Chapter 10 - Master

Zhao Ying tightened her knuckles.

She had been bullied because her pet beast paled in comparison to Zhou Xiu's. Now that both their pet beasts were level two, she had nothing more to fear. Just as Appraiser Lin had said before, when someone hits you, you hit them back.

After activating the Beast Taming Spell, the pangolin bulked up a size, let out a hiss, and charged towards Zhou Xiu. Zhou Xiu's face turned ugly. Both pet beasts were now of level two, his advantage had been snagged... but so what? A pet beast that freshly climbed up a rank truly wasn't able to provoke him.

"Gale Claw!" Zhou Xiu stretched out his hand imitating a claw. At the same time, his yellow dhole leaped with its claws extended, lunging towards them in mid-air. As it leaped towards the pangolin, its sharp claws sliced through the air, with each slice enwrapped by the pressure of the wind.

"Charge!" Zhao Ying calmly responded, ignoring the claw slashes thrown towards them. A pangolin's specialty was its defense. Despite being so vulnerable to the claw attacks before, now when both pet beasts shared the same rank, a few hits would be nothing to it. Because her pet beast had just advanced in rank, she had yet to train it and acquire level two spells, so she could only respond by using level one spells.

The pangolin beast broke through the wall of air pressure, cutting through the wind effortlessly. The gale claw attacks struck the pangolin's body, as expected, only three shallow scrapes were to be seen, with the defense being barely penetrated.

The pangolin rushed in with a splitting dash, by the time the opponent reacted, the dhole had already been embarrassingly knocked down and pinned on the floor by the pangolin.

Zhou Xiu was startled by the sight as he attempted to cast a second spell, but before he had the chance to, Zhao Ying ordered her pangolin to charge towards Zhou Xiu, ignoring the yellow dhole that was mindlessly attacking.

"I surrender!" Zhou Xiu yelled in trepidation.

He didn't have a choice. The pangolin's claws were poking at his chest, his heart could be clawed out with just a light push. He only screamed out in intense terror.

Zhao Ying called the pangolin back to her, unable to hide her ecstatic expression.

Various expressions shadowed over the audience. Before when Lin Jin encouraged Zhao Ying to retaliate, they all thought that it was a joke, but the truth had said otherwise, he had indeed done it.

"Wasn't Lin Jin supposed to be the renowned trash around here? Who's gonna explain what just happened?"

"Did anyone see how he made the pangolin Beast rank up?"

"No, I didn't!"

"Me neither!"

Zhao Ying walked towards Lin Jin and bowed respectfully as he calmly accepted her gesture.

Just by him using his hand to rank up the pangolin beast, a bow was barely enough to flaunt her gratitude. In fact, kneeling before him wouldn't even suffice.

Honestly speaking, Lin Jin had barely scraped the top on the method described in the Museum of Deadly Beasts. He had used his own spiritual energy to help the pangolin break through its limits, and transfer its blood spiritual energy, and he had succeeded because the pangolin was already close to ranking up. If that weren't the case, Lin Jin wouldn't be able to help it rank up, no matter how capable he was.

Lin Jin walked forward and picked up the record book on the ground. Zhou Xiu got up from the ground and composed himself as he avoided eye contact with Lin Jin. His resentment still lingered.

"You've lost, Zhou Xiu. A bet is a bet!" Lin Jin said with a smile that reached his eyes.

Zhou Xiu's heart dropped.

His arrogance made him say in an impulse that if Zhao Ying defeated him, he would call her "Master".

Now he's regretting it down to his bones, blaming himself for blabbering such an unnecessary thing. He was the same age as the chief, calling a young girl 'Master' would make him bury his face into the ground.

"About that... that was said in the heat of the moment, you can't make it an actual bet, can you?" Zhou Xiu said, attempting to brush it off quickly.

Lin Jin furrowed his brows and said, "Eating your words is not a noble act. Cut the chit chat and do as you've betted!"

Upon hearing Lin Jin's words, Zhou Xiu's face turned pale. He looked at the crowd surrounding him. If he actually did it, calling it a public humiliation would be a massive understatement.

He wore the face of a scoundrel and said, "Lin Jin, I said it was a joke. So what if I don't comply?"

"Oh really?" Lin Jin stared at Zhou Xiu as he spoke undauntedly.

Zhou Xiu sneered in response.

Lin Jin shook his head and dropped a single strand of yellow fur onto the ground, a fur strand that fell from Zhou Xiu's pet beast.

The Museum of Deadly Beasts could identify beasts without the need to touch the pet beast, touching its fur was enough to reveal everything about it.

"Zhou Xiu, tell me...has your yellow dhole been losing a lot of fur?" Lin Jin abruptly changed the subject. Not understanding what he meant, Zhou Xiu froze for a moment then replied coldly, "And what's it to you?" 

"Nothing much." Lin Jin nodded calmly as he continued, "Dholes, tigers, leopards, and wolves are all deadly beasts, and it is because of that, that many people take a liking to them and form a blood contract with them. The fierceness and violence of the dholes tend to stray their focus away from their defenses, making them more susceptible to injuries. Sometimes they get minor injuries that are physically hidden. As the accumulation of slight wounds increases, it could lead to permanent consequences, and if vital areas were harmed and left untreated, it'd be a lost cause for them. I've heard that if pet beasts were to die, not only will the blood contract be ruined but the owner would face devastation and will also be unable to form blood contracts with pet beasts for awhile in the near future."

All Lin Jin had mentioned were common facts, making it obvious that there was more to what he was saying. Zhou Xiu's expression turned ugly as he replied, "What are you trying to say?"

Lin Jin directly pointed at the dhole. "Your pet beast was in a battle three months ago and had its vital area harmed. Spiritual energy has entered its body and it was not treated in time. In addition to that, for the past three months you have been pushing it to fight and kill as the internal damage becomes more and more serious. It may seem tough now, but it is heavily injured and already has one foot in the grave. "

Zhou Xiu let out a laugh. "Lin Jin, stop with the nonsense. You think I wouldn't know how my own pet beast is doing?"

"Then let me ask you, has your pet beast been oddly lethargic around midnight recently?" Lin Jin interrogated. Zhou Xiu's expression dimmed at this question.

"Let me continue. Besides losing fur, it hasn't been eating much and blood can be found in its feces. You tried feeding it medicinal pellets, and there was a short improvement in its recovery. Yet the medicine was not the right cure and its condition has worsened recently."

Zhou Xiu paled in disbelief.

"And the most serious symptom would be the cluster-shaped blood spots on its stomach...a clear symptom of a terminal injury. It is a wind element pet beast, so you can either use earth spiritual energy or gold spiritual energy on it and see whether if there's a repulsion. If there isn't, that means I'm right."

The blood drained from Zhou Xiu's face after Lin Jin had finished speaking. He already knew Lin Jin was right. But... how on earth could he tell?

Lin Jin even knew about the hidden blood spots under his pet beast's fur.

Zhou Xiu was aware that the wind and gold elements counter each other. It was expected for them to repel each other, but if they didn't, it would be a big problem. Despite knowing it all with his stubbornness to not believe Lin Jin, he couldn't help but try it out. Indeed, the result was as Lin Jin mentioned.

"Taking a look inside, is there trapped gas in the spirit fountain and the second wind gland acupoint within the pet beast? Is there a blockage in the morning star and the second rui pass point? Using gas to clear the acupoint blockage would cause a great amount of pain..."

Before Lin Jin could finish, Zhou Xiu's pet beast fell onto the ground as it writhed in pain. The vicious beast before was now immensely weak as it laid on the ground paralyzed. 

Zhou Xiu stared at the unbelievable sight. He knew, that everything Lin Jin said was true.

His mind went blank.

He became immobilized.

Lin Jin spoke no more, and turned back to leave with Zhao Ying. As he reached out for the door Lin Jin told him, "As for the Everlasting Town Evaluation records, you can go search for it, and see for yourself, whether or not it's true."

Zhou Xiu shivered, the arrogance he once had was drained out of him. After a quick thought, he chased after Lin Jin.

"Appraiser Lin! Please stay!"

Even the addresses he used changed.

Zhou Xiu was arrogant and domineering. His attitude was terrible but there's always a hint of goodness buried in that evil. The yellow dhole has been with him for over ten years, in battle and through travel. The two shared a deep connection. Zhou Xiu really cherished this pet beast of his. He had vaguely sensed that his pet beast was injured but he couldn't tell what its overall condition was. He tried curing it by using ordinary methods but didn't know that he was actually worsening its condition, and now, as Lin Jin had said, his pet beast is now close to death.

Zhou Xiu could care less about anything else, but when it came to his pet beast, it was an entirely different story.

His pet beast was not only the result of his painstaking effort, it was also his entire future. No mistakes are to be made, especially since he was a beast appraiser. If his pet beast were to die of grave injury, his reputation would plummet and he would lose his position as the office's manager.

And so he begged Lin Jin.

Lin Jin ignored Zhou Xiu as he struggled to pick up his pace. Zhao Ying ignored him as well as she knew Appraiser Lin had the upper hand over him.

Zhou Xiu had to speed up if he wanted to catch up with them. Lin Jin continued to ignore him and so he started to lose his patience. The yellow dhole meant everything to him. Besides their interpersonal relationship, it determined his entire future, losing his position means that he would be kicked out of the organization.

"I was wrong Master! Master, please convince Appraiser Lin! Please, I beg you! "

Out of desperation, Zhou Xiu wailed.