In a partially ruined city that bordered Snake Country, Evil Scholar had his white cat in his arms as he said to the others, “Looks like the King of Snake Country’s knows what he’s doing after all. He has already sent an envoy to the Jade Dragon Kingdom to make peace so our mission should be over now.”
Sitting across him was Black Crow, who was chowing down his food. Madam Ghost Child was carrying her swaddle and teasing her baby with a rattle while Coffin Man was sleeping upright with his coffin on his back.
“Let’s go then!” Black Crow tossed the chicken leg onto the table and wiped his mouth. His black falcon had eaten its fill too. The battle yesterday had exhausted much of his energy.
Evil Scholar scooted over and whispered to Black Crow, “Let’s leave on our own. To be honest, I hadn’t had a good night’s sleep for two days after grouping up with them. They’re scary.”
Evil Scholar was clearly creeped out by Madam Ghost Child and Coffin Man.
“What’s there to be afraid of?” Black Crow looked nonchalant. “We’re friends so there’s nothing to be afraid of. Also, even though we went on a rampage, you didn’t see Madam Ghost Child or Coffin Man killing anybody, did you? Do you know why?”
Evil Scholar nodded. “I did notice that, and I did think about the possibilities as well. I heard they were grim reapers but have they suddenly decided to become saints overnight?”
Black Crow grinned. “If the Curator wants them to be saints, dare they disobey?”
Evil Scholar asked quietly, “Is this Curator really that amazing?”
“How many times do I have to tell you how scary the Curator is? Even Ghost Child is obedient as a little lady in front of him…” Halfway through, Black Crow noticed how Evil Scholar’s face suddenly went pale as he stared behind him.
Oh no!
The moment he felt something move behind him, Black Crow drew in a breath of cold air.
Turning around, Madam Ghost Child had suddenly appeared behind him with a rattle in one hand and her swaddle in the other. She asked with a smile on her face, “Mr. Black Crow, please look after my baby. I’m going to get changed since we’ll be meeting the Curator tonight.”
‘F*ck!’
Black Crow was sure Madam Ghost Child heard him talking just now. The problem was, even the bravest man around wouldn’t dare to hold that thing in the swaddle.
Thanks to his great wits, he pulled Evil Scholar over and said, “What a coincidence. I think it’s time for me to change into a new set of clothes as well. Scholar, help us out will you?”
Having said that, he grabbed the swaddle gently and placed it in Evil Scholar’s arms.
“Take this as well!” Ghost Child handed him her rattle. “You have to keep shaking it or the baby will get mad.”
After that, Ghost Child shot a glance at Black Crow before sauntering away into a room and closing the door behind her.
Evil Scholar was just about to lash out when Black Crow made his escape.
In that instant, Evil Scholar felt like crying but his tear ducts remained dry. He knew this baby in the swaddle wasn’t anything good so his body was currently frozen stiff as he shook the rattle with trembling hands.
From this distance, he can hear the faint sound of breathing from the swaddle. If the rattle was rattling too slowly, the breathing would speed up. It seemed like a bad idea to shake the rattle too fast as well.
In just a couple of moments, Evil Scholar’s clothes were drenched with cold sweat.
When Madam Ghost Child finally returned and took back the swaddle, Evil Scholar looked as if he was about to collapse.
Black Crow had returned with a bottle of liquor in his hand, saying it was for Evil Scholar to calm his nerves.
Evil Scholar practically snatched it out of his hands and began downing the burning alcohol.
Black Crow said quietly, “Scholar, I wasn’t trying to push you over a cliff. I had no choice. You didn’t offend her so she had no reason to harm you.”
“Befriending you has shortened my life span,” Evil Scholar growled.
In the evening of the same day.
As dusk arrived, as if Black Crow and Madam Ghost Child felt some invisible wave, the two suddenly disappeared into thin air along with their pet beasts.
Evil Scholar had learned from Black Crow that this would happen when they entered the Visitation Hall. He recalled Black Crow mentioning that today was the reopening day for this ‘Visitation Hall’.
Until the moment Black Crow and Madam Ghost Child disappeared, Evil Scholar had been skeptical. He didn’t deny the Curator’s existence but this all sounded too bizarre.
But as he watched them disappear without a trace, Evil Scholar’s skepticism faded away.
And soon, he realized something else.
It was pitch-dark and quiet out here. The residents of this city in Snake Country had all escaped, ergo, only he was left alone with Coffin Man.
When it came to the five Lingnan Deities, the scariest one wasn’t Madam Ghost Child but actually Coffin Man.
‘Why is my life so hard!’ Evil Scholar became scared again.
Looks like tonight will be another sleepless night.
In the Visitation Hall.
Lin Jin had just listened to Black Crow and Madam Ghost Child’s story so he knew that the threat of war with Snake Country had already been dealt with, for now at least. He was impressed by how efficient they were, to be able to neutralize the threat in a matter of days.
Lin Jin was of course, pleased to learn this.
As for the helpers Black Crow and Ghost Child mentioned, Lin Jin would definitely reward them too.
The rewards were obviously related to their pet beasts.
Black Crow had brought with him a strand of the white cat’s fur while Madam Ghost Child told him about Coffin Man’s condition.
“Curator, it’ll be great if we can bring Scholar and Coffin Man into the Visitation Hall,” Black Crow suddenly said.
Lin Jin remained quiet.
He wanted that too but even as Curator, he didn’t get to decide who was invited and who was not.
Seeing how the Curator wasn’t saying anything, Black Crow dropped the topic, thinking it was still too soon for him to be making this request.
Holding the cat’s fur in his hand, Lin Jin immediately learned about Evil Scholar’s pet beast.
“Spirit devouring beast. Rank 3. Rare beast.”
“Attribute: A balance of all five elements. Status: Juvenile. Showing signs of evolution.”
“The three evolution methods include…”
A great pet beast.
Lin Jin couldn’t help lamenting inwardly especially when he saw the mature form this spirit devouring beast would become. It was a mighty and powerful creature whose potential was the highest than any beast Lin Jin had come across thus far.
If this pet beast was well taken care of until it matures, even Ghost Child’s babyface spider might not stand a chance against it.
However, for this spirit devouring beast to reach the mature stage, it had to at least be Rank 4.
After looking at the evolution method, he found it to be a rather simple process.
Since this Evil Scholar had helped out in stopping the threat of imminent war as well, Lin Jin would write him an evaluation report. As for the evolution method, he would pick a random one and put it into the report.
Once he was done, Lin Jin handed it back to Black Crow who excitedly flipped through the report. He was great friends with this Evil Scholar so if his buddy didn’t receive any reward after helping out, Black Crow would feel ashamed.
Not to mention the multiple instances where he had described the Curator as the world’s number one expert. An evaluation report of such quality was befitting of the Curator’s impressive status.
In other words, Black Crow could now return to Evil Scholar with this report and tell him how awesome his admirable Curator was. With just one strand of cat hair, the man was able to generate an evaluation report that couldn’t be bought anywhere.
Suddenly, Black Crow thought of another good friend of his.