Poking out of the tumor was another snake head. The scene was eerily frightening. Such a sight was the first time for many older adults, never mind the youngsters.
What made it all the more horrifying was how the newly-appeared snake head opened its mouth before let out a strange cry.
The sounds were like the wailing of an infant child, sending shivers down its audience’s spines.
“Guaiguai, what is that thing?”
“I don’t know. At first, we assumed it was a tumor but who would’ve thought there was another head hiding under there? Either way, that noise is seriously creeping me out.”
“Isn’t that a two-headed snake?”
The crowd started discussing among themselves about the bizarre.
With widened eyes, Zu Tianli turned to Master Liao and whispered, “Master, what… What is that thing?”
Master Liao mused, ‘How should I know?’
But of course, he couldn’t say that to his paymaster, Zu Tianli, nor could he possibly show ignorance. If he rambled on blindly, Lin Jin might just expose him on the spot so he acted as if he was at a loss for words. He could only stammer awkwardly, unable to give a sensible answer.
Zu Tianli wasn’t that much of an idiot.
From the moment Lin Jin casually narrated the details of their three purchased pet beast, up until Master Liao’s current tongue-tied response, he had a good idea who was the more capable appraiser now.
‘It’s over.’
He thought that by hiring Master Liao, he could one-up Zu Tianhong, but in the end, this man was just all talk and no trousers.
And considering how much he’s charging his customers for his service, isn’t he a swindler?
Zu Tianli immediately came to this realization. There was even a hint of hostility in his eyes as he glared at Master Liao.
And who was this Master Liao? As humans age, they become shrewd. In his line of work, he had come across such ‘accidents’ before which he would always find a way to resolve eventually.
Straightening himself up, he said, “That Appraiser Lin’s skills isn’t half bad but it’s just a coincidence. He must have known about that two-headed snake beforehand, or else he wouldn’t be this confident. Forget it. I admit defeat and I will pay for the purchases of these pet beasts. I won’t let you suffer any losses, Mr. Zu.”
One step back today, two steps forward tomorrow.
Zu Tianli suddenly realized how much sense Master Liao’s words made.
After all, the three pet beasts Master Liao had chosen for him weren’t exactly awful. But the opposing team’s two-headed snake was just too out-of-this-world. Perhaps it was just as Master Liao said. Lin Jin must have secured inside information or else he wouldn’t have insisted on buying the boa constrictor.
At the thought of this, his rage subsided.
Being skilled in observing appearances, upon seeing Zu Tianli’s relaxed expression, Master Liao knew that the danger has been avoided. He continued saying, “What’s more, that two-headed snake only looks unique. It might not be stronger than the beasts I’ve chosen so the competition isn’t exactly over yet.”
That statement was a bluff.
Because Master Liao knew full well he had lost.
Just as Lin Jin had said, their so-called competition wasn’t based on the pet beasts they’ve chosen but how skilled they were in beast evaluation. The younger man was already far superior to him on this point so how could the two-headed snake possibly be any lousier than the beasts he picked?
However, he was merely saying it to please Zu Tianli and to give his failure a convenient excuse. It was also to make Zu Tianli believe in one thing.
That was, Lin Jin’s victory didn’t happen because Master Liao was inferior, but Lin Jin already had insider information on the two-headed snake. With this, he could attribute his loss to Lin Jin being a ‘cheater’.
With this, based on his understanding of Zu Tianli, the man might not even make him pay for the spirit stones spent.
Because people like Zu Tianli relished keeping his dignity.
At that moment, Lin Jin spoke up. “Rank 2 snake beast, a rare breed. Of both wood and water attributes. Contains a trace of the ancient mythical creature ‘Jiuying’s bloodline and has limitless potential. With a proper blood contract formation and care, it can evolve into a Rank 3 within a year…”
Lin Jin began elaborating on the snake’s evaluation.
The utterance of the words ‘Rank 2 snake beast’ made it as clear as day who was the victor here.
No matter how impressive all three of Zu Tianli’s purchases were, they were merely Rank 1 pet beasts. A Rank 2 was enough to overpower all of them.
However, due to Master Liao’s words from earlier, Zu Tianli didn’t get too angry. He only stared at the snake with envy and jealousy in his eyes before flinging his sleeve and storming off.
Master Liao had slipped away quietly as well.
Lingering around here would only bring humiliation upon himself.
Zu Tianhong and Zu Can couldn’t be bothered with anything else right now. Upon hearing the snake being a Rank 2 from the start, they ogled at the two-headed creature with passionate eyes and excited faces as if it was a world-class beauty.
The Zu family had Rank 2 pet beasts too, and they had more than one. However, this creature was a Rank 2 from the start, and according to Lin Jin, it sounded like it would definitely advance into Rank 3 within a year.
A Rank 3 pet beast! Back then, Zu Can great grandfather only managed to grow their family business to a grand scale because of his Rank 3 companion. In other words, didn’t this mean that after purchasing the snake, their Zu family could return to its former glory?
How could Zu Tianhong and Zu Can remain stoic or keep their composure upon such a realization?
When they recalled how they had spent only three thousand low-grade spirit stones, this was an insanely good deal in retrospect. Generally speaking, a Rank 2 pet beast costs even more than that.
It even had a hidden bloodline.
While they had no idea what a ‘Jiuying’ bloodline entailed, it sounded like something amazing.
The Zu family members were ecstatic and many onlookers envied them.
Some of them even felt it a pity, thinking if they had known about this earlier, they would have been more than willing to offer ten thousand low-grade spirit stones for the snake, much less three thousand. Sadly, there was no cure for regrets.
Just then, Zu Can finally noticed how Zu Tianli had snuck away. He whispered to Zu Tianhong, “Father, second uncle and his group left.”
Zu Tianhong’s expression fell dark. “Let them go. He’s becoming more and more unsightly. All this while I’ve been tolerating him because we’re brothers but he’s going too far. Fortunately, Appraiser Lin is here today so they didn’t manage to get away with anything. Can’er, you must remember to treat Appraiser Lin with great respect and get along with him from now on.”
Zu Can quickly nodded.
He would do so even without his father’s instructions.
The father and son pair hurried over to thank Lin Jin while the onlookers cast admiring looks at him. Those who have heard of Lin Jin searched for excuses to talk to and congratulate him, trying to get themselves acquainted with the great appraiser; those who didn’t know him hastily inquired about the man’s background.
In an instant, Lin Jin was surrounded by local dignitaries trying to befriend him.
But all of a sudden, someone shouted, “Yang Jie is here!”
The crowd surrounding Lin Jin was abruptly reduced by half.
Among those who left included Zu Yingying.
Her eyes were currently gleaming with infatuation. “Yang Jie’s here! He’s so wonderful!”
Not just Zu Yingying, every girl present lifted their heads up in anticipation.
This made Lin Jin gape.
A man strode confidently through the door and Lin Jin couldn’t help but gasp as he muttered inwardly, ‘He’s so cool.’
Handsome as a jade with defined eyebrows and eyes like dazzling stars, he sported a white and emerald robe. There was a divine air that surrounded him, which set him apart from your regular Joe. The man was tall and striking, it was no wonder that young girls like Zu Yingying were so captivated by his existence.