Chapter 682: Sewer Monster
Back at the hotel, Su Jiu did not do anything “bad” as Lin thought. Instead, he tallied the proceeds from selling all the alchemical items this time, and then promoted all those fish phantoms to Intermediate Battle King.
Next, if they were to investigate the river situation, these monster fish phantoms, as a water-based squad, would inevitably be indispensable helpers.
After showering, Lin, wrapped in a not-too-large bath towel, leaned on the sofa, watching the Crayon Shin-chan anime with E Huo. Her slightly fleshy legs were spread apart, and her toes were in soft black slippers that dangled.
The half-day of cultivation had indeed depleted a lot of “energy points,” and now, having recovered to the Half-step War God Level, it was time to rest.
“Hey, what was that thing you said you wanted to tell me about?”
Leaning her head on E Huo’s head, Lin half-closed her eyes. As if thinking of something, she opened them slightly and asked.
This place was indeed much better than that shabby rental room. Con artists truly knew how to enjoy themselves.
Su Jiu also stopped feeding, put the shadow fish into the gourd, then looked up at the girl wrapped in the bath towel and said softly:
“I have a way to help you recover early, and even advance further than your previous early stage of Intermediate War God…”
“What do you mean? Did you find…”
Upon hearing this, Lin was first stunned, then suddenly looked at Su Jiu, her voice trembling as she uttered the latter half of the sentence.
Her miserable days had been truly difficult. Was she finally going to see the light of day?
“Don’t get too happy too soon. To be honest, this matter involves someone of Izanami’s level, and it was a bargaining chip offered by a monstrous woman called [Wei]. I need to complete some rather dangerous assistance tasks. Never mind whether the reward is real…”
“You can only get a share if you go with me. Otherwise, you can forget about it unless you contract and become my beast pet.”
Su Jiu gently patted the other’s head, not immediately demanding a contract, but explaining the pros and cons for the little foolbird to consider.
He knew that she could not possibly sign a beast pet contract with him right now, as her resentment was still there. Bringing her along would prevent the little foolbird from running around aimlessly, and if Wei could give her that thing early, Lin could directly become a high-end combat force.
Hearing this, Lin did not feel angry, but instead, fell into thoughtful consideration. She wasn’t a naive girl; in fact, she had a very distinct way of thinking.
“So you mean that if I act with you, and after obtaining that item from that ‘Nami,’ it will belong to me?”
As she spoke, Lin’s small hands unceremoniously picked up potato chips from E Huo’s hand and ate them with a “crunch,” which caused the latter to exhibit the same expression as Su Jiu’s dead fish eyes.
Shaking his head, Su Jiu did not let Lin exploit loopholes. He flicked her forehead with his finger and said directly, “I will sell it to you for fifty High-Grade Magic Crystals. That item is very precious. If I hadn’t caused you to be sealed, I wouldn’t even have told you.”
Lin fell silent for a moment, then turned to look at the television. The characters from Crayon Shin-chan were reflected in her lavender pupils, but her gaze was somewhat unfocused, clearly pondering the rationality of Su Jiu’s words.
Even though fifty High-Grade Magic Crystals seemed like a reasonable number, this price was equivalent to selling herself for several years. Someone like her, who was officially wanted, couldn’t go to human territories for exchanges. She could only honestly find monster beasts above the Intermediate Battle King level to kill.
However, those monster beasts were not as common as bok choy. If she was unlucky, she might not even be able to gather half of it within one or two years.
After a few minutes, Lin secretly glanced at Su Jiu, finding that he was still looking at her seriously. Her mouth twitched, and she then took a deep breath and said softly,
“I can agree to your request, but my conditions are also very simple: I need freedom.”
Blinking, Su Jiu smiled. “No problem. My demands are also very simple. Besides calling me Master every day, you must wear a maid outfit, and kiss the back of my hand every morning.”
“Maid… maid outfit?”
Lin was stunned. She hadn’t expected Su Jiu’s request to be so strange. But for her, it didn’t matter what she wore. Plus, it was just kissing the back of his hand, so she didn’t dwell on it too much and nodded in agreement.
“Then put it on now.”
Seeing her agreement, Su Jiu chuckled and took out a dress from his ring that Bairnis had made earlier for him to wear. He also prepared a pair of white stockings.
The dress was predominantly a stern black, with a few white thorn flowers as embellishments. The skirt wasn’t too long, reaching just to her knees. It also had star patterns spread across the pleats, giving it a clean yet inexplicably charming look.
Lin glanced at it, confirmed it wasn’t a shameful outfit, and took it. Then she looked at the white stockings. Her beautiful brow furrowed slightly, but she took them nonetheless…
She didn’t like white.
But if it was for improvement, she could make a sacrifice.
She didn’t change in front of Su Jiu, but went into the restroom. After about a few minutes, she slowly sauntered out, tugging at the skirt with both hands, her lavender eyes occasionally revealing a hint of disdain.
However, it was evident that this special maid outfit, when worn by her, carried an awkwardness of a young lady secretly wearing a maid costume, which inexplicably gave Su Jiu a peculiar sense of pleasure.
“Not bad…”
Sizing up the little foolbird, Su Jiu’s eyes narrowed. He wanted to see her kiss the back of his hand while wearing the outfit, with that look of disdain and shyness…
“Ah! A monster beast has emerged from the sewer!”
Just as he was about to say something else, a sudden shout rang out from outside the window. Judging by the language, it was from the local Cherry Blossom People.
The moment Su Jiu and Lin heard the sound, they almost simultaneously moved to the window. Looking out, they saw a middle-aged sanitation worker in a raincoat sitting on the ground in an alley. He was pointing towards what seemed to be a manhole cover and shouting loudly.
A scaled tail emerged from the manhole cover, reflecting a faint red light under the interplay of rain and lamplight.
“I’ll go check the situation. Don’t move around.”
After issuing the instruction, Su Jiu braced himself on the windowsill, exerted force with his feet, and leaped lightly from the fourth floor. He scanned the surroundings, passed the sanitation worker, and continued forward.
As he approached, a pungent smell of sulfur wafted from the tail. Su Jiu could sense “hissing” sounds in his ears, accompanied by the sounds of ground friction and flowing water.
“Boom!”
As if sensing Su Jiu’s approach, the creature in the sewer suddenly raised its head. It was a creature resembling a snake but not quite, with a single horn on its head. It looked over.
“War General Level? How can there be a monster beast in the city center?”
Just by looking, Su Jiu sensed something strange. This did not seem to be a monster beast contracted by a human…
