Chapter 436: Daojun?
Lin Jin was very sensitive about masks because whenever he took on Curator’s role, he would always be wearing a beast-patterned mask. This had practically become Curator’s signature look.
The current mask he was wearing was a replica of his Curator’s mask in the Visitation Hall.
The mask Daojun wore in the portrait was practically a carbon copy of Curator’s mask.
“Wasn’t it a mask with the word ‘Dao’ on it?’
Lin Jin had heard a number of tales about Daojun, and one consistent thing he kept hearing was how Daojun’s face would constantly be shrouded behind a mask, especially when he was in the presence of others. When Lin Jin heard about it, he was inwardly amused, thinking that he was just like Daojun.
However, what Daojun used was supposedly a mask with ‘Dao’ written over it.
It was thus safe for Lin Jin to assume that it was different from his beast-pattered mask. Tons of experts in the world, especially villains loved wearing masks and there were so many variants around. It did not come as a surprise to Lin Jin that there were people out there who did not wish to reveal their identity. At times, it was even a style.
Now that Lin Jin had uncovered the copy of a mask that he used to think was one-of-a-kind, the implications were now different.
No identical mask could possibly exist in this world, especially if one took into account the details behind its creation. As mentioned earlier, Insect Taoist was exceptionally skilled in drawing and presented the details perfectly. When Lin Jin compared the mask in the painting to the one he had hand-drawn and put on, the similarities were just too much to have been a mere coincidence.
With this, Lin Jin was a hundred percent sure that Daojun’s mask was the same as his.
For a moment there, Lin Jin felt conflicting emotions.
When he recalled the ‘inheritance’ Insect Taoist had mentioned, the chaos in Lin Jin’s mind suddenly cleared up.
He felt just like a drowning person who was suddenly pulled above the surface of the water.
“By inheritance, he must’ve been talking about the Museum of Deadly Beasts!” Lin Jin mumbled to himself.
That wasn’t right either!
The instant this idea came up, Lin Jin quickly dismissed it.
Insect Taoist had only targeted Lin Jin for the ‘inheritance’ but he probably didn’t know what the actual ‘inheritance’ was. To Insect Taoist, he probably assumed the inheritance was a physical object, and he probably had no idea what its true form was.
However, Lin Jin was sure that someone out there knew of it.
This Daojun character was especially suspicious.
Lin Jin wasn’t being narcissistic, but when he saw Insect Taoist’s painting of Daojun, for a moment there, he thought the man in the painting was himself.
It wasn’t hard to imagine how identical they looked.
Following this train of thought, Lin Jin came to a set of conclusions.
As one of Daojun’s direct disciples, Insect Taoist affirmed that Lin Jin must have gained Daojun’s ‘inheritance’ judging by his mask. Hence, as an orthodox disciple, it was understandable that he would try to negotiate or snatch the inheritance away from Lin Jin through underhanded means.
Even so, it was likely that Insect Taoist had no idea what the ‘inheritance’ was.
Of course, Lin Jin only figured this out after seeing Daojun’s portrait. Looks like he would have to gather more information on Daojun from now on.
In the diary Insect Taoist left behind, not much was said about Daojun. Instead, it mostly recorded Insect Taoist’s cultivation process, his thoughts during cultivation, and other random stuff.
Lin Jin couldn’t understand most of it nor figure out what they possibly were. He could only research them slowly in the future.
Besides these, there were also several pill bottles. Some of the bottles smelled nice while others smelled putrid. They obviously had different effects but since they were items a formidable figure like Insect Taoist carried around, they must have significant uses.
After looting everything, Lin Jin knew this was the end of it for now. However, while Insect Taoist may have brought his death upon himself, this incident had sent off a warning siren in Lin Jin’s head.
Insect Taoist was only one of the Six Beast Taoists, so what about the other five? Were they dead or alive? Potential enemies or foes? Would they come after Lin Jin just like Insect Taoist had?
Everything was a mystery.
The worst part was, Lin Jin felt exposed in comparison to his enemies, who remained hidden.
‘Looks like my priority will be to gather information,’ Lin Jin internally decided. Then, with Shang’er, Goldy, White Ape, and Zhi Yin, the group left Mount Gu Cong.
Lin Jin wondered if it was his misperception but as they left the mountain, the miasma seemed to have decreased a little.
Once outside, Zhi Yin bid them farewell on his own accord. He may have been cursed earlier, but his cultivation and constitution surpassed that of a normal human, so even if he was still hurt, he could make it back to Daluo Temple on his own.
Lin Jin didn’t stop him. He could tell that Zhi Yin was fine now so it wasn’t a problem to let him handle the journey back to his monastery.
Meanwhile, it was time he made some plans of his own.
Two days later at Maple City, most of the arrangements have been made. Of course, he had returned to the city as himself, Lin Jin.
Curator would continue to be missing as always.
It wasn’t an issue since Curator was a mystery to everyone else anyway.
As the incident stirred up quite the ruckus, the Emperor, He Qian personally wrote to Lin Jin while Ye Yuzhou and Chen Ruyuan came to visit him. Even Zuo Wentang of the City Lord Manor and Shi Wenjun came by too.
Just socializing with his visitors took up half of Lin Jin’s day.
Lin Jin had gained quite a bit from his trip. Not only did he learn many secrets, but he also met the legendary Buddha.
Apart from that, Goldy managed to evolve from Rank 3 to Rank 4. Similarly, Shang’er evolved from Rank 4 to Rank 5. As for White Ape, although he didn’t evolve, he was at least safe and sound. That was all that mattered to Lin Jin.
Now, the one with the greatest potential to continue evolving among them was Goldy.
Later on, after Lin Jin appraised Goldy, he realized that the guy actually swallowed a Rank 5 insect king, the golden cicada. It was a rare occurrence for a beast to devour another beast of a higher rank. Under normal circumstances, a Rank 4 would never be able to eat a Rank 5 because it would result in the Rank 5 beast forcefully breaking out of the Rank 4 with its strength.
But Goldy was different.
Also, Goldy was a natural enemy of that Rank 5 golden cicada so other than their difference in rank, Goldy was superior in every other aspect.
Goldy was fine, but only to a certain extent. During their trip to Mount Gu Cong, Goldy had eaten way too many bugs for his own good, and not all of them were average insects. Some of the poison bugs were rare creatures, and no doubt, there were Rank 2s and even Rank 3s in the mix.
In most cases, such insects could have dominated a mountain on their own and became their own boss. Too bad, they all ended up as lunch for Goldy.
After eating so many high-level poison bugs, Goldy needed quite a long time to digest them all.
Upon returning to Maple City, Goldy went straight to his nest and had been sleeping for two days now. From the looks of it, he would probably continue sleeping for quite some time.
Those who had no idea what happened might even assume the rooster was sick.
It was only after an appraisal did Lin Jin realize that Goldy was trying to digest the powerful bugs he had eaten. After all, this had never happened before.
As for what would happen after Goldy digested the powers of all these bugs, truth be told, even Lin Jin had no idea. The museum didn’t give him a clear answer either.
However, no matter the outcome, Lin Jin was sure that it would be beneficial for Goldy.
At night time, Lin Jin entered the Visitation Hall.
Today just happened to be the day the Visitation Hall reopened.