Strange Tales, Making Way for the First A-Rank Sequence [Wandering Immortal]

"Shang, you've heard the saying in our country that black dog blood can ward off evil, right?"

Instead of answering directly, Liu Tie started with a question.

"Yes."

Fan Shang nodded at his words.

Black dog blood had been a staple of the zombie movies he watched as a child.

So had Corpse-Settling Talismans bearing the words "The Great General Is Here," Peachwood Swords, and other familiar fixtures of zombie movies.

They had special effects on evil creatures like zombies and were household knowledge in the Dragon Nation.

But since evil spirits didn't exist in reality, Fan Shang had no idea whether any of it was true or actually worked.

"That makes this easier to explain. Shang..."

Liu Tie looked at Fan Shang earnestly.

"I can tell you in all seriousness that these things are real."

"Whether it's black dog blood driving away evil spirits, Peachwood Swords, or things like the Century-Old Butcher's Knife, they're all real. They all work against weird entities."

"?"

A question mark immediately popped into Fan Shang's head.

Without waiting for Fan Shang to ask, Liu Tie continued.

"As for how I know..."

"It's because I've seen it myself. You all know I used to belong to a large convoy, right?"

As he spoke, Liu Tie glanced at Zhou Ping and Lin Xue, then at Fan Shang.

None of the three looked surprised.

Liu Tie had mentioned it once before.

Still, all three were curious, because he rarely spoke about the large convoy he had belonged to.

Zhou Ping and Lin Xue had arrived half a year ago. They had met Liu Tie when he was alone and formed a convoy with him.

By then, Liu Tie had long since left the large convoy, so they knew very little about the one he had been part of.

But from his tone and expression, Zhou Ping and Lin Xue could tell that Liu Tie held that convoy in high regard.

"We know." ×2

Zhou Ping and Lin Xue both answered.

Liu Tie nodded at their response.

Then he began his story.

The convoy Liu Tie had once belonged to was called the Hope Convoy. It was enormous, with over five thousand members.

"Captain Li Cunxing was strong. He was the strongest Sequence User I'd ever seen, and he had awakened the A-Rank Sequence [Wandering Immortal]."

Liu Tie spoke earnestly. His admiration for the man was clear from his tone alone.

"Because we had Captain Li, even when our convoy ran into crises like today's, we always managed to pull through."

"An A-Rank Sequence? How strong? Stronger than Shang?"

Zhou Ping asked curiously.

He might have been just a cook, but he had a warrior's heart.

They had encountered other convoys and their Sequence Users over the past six months, but Zhou Ping had never seen anyone perform as impressively as Fan Shang so soon after awakening.

That was why hearing about an A-Rank Sequence made him curious. What exactly did it mean?

But Liu Tie didn't answer Zhou Ping's question.

Instead, he gave him a long look before turning toward Fan Shang, something meaningful in his eyes.

"I don't know. Shang is strong, but Captain Li was already at Sequence Two before I left the convoy."

"It's been so long now that I have no idea how strong Captain Li is."

Liu Tie said.

He hadn't stated it outright, but everyone present understood what he meant. Clearly, he thought Li Cunxing was stronger.

Fan Shang didn't mind. He was more interested in how those A-, B-, C-, and D-rank Sequences were classified and in the situation with the Heterochromatic Black Cat.

"But that's not important. What I'm trying to say is that the reason I know these folk objects work against weird entities is actually very simple. Captain Li's younger sister kept a black dog and a few roosters."

As he spoke, Liu Tie sank into his memories.

Captain Li's younger sister, Li Cunxin, was both a Sequence User and the convoy's deputy captain.

Liu Tie remembered that they had encountered weird entities that time, too. Just like the ones today, they had no physical bodies.

Captain Li's Sequence had no effect on them, and the convoy was on the verge of being wiped out. At that critical moment, his younger sister killed the black dog, collected the blood from its heart, and poured it into an Ink Line Reel.

Then she used the Ink Line Reel Line to strike the weird entities into physical form, allowing the convoy to escape disaster.

"It was only after that incident that I learned from the captain that things like black dog blood could be used against weird entities."

"I also heard him lament more than once that if the dog had been pure black, we probably wouldn't have needed to kill it. Or if we'd had a Black Cat..."

Liu Tie glanced at the black cat beside Fan Shang as he spoke.

A complicated look flickered in his eyes.

"Maybe the convoy wouldn't have encountered those weird entities at all. We could have avoided them ahead of time."

After all, in the folk legends of the Dragon Nation...

Black Cats already carried associations with Evil-Repelling, guarding the home, and being Auspicious Beasts.

If black dog blood worked against weird entities, then naturally, Black Cats would too.

And Fan Shang's black cat was even a rare Heterochromatic Black Cat, able to see evil spirits. That was practically an epic-level upgrade.

But Fan Shang was left rather speechless by those words.

"Captain Liu, are you serious?"

After hearing the explanation, Fan Shang did at least understand why Little Black was so special.

But honestly, Liu Tie was overselling it.

At least, that was how Fan Shang felt, since he could see Little Black's abilities.

"Ahem."

Liu Tie couldn't help feeling a little awkward and cleared his throat twice.

When he looked back at Fan Shang, his expression turned serious again.

"Of course, that was a bit of an exaggeration."

"But what I'm trying to say, Shang, is that those objects from the Dragon Nation's folklore and strange tales really do possess special powers in this Weird World."

As Liu Tie spoke, he looked at the black cat, which was about the size of a large dog.

He spoke again.

"It's a pity, though. If you had the Beast Tamer Sequence, Shang, you might actually be able to fully awaken this black cat's bloodline,

"and even avoiding danger in advance, like I mentioned earlier, might be possible."

Liu Tie could tell that Little Black was different from ordinary cats.

But ultimately, there had been no fundamental change. Little Black was still just a cat.

Back when Liu Tie was still with the large convoy, he had encountered another convoy with a Beast Tamer Sequence User.

Their captain's Beast Tamer Sequence hadn't been particularly powerful at first, either, but by a stroke of chance, he had formed a contract with a centipede.

The centipede's bloodline had then awakened, and overnight, he had become the strongest Sequence User in his convoy. Even Captain Li, with his A-Rank Sequence, had suffered defeat at his hands.

The power of the Beast Tamer Sequence was beyond question.

That was why Liu Tie found it such a pity. If Fan Shang also had the Beast Tamer Sequence, perhaps they wouldn't need to be so cautious.

At his words, Fan Shang merely glanced at Liu Tie and smiled without saying anything.

He didn't particularly care about Liu Tie's regret, either.

After all, the Beast Tamer Sequence wasn't the only way to fully awaken Little Black's bloodline.

If Fan Shang wanted to, he could even awaken Little Black's bloodline right now.