"What a waste!"
Watching Lin Chen and Huang Qian leave, Tang Jiu wore a pained expression. So many Mutated Creatures, and in the end, Lin Chen had burned them all to ashes. It was easy to imagine how disappointed he felt.
Still, there was some good news: he had seen how powerful Lin Chen was. Befriending such a powerhouse—especially after giving him a timely reminder—would surely bring him more Mutated Creature remains in the future.
"Qingzhou really is a place that produces outstanding people. First that senior, and now another monster!" Tang Jiu sighed softly.
On the way out, Lin Chen called the Demon Suppression Division in Xuzhou and informed them about the situation at Fire Forest Mountain. Lin Chen and Huang Qian didn't leave Fire Forest Mountain until nearly two in the afternoon.
Lin Chen drove to a restaurant in a nearby town. While waiting for the food, he called Xiao Chun.
"Master!" Xiao Chun's respectful voice came through the phone.
"How's it going?" Lin Chen asked directly.
"They've been pretty cautious lately. I've gotten a little closer to them, but I'm still being watched. I don't know where their lair is yet." Xiao Chun's voice carried a hint of helplessness.
Hearing this, Lin Chen replied calmly, "There's no rush. You know what matters most!"
"Yes, yes!"
After hanging up, Lin Chen's face briefly showed a trace of helplessness. He had been too ruthless the last time he acted, and now the consequences had caught up with him. The ghosts in Xuzhou had become exceptionally cautious. Even Xiao Chun, who was one of them, found it difficult to get close.
Lin Chen and Huang Qian had spent the whole day in the mountains. Even though they'd had some food with them, they were starving by now. Huang Qian couldn't even be bothered to keep up appearances; the two of them quickly polished off the entire table of food.
"Lin Chen, about Xiao Lian and the others..." Huang Qian looked at Lin Chen beside her.
Six classmates had gone out, but she was the only one who'd returned alive. The school and her classmates' parents would surely come looking for her. If this wasn't handled properly, Huang Qian would be in constant trouble.
Seeing her worry, Lin Chen said calmly, "You don't need to concern yourself with this. I'll make a call."
As he spoke, Lin Chen called Xu Fei and explained what had happened at Fire Forest Mountain.
Xu Fei was silent for a moment before replying, "I'll take care of it. But tell your classmate not to spread anything about the Mutated Creatures or ghosts."
Lin Chen wasn't a Cultivator with the Demon Suppression Division. If he had been one of their cultivators, he would have been obligated to consider rescuing people. But Lin Chen was an independent cultivator. As long as he hadn't deliberately killed anyone, the Demon Suppression Division wouldn't hold him responsible.
Lin Chen knew this very well. The Cultivator Forum explained it in detail. After all, most cultivators didn't want to get on the wrong side of the authorities; once they were wanted, they would have no choice but to live in hiding.
"All taken care of!" Lin Chen said, turning to Huang Qian.
"Lin Chen, thank you!" Huang Qian said gratefully.
"This had nothing much to do with you in the first place. You were a victim too."
Lin Chen smiled faintly, not taking it to heart. He immediately drove Huang Qian back to Qingzhou. By the time they got there, night had fallen.
After a simple dinner, Lin Chen dropped Huang Qian off at her dormitory, then wandered around campus. Or rather, he was looking for that Orange Cat!
A Mutated Creature at least at the fifth tier was worth nearly ten thousand sources and tens of millions of Great Xia dollars. Lin Chen wouldn't pass up such a fat cat.
Unfortunately, after searching for a while, he couldn't find a single trace of the Orange Cat!
"That damn Orange Cat was hopping around everywhere just two days ago. Now that I'm actually looking for it, it's nowhere to be found?" Lin Chen's face darkened.
The Orange Cat had even run right past him before. Now that he was deliberately looking for it, he couldn't find it anywhere. He couldn't help feeling rather frustrated.
When he returned to the dorm, Fatty was nowhere to be seen. Lin Chen washed up and was just about to rest when Fatty came back.
"Hm?"
Looking at Fatty, who seemed to be in high spirits, Lin Chen raised an eyebrow. "Fatty, are you still seeing that Jingjing girl?"
"Nope." Fatty shook his head, then continued, "We went shopping yesterday, and she saw a bag she liked. It cost over ten thousand, and I didn't even have that much on me. How could I afford it? Then..."
Fatty didn't continue, but Lin Chen knew what had happened. Jingjing had seen that Fatty didn't have much money and dumped him on the spot.
After all, when they'd gone to the bar before, Zhang Song and the other guy had paid. Even the expenses for the night Fatty had lost his virginity had been covered by the two of them.
That so-called Jingjing had probably seen all that and mistaken Fatty for a rich young master. After a few days, she'd figured out what he was really like and naturally no longer wanted to date him.
"Then why are you..." Lin Chen looked at Fatty, puzzled. He could tell that Fatty was in high spirits. He didn't look heartbroken at all.
More importantly, he sensed ghostly energy on Fatty. Fatty had clearly run into a ghost again!
"I had a bit to drink last night and saw someone bullying Xiao Rui. Riding on the courage of alcohol, I stepped in and played the hero rescuing a beauty." Fatty looked proud of himself.
"And then the beauty offered herself to you?" Lin Chen looked at Fatty.
"Not quite. Xiao Rui's a good girl..."
Hearing this, Lin Chen hurriedly cut him off. "Hold on. You said the exact same thing about that Jingjing girl a couple of days ago!"
"I was blind then. Xiao Rui is different from Jingjing. She's definitely a good girl!" Fatty declared firmly.
A good girl? More like a good female ghost!
Lin Chen's face darkened. He suspected Fatty had been cursed with bad luck lately. Every girl he'd encountered recently had been downright bizarre.
Hu Xiaoling had been possessed by a Mutated Creature; he'd gone out looking for fun and ended up at a ghost bar; when he'd finally met a normal person, she'd turned out to be a gold digger; and now he'd met a female ghost!
He thought Fatty needed to burn some incense at a temple. Otherwise, he seriously doubted Fatty would make it to graduation, even though there were only a few days left.
"We talked for a long time last night and got to like each other. We talked some more just now and basically decided we were a couple." Fatty spoke with a lovestruck smile.
Lin Chen looked at Fatty and sighed softly. "Xiao Rui only asks you out at night, doesn't she?"
"Xiao Rui has to work during the day!" Fatty explained.
A ghost had to work? What kind of ghost job was that?!
Lin Chen was speechless. "You've basically decided you're a couple, and you still came back to the dorm?"
"Well, I came back to get something!" Fatty said awkwardly. As he spoke, he took his ID card out of a nearby drawer.
Damn it!
You're really going through with it?!
So he hadn't brought his ID and couldn't check into a hotel, which was why he'd come back to the dorm?
Lin Chen didn't know whether to call Fatty lucky or unlucky. He'd clearly run into a female ghost, yet somehow he'd managed to come back for his ID just as Lin Chen returned. Fate had decided he wasn't due to die yet!
"Fatty, all I can say is that you have a hell of a lot of dumb luck!"
Lin Chen let out a soft sigh. Before Fatty could react, he went on, "Fatty, take me to meet your new girlfriend. I might as well get acquainted with her!"
"Old Lin, it's so late. I was just about to..." Fatty sounded reluctant.
He wouldn't have minded if it were any other time, but it was already so late, and he'd only come back to the dorm to get his ID. If he delayed any longer, wouldn't the whole thing be off for tonight?
Before you continue