Chapter 309 - Tactics
No one else but Lin Jin noticed that eyeball in the sky, and Lin Jin had no intention of telling them either.
Telling them about it would change nothing.
Although that eye was mysterious, Lin Jin managed to come up with a rough guess. Since the leopard was being controlled by the three Grassy Continent locals, the one who put a Slave Seal on this monster must be related to them, one way or another.
Glancing at the leopard, Lin Jin gave it some thought before asking for the monster’s background.
The leopard thought of Lin Jin as a divine master so he felt nothing but respect for the man. What’s more, Lin Jin had helped him break his Slave Seal, so with the man’s graces in mind, the leopard would answer any of his questions.
Lin Jin learned of the leopard’s background, including the three Grassy Continent’s locals’.
They originated from Grassy Continent’s Westward Country.
Westward Country was a premium nation in Grassy Continent. Its scale and forces completely overshadowed Jade Dragon Kingdom’s, and King Yan was one of its thirteen kings.
Westward Country’s structure was completely different from the Jade Dragon Kingdom. Since ancient times, Westward Country has had thirteen thrones. While some genuinely had authority, others just held an official title, flaunting their status and the wealth their ancestors had accumulated over time.
King Yan belonged to the latter category.
He was merely a marginalized monarch in his country. Even so, his status and power weren’t something an average Westward Country citizen could compare to.
For instance, King Yan had control over a huge territory. Its size was about two to three times larger than Maple City.
And they couldn’t help it since Westward Country had too much land and a smaller population. They had tons of mountains too.
King Yan dared not compete with other monarchs, but the man was cruel and tyrannical when it came to the people living in his territory. He was particularly lecherous. Of the insanely high taxes he imposed, most of the funds were used to build his harem, and he now had more than a hundred concubines.
This time, he came all the way here for Tilly.
“Tilly?” Lin Jin glanced at the western beauty who had come over earlier, knowing that she was the ‘Tilly’ in question.
Indeed, most men desired beautiful women. But the thing was, Jade Dragon Kingdom was at least several thousands of miles away from Westward Country and it was Lin Jin’s first time seeing someone willing to travel so far just for a woman.
The women in Westward were known to be feisty, and Tilly was one of them. Feeling strongly against the idea of being taken in by King Yan as a plaything in his harem, she chose to escape. Fortunately, she succeeded thanks to her capability. Had it been any other person, they would have been captured before even leaving Westward Country’s borders.
“Greetings, Mister!” Tilly saluted with United Continent’s etiquette and a gentle look on her face.
Lin Jin nodded before getting back to questioning the leopard monster, Lin Bao.
Lin Bao was a name he chose for himself. The reason why he chose the surname ‘Lin’ was because of the fact that he was born in a forest[1].
Hence, he gave himself the surname ‘Lin’ which symbolized a ‘forest’, and used ‘Bao’, which meant ‘leopard’.
Sixty years ago, Lin Bao came across an expert in Westward Country and was defeated in just three swift moves. A Slave Seal was then placed on him and he was gifted to King Yan’s father. It has been half a century since Lin Bao started serving in King Yan’s manor.
For the past fifty years, he had been treated completely as a tool and the severe murderous intent and rage was a byproduct of his abuse.
Of course, this was all unleashed unto King Yan’s tribe.
King Yan’s abusive character meant that he was harsh to servants and harsher toward monsters like Lin Bao. For fifty years, Lin Bao had undergone unimaginable torture by the father and son duo. However, due to the Slave Seal, he couldn’t fight back against the mistreatment.
Now that the Slave Seal was broken, in addition to Lin Bao’s delight, he also intended to take revenge.
However, this was a monster who had been cultivating for a hundred years so he knew how to be sensible. Even if he wanted revenge, he wouldn’t do it in front of this divine master.
“And stop calling me ‘divine master’. I’m not an immortal.” Lin Jin looked at Lin Bao. The monster was sincere in his gratitude and was still kneeling so Lin Jin urged, “Stop kneeling and get up.”
Only then did Lin Bao dare to stand up. “Then I’ll call you ‘Mister’ too.”
Since he heard Tilly calling him that, Lin Bao mimicked her.
Just then, they heard angry shouts coming from the forest. Judging from the voice, it was probably King Yan.
After falling down from the elephant and losing his consciousness, his first instinct upon waking up was probably to yell and cuss as much as he could.
After all, a leopard never changes its spots.
Lin Bao’s eyes became bloodshot upon hearing the voice. Lin Jin had heard from Lin Bao how King Yan treated them and he too, felt that the experience was utterly inhumane.
What goes around comes around. If Lin Bao were to kill King Yan now, Lin Jin wouldn’t stop him.
He could only say that King Yan brought this upon himself.
Lin Bao was trying hard to control himself right now. But what surprised them was how Tilly rushed over without hesitation in the general direction of the voice.
Lin Jin could tell that despite being a woman, Tilly was as decisive, if not more so than men. King Yan was still being restrained by Lin Jin’s needle so he was rendered completely powerless. Before he even realized it, Tilly had beheaded him with a curved blade.
The curved blade was of great quality as it didn’t stain easily. Tilly’s movements were sharp too and there was a shadow of a beast behind her. It looked like a magpie.
It was no wonder she was so quick and agile.
Looks like King Yan had committed too many sins that many want him dead.
Once King Yan fell to the ground, crimson energy emerged from his being and gradually condensed into a huge king cobra. This king cobra was King Yan’s pet beast. Now that its host had died, it broke free from the body and started going on a rampage.
Moving quickly, the formidable king cobra opened its rotten-smelling mouth to take a bite at Tilly. It was too fast that Tilly found it difficult to react in time.
However, the king cobra didn’t succeed. Lin Jin had already noticed the creature when it was still a pile of blood energy and he recognized this to be the Beastmaster Scroll’s side effects.
Once the blood contract owner died or was heavily injured, it was possible for their pet beast to forcefully tear itself apart from the human body. It would have been fine if the host died, but if they were merely injured, having their pet beast forcefully separate from their body would prove a fatal move.
Some pet beasts would choose to protect their hosts instead so in some lethal situations, it was possible for the host to make a miraculous recovery.
This would be entirely up to the pet beast.
Lin Jin even heard of some pet beasts possessing unique abilities that even if their owner’s head was cut off, the pet beast could re-attach it immediately after. Of course, such pet beasts were hard to find and once they do something like this, it was equivalent to exchanging its life for its owner’s.
What happens next would depend on how far the pet beast was willing to go to protect its master.
And this king cobra clearly despised King Yan. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have just burst the corpse open.
Lin Jin activated his deterrence ability at once, and to stay on the safe side, he even opened the Visitation Hall’s door to borrow its might to quickly stun the king cobra.
Lin Jin had now gotten used to doing this so it worked almost every time.
However, this tactic of stunning a beast from a distance with just a wave of his hand was new to Zuo Wentang and the others. They were all gaping as they watched.
Zuo Wentang was a man of considerable experience, but today, he realized how ignorant he was of the world. This Brother Lin was too amazing and his skills were phenomenal. It was no wonder His Majesty gave him a special promotion.
Prior to this, Zuo Wentang didn’t understand what was so unique about Lin Jin, but now, things couldn’t have been clearer.
Also, Lin Jin had practically saved his life. Though he was a man of schemes, Zuo Wentang at least knew how to be grateful and he now saw Lin Jin as a real brother of his.
Tilly knew that she had been rash earlier and how she had just been saved.
She quickly ran back with her face ghastly pale.
“Thank you, Mister. You’ve saved me again.” This time, Tilly bowed lower than before. Every act from this point on was with full sincerity.
Forget seeing it, she had never even heard of being able to deter a Rank 3 western king cobra from a distance.
[1] ‘Lin’ in Mandarin also means ‘forest’ or ‘jungle’.