Chapter 8 OVO
These days, high-speed rail is incredibly fast—it took only two short hours to get from S City to B City.
The National Supernatural Affairs Bureau was located on a small hill in the suburbs of B City. Externally, it was registered as a private high-end club, and no one was allowed entry without a membership card.
“But we’re not human.”
Yes, the yaoguai who came for the exam didn’t have membership cards either, but they weren’t human—they were spirits and monsters. After reverting to their true forms, they could merrily enter the club’s back door through the small path behind the mountain. Exceptionally convenient.
Behind the mountain was a lush, verdant forest. Here and there among the trees hung small lanterns emitting faint spiritual energy fluctuations, guiding the yaoguai who had come for the exam forward along the way.
Beneath a large tree, Little Rooster set his bundle aside and transformed into his true form.
The little rooster’s true form was actually a native Chinese Partridge Chicken!
With a beautiful fiery red comb, an elegant and plump body, black-and-white speckled feathers, black tail feathers with a faint greenish sheen, and slender pale-yellow chicken feet adorned with white spots, the Partridge Chicken held its head high and strutted forward with a distinctive flair.
Hua Ji’s mouth immediately began to water.
The little rooster suddenly felt a chill of dread. He instantly flapped his wings with a flurry, shooting straight out over twenty or thirty meters!
He turned his head and looked around. “Fox Boss, I suddenly felt danger just now. Did you notice anything?”
Hua Ji silently wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth and shook his head. “I didn’t notice anything.”
He set his backpack aside as well, took a deep breath, and transformed into his true form.
It was a massive fox.
The fiery red long fur emitted a flowing, flame-like luster. Its body was slender, its limbs powerful, and its ears were large with a tuft of black fur sticking up on top. Two long, bushy tails swayed from time to time, looking absolutely gorgeous.
The big fox’s eyes were light brown, and upon closer inspection, they shimmered with traces of gold. When he bared his teeth, sharp fangs revealed themselves, and transparent drool dripped down through the gaps between them. With a sizzle, a small pit was corroded into the ground.
The little rooster was startled half to death, clucking and shrieking… and flew away = =
Hua Ji: “…”
The big red fox sighed in a very human-like manner, walked to the tree, picked up its own backpack in its mouth, then picked up the package the little rooster had dropped. Just as it was about to chase after him, a milky-white tentacle suddenly dropped down from above its head.
Shuimu said generously, “Let me carry those.”
Hua Ji was deeply moved. Shuimu was a good person!
Shuimu added, “So that your drool doesn’t corrode the return ticket in the backpack.”
Hua Ji: “…”
Jellyfish Dada was still lying on the big fox’s head, but compared to Hua Ji’s human form, his fox form was far more captivating.
No, rather—it was more captivating to the jellyfish.
Jellyfish Dada stared at the two large ears so close at hand, especially the tuft of black fur at the tips that kept twitching, and actually felt an urge to reach out and touch them.
The fox moved with incredible speed, climbing rocks, leaping, scaling trees, and wading through water with an elegant, nimble grace. Its steps were precise and swift, and every landing was placed on the most secure footing—never a misstep. Even when suddenly ambushed, it could calmly evade and counterattack.
This was completely different from how it felt to be human.
This red fox, this Hua Ji, inexplicably reminded Shuimu of a volcano suddenly erupting from the depths of the deep sea.
Scarlet magma burst forth, churning forward even as it met the icy seawater. In the end, black, congealed rock of dark gray wrapped around its outer shell. It seemed to have been completely frozen solid, yet inside it remained blazing hot, ready to erupt with a roar at any moment.
Even the temperature was quite similar, both warm—not a scorching heat, but a warmth that neutralized the cold and the high temperature. He remembered that one of his tentacles had once accidentally gotten stuck in congealed lava, the tip deeply embedded within it. He had struggled for a long time without success, and ultimately had to abandon that tentacle.
The large fox before his eyes was like the most cunning of hunters. It had not paused along the way, nor had it used its sense of smell or spiritual perception to search. It had merely casually glanced at the mountain forest and rocks, and precisely found the escape route of that partridge chicken in its panicked flight.
The great jellyfish suddenly felt that this red-furred fox, in its sharp and随时 explosive state, was astonishingly beautiful.
He couldn’t help but spit water.
Hua Ji shook out his fur. His ears twitched and twitched—oh no, the fur on them was all wet, and that would mess with his hearing!
“Great Jellyfish?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”
Great Jellyfish didn’t answer for a long time. Only when the figure of the Reed Flower Chicken appeared up ahead did Great Jellyfish finally say, “I like the way you look when you’re covered in my water.”
Mm. Just like roaring, struggling volcanic magma—no matter how wild it rages, it can only be caged in a corner by the seawater.
Hua Ji: !!!!
The big fox’s foot slipped, and under the incredulous gaze of the reed chicken, he tumbled rolling right off the rock.
“Name?”
“Ji.”
“Race?”
“Reed Flower Chicken.”
“How old are you?”
“Seventy-two this year.”
“Is this your first time taking the exam?”
“Yes, it’s my first time.”
“Do you have a recommender?”
“Yes, my grandfather. Here is the recommendation letter.”
“Here, this is your exam admission ticket. Your guest room number is on it. There’s an exam in exactly three days. You can stay in your guest room, and if you get bored, you can fly around the back mountain for a while. But if any ordinary person sees anything unusual about you, your admission ticket and recommendation will be revoked, and you’ll have to go back and cultivate in seclusion for another ten years before you can come down the mountain to take the exam. Understand?”
“Oh, got it.”
Ji Hong came out of the office at the Jinbo Club and said to Hua Ji, “It’s your turn.”
The little rooster said, “I’ll wait for you at the door?”
Hua Ji nodded. “Yeah, it should be done soon.”
The Shenbao Club office was quite spacious, mainly to provide convenience for those giant monsters when they transformed. After Hua Ji entered, he saw a huge transparent glass partition that split the office clean in half. A young man with a cigarette dangling from his lips sat at a desk behind the glass. He said lazily, “Name?”
Hua Ji took a step back. Shuimu slowly slid down from Hua Ji’s head, though even so, he still left a few tentacles wrapped around Hua Ji’s neck.
He said, “Shuimu.”
The cigarette guy continued asking, “Race?”
He said, “Jellyfish.”
The cigarette guy repeated, “I’m asking your race, not your name.”
Jellyfish Dada said, “My race is jellyfish.”
The cigarette guy finally looked up from behind the glass. He first saw Hua Ji, then noticed that Hua Ji was standing at the doorway with his arms crossed, dozing off. The cigarette guy was stunned for a moment, then said, “I told you I’m not going to eat you, so come closer!”
Hua Ji blinked. “It’s not me, it’s Master Jellyfish.”
He pointed to the center of the venue.
The cigarette guy shifted his gaze, then looked at the empty space in front of him. He drew in a sharp breath. “This is the Shenbao Club, not a Ghost Liberation Club (for ghosts and spirits that are difficult to free from their suffering)!”
Hua Ji’s face was covered in dark lines: “I know this is the Shenbao Club, and Master Jellyfish is a living being, not a ghost or monster. Look carefully, he’s standing right in front of you.”
The cigarette-rolling young man gasped sharply. He rubbed his eyes hard, almost pressing his face against the glass, before he finally noticed something in front of him. This thing was semi-transparent, with faint water ripples seemingly flashing across it, and a puddle of water had inexplicably appeared on the ground.
The cigarette-rolling young man was instantly filled with awe, though he didn’t quite understand why.
He asked Hua Ji: “What did you say he was again?”
Hua Ji sighed: “Shuimu—shui as in water and fire, mu as in mother—jellyfish!”
Only then did the cigarette-rolling young man react: “Oh! He’s a jellyfish!!”
He pointed at Hua Ji and said: “Get out, now!”
Hua Ji was stunned. He saw the cigarette-rolling young man raise his hand and slap something on the office desk. Before Hua Ji could react, ten pitch-black holes appeared on the office walls. With a rumbling crash, water surged in, filling the office in just a few seconds.
At the same time, six spotlights appeared on the floor, casting colorful beams directly into the water, and in an instant the jellyfish’s massive form was revealed.
Cigarette Guy’s mouth fell open.
Whoa—! What a huge jellyfish!!
The entire office, nearly three hundred square meters, was almost completely filled by the giant jellyfish’s tentacles. The transparent glass wall in front of him—fifteen meters long and five meters high—was flattened against by the giant jellyfish’s bell, countless specks of light flickering like eyes—fine, they were eyes—staring dead at the cigarette guy.
The pressure of an ancient ferocious beast radiated faintly. The cigarette vendor felt a chill run through his entire body. The cigarette dangling from his lips quietly went out. He stood there frozen, not daring to move an inch.
Jellyfish Lord: “I’m going to eat you!”
You actually dared to release the water without permission?! Foxes can drown, you know!
Hua Ji had thought he would be submerged for a while, but unexpectedly, the water seemed to be blocked by something in front of him and stopped moving. In the spacious area, only the spot where he stood was completely dry.
He stared blankly at the countless wildly writhing tentacles. These tentacles controlled all the water currents perfectly, not letting a single drop fall before him.
Hua Ji reached out and grasped one of the tiny tentacles, and smiled.
“Thank you, Great Jellyfish.”
Great Jellyfish: OVO I’m glad you’re okay.
Cigarette Guy: Whimper whimper whimper, I’ve finally survived!