Chapter 131: Shang’er
Lin Jin’s medical skills were impeccable. Seeing how the injured little fox no longer felt feverish and was able to fall asleep peacefully proved that the treatment had been a success.
Shang’er immediately saluted Lin Jin. “Thank you, Sir, for your grace!”
It was a simple word of thanks, but her sincerity was there alright.
The little foxes were also bouncing and leaping around in joy.
Lin Jin waved with a smile. “It’s only a small matter. But this little fox has been ill for quite some time now so it won’t be easy for his wound to recover. His medicine needs to be changed every day. Do you know how to do it?”
Shang’er expression froze, obviously clueless.
If she did, she wouldn’t have watched the little fox suffer without doing anything.
Lin Jin waved. “Forget it. I’ll just make a few more trips here in the future.”
Shang’er looked embarrassed. Suddenly, as if she thought of something, she quickly said a few words to the little pups, and the tiny creatures immediately scattered away.
Soon, those little foxes returned to the cave but each of them carried something with them.
Lin Jin looked carefully and saw some carrying gold and silver trinkets. Some brought ginseng and spirit herbs while some had fetched wild berries.
They approached Lin Jin one by one, piling their loot before his feet, clearly offering these as a gift for him.
Lin Jin chuckled.
While these fox cubs were most definitely a monster variant of beasts, they weren’t as ferocious and cruel as depicted in books. It was in fact, quite the contrary, as they were really adorable.
Monsters had a very unique trait, which was intelligence.
In the Museum of Deadly Beasts, even the weakest monster’s level of intellect was described as ‘near-human intelligence’. Some were even described as possessing ‘above human intelligence’.
This factor alone was more than enough to set them apart from other regular beasts.
The current situation was sufficient to provide some handy examples. Goldy, a pure beast had no interest in this cave and has been digging for yummy worms since just now, thoroughly enjoying himself. Meanwhile, Xiao Huo stayed loyally by Lin Jin’s side. When he saw the fruits, herbs, and precious metals on the floor, he merely sniffed it briefly before shifting its attention elsewhere.
After a hectic day, Lin Jin was exhausted. He simply sat down on the floor and popped a berry in his mouth.
Lin Jin had no idea what kind of berry that was but they were surprisingly sweet and juicy. As for the ginseng and spirit herbs, when Lin Jin picked them up to take a look, he was stunned.
The spirit herbs were ‘spirit gathering herbs’. Although they weren’t considered rare ingredients, these stalks were obviously over ten years old, meaning they were worth at least several hundred taels on the market.
That ginseng was even better. Although Lin Jin wasn’t well-versed when it came to medicinal ingredients, he could tell that the ginseng was at least a hundred years old.
It had dense tails with the longest tail being at least three feet long.
If this item fell into the hands of those who were unaware of its value, it might only be worth hundreds or thousands of taels. But in the hands of connoisseurs, it may be worth more than ten thousand because that’s how valuable it really was.
These fox cubs intended to use these items to show their gratitude to Lin Jin.
Compared to this hundred-year-old ginseng, the gold and silver trinkets were no longer worth mentioning.
Those little foxes were currently surrounding Lin Jin, staring at him curiously. One of them was ‘Little Five’ whom Lin Jin had rescued before. Not at all afraid of Lin Jin, Little Five leaped into his arms.
At this, the other fox cubs mimicked their brother and began to express their ‘intimacy’ with Lin Jin.
“Number of recorded monsters: 7/12!”
“…”
When he returned to the city for medicinal ingredients earlier, Lin Jin’s number of recorded monsters had exceeded the first requirement of four records needed. Just like the task of recording rare beasts, when a certain amount was achieved, Lin Jin would receive a corresponding reward.
The reward Lin Jin got this time was a ‘Demonic Transformation, Part One’.
After skimming through it, he came to realize that this was a cultivation technique for monsters.
Recorded in some ancient books, it was known that during ancient times, there had been the existence of monster cultivation. Just like humans, once monsters have reached a certain level of cultivation, they could turn into deities, possessing incredible powers. But ever since the earth’s spirit energy had dried up, monster cultivation became extinct along with human cultivation. Humans then found an alternative and turned to cultivating their blood pact formed with pet beasts, but what happened to monsters after that, no one knew.
It was also Lin Jin’s first time seeing a monster’s cultivation technique.
A quick skim through told Lin Jin how incredible this Demonic Transformation was. Though, it was a pity that only monsters could benefit from it. Humans couldn’t use it to their advantage.
Lin Jin heaved a sigh.
The cultivation techniques presented by the Museum of Deadly Beasts were either the Beast Energy Formation or the Demonic Transformation. All of those were catered to beasts. But after a second thought, it did make sense as the museum was called ‘Museum of Deadly Beasts’, not ‘Museum of Amazing Humans’.
Perhaps they had noticed Lin Jin sighing, the fox cubs looked confused and continued to stare at him, intrigued. Shang’er, with her keen observation skills, leaned forward and asked, “Sir, is something troubling you? If you have any troubles, just let Shang’er know. Shang’er will help.”
Lin Jin was dumbstruck. Then, he realized they’ve misinterpreted his thoughts.
Studying Shang’er’s beautiful features, Lin Jin mused, ‘Legends say that fox demons are charming and alluring creatures. I guess they were right.’
This Shang’er here was obviously a fox demon.
Unlike the other fox cubs, Shang’er’s rank was clearly higher than theirs.
During their ride on Xiao Huo back to obtain medicine, their bodies came in contact at some point in time, allowing the museum to record Shang’er’s details.
“Rank 4 fox demon. Shang’er. Possesses intelligence that exceeds humans. Attribute: Wind.”
“Monster cultivation: Attained transformation skills. Potential rate: 7.”
“The six evolution methods are…”
“Able to cultivate Demonic Transformation. Able to cultivate Beast Energy Formation.”
“…”
When he first read it, Lin Jin was genuinely shocked.
Based solely on ranks, a Rank 4 pet beast was already frightening enough, just like the black falcon, babyface spider, and soaring cloud flood dragon Lin Jin had come across in the Visitation Hall.
Although Lin Jin was able to suppress them in the Visitation Hall with his authority as the curator, if they ever met each other in the real world, Lin Jin wouldn’t stand a chance against them.
It might be tough even with Xiao Huo and Goldy fighting together.
That being said, a Rank 4 monster was nothing but terrifying.
A monster’s strength far exceeded regular beasts and Rank 4 monsters were equivalent to regular beasts at Rank 5.
If ever Shang’er decided to turn evil and attack them, this place would probably be the final resting place for Lin Jin, Xiao Huo, and Goldy.
Hence, Lin Jin’s immediate reaction back then could only be described with one word. Fear!
But giving it more thought, Shang’er hadn’t displayed any ill intentions. Not only that, but she had also been gentle and courteous. Compared to some human girls, she had more manners and was much more sensible.
Some human girls truly couldn’t compare to her.
Moreover, Lin Jin had rescued two of her fellow fox companions, making him their benefactor. Books often described monsters as savage and ruthless, and it was true. After all, beasts were beasts, not humans. However, beasts weren’t as calculative as humans. To them, good was good, and bad was bad; there was no gray area. At least from Lin Jin’s observation thus far, Shang’er showed no intention of harming him.
This encounter today was considered quite a miraculous adventure. Lin Jin clearly had to seize this opportunity to learn more about monsters.
At this, Lin Jin simply asked without beating around the bush.
“Shang’er, I have a question I’d like to ask.”
“Please ask away, Sir.”
“Are you guys monsters?”
