Chapter 23: Medicine, Medicine…
By the time Jiang He leapt off the roof, the Feral had already been mauled to death. Meanwhile, Trumbo was rapidly shrinking. It licked off the blood around its mouth, and then meowed cutely at Jiang He.
He grimaced and asked, “You can change your size?”
Trumbo nodded.
“Then, can you turn into other stuff?”
Trumbo shook its head.
Hearing some commotion outside, Jiang He quickly put the corpse on the ground into his System backpack with a swipe of his hand. “Alright, you and Dumbo stay in the yard. Don’t come out if there’s nothing wrong.”
Just outside, there was the sound of footsteps. With the huge racket the collapsing of his roof caused, all of Jiang He’s neighbours were startled. When Jiang He opened his gates, there were more than twenty people standing outside, curiosity and concern written all over each of their faces.
“Everyone—uncles, aunties, gramps, and grannies. It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s just my old house falling apart after going years without maintenance.”
“Are you alright?” asked an elderly, white-haired man.
“I’m fine. Just fine,” replied Jiang He.
Even so, the old man thumped his walking stick on the ground and scolded indignantly, “What is Xiao Wang doing? Isn’t he the village chief? Wasn’t there supposed to be a project to renovate old houses? Why isn’t Jiang He on the list?”
“Don’t be angry, old head. I’ve already approved the renovation of Jiang He’s house, and work should start after autumn,” said Chief Wang, wiping the sweat off his forehead, having just run over.
“After autumn? It’ll be September soon, and you’re still waiting for after autumn?”
Although the old head was already over sixty, he still had a temper.
“I’ve watched Jiang He grow up since he was a child,” he scolded. But now that his house has collapsed, he won’t even have a place to stay. Doesn’t the village have some unused funds set aside? Let’s use it to cover the damage. Think of it as giving Jiang He a loan. We’ll reimburse the village once the funds for the renovation of the old houses come in.”
The other villagers all showed their approval.
Unable to hold them back, Chief Wang smiled bitterly. “That’s a misappropriation of public funds. All of you are forcing me to commit a crime! How about this? I’ll pay for Jiang He’s renovation myself, and he can pay me back after he earns some money.”
“That’ll do.”
One of the women in the crowd giggled. “Still, aren’t you being too stingy, Chief Wang? He’s your own family, why ask him for money?”
“What do you mean, my family?” asked Chief Wang, at a total loss.
“Your daughter has been coming here every day, I saw it clearly…” said the woman.
When Jiang He saw that Chief’s Wang face had turned green, he quickly said, “Madam Zhang, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Anyway, thank you everyone for your concern, but I’m fine. It’s late now, please returned to your homes.”
Steeling himself, he sent the passionate crowd home. Chief Wang, however, did not leave. There was a slightly dark look on his face as he glared viciously at Jiang He.
Laughing drily, Jiang He smiled. “Chief Wang, please come in and we’ll talk.”
There were three buildings in Jiang He’s house. Although two had collapsed, one was still hospitable.
Chief Wang yelped in surprise right after he entered the main gates. “What’s that? What did I step on?” he exclaimed. His face fell when he flashed his phone’s light at it, and he cried out, “Blood! Why is there so much blood?”
As a matter of fact, although he had instantly dealt with the Feral cat’s corpse, Jiang Fei hadn’t had enough time to clear the trails of blood from the ground. But while he was racking his brains to come up with an explanation, Wang Siyu urgently ran up to them, looking concerned.
“What happened, Jiang He?” she asked.
Jiang He glanced between father and daughter. “Let’s talk inside.”
In the house, Chief Wang’s expression darkened once again. He glanced at Wang Siyu, and then at Jiang He. There was no telling what he was thinking.
Wang Siyu, however, was frowning thoughtfully. “Feral?” At Jiang Fei’s nod, her face fell. “There’s a Feral in the village now? Oh, no! Dad, you have to warn the villagers while I alert the bureau, or there will be serious casualties if the Feral goes on a rampage.”
“Don’t worry.” Jiang He simply waved her off. “It’s just a rank-one Demon Cat. I’ve already killed it.”
Beside them, Chief Wang was glancing back and forth between the pair. His dark look turned to confusion as he muttered, “Siyu, what do you mean by Feral? And that bureau you mentioned… what is actually going on?”
Suddenly, his voice changed as he came to a realization. “Wait, are you hooking up with Jiang He? No, I won’t agree to this relationship!” he said firmly.
Jiang He was stunned.
What the heck?!
Aren’t you leaping to conclusions?
At the same time, Wang Siyu blushed and quickly explained, “Dad, it’s not what you think. Jiang He and I… we are working together. He helped my bureau with a case, and I came here a few times to iron out the details.”
Chief Wang looked halfway between being convinced and doubtful. “What case? Did you join the student council?”
Wang Siyu facepalmed. She had been keeping this matter from her family, and was unsure how she should talk about it.
Jiang He couldn’t resist breaking into a chuckle. “Perhaps you’re not aware, Chief Wang?” He laughed again. “Your daughter is quite something—she has actually joined a secret government agency, and she has a bright future ahead of her. As for Ferals… I guess you could actually call them monsters. And your daughter’s group specializes in fighting them.”
While that description was not exactly accurate, that was the general gist of it.
Chief Wang stared at Jiang Fei without saying a word.
“Dad, everything Jiang He said is true. Why would you curse him?” said Wang Siyu.
“I’m not.”
“You are, in your head.”
“In my head?” snorted Chief Wang, fuming “Girl, why would you team up with an outsider? And are you sure you know what I’m thinking?”
“Yes! I know, because I can read minds,” replied Wang Siyu seriously.
An exasperated Chief Wang only spoke after a beat, while pointing a finger at Jiang He, “Then, what about him? Is he the same as you?”
“Jiang He can’t read minds, but he has the ability to tame beasts. He can control animals, even Ferals.”
“Heh…”
Lighting himself a cigarette, it seemed that Chief Wang would not believe anything they said, even if they were to kill him.
“Amazing. You’re really grown up now,” he sneered. “I wouldn’t stop you if you want a partner after you’ve graduated, but how many lies are you and Jiang He coming up with now? Do you really take your dad for a fool?”
Jiang He was rather speechless.
“You really don’t give up, do you, Chief Wang? Well… my description might have been a bit generic, but the idea was there. How about this? Let me show you my beast-taming powers.”
He then yelled outside, “Dumbo. Trumbo. Come in.”
The cat and dog ran into the building one after another, and once Dumbo saw Chief Wang, it promptly hid its face behind its paws. Then, standing on its rear legs like a human, it took off, dashing back outside.
Frustrated, Jiang He yelled at it, “Come back here, doggone it! You think Chief Wang won’t recognize you just because you hide your face?”
Yip-yip.
Dumbo whimpered but returned.
It was still standing on two legs, clasping its front paws behind its back while fidgeting along the walls. It looked no different from a grade schooler who had been caught red-handed doing something naughty.
“What the…” gasped Chief Wang. His breaths came out in shallow pants, and he clutched his chest in agony. “Medicine… medicine…”
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