Chapter 148: Mystery Men
Since ancient times, there had been many stories and legends about fox demons wreaking havoc in the world. Fox demons have always been the epitome of wicked seduction. At first, Lin Jin thought nothing of those stories, but after catching a glimpse of Shang’er’s silhouette underneath the moonlight, he finally understood that those legends weren’t made-up stories.
There were many sayings about women including, ‘lashing out for a great beauty’, or ‘falling for a beauty despite her engaging in debauchery’, or ‘beautiful women are the root of all evil’.
Tons of brilliant monarchs existed in the past but how many could actually free themselves from being captivated by alluring women?
Fortunately, Lin Jin had a strong sense of determination and Shang’er didn’t learn any bewitching spells so she couldn’t entrance anyone yet.
In addition, there were no bewitching spells in Demonic Transformation either. If there were, Lin Jin intended to teach it to Shang’er just to see how terrifying a fox demon equipped with seduction abilities could be.
Shang’er seemed to be in low spirits today. Something seemed to be troubling her.
Lin Jin had been aware of it and finally, he couldn’t resist asking her why.
Shang’er told him the reason.
“Earlier today, someone was spying on us from afar. But when I ran over to where they were, that person was gone.”
Lin Jin was startled when he heard her answer.
Shang’er and the rest of the litter were fox demons. It would be nothing but trouble if someone else found out about their existence.
This wasn’t something he could overlook that easily.
“Shang’er, are you sure of what you saw?” Lin Jin had to make sure.
Shang’er nodded.
Lin Jin looked grave.
Shang’er was a capable Rank 4 fox demon equipped with the Object Manipulation skill. But even without further knowledge of spells, she had immense speed so whoever it was that slipped away, they were not ordinary people.
It didn’t matter if they harbored good or bad intentions, this matter should be taken seriously.
“It’s not safe to continue to stay here. You better move.” Lin Jin sounded firm. It didn’t matter who it was that spied on them, this risk wasn’t something they could afford. Since Lin Jin has spoken, the foxes agreed to it. Although they were reluctant to leave this place, they had no other choice.
And not only did they have to leave, but they also had to depart immediately.
However, a new problem arose. Where were they supposed to go?
“Why don’t we go to Mount Zoroku?” Shang’er suddenly came up with an idea.
Lin Jin nodded at this.
Compared to this location, Mount Zoroku was much more secluded and deeper into the mountains. While people may still come here from time to time, no one ever ventures to Mount Zoroku even during the day.
Hiding there would be much safer.
Although that place was further away from Maple City, for the sake of their safety, it was worth it.
Just one hour after Lin Jin left with Shang’er and the foxes, two silhouettes appeared outside the cave they had been staying in.
Both of them were dressing in tight-fitted clothes with their sleeves and pant legs rolled up, revealing strong muscles. They had ink-black masks on their faces to conceal their identity.
Following behind them were their pet beasts, a five-meter long black panther and a spotted python entrenched on a tree branch.
One of them looked around and said, “Old Ji, didn’t you say there were fox demons hiding out here? Why aren’t they here?”
The old man beside him was stunned and quickly hurried into the cave to investigate. His nose wiggled then he answered, “Old Pan, you know I never lie. This place still has a fox demon’s aura lingering around. Perhaps they’re not back yet, or maybe they left after sensing danger in the air.”
Old Pan scoffed. “Old Ji, you mentioned that one of the fox demons has mastered transformation and is currently in the form of a young woman. But transformation spells have been extinct for many years now, not to mention the dwindling number of monsters over time. Do you know how improbable it is to stumble into a monster who knows transformation? Shouldn’t you come up with a more reasonable lie?”
“But it’s true! If I’m lying about this, may I die without a burial ground,” Old Ji swore out of desperation.
“Forget it. I don’t care if it’s real or fake. The fox demon you’ve mentioned isn’t here so it most probably escaped. If we want to search for it, it’ll definitely take time. We better head into Maple City first and finish up our business here.” There was a hint of viciousness in Old Pan’s tone. Unwilling to defy his companion’s suggestion, Old Ji reluctantly gave up on the fox demons for now.
Both men hurried over to Maple City and discreetly entered the city.
“Old Ji, you head over to the Zu Manor and steal that Jiuying snake and I’ll defeat that monster you said was hiding in the well of a broken-down temple. Try not to alert the city’s experts or it’ll be troublesome.” After Old Pan was done giving out instructions, he led his spotted python to the run-down temple while Old Ji headed for the Zu Manor.
However, when Old Ji returned with his task accomplished, Old Pan was nowhere to be seen.
“What’s going on?” Old Ji got anxious. It was only a matter of time for the Zu Manor to notice their missing pet beast and although he was using a costly ‘beast control amulet’ to subdue the Jiuying snake, the time limit was quickly running out. Once the time-limit was exceeded, the amulet loses effect and he couldn’t control the Jiuying snake anymore.
“Old Pan is skilled and even has his Rank 2 spotted python with him. There shouldn’t have been any hiccups!” Old Ji murmured to himself as he removed his mask. If Lin Jin were here, he’d definitely recognize this old man with the surname Ji to be the one competing with Zu Can for the two-headed snake during the beast auction.
Being skilled in beast appraising, this old guy even had an amazing artifact that helps him detect monsters’ auras. Back when he was strolling around Maple City, his artifact detected there was a monster in the well of a run-down temple. Based on the monster’s aura, he deduced the creature to be only a Rank 1 monster.
Although monsters were horrifying, these creatures were covered in gems. Everything from their flesh, blood, to bones could be used as ingredients for making medicine. However, as it was a Rank 1 monster, Old Ji was afraid he couldn’t handle things on his own so he had ‘Old Pan’ help him out.
Old Pan had been a notorious pirate, a seasoned veteran in close-quarters combat. He was also a long-time friend of Old Ji’s.
Both of them had agreed that for this mission, they would seize both the Zu family’s Jiuying snake and the Rank 1 monster. Both creatures could earn them thousands of gold and with that, they could live the rest of their lives worry-free.
Things had gone well on his end but evidently not so for Old Pan.
Feeling helpless, Old Ji could only head toward the run-down temple with both pet beasts.
He sensed something off the moment he arrived.
The demonic aura here was too dense.
Continuing inside, Old Ji found fresh bloodstains on the ground. There were no signs of Old Pan anywhere nor were there signs of any other living creatures.
“This is odd!”
When he came to the well, Old Ji found the huge stone initially covering the well to have fallen to the side. Someone must have moved it. Meanwhile, there were more bloodstains around the well, which indicated that there was a struggle here.
“Old Pan! Old Pan!” Old Ji shouted. When there was no response, he began to panic.
All this while when he and Old Pan teamed up for this kind of dirty work, they had never failed. Old Pan in particular was a ruthless man who killed without emotions. As long as there was money involved, the man could do anything.
Old Pan could be described as brave and meticulous. He had once captured a monster before so that was considered a valuable experience. Hence, even if he came across trouble, the man could at least escape. But now, it seemed like an accident had happened.
Staring at the bloodstains and scratches around the well, Old Ji got more unsettled.
He planned to leave.
Old Pan was a good friend but with these traces here, the man was probably a goner. Old Ji could at least burn him some Hell money[1] when he got back.
With this thought in mind, Old Ji was about to retreat.
But all of a sudden, he heard noises coming from the well. Old Ji turned back out of reflex to see Old Pan trying hard to climb up the well with his face covered in blood.
Old Pan’s life was obviously hanging by a thread without even the energy to call out for help.
With his quick reflexes, Old Ji quickly pulled Old Pan out of the well.
Old Pan was in a tragic state. His clothes were battered and his body was covered in wounds still oozing blood. The man looked ghastly pale.
Old Ji glanced back before asking, “Old Pan, what happened? Where is your pet beast?”
“It died. F*ck this sh*t! Don’t ask, quick! Take me away from this place.” The terrified look on Old Pan’s face made Old Ji shudder. They hurried outside, but just a few steps later, they heard sounds behind them. Turning back, they saw a massive black anaconda slithering out of the well.
The black anaconda was covered in demonic energy with hostility gleaming in its eyes.
Old Ji began to tremble. Skilled in beast evaluation, he could obviously tell that this snake monster was more than Rank 1.
No doubt, they had made a miscalculation.
Run!
But they couldn’t run.
Holding onto Old Pan, Old Ji couldn’t get far. And even if they ran with all their might, they wouldn’t be faster than the black snake. When he heard the wind blowing behind them, out of desperation, Old Ji performed a spell and had his pet beast initiate an attack.
They didn’t have much of a choice.
However, he then heard a weird noise as if bones were being broken. Old Ji turned to glance and his eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
His pet beast, a Rank 2 sabertooth panther was being constricted by the black snake into a dough twist[2]. From the looks of it, the bones inside his black panther’s body were completely broken.
This was too horrifying.
Old Ji reacted decisively. He simply cast Old Pan aside and fled on his own.
At such a crucial time, any talk about brotherhood or friendship was just garbage. Moreover, Old Ji had been putting up with Old Pan’s cold-hearted nature for a long time now so how could he risk his life for such a person?
His own survival was much more important.
As he ran, he kept stuttering, “A Rank 2… that’s definitely a Rank 2 monster… How could there be a Rank 2 monster in this Maple City? It’s over… Everything’s over…”
Old Pan who was pushed to the ground had no tears left to cry. He didn’t even have the energy to curse out loud. One of his legs had been crushed by the black snake earlier and now felt like a limp noodle. He couldn’t even stand up. Just as he managed to crawl a few steps away, the black snake swallowed him whole.
Old Ji didn’t dare to look back. He was running as fast as he could but deep inside, he knew that his speed couldn’t match up to the black snake at all. The creature could easily cover a fifty to sixty feet distance with just one slither. When he sensed a gust of wind blowing behind him, Old Ji rolled over and burrowed under the debris of a dilapidated temple.
Just like a frantically escaping rat.
He couldn’t care for anything else now. Any hole would do.
As for resistance…
He wouldn’t even think of it. His Rank 2 pet beast suffered immediate death after one blow so how could he even fight back?
Hiding under collapsed beams and broken bricks, Old Ji trembled uncontrollably. He was genuinely terrified. He wanted nothing more than to survive right now.
This pile of debris obviously couldn’t hold the black snake monster. Old Ji was in a state of despair. He could even feel the foul breath coming from the snake monster’s mouth and tingling the back of his neck.
But after Old Ji waited for a long while, he didn’t hear any movements from the monster.
He found it strange and this made him curious. Bracing himself, he turned to see the black snake monster staring straight into a certain direction, paying him no more mind. As if it was staring at its worst enemy, Old Ji could see fear and even terror in the snake’s cold eyes.
Cowering in his hidey-hole, Old Ji obviously couldn’t see what was petrifying the snake monster.
But he was curious. Although he didn’t have the courage to come out, he had enough to poke his head out to see what was going on.
The moonlight elongated the silhouette of two people on the ground.
From the shadows, he could tell that it was a man and a woman.
[1] A form of joss paper printed to resemble legal tender banknotes in Chinese culture. They are offered as burnt offerings to the deceased as a solution to resolve their assumed monetary problems in the afterlife.
[2] Fried Dough Twist is a Chinese dough twist that is fried in peanut oil. It has a shiny and golden look. It’s essentially a doughnut, but of a twisted shape