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Another eventful assessment…
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Ch. 26.1 | Song Fuyan
The guard took them to a room which was bare of anything except for a registrar waiting at a table. Right in the middle of the room stood a woman bathed in a golden glow. Her expression was wooden and did not resemble that of one who was alive. The skirt she was wearing was voluminous and in the shape of a clock.
‘Who is she?’ asked Dandan.
Since Young Master Liang was still in a bad mood after having been rejected earlier, he ignored Dandan and only followed them, still grumbling and swearing¹.
Song Lin answered, ‘The Surveying Clock.’
‘Surveying Clock? Isn’t she human? Why is she a clock?’
‘Half clock, half human.’
Seeing Dandan and Song Lin conversing happily and treating him like he was invisible annoyed Young Master Liang so he went up and interrupted them, saying, ‘A rabbit from the mountains wouldn’t know about such things. This Surveying Clock was created by Mr Jing using half his soul and is used to appraise your spiritual calibre. You only need to stand in front of her. She’ll examine your heart receptacle and let out a chime. The louder the chime, the higher your calibre.’
Dandan nodded. ‘I’ve learnt something today.’
Young Master Liang sniffed disdainfully and led Red Cloak over.
Dandan thought: This Mr Jing is so scary — no wonder he’s Ridge City’s number one spiritual assessor.
In just one day, Dandan’s past was being thoroughly unmasked…
He tugged at Song Lin’s sleeve and whispered, ‘Can I not do it?’
‘What’s wrong?’ Song Lin’s cerulean eyes were unperturbed and his tone tranquil.
But the calmer he was, the more flustered Dandan felt. His fingers slipped down the sleeve and he grasped Song Lin’s hand.
‘Don’t act dumb, y-y-you… know very well what I’m worried about. We’ve lived together for a while but you’ve never really trusted me because I’m hiding too many things.’
‘At least you have some self-awareness.’
‘I don’t want people to find out about my calibre, not because of some conspiracy or evil intentions, but simply because there’ll be a lot of unnecessary trouble for me if they do. Song Lin… help me.’
¹ 罵罵咧咧 màma-liēliē. If you’re not reading this chapter at hiding in plain sight, it has been stolen and reproduced by novelscraping sites.
Song Lin looked at their clasped hands and something flashed in his eyes. At length, he calmly pulled his hand free and said, ‘Mr Jing’s Surveying Clock has never been wrong before. Sorry, but I can’t help you.’
Dandan’s ears were already up stiffly and he muttered to himself, ‘Are you purposely making things hard for me?’
Song Lin laughed at his discomfiture², making it seem as though a world of ice and snow had fissured in his blue eyes. His gaze was indulgent as he stroked Dandan’s head.
‘Why would I make things difficult for my pet?’
This sudden and devastating stroking reduced Dandan to sheer confusion and he only stood there, staring dazedly.
This man… what’s he up to… so gentle all of a sudden, makes me quite confused.
Just then, a sonorous chime rang out. It came from the woman with the golden glow. They turned their heads to look — it was Young Master Liang’s spirit beast who was currently being evaluated. Such a loud sound could only come from a fairly big heart receptacle so it looked like his calibre was quite high, at least a Silver.
‘Next.’ The registrar finished recording his calibre, looked up and announced.
Dandan, his expression dignified, looked at Song Lin who indicated to him to go over so he had no choice but to do so.
Seeing him approach, Young Master Liang remarked disparagingly, ‘Don’t be nervous, little bunny, there’s no disgrace in being of low calibre; the only one who’s disgraced is your owner.’ After this gibe, he led Red Cloak out of the room and as he brushed past Song Lin, let out a mocking laugh.
² 氣急敗壞 qìjí-bàihuài. Translation belongs to theresanother(DOT)wordpress(DOT)com.
Song Lin did not respond to him but merely walked leisurely over to where a slightly apprehensive Dandan stood and leaned near his ear to say, ‘It doesn’t matter whose spirit beast you were previously, that’s all in the past. You’re my spirit beast now, so there’s nothing to be afraid of.’
Dandan’s lashes quivered as he deliberated the meaning implied in those words.
Song Lin reached out and gave him a light push from behind so that he wound up before the Surveying Clock.
The golden woman did not say a word nor was there any particular expression on her face. Her gaze landed mechanically on Dandan, paused briefly and then a rare thing happened: an expression appeared on her face as she cocked her head slightly and studied him frowningly. After a while, she raised her hand. Long, fine tree vines extended from her five fingers and inserted themselves into Dandan’s chest. He was immediately aware of a curious sensation, as though there were something scurrying around inside his heart…
The woman could not speak. She could only let out a chime. At this moment though, she opened her mouth wide, trying her hardest to say something; the effort was ferociously distorting her face.
‘What’s the matter with her?’ the guard asked the registrar.
The registrar was equally perplexed³. ‘I don’t know, the Surveying Clock has never lost control before.’
The woman abruptly yanked out her hand and staggered backwards, as though all the strength had been drained out of her.
The registrar shook his head and said, ‘Second Master Song, since the Surveying Clock did not chime, the calibre of this spirit beast falls under the lowest level, Chrysalis.’
Dandan looked over at Song Lin. ‘Can I leave now?’
Song Lin replied, ‘You’re quite something. A spiritual power of zero and the calibre of a Chrysalis, yet you were able to defeat the tiger-crocodile and the Gu scorpions… what other surprises do you have in store for me?’
Dandan spread his palms and said, ‘My fault, is it?’
³ 一頭霧水. Please consider reading from theresanother(DOT)wordpress(DOT)com rather than from novelscraping sites.
Not long after the two of them had left the room, the Surveying Clock suddenly let out a deafening chime which caused the air to ripple, shattered all the glass windows of the room and caused cracks in the walls which seemed ready to collapse at any moment.
The registrar was shaken to his core and hastily instructed the guards to look after the Surveying Clock while he hurried off to request Mr Jing’s presence.
The whole evaluation process today could be described as tumultuous. Never had anyone’s spiritual appraisal seem more like a house demolition.
(Approx. 1074 words)
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Translated and edited by 12
hiding in plain sight 