Chapter 77: They’re All Here

Since Tan Xun said he wanted to wait for his benefactor, Wang Ji and Nan Gongxian couldn’t say otherwise. Also, it didn’t seem appropriate for them to leave so they stayed and waited for Lin Jin together.

Wang Ji was utterly exasperated on the inside.

This should have been the end for Lin Jin, but in just a few moments, the man actually made a complete recovery!

Still, what’s done was done. He would let Zhang He take the blame for the assessment scores and then personally write an explanation to headquarters. This should be able to resolve his problems.

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As for Lin Jin, Wang Ji decided not to make a move against him for the time being. He would wait a little longer.

While Wang Ji schemed, he suddenly heard noises behind him. Turning around, he saw a huge sapphire turtle. Wang Ji recognized this large turtle as the Zu family’s young master, Zu Can’s pet beast. He had tried treating the turtle before but it seemed like the creature was incurable, so he thought that it was dead by now.

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However, this sapphire turtle didn’t look like it was dying at all. It wouldn’t even be an exaggeration to describe it as energetic.

Wang Ji had been rather busy lately so he hadn’t heard about Lin Jin curing this sapphire turtle.

Walking behind the sapphire turtle was Zu Can and Zu Can’s father, the lord of the Zu family household, Zu Tianhong.

This man held quite a prominent status within Maple City so why was he suddenly here?

The Zu family’s servants were carrying a plaque that read ‘Brilliant Doctor’.

A plaque!

Presenting plaques as gifts was a regular sight in the Beast Appraisal Association. Wang Ji himself had more than ten of these plaques hanging on the wall of his consultation hall.

Zu Tianhong was a dignitary so Wang Ji had to go over and greet him.

Yet, the first sentence he heard from this newcomer made Wang Ji choke up with unpleasantness as if he had swallowed a fly.

Zu Tianhong could be heard saying, “Chief Wang, may I know where Appraiser Lin is? We’ve come to present him with a plaque to thank him for curing my son’s pet beast’s disease.”

It was for Lin Jin!

Wang Ji mused, ‘If I’d known what they were here for, I never would’ve come over.’

But since he was here, Wang Ji could only smile sheepishly and say, “Lin Jin is still taking the exam. Once he comes out, you may hand it to him personally, Lord Zu.”

Zu Tianhong nodded.

Zu Can who was following behind him looked around. Upon spotting Zhao Ying’s group, he went over.

“What do you guys think? I had my father order a plaque and deliver it personally. Let’s see who dares to say Appraiser Lin isn’t worthy of his reputation.” Zu Can actually came up with this idea since a long ago. Since he owed Lin Jin a favor, Zu Can decided to use this plaque to cheer Lin Jin on, knowing that Lin Jin’s qualifications as a certified beast appraiser had just been revoked.

Needless to say, Zu Can’s plan was effective. On their way here, the plaque had drawn a lot of attention from passersby. It would be odd not to notice that the Zu family’s patriarch was personally delivering a plaque.

Now, who else would dare to say that Lin Jin didn’t deserve his position?

There was so much evidence to prove Lin Jin’s capability, and with this Zu family’s plaque, it was basically affirming Lin Jin’s skills.

“Is today a special day? Why is it so lively here?” Two men commented as they squeezed through the crowd.

When Wang Ji saw one of them, he instantly strode over.

Wang Ji didn’t even react this way with the Zu family’s lord, Zu Tianhong. So one could imagine just how prominent a figure this newcomer was.

“Master Gu, why are you here?” Wang Ji was quite shocked.

This impressive newcomer was none other than the calligraphy master, Gu Mengzhong. The other older man following beside Gu Mengzhong was dressed casually, but quite a few people recognized him as well.

“It’s Liao Gu! Masterchef Liao!”

“I heard that following the scandal at Symphony Restaurant, Masterchef Liao stormed off in anger. Since then, their business has only gone downhill.”

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“I know. I heard that it had something to do with Appraiser Lin too…”

Wang Ji didn’t care about Liao Gu, but he wouldn’t dare to mistreat Gu Mengzhong. This calligraphy master knew quite a lot of influential figures and a casual comment from him could influence Wang Ji’s career.

Upon seeing Wang Ji, Gu Mengzhong scoffed. “I’m here to cheer for my friend. I heard that he had suffered injustice, so I’m here to reclaim it for him.”

At this, Wang Ji panicked even more.

Musing to himself, he asked, ‘There’s no way Master Gu is here for Lin Jin too, could he?’

It was possible.

Having heard of Symphony Restaurant’s scandal as well, Wang Ji’s expression turned darker.

“Master Gu, what a coincidence,” Tan Xun greeted with a smile as he too made his way over.

Seeing that it was Tan Xun, Gu Mengzhong held his hands up to salute the man and grinned. “Ah, Appraiser Tan, I heard that you’ve come to Maple City. I wanted to pay you a visit but didn’t get the chance to do so.”

“You’re too kind, Master Gu. I should be the one paying you a visit. I could barely meet you in Jade Dragon City, and all you do is put me off whenever I request a painting from you. Alas, I had to resort to other channels to obtain one of your works. It was really a pain in the neck.” Tan Xun was obviously irritated. Still, as a Rank 3 beast appraiser, he should be keeping up appearances so he tried to be subtle as possible. But before Gu Mengzhong, he paled in comparison because the calligraphist was the real expert in maintaining appearances.

Both men were old acquaintances who were very good friends, so it was natural to take jabs at each other when bumping into each other after such a long time.

Sure enough, Gu Mengzhong didn’t speak ambiguously. “Appraiser Tan, you can’t blame me for that. We’ve agreed that once you come up with a way to help me form a blood contract with the ink monster, forget one painting, I can even give you ten. You said it would only take ten days, but what happened after that? Ten days later, you said a month. Then after a month, you said you need another three months. I can’t wait that long.”

Tan Xun blushed. “This was my mistake. Sigh, since ancient times, it is known that forming a blood pact with an ink monster is a challenging task. But it’s not like I didn’t come up with a method…”

“An impossible method is called a pie in the sky. Do you remember what you had me collect? They were things like starling grass and sacred ink wood that even you haven’t seen before. Where should I find them? Isn’t it just a ploy? But Appraiser Tan, it’s true that you’ve tried your best, so to return this favor, when I return to Jade Dragon City, I’ll draw you a painting when I have time to spare.”

At the mention of the ink monster, Gu Mengzhong got excited. Having spent the last several days practicing his sword skills with the ink monster, he could now show them some tricks he had learned. Wherever he went, he would carry a sword, which only served to draw more attention to himself.

He had it all figured out. Once he familiarized himself with wielding the ink monster blade, he would take down each enemy with just one slash as he wandered the world. After that, he would become a legend just like the immortal swordsmen in ancient times. The mere thought of this made him thrilled.

Perhaps he was trying to show off, Gu Mengzhong shook his sleeve slightly and a blob of ink surfaced, wafting over into his palm. It was an extraordinary sight.

Tan Xun was stunned at this.

“This is the ink monster? Master Gu, you… when did you successfully form a blood contract with it?” Tan Xun exclaimed out of shock.

Because when Gu Mengzhong first got the ink monster, the calligraphist had sought out Tan Xun immediately, requesting a way to form a blood pact with the creature. However, forming blood pacts with ink monsters had always been a challenging task since ancient times. Even as a Rank 3 beast appraiser, the method he came up with couldn’t be realized at present times.

For example, he required the starling grass and sacred ink wood for pelletization, but both medicinal ingredients have been extinct for many years. If, and even if they existed, obtaining them wouldn’t be so easy.

He had tried thinking of other methods but none of them were suitable. Hence, he wasn’t able to complete Gu Mengzhong’s request.

For this reason, Tan Xun had once tried to avoid Gu Mengzhong as he couldn’t find a better solution. But who knew that after not meeting for several months, Gu Mengzhong had successfully formed a blood pact with it.

Tan Xun knew it was impossible for Gu Mengzhong to figure out a resolution on his own. The man must have received guidance from an expert.

Now, he was extremely curious about the method used to help the calligraphist form his blood pact with this Rank 3 ink monster.

“It was just done recently!” Gu Mengzhong was very satisfied with this newfound ability of looking awesome without doing anything. After all, every beast appraiser present was staring at him, awestruck by the sight of his ink monster.

“Which master beast appraiser has provided you with his guidance?” Tan Xun prodded.

“Master beast appraiser? You got it all wrong. He is merely an average Rank 1 beast appraiser in Maple City.” When Gu Mengzhong finished answering, the crowd was dumbfounded.

A Rank 1 beast appraiser?

There seemed to be only two Rank 1 beast appraisers in Maple City. One was Gao Jiang, the other was Lin Jin.

And speaking of the devil, Gao Jiang just happened to show up. He had registered for the advancement exam, but when he saw such a huge crowd standing around here, Gao Jiang hurried over to greet Tan Xun and the others.

Master Gu didn’t even spare Gao Jiang a glance.

With this, it didn’t take a genius to piece together the puzzle.

“Could it be…”

“Appraiser Lin again!”

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