Chapter 36: The Annoying Ji Ma
Eve Frostleaf glanced at the overly assertive Ji Ma, suppressing the urge to roll her eyes, and nodded.
“Did you see? We will do our best to help you,” Ji Ma said, “but only for a while; after all, saving the world is a major task that cannot be delayed too long.”
Beside her, the Blackbeard Wing Knight looked at Ji Ma with doubt. No matter how she appeared, she did not seem like someone bearing the great responsibility of saving the world, but rather like a demon sent by the Four Dark Gods to sow chaos and evil in the mundane world.
She held up three fingers. “Three days.”
“Alright,” Ji Ma said, taking out a piece of parchment and a pen, extending them towards the Fool. The parchment bore the emblem of the God of Dawn. “Please sign a contract to ensure both parties’ sincerity.”
Madam Kislirov had little education but valued promises; Ji Ma’s actions seemed to them like a display of distrust that was insulting.
The Blackbeard Wing Knight, angry, raised his hand to snatch the parchment from Ji Ma, but the Fool stretched out his hand to block him and said, “I’ll sign.”
Ji Ma smiled widely at the surrounding knights glaring at her, then looked at the Blackbeard Wing Knight, who had his eyes wide open, and said, “Think about it carefully. For someone like me, who considers cunning a virtue, isn’t signing a contract for everyone’s good?”
“Are you really a demon?”
Ji Ma’s hand, through her long sleeves, touched the armband George had given her, and the hidden magic of her horned tail was immediately retracted, revealing her glossy black horns and small wings.
The Wing Knights were taken aback, their expressions changing instantly. Some cursed as they drew their weapons.
If it weren’t for the Fool calling for a stop once again, and given her considerable authority among them, perhaps the smug Ji Ma would have been embroiled in a brawl.
They found a table, and the Fool bent over to write with a pen, while people were covering the deceased monks with white cloth behind her.
After finishing, Ji Ma happily took the contract and, holding her branch axe lance, headed to investigate the dead ratman assassin.
Meanwhile, the healed Blackbeard Wing Knight reluctantly became Ji Ma’s messenger.
“Tell your people not to mess with the ratman assassin’s body, especially those desperate for money; keep a close eye on them.”
After Ji Ma finished speaking, she walked to the most well-equipped ratman assassin’s corpse, the commander of this assassination mission. She searched and took out a string of coins made from luminous green stones, holding them tightly.
Several pairs of eyes that had been lingering on her instantly focused on the glowing green coins.
These coins were semi-transparent, emitting a faint green light. Holding them in her hand felt delightful, as if the green light was nourishing her skin.
She shook the string of “green coins,” and those gazes shook along with them. She said:
“Additionally, don’t think of this so-called dimensional coin as some healing holy medicine; ground into powder and consumed, it can extend life for several years. The Empire’s witch hunters ban it for good reason, as it is inherently formed from magic and pollutes nature. But to be fair, it can indeed extend life; about seven or eight out of ten rumors are true, it’s just…”
Ji Ma stood up straight, gazing around, observing the seven desires in the hearts of the crowd. Some had blue balls of greedy energy that were conspicuously large. Overall, everyone’s greedy energy seemed to be increasing, which was naturally due to Ji Ma’s tailed power.
“…it will definitely cause mutations, like growing extra hands or something; after all, you are mere mortals, but for me, it is harmless.”
As Ji Ma spoke, she handed over a string of dimensional coins and cautioned the Blackbeard Wing Knight, “Be sure no one sneaks away with these. That would spread magical pollution.”
Looking at the greedy Ji Ma with contempt, the Blackbeard Wing Knight noted how much bigger the greed ball in his chest was compared to a half of his fist, while in comparison, the light green ball symbolizing rage was almost the size of a bowling ball.
He remarked, “Good, for your greed, demon.”
Ji Ma collected valuable items from the corpse publicly, announcing that they would be used for divination, as they were materials for the divination. She also found a second string of dimensional coins, beaming with joy as she said, “Wow! These ratmen are quite wealthy.”
Eve Frostleaf had already distanced herself from her to avoid being mistaken for part of the same group.
However, Ji Ma’s haul was not limited to just two strings of dimensional coins. She spotted, in a shadowy corner devoid of people, what appeared to be a burning blue fire of greed.
It was a hook.
Ji Ma wasted no time, directly using the string of dimensional coins in her hand as a medium to spread the curse.
Then, after Ji Ma’s unapologetic greed drew angry glares from everyone, she finally began to analyze things seriously.
She flipped the bleeding ratman assassin over with her axe lance. The ratman was black, clad in finely crafted armor but with many unprotected areas for agility. A layer of chainmail rested on its head, and several pouches were strung around its waist, with some throwing darts rolling out of the pouch openings.
They were black triangular throwing darts with green-edged blades.
“This is a clan of ratmen known for producing assassins,” Ji Ma said. “It is said they learned many strange techniques from Seris, such as ‘Short Distance Technique,’ ‘Nine Yin Bone Claw,’ ‘Dragon Cry Slash,’ ‘Rakshasa Slash’…”
She rattled off many untranslated professional terms. At first, everyone perked up, eager to comprehend and fearing they would miss important information. However, Ji Ma talked for nearly two minutes without any sign of stopping, her words were like a sort of curse, leaving everyone dizzy.
The Blackbeard Wing Knight quickly raised his hand to stop her, asking, “Stop, do these names even mean anything?”
“Just like the characters and world setting at the beginning of a novel. Chili peppers concerning ingredients, the appendix concerning the human body, rabbit droppings concerning rabbits.”
He looked even more confused.
“What do you mean?”
“They’re all useless and a waste of effort, but sometimes you have to endure them,” Ji Ma stated. “If given a choice, who wants them?”
He was infuriated, his tongue clicking: “By the Bear God, why are you feeding us a pile of crap?”
Ji Ma shrugged and smiled, “Because you have no choice.”
The Wing Knights were even angrier; some were clenching their jaws, their teeth gritting audibly.
A few wisps of white smoke-like painful energy flowed into Ji Ma’s heart, as sweet as honey. The corners of her mouth lifted in happiness as she continued slowly:
“In short, they can hide in places you wouldn’t expect and strike when you’re unprepared, and their blades can weaken the armor on your bodies.”
The Blackbeard Wing Knight asked, “Then why didn’t you say so earlier?”
“I got inspired to write.”
“You’re a writer?”
“A novelist,” Ji Ma pretended to bow dramatically. “A lowbrow novelist bringing joy to everyone; my pen name is White-haired One. I invite you to purchase ‘JoJo’s Wonderful Adventures in Another World’; it once swept through all of Adolf, driving the youth of the entire city to madness on the streets.”
The Blackbeard Wing Knight huffed angrily, “Weak southern people, weak-willed, surely corrupted and polluted by you, demon.”
One of the Wing Knights asked, “Has the Fool lord been deceived by this evil demon?”
The Fool smiled, a habit of hers. Others’ attacks and criticisms only made her smile.
“Shut up,” the Blackbeard Wing Knight said. “At least it seems she can kill a few more North men.”
“It’s time to show my skills,” Ji Ma said. “I’m skilled in divination, so anyone allergic to bloody things should step aside quickly.”
“No one will be cowardly enough to run,” the Blackbeard Wing Knight replied harshly, the clicking of his tongue hardly concealed. “But you cannot perform your dirty, corrupt acts in this sacred place.”
“Fine.” Ji Ma pointed to the corpse. “So quickly move these ratmen out.”
Outside, Ji Ma, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, cut open the ratman’s belly with her branch axe lance, pulling out its entrails, arranging ritual materials and magical arrays on the ground, and began the entrail divination. After finishing, Ji Ma stated, “The bad news is that a group of ratmen is under this small city.”
The Blackbeard Wing Knight, concerned about the city, instinctively asked, “What’s the good news?”
“A cramped underground city is packed with tons of ratman reinforcements, just waiting for an opportunity to surge up and destroy the city.”
“What good news is that?”
“I never said there was a good news and a bad news.”
“You!” The Blackbeard Wing Knight then took a deep breath, lowered his hand pointing at Ji Ma, and said, “A plundering army made of North men will likely attack the city in a few days, and the villages are almost cleared by them. To avoid fighting on two fronts, we must first deal with the ratmen. Do you have any plans?”
“Have you heard of the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin?”
“You mean the fable about the piper who played a flute to lure the rats out?” the Blackbeard Wing Knight asked. “Demon, are you implying you’re unhappy with the price?”
“It’s not about playing a flute,” Ji Ma clarified. “It’s about using a giant sword to chop the rats.”
“Ah?”
