Changed out this stupid COSPLAY suit!
The《Monster’s Law》clearly stated that you couldn’t be forced to disclose your monster’s identity if you didn’t want to disclose your monster’s identity.
Although it sounded a little tongue-twisted, this law was still instrumental in protecting the monster’s rights, as well as maintaining the stability of the monster’s world.
There were indeed some monsters who always liked to lie about by calling themselves as humans. According to the expert analysis, this group of monsters was either because they genuinely liked humans, or because their original form was too damn ugly. After all, the mountains and seas were vast, and not every monster could be as majestic as a Qilin; there were still many odds-shaped species.
Ji XingLing had briefly fallen into doubt; could it be that it was a stunted seedling of a self-abased green foxtail (Setaria Viridis).
Meanwhile, Lin Jing was thinking about another problem. Since neither of them had a fever, what about the story of the cat demon and the monster administrator… But then again, previously, he thought that the problematic teenager who didn’t like to study, was recruiting people to form a gang, and their daily activities might also be jumping over the wall to go to Internet cafes, which also involved smoking, barbecuing, and gang turf fights. He certainly never expected that there would be such a type that was enthusiastic in the fantasy of subduing or defeating monsters and demons. No wonder Ji XingLing had to customize some monster cards for the minions.
“I don’t think you need to play truant at all, really.” Lin Jing sincerely suggested, “You can apply to the school to form a drama club.”
Ji XingLing: ?
Little Teacher Lin continued to walk on the path of saving the problematic student, and stuck out his hand, “Where’s the card?”
Now you’re talking. Young Master Ji suddenly felt at ease and put the silvery-white monster ID in Lin Jing’s palm, “So what kind of monster are you?”
“Before answering, I have one more request.” Lin Jing said with heartfelt words, “Can you also send one to Li MoYuan?”
With this overwhelming sense of eight-grade syndrome, he had desperately needed someone to share the pressure. If another first-ranking of the grade were willing to lower his IQ, that couldn’t be better!
Ji XingLing: What the hell are you talking about?
“Then, while you consider my proposal, I’ll go buy a box of amoxicillin first.” Lin Jing put the monster card into his trouser pocket and turned around to enter the drugstore.
Ji XingLing, “…”
Question: What was more challenging to understand than the English language?
Answer: Plant language.
At this moment, Old Xu from Legend Shop called and asked when the two would come by.
“We’re almost downstairs.” Ji XingLing said, “Ten minutes.”
“The other kid who bought AJ is a monster, too?” Old Xu yawned, “Then I’m not going to change into a human ah, I drank too much wine in the afternoon, so my whole body is all exhausted, and there are no customers in the store anyway.”
——The first mountain of the Nan mountain system was called the Que mountain range, and its first mountain of the Que mountain range was Zhao Yao mountain, which stood on the west coast. There was a wild beast that looked like a long-tailed ape, but it had white ears. It crouched as it moved along, ran like a human, and its name was Xing Xing1.
Old Xu, the Xing Xing, was the owner of this famous trendy shop. His main business was selling shoes and while selling wine was his side business. A throng of beautiful women constantly flocked around him, and he lived a relatively comfortable life.
Lin Jing put the anti-inflammatory medicine into his schoolbag, “Let’s go. I just heard from the cashier’s sister that the bullfrog is quite in demand; we should finish earlier so that we can go queue up soon.”
“Hey.” Ji XingLing followed behind him, “Why don’t you even ask me what kind of monster I am?”
“Before you bring Li MoYuan into the group, don’t discuss this topic with me.”
“…”
The difficulty in understanding the plant language +1.
There were only four elevators in the Wanhe Building; it was crowded with a motley group of people. The elevator had to stop at almost every floor for those who entered and exited.
There were no internet connections on the smartphone, and next to them, there was also a lovebirds couple who maybe just entered a love bubble. They had embraced and couldn’t even be apart from each other, never letting go even for a moment. They were stickily smooching, and the smell of the perfume on their bodies was so pungent. After finally reaching the 28th floor, Lin Jing had sneezed non-stop three-four times, feeling that he almost fainted at the stench of the odor that was permitted in the air inside the elevator.
“It’s always like this here. It’s dirty and messy.” Ji XingLing bought three bottles of soft drinks. “You bring a bottle for Old Xu first. He is waiting for us in front of that store. By the way, Old Xu is the Xing Xing of Zhao Yao mountain; although his appearance is fierce-looking, he has a pretty good personality though, so you don’t need to be afraid when you see him. There was no signal in the elevator, and I’m going to return a missed call.”
“Oh.” Lin Jing took the passing soft drink, still dizzy in his head, and had trouble understanding.
Around the corner, the Legend Shop’s sign was in red neon lighting; it was flickering, flashing brightly on and off, which was eye-catching.
Ji XingLing leaned against the wall and called, “I was in the elevator just now. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” On the other side was the fat boss of the grocery store, “it’s just that you who asking me to check the reason of Yue Sheng suspension from school ma, because he is instigating monsters to threaten human being and needs to be dealt with strictly, so they were forced to send them to a juvenile monster rehabilitation school, where they had to stay there for a year.”
Ji XingLing stood up straight in an instant, “Human?”
“Yeah, the person that was bewitched by the Jinhua Cat.” The fat boss was still rambling, “You talk about that Qiongqi, he can’t even make a distinguished whether the classmate is a human or a monster, and dare to bribe the cat demon to cast a spell, does he think that the other party is also a little monster, so he only needs to frighten him a little bit and at most to be pay fine as punishment? This is considered to suffer a setback… Hello? There is no sound on your side, no signal again?”
Ji XingLing, who was holding his smartphone, watching from a distance, staring helplessly, and stunned, watched as Lin Jing pushed open the door of the Legend Shop.
Wocao…
There were no customers in the shop, and it was hushed.
“Brother Xu?” Lin Jing stood by the shoe rack and tried to say, “I’m Ji XingLing’s classmate, are you in the store ma?”
“Make yourself comfortable.” The curtain moved, and a…hairy, horrifying Xing Xing came out from inside?
Lin Jing, who didn’t take any bit of precautions, had his soul flown away and scattered (be frightened out of one’s wits), while his heart almost stood still, and he almost threw away the drink in his hand.
“Old Xu!” In the next second, a roar exploded behind Lin Jing, “You tama go and change out this stupid COSPLAY suit of yours!”
Xing Xing, “…”
Lin Jing’s shock was multiplied by two by this yelling, which made him also go weak at the knees.
Ji XingLing put his arm around Lin Jing’s shoulders, as he forced himself for a calm pretense, “I forgot to remind you, Brother Xu always loves this kind of bizarrely costume, his taste is very abnormal.”
Old Xu bit his tongue, then silently turned and returned inside.
One minute later, a fashionable cool guy with a Mohican hairstyle with bright red AJ stepped out.
“Sorry for frightening you, student.”
“It’s okay.. It’s okay.” Lin Jing had recovered quite a bit, “I’ve never seen such realistic props. If you go to the comic show, you will definitely get first place. Did you make it yourself ma?”
“…You could say that.” More likely that he was born and grew with it.
Ji XingLing sat on the couch and drank a whole bottle of ice-cola in one go, his fingers still trembling slightly.
Lin Jing was puzzled, “Are you alright?”
“It’s okay. It’s too stuffy in the elevator.” Ji XingLing was not in the mood to sort out the cause and effect, so he diverted the topic and said, “Go to the cashier first to place the order, then you pay a 30% deposit, Old Xu’s shop is always like this.”
“No need! What’s the deposit for, as you are all so familiar. Let’s talk about it next week when the goods arrive.” Xing Xing, the cool guy, also had a very racing heart at the moment; he just wanted to dismiss these two little kids away quickly, “I’ll get your things.”
Lin Jing asked nonchalantly, “What kind of shoes did you order?”
“It’s not shoes. Old Xu has a… wine cellar. My (maternal) grandfather will have his birthday next month, so I asked him to buy a small bottle of.. that.. wine.”
“Ji XingLing, you are really uncomfortable, aren’t you? You are all sweaty. Why don’t we just go home, and I will treat you to eating bullfrog next time.”
“…That’s fine, too.”
The way back home was silent.
The taxis stop and go, go and stop, the red lights were constant, blocking a long way up and very winding driveway (streets).
Lin Jing got a bit of motion sickness, so he listened to music with earphones on. It just so happened that Ji XingLing didn’t really want to talk either at the moment.
He carefully recalled the entire process of the encounter between the two, and finally found out where the problem lay on — from the beginning to the end, he unilaterally determined that the monster ID belonged to Lin Jing. As for the reasons, one was that he was the only stranger at the scene, and another point, which was also the critical point, was that the refreshing and clean scent of the other party’s body had indeed resembled the fog in the deepest of monster mountain forest, which wrapped in the wind amidst the drizzle, and saturated between flowers and blades of grass.
So… could it be some kind of shower gel that was a collaboration produced by monsters and humans? Ji XingLing rested his right hand on his forehead and exhaled deeply; both of his mental and physical strength was exhausted.
Lin Jing caught a glimpse of it with his peripheral vision, so he handed over a box of peppermint candy, “Do you want some?”
Ji XingLing poured out seven to eight pills absent-mindedly, and threw them all into his mouth.
Lin Jing was surprised, “This is the super-strong icy-cold version. Don’t you feel spicy?”
Your brother Xing with a cool look, “Not bad.”
Though his tongue was numbing and hurting so much that he couldn’t speak.
The road was jammed tight for nearly two hours before both of them had finally got home.
Lin Jing had long since become the eggplant that was beaten by cold winter2. He listlessly greeted and just wanted to go back to 1302. Ji XingLing called out to stop him from leaving, “Hey, that monster… No, the broken card. You better give it to me first.”
“Have you changed your mind again? You don’t plan to bring me into the gang ma?”
Ji XingLing bit the bullet, “Yep.”
It may be because of looking at his expression that was too rigid, as if he was looked so beaten, and Lin Jing was a little soft-hearted, “Actually, I think your organization is quite interesting. Really, how about this instead? You don’t have to look for Li MoYuan anymore. I can join in.”
Ji XingLing, “…No, I can’t force you.”
“I’m not being forced at all.” Lin Jing opened the door of 1302, “See you at school tomorrow; you should go to bed early.”
Ji XingLing, “…”
You better get back here!
Jiang FenFang was knitting a scarf in the living room. When autumn passed, winter was coming soon ne.
“Auntie, is there anything to eat at home ma?” Lin Jing put down his schoolbag, “I had something to do and didn’t get to eat a bullfrog today, so I am hungry.”
“Yes, there is. I’ll cook you a bowl of fine noodles in chicken broth.” Jiang FenFang stood up, “Fifteen minutes.”
The kitchen soon heard the clattering of pots and pans.
In terms of taking care of children, Guhuo Niao could be called a master. She mixed the side dishes with one hand, while stirring the noodles in the pot with the other hand, and could even manage to find time to tap the phone accept call icon with the tip of her wing, and inserted her earphones to her ear as she whispered softly, “Xiao Jing has adapted well with the life here, Mrs. Lin, you don’t have to worry… Yes, he has also made a lot of friends. Today, he went out to play with his classmates next door… The exam results haven’t come out yet, but he is studying very diligently… Mhm…”
The great rattle and bang of kitchen utensils were also sounded in the kitchen of 1301. It was Hu MeiMei who was making soufflé biscuits. This was a new recipe that she learned from the community’s parent group.
Ji XingLing locked his bedroom door and called Hu Lie, “Uncle, help me look up a monster ID number.”
“No!” The nine-tailed fox on the other end of the phone line exploded vigilantly, “Don’t you even think about it. This will lead to expulsion.”
“I’ll keep it secret.” Ji XingLing urged, “Besides, you also helped my mom find the Guhuo Niao!”
“For whom do you think that I check the Guhuo Niao? Do all Qilin are like this, which bite the hand that feeds you?”
“Don’t vent your complaints about my dad to me.”
“…”
The quarrel lasted for half an hour.
Finally, Hu Lie, who felt reluctant and unwilling, had said resentfully, “You know how to keep it confidential, do you? If you dare to spread it out, I will post your stark naked photo on the homepage in the ShanHai App. This serial number is Zhongqu mountain’s Gui Tree3, a juvenile little monster, the student of JinCheng No. 18 High School, his name is Zou FaFa. I won’t check the photo. If you want to see it, find it by yourself. How did he provoke you?”
“No, I picked up a monster ID card, and was curious about it.” Ji XingLing feebly said.
Hu Lie heaved a sigh of relief, “Say it earlier ah. I thought something serious had happened. You should remember to hand it to Qingji when you have time. It’s an infringement to withhold other people’s ID cards. Of course, this little monster, who carelessly loses his ID, has to pay a forfeit and circulate a notice of criticism.”
Ji XingLing wasn’t in the mood to listen to his incessant nagging, so he effortlessly threw his smartphone onto the table, after he thought for a while, then took it back and redialed a series of numbers.
The fat grocery store owner found it very unusual, “Do you miss me so much today?”
“Is this month’s surveillance still there?”
“Of course.”
Half an hour later, Ji XingLing knocked on the door of 1302.
Lin Jing said, “Eh, you still haven’t slept yet?”
“Suddenly, I remembered something.” Ji XingLing looked around, “Where is your aunt ne?”
Lin Jing helped him get a bottle of soft drink, “Go to the supermarket downstairs to buy fruits.”
“Are these people planning to kidnap me that day?” Ji XingLing handed the phone over to him.
Lin Jing took a closer look, “Yes, in the back alley of the grocery store, did you go to check the surveillance?”
Ji XingLing calmed down a bit, “Yeah.”
The forest was huge, and there were all kinds of wonders of exotic flowers.
For instance, David, a German, had come to China to learn high-speed rail technology, instead of developing agriculturally planted carrots.
For another example, even the tama monster ID card could be lost, Zou Fafa, the Gui Tree from Zhongqu Mountain, who lost it but didn’t rush to find it.
It would be best for you not to appear within ShanHai’s vicinity.
Otherwise, Brother Xing would beat and give you a shit once he saw you.
Translator's Notes
- Xing Xing (狌狌 xīng xīng) – In the Zhao Yao mountain, there lives a beast that looks like a macaque but with white ears. Xing Xing can stand on their hind legs and walk like humans. It is said that though Xing Xing cannot foresee the future, they know everything about the past. Eating their flesh will allow the consumer to run extremely fast.
- (dispirited and downcast, as one’s lacking vitality)
- Gui Tree (櫰木 guīmù) – Three hundred miles further west, there is a mountain called Zhongqu Mountain. There is a kind of tree in the mountain, which has fruits that are in red color and shaped like a pear with round leaves. The size of the fruit is as big as papaya. The name of this tree is Gui Tree. People who eat its fruit will get a strength booster.