Froy noticed something and frowned slightly.
The guard licked his lips and chuckled. Just as he was about to speak, his vision suddenly went black.
Squeak, squeak, squeak!!
Several bats darted out of nowhere and lunged at his face, their sharp claws raking across his eyes.
"Aaargh!!"
The guard waved his arms in pain, trying to drive them away, but the bats seemed fixated on him, tearing indiscriminately at his face with their sharp teeth.
After struggling for a while, he finally drove the bats off. But the very next instant, as they took flight-
Smack!!
Mustache slapped him hard across the face again, knocking out two of his teeth in a spray of blood.
The guard fell onto his backside, his face covered in blood. His mangled eyes could no longer see clearly, and he looked utterly bewildered, confused and terrified.
What happened?
What the hell happened!?
"Hey, buddy, I was only trying to help you... uh, okay, I admit I hit a little harder than I meant to, but I really..."
"Bastard!"
Mustache instantly sobered up when he saw his companion draw the shortsword at his waist.
"Oh, whoa, whoa... easy! Calm down!"
Mustache placed one hand on his sword hilt and backed away a few steps, but the furious guard was already losing his reason.
"Stop! You two idiots!"
Just as he was about to attack, Monk Will arrived in time.
He strode over and sternly reprimanded Mustache and the other guard.
Intimidated by the brother's usual authority, both could only lower their heads and take the scolding.
Throughout the entire incident, none of the three noticed the inaudible sounds coming from the mouth of the foolishly grinning young man beside them, or the faint glimmer of the Seashell Necklace on his chest.
After ordering the guards away, Will walked up to Froy, his anger still simmering. He glanced at the idiot sacrifice behind her, disgust flashing in his eyes.
"Well done, Sister, but you kept me waiting far too long."
"My apologies, Monk Will."
Will snorted and turned toward Basement No. 7.
"Then hurry up."
Froy said nothing more. She tugged on the hem of Chen Lun's clothes and followed Will.
Soon, the three returned to the familiar basement.
Coming back here felt like coming home to Chen Lun. He was in a wonderful mood.
Once Will blew his whistle, he eagerly stepped forward and opened [Philip’s Diary].
Rustle, rustle...
[By carefully reading the "Beast Tamer's Handbook" (progress: 63%), you gained 10 experience points] [...you gained 10 experience points]
Chen Lun switched into reading-to-level-up mode, hungrily absorbing the knowledge within. Watching the experience points pour in filled him with a sense of accomplishment.
If Will hadn't been staring at him so eagerly, he might even have sighed in appreciation.
Knowledge really does change your fate!
When his progress through the "Beast Tamer's Handbook" reached 70%, Chen Lun chose to stop.
His time was limited. Reading for too long could arouse Will's suspicion, so he needed to plan sensibly.
He flipped through the notebook again, moving on to today's entertainment-critiquing the diary.
"February 23, 4399, solar calendar. Sunny... I can safely say I truly am a genius, no matter how you look at it.
Since stepping into the mysterious realm of the supernatural Sequences, I've met countless people. None of them were as brilliant as me. Haha, ha..."
Maintaining his stiff, foolish grin, Chen Lun quickly skipped over the unimportant material.
After turning a few pages, his fingers suddenly stopped.
"...Fortunately, just after advancing to [Sequence 9 Beast Tamer], I used my intelligence and ingenuity to develop this skill. I named it [Friend of Animals].
Well, without it, how could I possibly have lived such a wonderful life..."
"...It was truly an incomparably exquisite experience. The magnificent beauty of a female brown bear, the wildness of a lioness, the frenzy of a herd of zebras... dolphins were the cutest. Mwah, nice.
Oh, I forgot. Except for male dolphins. That felt awful..."
Chen Lun saw a roughly drawn smiley face at the bottom of the diary page.
He slowly closed the notebook and shut his eyes.
Philip, oh, Philip!
Your tastes can be obscure, buddy, but they shouldn't be obscene!
Chen Lun looked at the notebook in his hands with disgust.
He decided to leave the rest for tomorrow. Tsk, tsk...
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Will's impatience had already turned to anger and knew he couldn't stall any longer.
Only then did he slowly open his mouth and begin murmuring the unfinished "lost mythic secrets" about the seven gourds.
Froy dutifully raised her quill, ready to write on the parchment.
"...Purple Angel lost his way in the poisonous mist. After coming into the world, he no longer recognized Old Grandfather or his six elder angel brothers.
He even used the purple gourd Mysterious Object to fire beams of light that shattered his angel brothers' hearts and made them kill each other...
In the end, he sucked them into the purple gourd, and Old Grandfather shed tears called sorrow..."
Will's eyes grew bloodshot, his expression brimming with excitement.
He kept urging Chen Lun to continue and told Froy to record every word exactly.
"Praise the Rose! I... have I actually parted the layers of history's curtain and uncovered the truth of ancient times!?"
He grew increasingly manic, unable to control himself.
"Yes, that's right! There's no mistake! They correspond exactly to the seven orthodox gods of today's world. This is their history!"
"But who was that supreme 'Old Grandfather'? And who were the 'Serpent Monster' and 'Scorpion Demon' who drove them into such desperate straits...!?"
Consumed by curiosity, Will stared fixedly at Chen Lun, hoping an answer would emerge from his mouth.
But once again, Chen Lun stopped at a crucial point, cutting off at exactly the right moment.
All he did was keep muttering:
"Pangolin... snake... venomous scorpion..."
He repeated those three nouns over and over, like a broken record.
Will was so furious that veins bulged on his forehead.
At the same time, he couldn't help privately wondering whether some truth lay hidden within those words.
"Perhaps they symbolize the higher Sequences of some supernatural pathway...?"
Froy set down her quill and softly offered her guess.
Monk Will's pupils jolted at her words, and a look of revelation appeared on his face.
"I understand!"
Chapter 9: I, the Pangolin
Although Will was a thoroughly unpleasant person, he wasn't entirely without merits.
For instance, he was highly efficient at his work, something Chen Lun greatly appreciated.
Convinced that he had uncovered some truth, Monk Will quickly summoned the guards and ordered them to fetch a venomous snake, a scorpion, and a pangolin.
The snake and scorpion were easy enough, but the pangolin was harder to find.
Fortunately, the prison stood in the countryside, right beside an untamed mountain.
After some effort, the guards finally caught a pangolin sleeping soundly in a burrow.
"Too slow, you idiots!"
The guards hurried in carrying an iron cage and glass jars, but instead of praise from Will, they received a thorough dressing-down.
Mustache and the other guards bowed their heads through the scolding, feeling inexplicably wronged.
Monk Will paid that no mind and took the three adorable little creatures.
After driving all the guards out, he placed them on the altar in front of Chen Lun.
Chen Lun silently applauded Will's dedication to service.
Still pretending to be an idiot, he first opened the small iron cage holding the pangolin and took it out.
The little pangolin was rather dopey, lying motionless in Chen Lun's hands.
[You used the skill [Animal Mimicry LV1] and learned a corresponding trait from the target] [Ant-eating] You learned to eat ants. Termites are your favorite, of course, but bees aren't out of the question...
The corner of Chen Lun's mouth twitched, and he activated the skill again.
[You used the skill [Animal Mimicry LV1] and learned a corresponding trait from the target] [Tree climbing] You learned to climb trees. Up in the trees, you are happiness's favorite child.
Before you continue