My Pet Beast is Super Fearsome

Chapter 62: Chapter 62 Li Yiming

Su City Anomalous Affairs Bureau. @@novelbin@@

It wasn’t yet time to knock off work, yet the tall and burly Chen Zhenglong had already changed into casual attire, preparing to initiate the “Rescue Plan for the Innocent Young Man” starting today.

Usually commuting in his uniform, he wore a shirt his wife had bought years ago which no longer fit him well. He barely fastened the buttons, the shirt constricting him uncomfortably all over.

“Damn, seems I’ve gotten more robust recently.”

Chen Zhenglong cursed softly, grabbing the collar at his back and sucking in his slightly protruding belly, which made him feel somewhat more comfortable.

“Hey, Captain Chen, looking sharp today. Going on a date with the missus?”

A clerical staff member passed by Chen Zhenglong, glimpsing the uncomfortable man and teasing him with a barely suppressed laugh.

“Buzz off, you finished your work yet?” he responded sternly, glaring at the clerk.

The clerk, frightened, shrank and recalling the captain’s usual demeanor, quickly scurried away clutching his folder.

Chen Zhenglong’s expression was stern, his jaw framed by a beard stubble; he was quite amiable privately but became exceedingly grim when it came to work.

Despite being respected by colleagues for his character, private complaints were inevitable.

Sucking in his belly, Chen Zhenglong barely squeezed into his car, unbuttoned his top button, and sighed deeply. “Damn it, if I don’t get that kid out, all my suffering would be in vain.”

Thinking of the innocent young man waiting to be rescued, his eyes hardened with resolve. A red scarf on his chest…

Not really.

Instantly, he felt the weight on his shoulders grow heavier.

…

Through the afternoon, Shao Zifeng was tormented variously by the madwoman Chen Yixing until sundown when she finally let him leave, satisfied.

Fortunately, this session generated ample data and samples; if not for Qiuqiu’s continual scowling, Shao Zifeng suspected the woman might have gone even further.

Walking alone under the street lights of Su City University, he felt a rare sense of relaxation. With various promises from Chen Yixing, the pressure to nurture mutant creatures diminished greatly, reducing at least Qiuqiu’s meal expenses substantially.

Moreover, there was the choice of a third creature, whether from the world-class protected area of Antarctica or the national reserves, the mutant creatures bred there were incomparable to those found in the wild.

With that thought, his heart filled with a touch of longing and anticipation.

“Mutant Fairy Shell ah…”

Speaking of mutant creatures, the one from the afternoon had been quite an eye-opener for Shao Zifeng.

A three-star defense type creature, although the light screen didn’t show its specific strength level, according to the hints and his recent explorations, a full three-star quality likely corresponded to a sixth-tier strength.

That is to say, despite its small size, the Mutant Fairy Shell was a creature capable of withstanding sixth-tier attacks.

“Is that Shao Zifeng?”

Just as Shao Zifeng was lost in thought, a timid voice called out from the darkness beyond the light of the street lamps, the voice trembled slightly as if its owner were very nervous.

Shao Zifeng turned towards the source of the voice and saw a frail boy slowly entering the illuminated range of the street lamp.

The boy appeared to be around eighteen or nineteen, wearing a faded high school uniform that showed signs of mending. The oversized uniform hung loosely on the boy’s frame.

He kept his head down, not daring to look at Shao Zifeng, his hands anxiously clutching at the hem of his clothes.

“I’m Shao Zifeng, and you are…” Shao Zifeng, with a trace of a smile, looked curiously at the boy, feeling an odd sense of familiarity… as if he had seen him somewhere before.

“I…I’m Li Yiming from class two of the junior class of the Combat Training Department.” The boy vibrated at Shao Zifeng’s voice, stammered out his reply.

Li Yiming, Shao Zifeng strained his thoughts for a moment, truly unable to remember who this person was, so he asked out of curiosity, “Li, is there something you need from me?”

“It’s not… not me looking for you. Someone asked me to take you to a place,” Li Yiming looked up at Shao Zifeng and the unexpected eye contact made him lower his head even more, anxiously staring at his own toes.

“Oh, sorry, I don’t have the time.” Hearing this, Shao Zifeng had no desire to continue the conversation and coldly replied as he walked past the skinny boy toward the school gate.

“Wait… wait a minute, Shao.”

Shao Zifeng had just walked a few steps when the urgent, trembling voice of the boy came from behind him.

At the sound, Shao Zifeng slightly turned his head, feeling a bit impatient, yet he couldn’t show it.

So frustrating!

The boy hesitated for a bit as if making a great resolution, then suddenly lifted his head. His delicate, pale face wore big black-rimmed glasses, “Shao… Shao, someone is out to get you, you must be careful.”

Having said that, as if he had exhausted all his courage, his face flushed red and he instantly slumped.

He lowered his head again and hurriedly walked past Shao Zifeng, his figure gradually disappearing in the night.

“Li Yiming.”

Shao Zifeng stood still, chewing on the name. He recognized that face. It was from the campus free challenge initiated by Wang Hao; he seemed to be the first challenger.

If he remembered correctly, his pet beast was a big rooster.

But what did he mean by someone wanting to harm him? Could it really be that someone saw his handsome face and couldn’t restrain their heated emotions, ready to make a move on him?

“Sheesh, what a hassle.”

Joking aside, Shao Zifeng pondered hard after hearing Li Yiming’s warning but couldn’t think of any sin he had committed when his stomach began to growl, annoyingly scratching his head.

Forget it, let’s go have dinner.

Life’s important.

…

Half an hour later, after having dinner, Shao Zifeng was ready to head home through a small path.

He took off the backpack from his back and held it in his arms, bonding with the Elemental Egg.

The Elemental Egg had been well-behaved all day, only sending a few bursts of emotional harassment when it was awake, without any rampant sprouting happening.

He patted the backpack satisfied, planning to give it a one-yuan reward when he got home.

The Elemental Egg burst out in delighted emotions.

The street lamps on the small path were perennially unmaintained, most of them damaged, with a few flickering lamps making a sizzling electric noise, like a scene from a horror movie.

“Ah!”

As he passed a narrow alley, a shrill scream was heard, but Shao Zifeng, seemingly oblivious, continued on his way expressionlessly; he was not someone who liked to invite trouble.

“Fuck, you can’t even scream for help properly, useless! Worthless!”

“Bang!” The sound of a heavy object striking flesh followed, then another suppressed groan.

Shao Zifeng slightly frowned and stopped his steps; the voice sounded very familiar.

“Gang, don’t be mad. That Shao Zifeng is at this school. If all else fails, we can just corner him tomorrow,” another sycophantic voice came from the darkness.

“Right, Gang. Just leave it to us, don’t wear yourself out.”

Several different voices echoed from the alley, followed by a dull thudding sound after a bout of cursing.

Familiar groans swirled around Shao Zifeng’s ears, and he thought of the boy who had sent him the message.

Shao Zifeng frowned, realizing there were quite a few people.

He no longer planned to leave, as it was clear that several people inside were targeting him.

Since trouble had come, there was no need to carry it overnight…

A slight smile appeared at the corner of his mouth as he looked around and felt for a brick in the corner of the wall.

He never considered himself a good person.

Well, he might as well solve the problem in the way a bad guy would.

As Shao Zifeng moved deeper, everything unfolding before him came into view.

The back of the alley was not deep; a dim streetlight flickered at its end, incessantly battered by unknown little bugs making a ticking sound.

Under the streetlight, five scruffy-looking youths, who appeared to be students, were continuously kicking a skinny boy curled up on the ground.

The boy held his head with both hands and lay on the damp ground, his body curved, issuing a pained and suppressed groan.

Meanwhile, a cat and a dog, two pet beasts, were pressing down a bloody rooster with their paws, relentlessly tearing and biting at its body, their eyes emitting a ghostly green glow in the darkness.

The rooster, once proud, was now covered in blood, its feathers all torn away. Powerlessly, it lay in a pool of blood, its dull eyes looking at Li Yiming without a flicker of emotion.

Perhaps due to the overpowering smell of blood, the two pet beasts had not noticed the approach of an outsider.

Hiding in the shadows beside their clutter, Shao Zifeng watched everything with a calm gaze, but the bulging veins on the back of his hand gripping the brick betrayed his inner turmoil.

“Damn waste,” the lead youth cursed as he kicked out, landing a heavy blow on Li Yiming’s abdomen.

Li Yiming grunted, sliding across the ground and crashing into the alley’s wall; harsh coughs followed, sprinkling droplets of blood that were strikingly visible under the streetlight.

The leading youth squatted down, grabbed Li Yiming by the hair, and slapped his pain-twisted face.

“Kid, you can’t cough up the money, and you can’t handle tasks either. What do you think I should do to punish you?”

Li Yiming’s vision was blurry, and the man in front of him appeared as a double image.

Even though he couldn’t make out the youth’s features, the persistent bullying still made him shiver uncontrollably, eyes filled with fear.

“Waste.”

Gang leader, feeling somewhat bored by Li Yiming’s reaction, slammed his head onto the ground and disdainfully wiped his hands on him.

“Ptooey.” The gang leader stood up and spat on Li Yiming, then turned back to his pet beasts, “Blood Wolf, Blood Tiger, kill that rooster, I’ll give you guys some meat tonight.”

The gang leader’s words caught the attention of the cat and dog. They barked eagerly at him before their eyes gleamed viciously and their sharp teeth bore down on the rooster’s neck.

“No… please… I beg you.” Upon hearing the gang leader’s words, Li Yiming struggled to rise.

Seeing this, a youth beside him stepped on his back and hurled an array of curses.

Li Yiming strained to lift his head, watching as the pet beasts’ teeth got closer to the rooster’s neck.

He opened his mouth but couldn’t make a sound; tears blurred his vision, and his hands frantically clawed at the ground, leaving white marks from his fingernails.

The rooster glanced at him again, showing no lingering attachment or unwillingness, but instead a hint of relief.

Seeing the rooster’s gaze, Li Yiming was stunned; for the first time, he hated his own cowardice so much.

“Bang!”

“Ah!”

Just when everyone’s attention was captured, a short scream made everyone’s hearts tremble as they looked in surprise toward the young man at the periphery.

Blood splattered on the walls of the alley, aggravating everyone’s taut nerves.

“Thud!”

The blood-soaked young man collapsed to the ground, revealing a tall, handsome youth, whose gentle smile appeared somewhat eerie due to a few drops of crimson blood.

“Who are you!”

Gang Ge bellowed fiercely, staring intently at Shao Zifeng while his two beasts quickly released the rooster and shielded him on either side, crouching low and baring their teeth in a menacing growl.

Shao Zifeng, with a smile, watched the few panicked people in front of him and simply flicked the blood off his hands without a word.

He was assessing the combat strength of both sides.

After the enhancements from his “Bonding Reaction” and recent training, it was hard to say who would win against five persons.

But four should not be a problem.

Thinking this, the smile on Shao Zifeng’s face grew even more benevolent.

Gang Ge did not know Shao Zifeng, but that did not mean others did not. Suddenly, a skinny man with glasses pointed at Shao Zifeng and said, “Shao Zifeng, Gang Ge, that’s Shao Zifeng.”

His voice was somewhat off-key due to excessive excitement.

Shao Zifeng was slightly taken aback upon hearing this familiar voice.

Well, it really was an acquaintance, and that person outing his identity was none other than Chen Wen.

He hadn’t expected the backstabber to be you, you scoundrel.

Shao Zifeng grinned at Chen Wen, and combined with the dim light and the blood still fresh on his face, it made Chen Wen shudder violently, retreating half a step back.

“Fuck, kid, you’re looking for a beating.” Gang Ge’s two minions pointed at Shao Zifeng and cursed loudly, eager to charge at him immediately.

Gang Ge waved his hand to stop his minions and walked forward a few steps, his expression growing darker as he looked at Shao Zifeng, “Kid, you are quite something. I haven’t seen such an arrogant junior for a long time. Today, Gang Ge will teach you the rules of Su City University.”

After finishing his words, Gang Ge suddenly turned around and swung his leg, lashing out a ferocious kick toward Shao Zifeng’s head.

Shao Zifeng remained unfazed, stepped back, and threw the blood-stained brick in his hand.

“Crack.”

“Ahh!!!”

Clearly, the brick proved superior in the collision with the leg.

Gang Ge fell to the ground, clutching his lower leg and screaming continuously.

“Kid, you’re freaking cheating.”

Gang Ge was almost in tears. Wasn’t it supposed to be a fair fight, one on one, master against master? Why the hell did you use a hidden weapon?

Shao Zifeng remained silent; having engaged, he decided to end the fight quickly.

“Get him, tear him apart!” Seeing Shao Zifeng charging, he bellowed with bloodshot eyes.

The two minions exchanged glances and charged forward with their fists raised.