Chapter 14: Mice Are So Cool, Why Don’t You Buy One?
After hearing Yuan Zhu muttering “Mouse” from the side, the middle-aged man suddenly turned his head to look at him and casually asked in a joking manner: “What’s wrong, don’t you know what Mouse means?”
The Mouse in his question obviously did not refer to the usual Game Sprite. This seemingly casual question also had the intention of testing him.
The Game Sprite spoke synchronously in the spirit channel: “Boss, this fat guy is deliberately probing you. He must have been influenced by that Youth’s instigation and has become suspicious of you. That guy is targeting you everywhere. I think you should note him down in your little notebook and take revenge on him later when there’s a chance?”
Yuan Zhu ignored the Game Sprite full of sly words.
He had realized that this little thing was always talking nonsense, and the content it said was particularly to his liking. If it were a host with poor self-control, without controlling and restraining it, it would be like watching Short Videos, becoming more and more addicted, ultimately leading to cognitive deviation.
In plain terms, it was overconfident to the point of bursting, without any sense of proportion, often misjudging the real situation, and being paranoid and confident. Just like a certain Kaishen Express Delivery general manager, “Advantage is in my micro-operation Great Emperor.” It had abilities, but no real operational ability at all.
So Yuan Zhu decided: “From today on, quit the Game Sprite!” He could only appropriately listen to its reasonable opinions, and must not get lost in the saturation bombardment of rainbow farts.
Facing the middle-aged man’s question, Yuan Zhu frantically activated his brain and had the Game Sprite cooperate to search the memory bank. Finally, the relevant knowledge points that were almost bursting out successfully surged forth.
“Ha, you mean Rat King, right? How could I not know! Rat King, strictly speaking, is one of the Twelve Year-Ruling Officials, the head of the twelve zodiac signs. And it is the source of the mysticism Moon of Wisdom.”
After hearing Yuan Zhu’s answer, the middle-aged man smiled noncommittally and teased: “It seems your mental sequelae are not serious, you even remember these Common Sense. So what is your birth zodiac? Do you still remember?”
Yuan Zhu realized that the other party was conducting another implicit investigation on him. The previous inquiry aimed to understand the details of the murder case. Now, it was a test of him personally. They still suspected that he had been tampered with by the Sacrifice Ritual.
“My zodiac is spider, birth date March 3, Moon of Slumber.”
More strange knowledge surged out, and Yuan Zhu also learned that Du Ling Star similarly had a set of 12 zodiac signs. Speaking of which, the ancient version of the 12 zodiac signs was consistent with Earth’s version, but with some order disruptions, circulating only internally in the eastern ancient countries of Geng Continent, lasting for a millennium.
The new version of the 12 zodiac signs was initiated 150 years ago by the current Great Emperor of the Red Dragon Empire, calling on major influential powers and religious forces around the world to jointly compile it.
The ancient old version of the 12 zodiac signs only had cultural attributes, no other meanings. Limited circulation range, low influence.
The new version of the 12 zodiac signs was different, resulting from mutual gaming and compromise among various forces, selecting 12 real Righteous Gods from inside and outside Du Ling Star that could represent certain natural phenomena to serve.
Therefore, the new version of the 12 zodiac signs integrated multiple meanings such as ‘Year Gods, Moon Phase’, and beyond ordinary cultural attributes, it was a genuine mysticism open-source foundation with Supernatural Domain factors.
This was a set of basic ritual materials freely open to all humans (intelligent species). Anyone interested could attempt to perform Divination calculations through Eight Characters of Birth combined with the functions of the Twelve Year-Ruling Officials. Whether for Fortune, Undertaking, or Marriage Fate, it could produce effects, not just mere superstitious games or fraudulent scams.
In this World, the head of the 12 zodiac signs was a Deity named Rat King. Through recalling his life, Yuan Zhu confirmed he had never seen the other’s Temple. In Running City, he had not heard of any shrines or Temples specifically dedicated to it.
However, as a globally universal ‘Righteous God’, Rat King’s influence was everywhere. Its greatest presence in folklore was the custom throughout the New Federation of hanging Mouse at the doorstep to Pray for blessings and welcome the new year.
Because Rat King was not only the head of the zodiac signs, but also influenced the first month of each year, Moon of Wisdom.
Now it was June, Corpse Moon. And in this Sacrifice Ritual, the concept of ‘Corpse Moon’ was used in multiple places to enhance the effect of the Sacrifice Ritual.
…
Mouse as a pest that steals grain and spreads Disease naturally evokes disgust. But if subdivided, many categories can be distinguished:
For example, the cute Q-bouncy, Miniature northern little Mouse huddled in the corner with big Eyes: “Auntie, I just ate two grains of rice.” Another type is larger than a cat, with pumped tendons and muscles, strutting under the Streetlight, fearless of humans and southern Cockroach shoulder-to-shoulder, barging into the Restaurant together, southern Mouse: “Old Man, go fry two dishes for me! With meat!”
Ordinary residents of the New Federation would actively select cute little Mice or hamsters with good Appearance. Kill them, gut them, mix the Fur, air-dry… finally fill the body with Spices and sew it up, fill the eyeballs with Cheap Gems or Glass, making lifelike ‘Sachets (small specimens)’, hung at the doorstep during the new year to bring good Luck.
Usually, these air-dried little Mice would be dressed in little Clothes, topped with hats, stylishly whipped… just like cartoon dolls, with cuteness level skyrocketing another one or two notches. Some use them as pendants, hung on Luxury Goods Bags or belts to show off.
The trend among ordinary civilians of hanging Mouse originated from wealthy families, large Companies, and high-end roadside shops, which usually hang Mouse at the door.
How the rich do it, the poor follow, believing they can rub off some traffic and share a portion of Luck.
How the civilian masses do it then influences the New Continent natives, who also follow suit.
When most natives also started hanging Mouse, the western immigrants on the east coast and Aliens from the Magic Universe also followed the trend without understanding… and thus, the popular fad came about.
Nowadays, directly killing the damn Mouse encountered on the roadside, and hanging cute Mouse Mummies with good Appearance during the new year, have become coexisting Common Sense.
No one rejects ‘Mouse Mummy pendants’ because Mouse are detestable and should die, nor does anyone sympathize with the damn Mouse because of chasing ‘Mouse pendants’.
Humans on Du Ling Star have normal mental states, but their Common Sense and customs are very anomalous.
…
Those authentic big Mice hung high by the rich are truly involved in the mysticism Domain, forming a Supernatural Domain connection with the Rat King. Moreover, their use is not for Pray for blessings, Sachets, or protecting children to be smart and healthy, but purely for surveillance!
Authentic Mouse Mummies, when invented, were extremely expensive, a ‘biological Mummy surveillance device’ with unclear operating principles, involving Deities and the Supernatural Domain.
The Body of this type of Mouse is insignificant, preserved merely for aesthetics and completeness. Their true expensiveness lies in the Rat Head, after mysticism transformation and processing, able to record images with the Eyes (optional Plus infrared night vision version, Max thermal sensing version), stored in the Brain, with up to a week’s cumulative information capacity, readable, playable, and clearable through special means…
The larger the Mouse’s size, the greater the Brain Capacity, the more information stored. Therefore, wealthy families and high-end shops hang ‘Mouse’ at the door as surveillance + alarm devices.
In addition, this Mouse blessed with Divine Power from the Rat King Deity and transformed by mysticism can also serve as a home video recorder, capturing wonderful Enjoyment moments. Little kids on birthdays, dad holding a dead Mouse shoving at his son snapping away, recording Enjoying Life. A eerie light flashes in the Mouse’s Eyes, and the whole family shows happy smiles.
Finally, some professionals in high-end jobs also carry ‘Miniature Sachet Mouse’ in their pockets. Specific function similar to biological USB drive, storing work information and confidential Information in the Brain, and using the Rat Tail interface for biological data transfer and exchange.
Two intelligence agents sneakily enter the same Toilet in the same shop, both pull out a little Mouse from their pockets, insert each other’s tails into the other’s Rat Head occipital interface, complete a delightful intelligence exchange, and both leave without a trace of cloud.
Civilians cannot access this kind of high-end mysticism Product, so they imitate the external form, developing Mouse figurine Sachets with good wishes, or real leather Mouse Stationery Boxes with zippers sewn on the belly.
When Yuan Zhu was in elementary school, the handsomest kid in class would pull out a large dead Mouse from his schoolbag every class, unzip from the chin all the way to the crotch, calmly take out Pencil, ruler, eraser from the belly… Yuan Zhu watched enviously, swearing to buy a bigger one in the future! Mink one!
Unfortunately, to this day, he has never wasted money on a Mouse Stationery Box, and his Younger Brother certainly has not had this fortune either.
After flipping through the Memory, the Game Sprite snarkily commented: “Sigh, Youngster Yuan Zhu is still too stingy. Not only does he engage in internal competition as a traitor to workers, but he also unwilling to spend Salary on Enjoying Life. He won’t even buy the coolest, most fashionable Mouse pencil case, really too lame! Boss, you must buy one for me. I want pink!”
Mouse are so cool, why not buy one?
Mouse are so cool, why not cast a vote?
