Lin Jin's serenity and the silence of the crowd spotlighted the chaotic behavior of the Wei cousins. Feeling the crowd's piercing gazes on his skin, Wei Changyong had all the blood drained from his face as his mind clouded.
"Wha… What's going on?"
Wei Bi's jaw hung open, jarred by the situation.
"Brother, could this chicken have been swapped? It was so vicious it could even peck a bear. Why isn't it reacting now?"
The two men were completely dumbstruck.
Had the cockerel perhaps transformed?
Reluctant to believe such a thing, Wei Changyong said, "Be careful. This cockerel might not have come to its senses yet. Once it does, it will be a bloodbath. Close the cage quickly."
This time, the villagers could no longer hold back their laughter.
"What's wrong with Master Wei? Is he that frightened of a chicken?"
Lin Jin had his palm on the cockerel's head. A seal flashed through the palm of his hand and shock washed into Lin Jin's eyes. No one noticed a thing.
But it only happened for a split second. Subsequently, he carried the cockerel out of the cage. Wei Changyong and Wei Bi were startled. The men shuddered as if Lin Jin was carrying a ticking time bomb.
Lin Jin smiled and placed the cockerel beside him. The cockerel obediently stood on the table, staring at Wei Changyong with its sharp gaze.
Picking up his calligraphy brush and dabbing on some ink, Lin Jin began writing.
The beast evaluation report was done. Lin Jin sealed it with a chop then put it aside. Then, he said, "Next."
Was the appraisal complete?
That was too peaceful. However, Wei Changyong feared to reach for the report as it lay right beside the cockerel.
They stood there, confused about whether to step forth or run back.
The most annoying part was how the impostor ignored them completely as if they were nothing but air.
Before this, they had been ambitiously trying to challenge Lin Jin for fame. But now, they lost before gaining victory and they didn't even know how.
"Brother, what do we do now?" Wei Bi asked in a whisper.
Wei Changyong was perplexed as well. The situation was going against what he scripted. He was currently at a loss on what to do. Fortunately, he was also a sophisticated adult so he could calm himself down. "It's okay. Let's go according to our plan. Go and get the evaluation report. Whatever he wrote on it, I'll deny it."
Wei Bi was still as a rock.
Wei Changyong was annoyed. "Why aren't you going?"
"I don't dare to!" Wei Bi blurted out honestly. That evaluation report was right beside the cockerel's feet. Even if he was given a hundred folds of courage, Wei Bi would never go.
"Useless!" Wei Changyong scolded before feigning courage and going over. As soon as he stepped forward, the flapping of the cockerel's wings scared the man back.
"Damn it!" Wei Changyong clearly saw the same ferocious glint in the cockerel's eyes. No doubt, this cockerel was still the same vicious beast he caught. It wasn't switched out. But why?
Why could the man pet and hug him? What else could this situation be described with other than absurd?
Now the Wei brothers were in a dilemma. They didn't have enough guts to go over, but if they left, they would drag frustration along with them.
They arrived full of aggression but ended up being ignored and could only whimper in silence in the end.
After appraising the last pet beast, Lin Jin got up and exercised his limbs. Zhao Ying compiled the evaluation reports to be handed in as their report to show the number of beasts they've evaluated and the contents of what he wrote.
"Appraiser Lin, those two people are still here!" Zhao Ying notified. Lin Jin waved it off, meaning for her to ignore them. Naturally, Zhao Ying knew that the Wei cousins were here for trouble, but in contrast to that, Appraiser Lin behaved really generously.
"The sun hasn't set yet. Come, let's return to Maple City," Lin Jin suggested after looking up at the sky. Zhao Ying nodded and quickly packed up.
And they headed back to the city.
"Brother, they're gone!" Wei Bi urged.
"I'm not blind!" His plan of using a public challenge to rise to fame failed and put him in a foul mood. He didn't have the courage to go near that cockerel. A few days earlier, his pet beast died by the beak of that cockerel, traumatizing Wei Changyong.
"Brother, that chicken is gone!" Wei Bi exclaimed. Wei Changyong froze. He looked to the direction where the cockerel used to be, and sure enough, it was gone.
Now would be the perfect time to faint.
"Did you see where it ran off to?" Wei Changyong was anxious. He paid a hefty sum to own this cockerel so losing it would mean a huge loss. Wei Bi shook his head. He wasn't paying attention either.
Both men hurried over to the empty spot just to find that, not only was the cockerel gone, the evaluation report was missing too.
They were utterly dumbfounded.
While the Wei brothers were frantically searching, Lin Jin and Zhao Ying were almost back at Maple City.
Right as they stepped into the city, the last bits of dusk faded away.
After a hard day's work, Lin Jin let Zhao Ying return home to rest while he went back to his house of this world.
It was from this single-roomed shed, inside this secluded, run-down little yard, that it was evident Lin Jin's predecessor lived a life full of struggle.
It holds only a wooden bed and study, stashed along with quite a few beast evaluation books, but those were starting to fall apart.
"From now on, this will be my home." Lin Jin wasn't complaining. The regulation allows him to earn ten percent of the evaluation fee from countryside missions. It wasn't much but it was enough for food.
The Wei brothers had paid quite a huge sum, a hundred and eighty copper coins in total. After Lin Jin forked out ten copper coins, he pocketed the rest.
Xiao Huo became much more energetic after eating the pill prescribed by the museum.
Lin Jin was confident that everything the museum suggested was only of the top grade. Even down to the smallest prescription, it was guaranteed to be effective. Lin Jin had checked Xiao Huo's condition earlier and the little guy was recovering from his injuries.
With the meat he had bought on the way home, Lin Jin took out some raw rice from the rice pot and cooked it together with the meat.
He was hungry and Xiao Huo was ravenous.
While the food was cooking, Lin Jin tossed a few pieces of meat to Xiao Huo, who was now more than happy to fill his flaccid belly.
Suddenly, a shadow perched on the walls of Lin Jin's yard.
Lin Jin peeked outside and saw the cockerel from Everlasting Town.
His touch had informed Lin Jin that this wasn't an ordinary chicken, and his usage of the Wild Beast Deterrence seal earlier was why he could tame this erratic animal.
If Wei Changyong found out, he's going to be mad. Plus, he never knew that this cockerel was truly a rare creature.
"Crimson chicken. A level two fierce beast. Fire attribute. Potential rating of five. Contain traces of a Golden Crow's blood!"
From the museum's introduction, this cockerel was quite a powerful pet beast. Not only was it a level two beast, but its potential rate reached up to five.
What did this mean?
If things progress nicely, this guy could be promoted to level five. Not only in Everlasting Town but even in Maple City, a beast like this was a rare find.
Furthermore, it was a fierce beast.
Wild beasts, violent beasts, and fierce beasts. Each beast type had its own uniqueness.
A fierce beast was a defiant type of pet beast. They were harder to tame and sign a blood pact with. It was most likely this reason that the Wei brothers never got a chance to sign a blood pact with this cockerel.
However, the best part was not this but its unique bloodline.
The bloodline of a Golden Crow!
Recorded in the museum, the Golden Crow was an ancient legendary bird, reincarnated from the sun deity. With its sun attribute, a sweep of its black feathers could engulf an area in a sea of flames.
This was evident how miraculous its bloodline was. Although it was only a trace of the Golden Crow's blood, it's rarity overshot the rock lizard's Golden Dragon bloodline.
Heck, they couldn't even be compared.
Lin Jin wasn't stupid. He knew the Wei cousins brought the cockerel just to cause trouble in an evaluation match. But Lin Jin didn't play by their rules. Instead, he effortlessly nulled their scheme.
However, Lin Jin was quite surprised that it would follow him back.
At that moment, he and the cockerel were locked in a stare-off.
"Do you want to follow me?" Lin Jin asked tentatively. The cockerel simply leaped off the wall and began eating Xiao Huo's dinner.
Xiao Huo let out a low growl, but the cockerel was unfazed as if it owns the place.
Lin Jin understood.
"Alright then. If you want to stay, you can stay."
Although his yard wasn't huge, keeping one chicken was no problem. Especially if it was such a special chicken.
"I'll call you Goldy from now on!" Lin Jin gave it a name after some consideration.
The cockerel had a fluffy ring of golden feathers surrounding its collar, hence the name was chosen.