Chapter 12: My Cat Is Trying to Support Me

After figuring out the whole story, Cheng Han decisively muttered,

“Deduce a method to deal with… no, eliminate the supernatural power inside the gold coin.”

The familiar coolness spread across the top of his head.

In the next instant, his vision brightened.

Cheng Han “saw” an incomparably dazzling sun radiating endless light and heat, while strange black clouds filled the surrounding sky.

The sun suddenly expanded, erupting with countless strands of light. Every strand that struck the black clouds erased a portion of them.

After only a short moment, the black clouds ceased to exist.

Only the great sun remained suspended in the sky.

As though it had existed eternally.

A notification immediately appeared:

“Proficiency +2. Current proficiency: 58/1000. Spirit Value: 4.3/13.4.”

Cheng Han was overjoyed.

“What an unexpected surprise. I never thought the True Flame Residual Seal analyzed from the sun would perfectly counter the supernatural power inside the coin.”

He stared at the ditch and smiled.

“Mr. Evil God believer, it seems your luck is pretty terrible.”

More than terrible.

It was utterly disastrous.

Originally, the Evil God believers’ plan had been progressing extremely smoothly. As long as they waited one more day, they would have been able to conduct a grand sacrificial ritual inside the textile factory.

Unfortunately, a certain middle school student suddenly appeared and shoved himself right into the middle of things.

Not only did he ruin the ritual completely, but the believers also suffered catastrophic losses. Even the gold coin hidden so secretly had been sniffed out.

One word—

Miserable.

Cheng Han swung the small shovel and dug vigorously into the bottom of the ditch. Very quickly, he found the gold coin.

He did not dare touch the bizarre object directly with his hands. Instead, he used the shovel to flick it up and toss it onto the nearby grass.

It was a brand-new gold coin.

Its surface bore an embossed image of a flourishing giant tree—the Myriad Vast Divine Banyan.

The coin still contained a special power.

From the very moment it was dug up, faint and eerie murmurs began sounding in Cheng Han’s ears, while his emotions uncontrollably grew restless and irritable.

Earlier, the whispers had merely been those foreseen by the skill.

But now, they were real.

Cheng Han did not dare delay any further. He immediately activated the True Flame Residual Seal. A faint glow lit up on his fingertip as he forcefully jabbed it toward the gold coin.

At that moment, the coin seemed to sense danger and strangely bounced several times.

Buzz~

The coin trembled violently.

The murmurs immediately grew louder.

But it was all futile struggle.

Ding!

Cheng Han’s finger accurately struck the gold coin.

The glow on his fingertip instantly became incomparably brilliant, as bright as a hundred-watt lightbulb. The surrounding air itself seemed affected by thermal radiation, and the temperature noticeably rose.

“Aaaah—”

A miserable scream suddenly erupted from within the coin.

Only a moment later, the sound abruptly ceased.

The gold coin stopped trembling.

Cheng Han immediately performed another deduction and finally let out a long breath of relief.

“The black mist has been destroyed by the residual seal.”

Only after relaxing did he realize how dizzy his head felt. Upon checking his status, he discovered that his Spirit Value had actually fallen to an extremely low 0.2/13.4.

In other words, that brief confrontation just now had consumed a full 4.1 points of Spirit Value.

Rubbing his temples, Cheng Han still felt lingering fear.

“Confrontations involving supernatural power consume way too much spiritual power. This little body of mine really can’t handle it.”

Then he happily pocketed the gold coin.

“At least all that effort wasn’t wasted.”

An ordinary person’s monthly salary was around twenty silver coins. One gold coin equaled roughly five months of wages for a commoner.

This was definitely not a small amount of money.

Cheng Han quickly cleaned up the scene and rode away on his bicycle.

Inside a secret chamber.

A short candle burned at the center of the floor.

Its flame was strangely dark green.

By the candlelight, one could see smooth stone flooring engraved with an enormous and horrifying image.

It depicted a four-armed giant.

Where its head should have been, there was nothing.

The pair of hands near its shoulders each held a severed head, both faces displaying bizarre smiles.

The lower pair of arms each grasped a blood-soaked bone staff, seemingly freshly torn from corpses.

Knock. Knock.

The rhythmic sound resembled a cane striking the floor.

A thin and hunched figure wearing a robe that dragged along the ground slowly approached the candle.

After coughing heavily several times, he flicked his sleeve toward the candle.

Whoosh!

A large surge of dark green flames burst forth from the candle, condensing into the face of an ordinary-looking man.

The flaming face opened its mouth and spat out sparks.

“Zagu, your operation failed.”

The hunched figure replied in a shrill voice,

“We had a traitor among us!”

The flaming face calmly asked,

“Where’s the evidence?”

The hunched figure sneered.

“This entire operation was strange from beginning to end. Our hidden agents received no warning whatsoever, yet the authorities suddenly launched an attack.”

The flaming face remained unmoved.

“That’s a clumsy excuse.”

The hunched figure abruptly raised his voice.

“Haqi’s Soul Lamp has gone out. That means the Secret Soul Gold Coin was discovered, and the fragment of his escaping soul was destroyed!”

The flaming face instantly changed expression.

“What?”

The hunched figure grew even angrier.

“The concealment ability of the Secret Soul Gold Coin is beyond doubt. Without a traitor secretly informing the authorities, how could they possibly have found it?

“The remnant soul attached to the coin existed in an extremely special state. Only a powerful Mystic Master proficient in the soul domain could detect its existence.

“The soul faction is notoriously difficult to cultivate. Tai’an Minor Spirit Realm hasn’t produced a Mystic Master specializing in that faction for decades. If not for betrayal from a traitor, how could the authorities possibly have killed Haqi?”

The flaming face fell silent.

Only after a long time did he finally speak again.

“I will personally investigate everyone connected to Haqi.”

He heavily emphasized the final sentence.

“Everyone.”

The hunched figure snorted coldly.

“Once you uncover the traitor, I’ll use Human-Face Worms to slowly devour all of his internal organs piece by piece.”

The flaming face gave no response and dispersed into wisps of green smoke.

Shanyi District.

The instant Cheng Han pushed open the door, he immediately heard a cat’s cry.

“Meow~”

The black cat sat by the entrance, quietly staring at him with its feline eyes.

Cheng Han praised it.

“Not bad. You listened to what I said and didn’t run around outside after dark.”

The black cat stood up, rubbed against his pant leg, then lightly trotted more than ten steps before effortlessly leaping onto a wooden table over a meter high.

Cheng Han’s gaze followed after it, and he instantly froze.

Because on top of the table sat three birds.

Each one was noticeably larger than an adult’s hand and probably weighed no less than half a jin.

Clearly, these were Chief’s trophies.

The black cat pressed one paw onto a bird and meowed again.

“Meow~”

Glancing at the cat’s belly, Cheng Han cautiously asked,

“Chief, are these your way of bringing me dinner?”

The black cat swished its fluffy tail, seemingly confirming it.

The corners of Cheng Han’s mouth twitched slightly.

He suddenly realized that this black cat seemed to be trying to support him.

More than half an hour later.

Dinner was finished cooking.

Cheng Han picked up a bird leg and took a bite, immediately nodding repeatedly.

The meat was firm and chewy, and the taste was excellent!

At that moment, he suddenly felt that adopting this black cat had truly been a wise decision.

At the very least, he could eat meat without spending any money.

Wasn’t that great?

The black cat crouched not far away, observing him while he ate, its tail swishing once again.

After finishing his meal and cleaning up the dishes, Cheng Han instructed,

“I’m going to rest for a while. Stay obediently in the living room and don’t make too much noise. Understand?”

“Meow~”

The black cat responded before slipping beneath the cabinet.

(End of Chapter)