Hairy Mongoose

Rony's chest had already been pierced through, blood streaming from both his front and back, impossible to staunch. His trench coat was peculiar, though—it absorbed all the blood, keeping not a single drop from spilling out.

"Mr. Rony, how did you get hurt so badly? I'll fetch a doctor for you."

"No... no, don't..." Rony extended one hand and struggled to seize Duke's sleeve. "I'm being... hunted... Fetching a doctor... will expose me..."

"If you don't get a doctor, you'll die."

"I'm doomed anyway..."

Duke was utterly speechless. "You've really gone and dumped a huge mess in my lap!"

All he wanted was to keep a low profile and lie low in this supernatural world for a while. Once he had figured out just how deep the waters of the supernatural world ran, he would calmly make plans for the future.

He hadn't wanted to get dragged into trouble so soon—especially trouble involving murder and corpses.

Rony had no attention to spare for Duke's worries. He felt himself nearing the end and had to explain everything as quickly as possible. "I was hunting a 2-Ring Spirit Beast, a Long-Haired Mongoose..."

He had bought ten Arcane Cards some time ago precisely to capture the cunning Long-Haired Mongoose.

Rony had kept a careful watch on the Long-Haired Mongoose, but someone with ulterior motives had still set their sights on him. Just as he had gravely wounded the 2-Ring Spirit Beast, Long-Haired Mongoose, and was preparing to move in for the finishing blow, he was ambushed.

"It was people from the Poison Fang Gang, an outer faction of the Black Snake Family... I killed two of them, but another got away..."

"The Poison Fang Gang? An outer faction of the Black Snake Family? And you let one escape?" Duke's brows knitted tightly as he ground his teeth. "That person will definitely report back. Seriously, Mr. Rony, are you trying to get me killed?"

"I'm a stranger here... I don't know anyone..."

Rony had killed two of them in retaliation, but he had also been pierced through the chest by a streak of battle aura. He hadn't dared seek help at the town hospital, since the hospitals were all industries owned by the Black Snake Family.

Besides, he had come to Snakehead Town to hunt Spirit Beasts and didn't know anyone here.

After racking his brains, he had thought of Duke.

As for whether Duke could be trusted, he no longer had the luxury of caring too much. "The Long-Haired Mongoose won't live much longer. I didn't finish it off... When the Black Snake Family investigates, they'll definitely find it... But they don't know... that my original target was never the adult Long-Haired Mongoose... Cough, cough... Open the bundle beside you and take a look."

"I really don't want to. It'll only bring me trouble..." Duke was helpless, but the trouble had already come knocking. There was no way to avoid it now.

He brought over the bundle that had earlier fallen from Rony's arms. Something soft seemed to be inside. When he opened it, he found a palm-sized young beast curled into a ball, its fur not yet grown in and its eyes still shut.

He clearly sensed an aura of spirituality within the little beast's body.

"What's this?"

"Cough, cough... It's the target of this trip... a Long-Haired Mongoose cub... Ha-ha, cough, cough..." Rony spat blood while still trying to laugh. "Compared to an adult Long-Haired Mongoose, its cub is worth a fortune!"

Duke was startled, then asked, "Is a cub easier to tame?"

"It's more than just taming... A Long-Haired Mongoose cub can form a Knight Contract and cultivate alongside its knight, with a high probability of evolving into a Phantom Beast species... Once it evolves successfully, it becomes a 2-Ring Phantom Beast, Armored Mongoose!"

"A Phantom Beast!"

Duke's heart thudded with excitement.

The Seven Towers Federation, as well as the other nations of the Barbaric Continent, revered Arcane Mages who cultivated the Spirit Sea. Blood Sea Knights and Spirit Plant Masters who cultivated the Qi Sea were merely minor branches of the Spirit Sea.

The Blood Sea and Qi Sea could indeed touch the supernatural, but their potential was extremely limited. One ring was their absolute limit.

For example, opening the Blood Sea allowed one to cultivate battle aura and become a 0-ring Knight, but a knight's endpoint was only a 1-Ring Great Knight. Without a fortuitous opportunity, one would remain stuck at the 1-Ring Great Knight stage for their entire life.

However, a 1-Ring Great Knight could continue growing if he obtained such an opportunity.

That opportunity was a Phantom Beast.

By forming a contract with a Phantom Beast, one could borrow its power to break through the limits of a 1-Ring Great Knight and advance to become a 2-Ring Phantom Beast Knight, or even a higher-level 3-Ring High-level Phantom Beast Knight.

Thus, to any 1-Ring Great Knight, a Phantom Beast was a priceless treasure—a treasure they would fight tooth and nail to obtain.

Seeing Duke's shocked expression, Rony knew that Duke understood the value of the Long-Haired Mongoose cub. There was so much unwillingness in his eyes, but in the end, it became a quiet sigh. "Now... it's yours."

Duke really wanted to refuse.

But though the refusal reached his lips, he could not bring himself to say it.

After a long while, he finally asked in a low voice, "Mr. Rony, then what's the price?"

"Cough, cough... There's no price. Just a request..." Rony fought to keep himself from passing out. His injuries were too severe; if he fainted, he might never wake again. "My real name is Robney. I have a son, Royce... He's receiving knight training at the Spear Knight Monastery in Chen Jiao City... Help him if you can..."

As he spoke, Robney shakily pointed at the pocket of his trench coat.

Duke reached into the pocket and pulled out a Spirit Dragon Card. "This one?"

Robney pinched the Spirit Dragon Card and gave it a weak shake.

Duke understood at once. He took out his own Spirit Dragon Card and lightly touched it to Robney's. Immediately, he saw lines form on the face of the card, outlining a message: "Income: 8 gold dragons, 26 silver dragons, 18 copper dragons... Balance: 10 gold dragons, 47 silver dragons, 55 copper dragons..."

"Help Royce..." After Robney finished speaking, his head suddenly lolled to one side.

When Duke checked again, he was no longer breathing.

"Sigh!"

Duke glanced at the dead Robney, then at the Long-Haired Mongoose cub that seemed to be sleeping inside the bundle. He had no idea how to put his feelings into words.

But no matter what he felt, the most urgent matter was dealing with Robney's corpse.

Otherwise, if someone found it tomorrow, he really would be dragged into trouble.

"I have to dump the body!"

He steadied himself, immediately found a snakeskin sack, curled Robney's corpse up, and stuffed it inside. Then he tied the opening securely, making sure no blood would drip out.

He quickly cleaned the bloodstains from the floor, then went outside to check whether there were any traces of blood in the alley.

Fortunately, Rony had been wearing a trench coat that could contain the blood, so there were no obvious stains along the way. There were only a few fine traces of blood on the spot where he had knocked on the door, and Duke hurriedly wiped them away.

Then he returned home and waited.

He planned to dump the body in the second half of the night.

I didn't kill him, yet I'm the one who has to dump the body... His heart kept pounding wildly. Duke had no choice but to find something to occupy himself and divert his attention, so he looked toward the Long-Haired Mongoose cub.

The palm-sized cub looked like a mouse and was not attractive in the slightest.

Duke quickly found a cardboard box, then brought over some scraps of cloth and cotton wadding to make the Long-Haired Mongoose cub a little nest. He placed it beside the head of his bed.

Watching the little thing sleep so soundly, he did not know what to make of his feelings.

"If I had opened my Blood Sea, I would have completed the contract at the first opportunity and worked hard to raise you into an Armored Mongoose... Unfortunately, my attempt to open the Blood Sea failed. I can't become a knight."

Suddenly.

He thought of something and asked directly in his mind, "Xiao Yi, according to the database's calculations, can I still open my Blood Sea?"