Chapter 158

Chapter 158

The tone in Short Tail's shout was one of doubt, but she had already made up her mind.

It was Snow Claws!

Snow Claws was still alive!

She thought that meeting again in dreams was a luxury, yet now the dream had come true!

Short Tail opened her mouth, wanting to call out again with excitement, but unexpectedly, she only managed to utter the first half of "Snow Claws," the rest lost in a sob.

"Snow... uh..."

"Short Tail? Short Tail? Are you crying?"

On the other end of the line, the girl's voice asked anxiously.

Short Tail sniffled and answered loudly, "No!"

No, she definitely was.

In Sapphire City, Oil Lamp Village, sitting beside the village's only telephone, Snow Claws thought.

The sobs from Spire City reached the telephone room in Oil Lamp Village, and even the judge watching Snow Claws make the call heard them, muttering about "poor little thing."

With slightly red eyes, Snow Claws feared being called a "poor little thing" herself and turned her face away, responding to the intermittent words on the other side.

"Yes, right, it’s me..."

"I'm in Sapphire City, yes, by the sea..."

"I’m fine, how about you? How is your brother? And Luo An, Little Black Spot, and the others..."

"What! Blue Phosphorus Ash has received the qualification for professional training?!"

A sudden exclamation burst out during the low conversation, even the mechanic listening in widened his eyes in surprise.

A family with a professional, even if the family member is not a professional, would have a different status in society.

Although having a professional in the family wouldn’t change who Snow Claws was, the mechanic became more cautious because of this, closing his mouth and no longer muttering.

Snow Claws was too engrossed to pay attention to her, completely immersed in the euphoria of the moment.

"Is it true?! Oh... Lin Ligon, Ligon got the opportunity?" Snow Claws stuttered as she repeated the words, one of the few people who knew Lin Yeshen's identity, finding it hard to imagine how Lin had earned his merit, "So the surgery fees can be halved? That’s fifteen thousand yuan off!"

Such good news, why didn’t Lin tell her!

Snow Claws complained happily in her heart, though she actually understood why Lin hadn’t told her.

"After your identity is confirmed, the Sapphire City court should communicate with our Spire City court. If everything goes well, they will find an opportunity for you to call me." Lin explained that day, "The call will be monitored. If I tell you everything here, when you pretend to ask about home, your tone will definitely be off.

"Don't worry, everyone is fine. For now, I'll only tell you this, the rest... there’s a big surprise."

Knowing her acting skills were average, Snow Claws agreed to wait, though she had been thinking for days what the big surprise could be.

It couldn’t possibly be that Lin had become a Pillar God, Snow Claws mused, her concept of deities differing from that of ordinary citizens, then she was stunned by the big surprise over the phone.

"Actually... oh my god..." Snow Claws couldn’t hide the tears streaming down her face, despite feeling stronger than before, "Oh, Blue Phosphorus Ash is living at the Mother of Sourceblood’s church? Alright, I’ll see if I can call the church... Little Black Spot has one last exam? What about Luo An?"

"He’s... cough, he’s cutting ties with the gang... company," Short Tail recalled Luo An’s words at dinner last night, speaking into the receiver, "He wasn’t a significant figure in the company, but now because of Lin and Blue Phosphorus Ash, the company doesn’t want him to quit. They say they’re willing to give him a weekly salary just for his name on the books."

"Huh?" Snow Claws became anxious, "That’s just trying to ride on Lin and Blue Phosphorus Ash’s fame!"

"That’s right," Short Tail sighed like an old person, "So Luo An is looking for ways to cut ties completely. Lin offered help, but he said he can handle it himself..."

The young mouse girl paused here.

Words she couldn’t say to her own brother or Lin came out smoothly in front of Snow Claws.

"I’m a bit worried about him..." Short Tail whispered, "There’s no need for this, we’re together to support each other, right?"

"Because he doesn’t want to rely solely on Lin, and also wants Lin to rely on him," Snow Claws understood Luo An’s feelings, especially after learning Lin was a demon god, "He doesn’t want to add to Lin’s burden... Speaking of which, how is Lin? I know he passed the judge’s exam and even called Sapphire City to look for me. You said he’s sleeping, but it’s morning. He never used to sleep this late, isn’t he very tired?"

Lin had said everyone was fine.

Snow Claws believed he wouldn’t lie about this, but she thought the "everyone" in "everyone is fine" might not include Lin himself.

Back when Lin studied until he fainted, he also said he was fine.

Sure enough, Short Tail immediately started chattering, telling her all sorts of things: how Lin worked overtime every day, how he seemed to go to the hospital multiple times, how he studied every day even when given a holiday, rarely taking real breaks.

"Blue Phosphorus Ash is already receiving professional training, I thought Lin would have it easier," Short Tail concluded, "But he looks even more exhausted than before. Why is that?"

"Ah."

Snow Claws let out a single sound.

She knew why Lin was so exhausted.

The telephone she was using had been repaired twice by the mechanic to function properly.

The abandoned base office where the telephone was located had also undergone several renovations, with new wiring installed and rusted pipes replaced.

Although they claimed to be setting up a farm, farming wasn’t something that could be established overnight. Before the village of Oil Lamp produced anything, the current villagers, including herself, relied on Lin for food, drink, and accommodation.

Four thousand yuan was a lot for one person.

For a base housing over forty people, four thousand yuan was very little.

A few days ago, an expert team dispatched by The Church of the Mother of Blood came to Oil Lamp Village. After their inspection, they did not recommend that Oil Lamp Village immediately embark on the challenging project of pearl mussel farming, suggesting instead that it would be better to start with accumulating experience by cultivating kelp and other brown algae.

If they were to farm brown algae, they could directly use the existing equipment at the breeding base, thus saving a substantial amount of initial investment.

However, even if they used the existing equipment at the breeding base, these devices still needed repairs and updates. Snow Claws, listening to the cost of repairs and updates, began to tremble as the numbers piled up.

Moreover, the villagers still wanted to experiment with raising some pearl mussels.

This meant purchasing new equipment.

Snow Claws didn't know that Mirror Eye had already negotiated with The Church of the Mother of Blood, and this expense was not to be borne by Him. Nevertheless, the wolf girl felt her heart being torn apart as the amounts kept increasing.

Fortunately, at this moment, she finally received some money.

Snow Claws perked up, remembering the most important purpose of her call.

"Right! Short Tail, remember this!"

"What?"

"Eight hundred and thirty yuan should be transferred to our family's account today."

"Eight hundred and thirty?!" Short Tail shouted from the other end, "Snow Claws, did you get kidnapped to work in a black gold mine?!"

Snow Claws, who had just glossed over her experience of being pursued, was momentarily at a loss for words.

"No," she whispered, "it's a bounty."

"A bounty?!" Short Tail's scream grew even louder.

"While I was out, I took down a few believers of the Aberrant Cult," Snow Claws, now also a believer of the Aberrant Cult, tried to say it lightly.

Indeed, this money wasn't sent by Lin but earned by herself.

After reclaiming her identity as Snow Claw Kayouti, the Inquisition asked her how she managed to escape from Spire City to the edge of the Dark Sea Cave. She absolutely couldn't reveal her monster bloodline, so Snow Claws lied, saying she was somehow targeted by the Aberrant Cult and fled the city without time to seek help, unable to find a way back to civilization since then.

During this journey, she actually eliminated quite a few believers of the Aberrant Cult, including some with bounties on their heads. Even though Snow Claws couldn't recall exactly whom she killed during her bloodline eruption, the Inquisition still identified some of the believers from the details and decided to send her the money.

Although, according to current law, believers of the Aberrant Cult were not supposed to claim bounties for killing other believers.

But since the deity Mirror Eye claimed bounties, the Inquisition simply treated His believers the same way.

"I'm fine," Snow Claws reassured the anxious Short Tail, "really, I'm fine."

Short Tail didn't seem to believe her at all, so Snow Claws changed the subject, "Lin is sleeping now. When he wakes up, can you pass a message to him for me?"

Short Tail agreed, and Snow Claws continued, "I want to participate in an operation of the Inquisition."

"Ah? The Inquisition?"

"Just tell him that," Snow Claws said.

She stayed in Oil Lamp Village initially to protect Lin's followers, but after the expert team from The Church of the Mother of Blood moved in, the village's combat strength greatly increased, no longer needing her, a non-professional, to step in.

At this point, Snow Claws suddenly realized that killing believers of the Aberrant Cult could earn money.

Sapphire City was about to dispatch the first batch of Inquisitors to the Dark Sea Cave for a joint operation, and Snow Claws noticed that they actually needed a guide and introducer who was a believer of Mirror Eye.

Wasn't she the perfect fit?

Snow Claws prayed to Lin for permission, but for some reason, He did not respond.

If it weren't for the mermaid priestess appearing in Oil Lamp Village these past few days, she would have thought something happened to Lin.

"I want to become an external member of the Inquisition," Snow Claws said earnestly, "this way, I will have a formal job."

This way, she might be able to help Lin gain more favor with the Inquisition.

Snow Claws clenched her fists.

Yes, gaining more favor, so when the truth about Lin being Mirror Eye is exposed, he won't be killed by the Apostle in Spire City!

***

"Alright, alright, since you put it that way, I don't want to be hunted down and killed by the Inquisitors."

In Spire City, on the third level, the boss of the Smoke Pipe Trading Company, also the leader of the Smoke Pipe Gang, a tall ratman with one eye, spread his hands and said to Luo An.

Luo An subtly breathed a sigh of relief, stood up, and said, "Thank you."

"Your family is going to live a good life," the Smoke Pipe Gang leader sighed, "well, seeing as someone has made it out of the slums, I'll give you a piece of information."

Luo An, who was about to leave, closed his mouth.

The Smoke Pipe Gang leader stared at him with his one eye, having anticipated his reaction, and chuckled,

"Yesterday, someone came to us asking if anyone knew of a 'black-haired ritualist with indistinguishable racial features.'"