A Good-for-Nothing

145. I’ll Carry You on My Back (1)

Translator: Dragon Rider

Outside the classroom.

He Zheng in a coma was in Li Zong’s arms. Tianyi was holding his butt. Lin Zhuo, hands raised, was trying to catch a falling falcon. Wei Cheng alone quietly walked back into the classroom which had been reduced to rubble, returned with half a dozen falcons impaled on his demon-killing staff, and then started skillfully plucking those grayish or yellow falcons which had already been roasted. After merely a while, all falcons were cleanly unhaired.

Wei Cheng ripped off two falcon drumsticks and handed them to Li Zong.

For a few seconds the atmosphere was very embarrassed. Surprisingly enough, right at this moment, unconscious He Zheng who probably was starving, smelled the aroma of roast falcons and came around…

The mood on the scene couldn’t be any more awkward.

Li Zong holding him in his arms sat down on the ground and let He Zheng sit on his leg.

Tired and hungry, He Zheng succumbed to the temptation and started gobbling the falcon drumsticks, enjoying them too much to say anything or think about anything. This was the first time that he had wolfed food without any consideration of his personal image.

Wei Cheng ripped off another two drumsticks and gave them to Lin Zhuo and Tianyi respectively. Staring at the roast falcon drumstick, Lin Zhuo recollected for a moment and said, “I think this species of falcon is a first-class state-protected animal in our country.”

He took the drumstick and bit off a chunk of it.

“But… it’s really delicious.” After finishing it, Lin Zhuo made an honest comment.

A rare smile curled Wei Cheng’s mouth.

Tianyi, what with his innate fear for his natural enemy, didn’t dare eat it at first, but ordinarily, people hated their enemies and were only too anxious to eat them alive. Mainly because this hard fighting had cost him too much of his strength and he was really hungry, Tianyi grabbed a drumstick and started gnawing on it.

The drumsticks were lean and muscular. Though it was not very easy to bite the meat off them, they were quite chewy. The group of people sitting on the ground enjoyed the roast falcons very much. The two examiners watching the ball of light pulled wry faces.

The four of them were having a really good time bingeing on those roast falcons, with non-stop sound of smacking lips.

Outside the ball of light.

Zhao Yidi took her eyes off the ball, picked up her cup, took a sip of the water and gave a little cough. “This group took the liberty of roasting test props and even ate them. Remember to fine them for this.”

“Let it go. It’d probably be Li Zong who ends up paying the fine if we do that.” Tan Lubai repeatedly waved her hand. Feeling a trifle hungry, she hurriedly changed the topic. “How are the other groups doing with their tests?”

He Zheng’s group had successfully passed the test, but five minutes ago, Lan Bai, Kang Ba, Tao Wujiu and another fellow examinee of theirs had all failed. There were only five balls of light left in the room.

As soon as Tan Lubai finished her question, another ball of light gradually brightened turning green, suspended above the sand table.

“Chen Qianlin’s group is the second to pass.” Zhao Yidi raised her chin and then gave a brief nod.

A slight frown creased Tan Lubai’s forehead. Chen Qianlin was holding a sharp sword, the gigantic corpse of the Earth Beast behind him. She could tell that Chen Qianlin had also just been through a desperate fight. He was gory all over, appearing nothing like the man he usually was, cutting a sorry figure just as He Zheng and the others did.

“But Chen Qianlin is the only one in his group that passed the test.”

Zhao Yidi sniffed, “So what? It shows that he is indeed quite competent.”

Tan Lubai shook her head disapprovingly. “It shows that he lacks team spirit. We need team players who fight side by side with partners, not egoists who always act single-handed.”

Zhao Yidi knitted her long eyebrows and was just about to snap back at her when the third and the fourth balls of light brightened at the same time. The third ball was showing live images of the group that Zhao Yidi’s apprentice Qiu Luo and Tan Lubai’s subordinate Jin Qianlai were in. The other two members of this group had been killed and wounded respectively.

Tan Lubai fixed her attention on the last group. If her memory served her correctly, the name of the surviving examinee of that group was Luo Yan.

Luo Yan was standing there alone. Beside him were the bodies of the other three group members that had just fallen to the ground. All their chests had been cut open, their hearts ripped out. The whole scene was very bloody.

“What’s the opponent of this group?” asked Tan Lubai in an uncertain tone of voice.

Zhao Yidi flicked a glance at the ball of light. Though quick-tempered, she was indeed an experienced exorcist. “It’s a Thorn Beast.”

Thorn Beasts were thorny-skinned, and their thorns were poisonous. Even when they transformed into humans, their skins were still covered with poisonous thorns. On top of that, they had great survivability, which made them very difficult to handle.

“Is there a problem?”

Watching those “corpses”, Tan Lubai narrowed her eyes. A Thorn Beast would never kill its target by cutting open their chest and rip out their heart. It always directly poisoned them and then sucked the victim’s blood.

“This kind of method… We need to pay extra attention to this examinee named Luo Yan in later stages. I feel there’s something wrong with him.” It was a pity that Tan Lubai couldn’t directly perform divination to get information about human. She had no choice but to leave this aside for the moment.

Zhao Yidi inclined her head.

After the last two groups finished the tests, the special training came to an end. The rest of the matters would be left up to Zhen Daoyuan, the chief examiner.

Zhao Yidi casually withdrew the Atlas of Cathay and flicked one last glance at the ball of light in which He Zheng and the other three were still happily eating. The corner of her mouth involuntarily twitched and she made a phone call to Li Zong, telling him to have the four examinees show some restraint.

Inside the ball of light.

Li Zong hung up the phone. The three falcon drumsticks that He Zheng had gobbled down had helped him regain part of his strength. Li Zong fished out his Thermos bottle and let He Zheng take a few sips of the water in it at intervals between his bites, which restored his energy considerably.

Seeing Supt. Li tending him meticulously, others for some reason felt a little upset.

Lin Zhuo saved a falcon drumstick given to him.

“Zhuo, why are you keeping this?” asked Tianyi casually, biting off a mouthful of meat and chewing it.

Lin Zhuo replied, “It’s not everyday that we get to eat this kind of state-protected animals. I’m saving this for my brother.”

“Oh,” said Tianyi, “who’s your brother?”

Lin Zhuo was just about to answer when someone not far away called his name in a deep, low and magnetic voice. Lin Zhuo’s eyes lit up. Seeing Lin Di standing behind a tree with arms open at him, he ran up without a second thought and gave the man a large hug. “Brother!”

“You’re terrific!” Lin Di’s eyes swept across all others on the scene, his usually calm voice tinged with excitement. This special training session had been a last-minute arrangement, and he couldn’t tip his brother off about it, but unexpectedly, Lin Zhuo had got a pass! His eyes somewhat red, Lin Di took a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the dirt from Lin Zhuo’s face, rubbing his fair-skinned cheeks constantly. “I’ll take you to dinner tonight as a treat.”

“Thank you, Brother,” Lin Zhuo smiled joyfully, fished the falcon drumstick out of his pocket and handed it to him.

Lin Di was puzzled.

Lin Zhuo said, “Give it a shot. It’s a falcon drumstick, very delicious.”

Staggered, Lin Di nearly lost his footing. He looked from the falcon drumstick proffered to him by Lin Zhuo’s hand to those falcon feathers and bones scattered all over the ground. Now it was Lin Di whose heart was racing, whose blood was surging. In a quivering voice, he queried, “Yo–You ate these Spear Falcons?”

“Oh, so that’s what this species is called.”

Lin Di bellowed, “These are props Elder Chen lent us!!! They’re irreversible!!! They’re his pets!!!”