Museum of Deadly Beasts

At Maple City’s Zu Manor.

Inside the guest hall, practically all of Maple City’s famous doctors have been invited over by the Zu family.

However, despite the large gathering of doctors, everyone was either frowning or wore solemn expressions.

“Dr. Xu, you’re the magnate of medical halls. You have to think of something to help cure our Third Elder.”

“Dr. Zhang, you’re long-time friends with our Third Elder. You have to save him from this dangerous illness.”

“To all our esteemed guests, we, the Zu family, hereby declare that we are ready to offer any amount to whoever that cures our Third Elder of this strange illness.”

The Zu family members were begging almost every physician in the guest hall for a solution.

Yet, none of the physicians spoke up.

It wasn’t because they didn’t want the money. The issue was that they couldn’t earn it.

One of the older physicians got up, planning to take his leave. The third elder’s son immediately went over and asked, “Dr. Xu, where are you…”

Dr. Xu answered him helplessly, “Master Zu, it’s not that I’m unwilling to help but Third Elder isn’t ill at all. He’s perfectly fine.”

The third elder’s son flew into a fit of rage. “My father wasn’t able to speak since yesterday and you dare call his condition fine?”

“That’s exactly it.” Another physician got up. “If he isn’t ill, there’s nothing for us to cure. We’d like to emphasize that after careful examination, none of us were able to find anything wrong. Perhaps there might be a hidden illness but with our average medical skills, we can’t do anything about it.”

Having said that, the physician bid farewell and left. The other physicians got up as well, expressing their inability to help, and advised the Zu family to find other better-skilled doctors.

Third Elder heard everything and began to scream in panic, which sounded more like muffled humming. But no matter how flustered he was, he couldn’t speak.

The situation was so graved that his tears began to flow, making him look exceptionally pitiful.

However, this wasn’t the issue that worried the Zu family the most.

Third Elder was unable to speak but he was otherwise fine. The most bizarre thing was, after the second and third elder excluded Zu Tianhong and voted among themselves, they decided to let the Third Elder’s grandson form a blood pact with the two-headed snake. Sadly, none of the blood pact masters they hired could successfully form the blood pact. They had gone through a number of different experts for the sake of completing this pact but to no avail.

They even hired many beast appraisers only to fail nonetheless.

The second Elder took this opportunity to suggest switching to his grandson.

The result was the same.

Zu Tianli called for his descendant to try but that didn’t work either.

It was just as Lin Jin had said before he left. Only he was the one capable of forming a blood pact with the two-headed snake, no one else could.

Refusing to believe it, the Zu family hired Gao Jiang.

Gao Jiang was the Beast Appraisal Association’s official beast appraiser. Considering how simple blood contracts were, he obviously knew how to create one between a pet beast and his client.

And yet, after coming over, Gao Jiang wasn’t able to form the blood pact after numerous tries.

“This is odd. Why on earth is it so hard to form a blood pact with this two-headed snake?” Gan Jiang felt incredulous. He had tried every trick in the book but still, nothing worked.

Out of curiosity, he asked for more details only to find out what happened between the Zu family and Lin Jin yesterday morning.

“You’re talking about Lin Jin? Lin Jin from the Beast Appraisal Association?” Gao Jiang wore a peculiar expression as he inquired with widened eyes.

Zu Tianli nodded.

“That Lin Jin is just atrocious! Before he left, he even made an outrageous declaration, that no one else but him could ever help this creature form a blood pact. He thinks too highly of himself,” Zu Tianli said.

“Did he really say that?” Gao Jiang was frowning hard. He now understood why he couldn’t help the Zu family with their blood pact formation.

Having learned this piece of information from Zu Tianli, Gao Jiang said nothing more and turned to leave.

However, he was stopped by Third Elder’s son trying to persuade him.

How could he just leave without clarifying the situation? He should at least tell them what was going on.

“Appraiser Gao, we’ve always had a good relationship so you have to tell me what exactly is going on? Did that Lin guy do something to the pet beast?” Seemingly adept at using his brain, the Third Elder’s son posed this question to Gao Jiang.

Gao Jiang directed a ‘since you already know, why are you asking me?’ look back at him. Then, he whispered, “This Lin Jin is no ordinary man. He’s a Rank 2 beast appraiser with many tricks up his sleeves. Now, will you please excuse me as I am unable to help your situation.”

He was trying to imply by his words that Lin Jin must have done something to the creature so no one could form a blood pact with it.

The Zu family was enraged.

With Zu Tianli leading them, the family headed for the Beast Appraisal Association to wreak havoc. However, instead of being at the association, Lin Jin was snoozing away peacefully at home. As chief, Tan Lin couldn’t possibly tolerate anyone causing trouble within the Beast Appraisal Association. After understanding the situation, she simply responded by saying, ‘A method to prevent a pet beast from forming a blood contract doesn’t exist in this world.’

Then, she left the Zu family standing there, without even sparing an additional second of attention. If they decided to cause anymore ruckus, she would get someone to chase them away.

Tan Lin was firm when it came to taking action.

Zu Tianli suffered a rebuff. Given the current circumstances within the Zu family, feeling discouraged, Zu Tianhong simply allowed the second elder, third elder, and Zu Tianli to do as they pleased.

“I don’t believe it. Let’s hire beast appraisers from elsewhere!” Zu Tianli roared in anger.

And so, the next day, they hired many other beast appraisers. The family even found a Rank 2 beast appraiser but the situation was the same. No one could make the two-headed snake form a blood pact.

After two days of continuous chaos, the two-headed snake was near death’s door. After all, a blood contract attempt required blood. Even the grandsons of both the second and third elders couldn’t take it anymore.

The hired Rank 2 beast appraiser simply said, “This two-headed snake has a unique constitution and a special bloodline so normal blood contract methods don’t work on it. Please find someone else as I’m unable to assist. However, according to my judgment, your attempts might be futile as chances are, it is impossible for this two-headed snake to form a blood pact with anyone.”

What did he mean by that?

The Zu family was too exhausted to quarrel. After two days of monkeying around, they achieved nothing. The third Elder in particular had fallen ill after succumbing to anxiety for being unable to speak.

When he gradually regained composure and reflected on the absurdity over the last two days, Third Elder began to achieve awareness and feel remorse as he laid on his sickbed.

Zu Tianhong only became the patriarch because of the support he received from his family, which was in turn, derived from his capability as the family’s helmsman. However, for the past few days, they allowed Zu Tianli to provoke them into being hotheaded and conducting themselves in a ridiculous manner.

After having some time to reassess the situation and after calming down, the Third Elder started to feel ashamed for his actions.

At first, he only wanted to help his grandson fight for an opportunity. However, this petty dispute only served to show the public their crumbling family bond.

Having learned from this bitter experience, Third Elder finally understood after becoming gravely ill. He called for his son and the Second Elder. Enduring the discomfort, he retrieved a pen and paper and wrote, ‘Second Brother, internal strife would bring nothing but trouble to the family. We were wrong and should repent for our sins. We can’t continue like this and disgrace the Zu family’s ancestors.’

At this, Second Elder sighed. In fact, he too had begun to feel regret.

For the sake of one rare beast, he actually stepped forward and participated in the squabble. Now that he thought about it, it was nothing but inappropriate.

As patriarch, Zu Tianhong had always been just. Moreover, Zu Yuan was indeed most compatible with the two-headed snake. He was also a descendant of the Zu family so why should they have to argue?

Second Elder made a decision. “Third Brother, I’ll get Tianhong. Also, I’ll personally apologize to that Appraiser Lin. We have to get him to break whatever spell he has cast on you no matter what.”

At this, Third Elder’s son quickly asked, “So it really was that Lin guy who schemed against my father?”

Second Elder reprimanded, “Why are you still spouting nonsense after all this? That Appraiser Lin is amazing. We’ve hired so many people but no one could tell what he has done. Just this fact is enough to prove how capable he is. The man might even have a limitless future. Remember, our Zu family has to greet him whenever we see him in the future. If you’re riding a carriage, get out and greet him. If you’re riding a horse, I don’t care if you have to jump down. No one is to ever disrespect him. Come to think of it, Tianhong does have an eye for potential after all. For him to have become acquainted with such a figure should have brought nothing but fortune for our family.”

Third Elder’s eyes sparkled as he listened and nodded in agreement.

Both of them had merely been blinded by greed. Now that they came to realize it, they knew what to do.

As part of the Zu family, they were bound to the clan be it good or bad. If the family crumbled, they would have to face the music as well.

Hence, regardless of whether it was truly sincere or not, the Second Elder expressed to Zu Tianhong their intention to stop fighting over the two-headed snake. He also mentioned that he and the Third Elder would stop interfering with the family’s matters from now on.

After that, the second elder, Zu Xuande requested Lin Jin’s address and visited the beast appraiser to apologize to him in person.

He knocked on the door but there was no answer.

It was already dark outside but Lin Jin wasn’t home.

“Second Elder, why don’t we come back tomorrow?” one of the Zu family members said.

It was that moment that Zu Xuande realized his pet beast was trembling, as if it was fearful of something. This stunned him. After careful observation, he realized that it wasn’t just his pet beast that reacted in such an alarming manner, but the other family members’ pet beasts were also unnerved.

Then, Zu Xuande abruptly noticed a rooster perched on the wall of Lin Jin’s yard.

This rooster’s unannounced appearance simply unsettled their pet beasts.

What was going on? Did these ferocious beasts have to be so afraid of a rooster?

Zu Xuande felt a little helpless.

His pet beast was a great plains wolf, a Rank 2 creature, known for its viciousness. But now, this wolf was hiding behind him staring apprehensively at a chicken on the wall.

For a moment there, things became awkward.

“Second Elder!” a family member beside urged. Zu Xuande held up a hand to stop him.

“We’ve been disrespectful to Appraiser Lin that day so we’ll wait for him to return right here. Even if he only returns in the middle of the night, we will wait. This will prove our sincerity.”

Upon hearing this, the others said no more. They would wait.

Initially, they thought Appraiser Lin would be returning soon.

But their wait lasted until deep into the night, and even then, there were still no signs of Lin Jin

The Zu family began to suspect if Lin Jin was deliberately hiding and ignoring them after finding out they were here.

Zu Xuande was almost at his limit. However, he was a stubborn old man. Considering how long they have already been waiting, it would be a waste to leave now. And since they were here to apologize, they had to show some sincerity.

The verdict? They would continue waiting.

What they weren’t aware of was the fact that Lin Jin would head out to Mount Zoroku every night to teach Shang’er and the others lessons on cultivation. Now, he had a new great white ape to take care of too so Lin Jin would only return in the morning.