He has a demonic black fire under his eyes.
Ge Hao and Yu YiZhou were also walking to the examination room. Both of their scores were slightly better than Ji XingLing’s. Even though their ranks were still inferior and in the below middle-level positions, it wasn’t as bad as needing to be banished to the WuTong Building.
“Isn’t that Yue Sheng ma?” Ge Hao saw a person from some distance away. “I heard that when he was taking the Chinese literature test in the morning, he almost fought with Brother Xing, as it was because of throwing things, which ended up hitting Brother Xing.”
Yu YiZhou unscrewed the bottle of water, “What, you didn’t call to ask?”
“It turned off, but I sent a WeChat message to Brother Lin, and he replied with a sentence that said, it’s alright.” Ge Hao said, “They didn’t eat in the cafeteria at noon, and both of them have been gone outside the school.”
Yue Sheng was also a perennial incorrigible lowest-ranking person in the exam. Whether internally or externally, he developed a developmental anomaly into a powerful and savage person. Fighting, smoking, and blackmailing the junior grade students, with the girlfriends changed one after another, habitually spendthrift, popular in the outside school, also act like a tyranny overlord and do whatever he wishes in ShanHai — well, as long as he hadn’t provoked trouble with Ji XingLing and Yu YiZhou, the two noble young master. They were considered on both sides as the well-water would not intrude upon the river water1.
Yu YiZhou had no slightest bit of interest in this person, “C’mon. Let’s go back to the classroom.”
…
While Ji XingLing went to the restroom, Lin Jing was leaning against the horizontal bar, and intermittently flipped through the practice questions on his smartphone. Perhaps it was thanks to stifling hot, sticky days that always made him not only feel a bit drowsy, but also quite listless.
A black cat appeared quietly unnoticed, coiled around to circled him twice, while making a coquettish “miaow” sound, and moved closer to rub its head.
Lin Jing had quite liked small animals, but being a germaphobe didn’t allow him to stroke them directly, so he just bent down over and teased for a moment.
“Meow.” The furry tail swept across the sleeves, and then willingly revealed his belly.
Lin Jing turned on the camera and was ready to take a picture of it, but the black cat seemed to be frightened. It suddenly landed on four paws and plunged into the shrubbery like a sharp arrow being shot out.
“What are you doing?” Ji XingLing asked.
“There was a stray cat just now. It was quite playful and cute.” Lin Jing clapped his hands and stood up. Probably due to the excessive movement and the briefly insufficient blood flow to the brain, which made him squat down again, “Pull me up.”
Ji XingLing was grabbing his sleeve, but when he saw a few black furs on it, he frowned, “What stray cat, is it black?”
“How do you know?” Lin Jing sniffed, “Oh, no! I seem to have really caught a cold because of the stupid fan.”
“You go back to the exam room first ba.” Ji XingLing released his hand, “I’ll go to Mr. Wang’s office. He has Huoxiangshui (Chinese medicine).”
Lin Jing nodded, the feeling of dizziness to boarding a pirate ship by comparison.
The pre-exam bell had rung, and the sports field had become deserted. Deep in the shade of the forest, a black cat was lazily lounging in sunbeams. It used its forepaws to fiddle with the reward that it had just received from Qiongqi2, while making a comfortable “purr” sound from its throat. Seeing that it was about to fall asleep at any moment, yet, its ears were still keenly aware of the deeply low and dull sound — it was very far away at first. But the pressure instantly arrived nearby, just like those sudden claps of thunders that blast in the sky in the summer nightfall.
The black cat lost its sleepiness, and its snow-white demon’s pupils tightened, “Ouch!”
——Jinhua Cat3, after the cat had been kept domestically in the house for three years, every midnight, the cat would jump onto the roof of the house, then squatted there while opening its mouth towards the moon. So the cat could absorb the essence of the moon. Day after day, and over time, the cat could become a monster.
The fiercely black mist had engulfed the cat demon violently and drove over it all the way to the outside of the school with a roar.
The gatekeeper uncle was an enlightened beast who was in his old age, and his movements were relatively slow to act. He just looked up and saw the thunder cloud coming. He still hadn’t had the time to carry out an interception against it, and his hair in his crown of the head had been singed, while he remained stupefied.
…
The students nowadays ah.
And why did you use the original body for skiving off? It was a little too grand, wasn’t it? Was it because either the wall was not easy to climb over or the lock on the back door was not easy to pick?
In the back alley, the chubby grocery store owner was counting the cash bill, when the door suddenly slammed open.
The wooden wind chime, which couldn’t withstand the brutal test, fell to the ground with its body shattered to pieces, and died the most horrible death.
The fat boss, who was in an unpleasant mood in the first place because of losing money, suddenly became even more simmering with rage, “I say you—”
Before he finished speaking, a Jinhua Cat had heavily hit the counter again.
CRASHED!
Even the glass was smashed into pieces now.
The fat boss’s voice trembled, “…you..you..you.”
“I want a dispel antidote.” Ji XingLing threw him a glittering golden monster coin, “Quick!”
The fat boss, who had turned his losses into profits, had his attitude changed 180 degrees, and changed his tune as he cordially expressed, “No problem.”
He was a medicinal beast.
—— During the Shennong period, The people of Bai paid tribute to a kind of divine beast called the medicinal beast. People who were sick with diseases, told the medicinal beast in the unidentified language that was taught and passed on by the people of Bai, and the words were unknown. After speaking, the medicinal beasts went and returned from the wild with some particular herbal medicine. By pounding the herbs into juice and taking it, the diseases could be fully cured. Later, after the Yellow Emperor called the wind, he recorded which herbs corresponded to the pharmacy. Over time, they treated the diseases according to the pharmacy, and all was highly efficacious. There were rumors in ancient times that the Yellow Emperor had tasted all kinds of herbs, but it was not so. Therefore, Yu Qing remarked, “The Huangdi (Yellow Emperor) worships the medicinal beast as his teacher and knows the art of medicine.”
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon4, in a small slummy alley.
The Jinhua Cat trembled, hoarsely and exhaustedly, shouting out a confession by naming his accomplice, “…It was Yue..Yue..Yue Sheng that Qiongqi asked me to do it!”
“Are you saying that you are the old adult monster who apparently cast a charm to confuse high school students? This is a violation of ‘The Penalty Law of Peace and Order in Monster’, don’t you know it?” The fat boss knocked on its stiff spine, “Better honestly contribute your life so that you can bear in mind this lesson ba.”
“OUCH!”
…
The math exam had already begun.
Lin Jing was frowning slightly, when he looked at the empty seat on the right side of the podium. The invigilator teacher noticed his discomfort and asked in a low voice, “Student, are you not feeling well?”
“I have got a cold.” Lin Jing rubbed his temples, and with a solid nasal voice, said, “It’s okay.”
The teacher found him a disposable paper cup and gave him a cup of warm water.
Yue Sheng propped his head with one hand, and whistled with a touch of epicaricacy, which predictably caused him to be scolded loudly, “Answer the question well!”
Lin Jing wasn’t in the mood to respond to the opponent’s provocation, and his current state was somewhat a bit terrible.
It was partly because of ill-health, whereas the other part was caused by Ji XingLing’s absence from the exam. Logically speaking, it takes less than five minutes from Wang HongYu’s office to WuTong Building, and it was unlikely to go so far as to not come back till now.
He found it hard to concentrate all along, and came to a halt in the second multiple-choice question. Lin Jing clenched the pen tightly, trying to shake off his lethargy and make himself soberer, but the double image in front of him had worsened, even followed by his stomach churning up and down.
The sweat trickled down from his forehead, and when he finally couldn’t hold on anymore, and decided to give up the exam to go to the hospital, Ji XingLing, who was out of breath, finally appeared in the classroom entrance, “Report!”
“How do you come now? If it’s the university entrance examination, you won’t be able to enter the classroom anymore.” The invigilator teacher reproved displeasedly, “Go and answer the examination paper quickly ba.”
“Thank you, Teacher.” When Ji XingLing returned to his seat, he conveniently put the school infirmary paper bag on Lin Jing’s desk, and whispered, “Eat it now.”
It may be that he was worried that the patient was too dizzy to hear. Before entering the classroom, he deliberately bolded the three scribbled block letters on the paper bag— eat it now, as well as a series of exclamation marks for emphasis.
The white pill was without its packaging. However, the school infirmary often prescribed this kind of large bottle for repackaging. Lin Jing didn’t think too much about it, so he swallowed one pill with water.
Ji XingLing heaved a sigh of relief, then pulled his chair away and sat down.
In the last row, Yue Sheng looked at the stupid cold medicine that was obviously not useful, and sniggered the “pfft” sound again. He grabbed the pen in a good mood and intended to fool around with a few multiple-choice questions then leave. Yet, his sight accidentally bumped into Ji XingLing’s gaze— in the young man’s long and narrow eyes, the cold black was surging with demon fury, and filled with warnings and threats.
Qilin’s nature of deterrent value against evil beasts was innate, which made Yue Sheng panicked, and the pen in his hand fell onto the ground.
It never crossed his mind to think that the other party was actually not even a human being.
…
Because he was twenty minutes late for the exam, this time, Young Master Ji finally didn’t turn in the paper ahead of time, and he had earnestly sat down to the last second.
The teachers sealed the brown kraft paper bag and went back to the office together with it, while leaving only two people in the classroom.
“How do you feel?” Ji XingLing walked over to him.
“It’s much better after taking medicine.” Lin Jing rubbed his face. “Didn’t you say you were going to Mr. Wang’s office ma? Why did you go to the school infirmary?”
“There was no one in Mr. Wang’s office.” Ji XingLing remarks nonchalantly, “C’mon, let’s go home.”
“Thank you for today.” Lin Jing felt a little sorry for him. “If you didn’t get 400 because of mathematics, I could lend pocket money to you; I, too, will explain it to aunty.”
“Hey, hey, don’t you jinxed me.” Ji XingLing promptly refused. “I think I did quite well in the exam. Really, I figured out even the last big question. The answer is 36, right?”
Lin Jing restrained the words which sprang to his lips. The last question was to find the range of values of t. How did you come up with the unrelated answer of 36?
Out of consideration for the self-confidence of the Xuezha students, Little Teacher Lin didn’t say anything at all, “Maybe, I am actually not sure either. Do you drink soft drinks? I will treat you. Also, I will drop in at the school infirmary to get some medicine, by the way.”
“…”
Considering that there will be an exam tomorrow, Ji XingLing had no intention to let the plants know about the cat demon’s matter, lest it affected his mood. So he forcibly grasped the other party’s shoulders, and walked outside the classroom with him, as his mouth plausibly and volubly started educating him, “What kind of medicine should you take when you already get better? Don’t you know that you can’t take too much medicine? Move, move, move, the driver has been waiting outside for a long time. Let’s go home!”
Lin Jing, who stood unsteadily, was staggeringly dragged away by him, “How do you know that I am fully healed?”
“Because the school doctor who cheated neither old nor young5, had guaranteed ah, that it was an instant effect, and it will cure dizziness, headache, and indigestion.”
“…Why does this school doctor speak in the same style as a quack doctor?”
“No matter what the other people’s speaking style, the doctor is only responsible for treating the illnesses .”
“Ji XingLing, Ji XingLing, why are you running around? My schoolbag is still in the classroom!”
“…”
The service of Brother Xing picking up schoolbags was swiftly in action, conveniently quick, and free of charge.
This evening, Lin Jing took another cold medicine and fell asleep very early. Next door, room 1301, Ji XingLing was calling the fat boss of the grocery store owner, “How is that Jinhua Cat?”
“What else can I do? I handed it over to the monster vigilante squad bei. I heard that Qiongqi’s parents also received a call from the department of public security. Tsk tsk, evidently the trouble stirred by the little devil this time is not small.”
“One more thing.” Ji XingLing was laid on the massage chair, with one foot stepping on the edge of the table, “Do you have a talisman pouch for repelling evil?”
“Well, it’s not impossible to find it, if you want it.” The fat boss became vigorously, “but this thing isn’t cheap.”
Evil-shielding blessing pouch was referring to that each of guardian divine beasts individually contributes some spirit tools, consisted such as rhinoceros horns la, dragon pearls la, reflame burning fire la, and then unified all these things to be compressed into small pockets made of tulle silk, and to be worn them as amulets, that could subdue eighty percent of the evil beasts, and which were very suitable for plants that do not have the ability to defend themselves against evil.
The fat boss jabbered on in unsparing detail, “You can get a 20% discount with your student ID, that is, 240 monster coins, with a 50% deposit, and it is non-refundable.”
It may be rated as the sky-high price among exorbitant prices.
But the standard fee rate of the evil-shielding blessing pouch was really just that expensive, because it was not a cushy job to knock on the door of the auspicious beasts from house to house. The boss could offer a 20% off already been regarded as giving due consideration to the underage monster. He was very generous and had a clear conscience.
Young Master Ji was counting the remaining of his lucky money, in which only one hundred and forty monster coins were left.
“Mom.” He stood at the door of the main bedroom, “How can you give me a hundred monster coins?”
Hu MeiMei, who had applied a facial mask, replied, “If you can score 500 points in the exam, I will give you 500.”
Ji XingLing’s eyes lit up, “Really?!”
“Really.” Hu MeiMei turned around, “Let’s talk about it first. What sort of trouble have you caused again this time?”
“I didn’t get into trouble.” Ji XingLing explained, “I wanted to buy a talisman pouch to ward off evil spirits for Lin Jing. Today, Jinhua Cat and Qiongqi are coming looking for trouble with him at school.”
Hu MeiMei frowned upon hearing this, “Is he alright?”
“It’s okay. The medicinal beast in the back alley has already notified the monster vigilante squad.” Ji XingLing said, “I heard that Qiongqi’s parents have also been summoned to the office of public security.”
Hu MeiMei immediately felt that her son was apparently truly not that bad, and served as a foil to the hapless children of other families. Although she, as a parent, was often summoned to the school by teachers, she herself at least had not been humiliated to enter the public security office.
So she graciously wrote out a cheque, and paid in advance one-fifth of the five-hundredth reward.
And Young Master Ji also smoothly evolved from the rich second generation to miserable minors that weighed down with huge debts overnight.
Hu MeiMei asked while brimming over with motherly love, “When can you give your mother a 500-point test?”
Brother Xing proposed a new idea for solving the problem, “I can also save five years of lunar New Year’s lucky money and pay it off all at once.”
Hu MeiMei, “…”
You’d better go back to your bedroom quickly ba.
Translator's Notes
- The water does not intrude into [interfere with] the river water(井水不犯河水 jiǐng shuǐ bù fàn hé shuǐ) – It is a well-known phrase, Well-water and river water leave each other alone — stay out of things that don’t concern you. Keep clear of somebody as well-water and river water; None may encroach upon the precincts of another. It is a metaphor for each in charge of each other, not in conflict with each other. Each is going his own way (without interfering with the other).
- Qiongqi (穷奇): represents Deviousness. It looks like a winged tiger. It eats people, instigates wars, and commits many other evil deeds. It is one of the members of The Four Fiends (四凶 sìxiōng) in mythology, which was a group of monsters that were banished by Emperor Shun to bring order to human society.
- Jinhua Cats (金华猫 Jīnhuá māo) – According to the folklore, in the book MaoYuan 猫苑, a book about cats from the Qing dynasties 清朝, around 19th century. There was a kind of cat in Jinhua County, Wuzhou, in ancient times. Jinhua cats are monsters transformed from cats raised by humans. They can transform into human form and confuse people. Since their ability to bewitch humans is said to come from taking in the spiritual energy of the moon.
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (卧虎藏龙 wò hǔ cáng lóng) – lit. Hidden Dragon, crouching tiger (idiom); fig. talented individuals in hiding or concealed talent. Refers to the hidden talents that have not been discovered, but also the hidden talents.
- Cheating neither old nor young (童叟无欺 tóng sǒu wú qī) – cheating neither old nor young (idiom), refer to treating both youngsters and old folk equally scrupulously and honestly; Our house offers sincere treatment to all and fair trade to old and young alike, means honest and unbiased with all customers.
