In the blazing hot environment of an iron workshop, a bare-chested man was sitting on a simple stool, taking a short break.
His body was covered with injuries of varying sizes that had long clotted and turned into scars. The most sinister scar on his body had firmly entrenched itself on his solar plexus and seemingly resembled a centipede stretching its fangs outwards.
Based on their appearance, it seemed that those wounds had been on him for a very long time.
“If I hadn’t witnessed it with my own eyes, I’d have never believed that a refined pretty boy like you is actually capable of forging iron.” A voice unexpectedly resounded from beyond the leather tent.
A young man lifted the tent flap and entered from the outside, causing a large gust of cold wind to pour into the tent.
“Yo, isn’t it my dearest student Ji Bai? It was Lil’ Yi-Yi who revealed my whereabouts to you, am I right? Do you need me for something?” Lin Tuo narrowed his eyes and smiled.
“Do you have some molybdenum leftovers you’re planning to discard? It’s fine even if it’s impure and mixed with other metals.” Ji Bai shifted his eyes away after shooting a momentary glance at Lin Tuo’s body ridden with scars and blade marks.
It was a complete mismatch against his everyday appearance of a refined middle-aged man boasting of fragrant perfume and gelled hair. Instead, it was the direct opposite of that.
“Forging metals is just a side job, that’s all… Molybdenum metals I’m planning to discard, right? You’re going to make your move now, aren’t you? Well, forget it. You don’t have any money anyway…” Lin Tuo heaved a sigh. He then stood up and entered the store.
“Here, this is all that’s left. There’s no more even if you don’t like it.” Lin Tuo handed over some black and seemingly moldy metal chunks over to Ji Bai.
The chunks weren’t uniformly black in color; Grey sections and red specks were interspersed within the molybdenum, a testimony of its low purity.
“It’s more than enough.” Ji Bai didn’t pay attention to the dust that covered their surface as he reached his hands out to receive them.
“You really are impetuous, brat. You just want to stick your nose in everything, huh?” Lin Tuo heaved a sigh after sizing up Ji Bai’s outfit.
“Are you planning to go there with this fabric sticking onto your body?”
“So what?”
“If there really are goblins in the sewers, their weapons will most likely be soaked with venom. You’re really a real piece of work to rush into battle butt-naked without hesitation. ”
“Sigh, I’ve really got to give it to you.” Lin Tuo sulkily turned around and opened a large cabinet that stood in the corner.
“Catch.”
What was thrown at him was an object seemingly made out of metal.
Ji Bai stretched his hands and caught it. It was an iron charcoal-grey cross helmet adorned with metal wings on its sides, a very ordinary design.
“Take this. It’s better than exposing your bare head for others to chop. In any case, this thing is built with molybdenum and you can count on its defensive ability to protect you. Except that it’s covered with dust from a lack of use for far too long, you should take it home and give it a wash.” Lin Tuo took the cloth on the table and wiped his hands.
“There’s also this piece of cloth armor. Mhm, I had used this when I was young and am reluctant to toss it away. Still, it’s somewhat better than going into battle bare-naked. There also are a number of chains wedged within. You can take it too.”
“What were you doing back then?” With one hand holding onto the metal helmet and the other hugging onto the fabric armor, Ji Bai asked while tilting his head to the side.
“Well, it’s tough to explain it in few words. Besides, you’re not here to listen to my stories, am I right?”
Ji Bai nodded and expressed his thanks to Lin Tuo.
“Put it on my tab. I’ll pay you back later.”
“Nonsense. It’s just some shabby, useless equipment that has fallen into disuse. It’s just a waste of space to keep it with me. Since I am too lazy to tidy up my stuff, I might as well give it all to you. Just treat it as taking care of the trash for me.” Said Lin Tuo while waving his hands.
“This reminds me, there will be a test conference for new students next month. You guys will be assessed in a holistic manner, so you should prepare yourself for that.”
“Understood.” Ji Bai casually made a mental note under the category of ‘insignificant and trifling things’.
“I will pay you back for these.” Said Ji Bai. Before Lin Tuo could respond, he had already left the leather tent.
“The stubbornness of this guy… really is out of the world.”
The operation this time was incomparable to those he took part in in the past. His strength was going to be greatly reduced due to the fact that he couldn’t activate his sacred ability.
To add to that, his supplies were also severely limited. Hence, the low-level equipment Lin Tuo provided would still be very useful to him. At least, that was what he thought.
As for the option of turning into a vampire, Ji Bai excluded it completely from his considerations.
Unless it was to help out someone important to him, Ji Bai refused the thought of using it. When it came to this power of his, he felt that it would be too much of an understatement to use the word ‘hatred’ to describe it.
Even if Ji Bai was no longer the Radiant Knight, he was still willing to die an ordinary knight’s death and not live on by submitting to his fate.
After cleaning and drying up the armor, boredom overcame him as he sat on the balcony, staring at the starless night sky.
‘Seems like the weather is going to be somewhat passable tomorrow.’
‘Ke’er has come back a bit late today. It wouldn’t have taken that much time if she just took a bath.’ However, when Ji Bai saw the blooming smile on her face, he wasn’t too overly concerned.
‘I guess she has found some friends.’
“Are you going to be busy again, Mr Ji Bai? ” Ke’er shifted a small chair and sat beside Ji Bai.
“Mhm.” Ji Bai nodded his head and responded.
“I may not come back to eat tomorrow. You need to take care of yourself. The card Lin Tuo gave you should make sure you don’t go hungry.”
“If you don’t mind, this…” Ke’er’s face was slightly flushed as she extended her small claws towards Ji Bai and handed him something.
“What is this?” Ji Bai was somewhat baffled as he took a cat-eared pendant from Ke’er’s hands.
“Ke’er is incapable of doing anything but to pray for Mr Ji Bai in silence.” Her cat ears gently drooped downwards as she said that.
“….” Ji Bai stroked Ke’er’s head and silently accepted the pendant.
…………………
Lil’ Sha wasn’t sure why she had gone hotheaded for a moment and accepted Ji Bai’s request to undertake such an arduous task. When she came back to her senses, she had already opened the door, walked outside, and reached an agreement with him.
However, now that she thought about it, a hundred points were definitely not few. After all, it was merely just a few rounds around the sewers; Very soon, she would be able to return home and take a shower!~ Compared to a certain obstinate guy, she was definitely not the one taking a loss.
At first light, Lil’ Sha stood in front of her residence and held Xiaomi in her arms. Her long, golden hair was tied into a ponytail, giving her appearance a rejuvenating look. As for her two furry cat ears, they were twitching rhythmically.
The winter wind of the early morning was so cold that it was capable of keeping even a diligent old farmer in his bed. To combat that, she specially wore the down coat she had just bought, along with thick stockings and a pair of small leather boots — All of them were cheap street store goods that didn’t cost much. Even if they got dirty and had to be thrown away, she wouldn’t miss anything.
“Hey, hey— Obscene middle-aged uncle! Over here, over here!” Lil’ Sha waved her hands towards the man not too far away from her. With a metal helmet on and his arms crossed, it seemed as if he was waiting for someone.
A person who was dumb enough to wear a metal helmet and fabric armor even inside the campus compound; It was very likely that he was the only one who would do such a thing.
The person wearing a metal crossed helmet reacted after hearing someone yelling at him. Slightly moving his gaze upwards, he noticed Lil’ Sha and strided towards her in quick steps.
“Are you planning to bring it along?” The gaze of the metal helmet man shifted towards the beige kitten in Lil’ Sha’s embrace.
“Of course not. I’m worried that Xiaomi will be hungry since there’s no one to take care of it when I’m away. I’m planning to have Ke’er help out and look after it a little.”
“Are you not bringing any armor with you?”
“Didn’t you say you will protect me? If that is the case, stuff like armor shouldn’t be necessary, right.”
“Follow me.” Ji Bai didn’t dwell on the issue and nodded. With the cross helmet concealing his face, it was impossible for Lil‘ Sha to see his current expression.
Only after entrusting Xiaomi over to Ke’er and repeatedly giving her instructions did Lil’ Sha finally relax. Following Ji Bai, she began to make her way towards the Chivalric Order of Moon Knight’s mission hall.