frowned: "You don't trust me? That's why you won't come to the cave with me?"

"No, I just prefer a simpler solution."

"Besides, I am the shepherd, shouldn't you be the one listening to me?"