Chapter 22: Chapter 22: Companion Demon
Despite having ntally prepared himself in advance, Duan Mingyuan was still shocked to learn that among the only two colleagues he had, one was a high school student.
He couldn't help but suspect that the organization had issues with legality and discipline, seeing as they even recruited a high school student.
The other colleague, however, was well suited for the job, handling his resignation in one day and officially starting a life as an unemployed drifter.
But then again, who in their right mind would choose such a profession?
That was the reason he and Jiuyue took a non-stop taxi ride from Da Jiang to the opposite side of Yunlong City's No. 1 Middle School. At least, the organization had reimbursed them for the travel expenses, a small consolation in their misfortune.
It was just past four o'clock, and school would not let out for a while, leaving the street opposite eerily quiet.
Back when Duan Mingyuan was still in high school, students of No. 1 Middle School were considered a cut above the rest, the very embodint of "soone else's child."
Jiuyue lay on the plastic dining table, her pointed ears drooping.
Perhaps it was due to exhaustion; after leaving Da Jiang's house, she had been listless.
Duan Mingyuan ordered her a Fried Chicken Family Feast, finally replenishing so of her energy. The table was piled with leftover chicken bones. The little fox, filled with gratitude, gnawed the at off the bones ticulously, leaving dense bite marks. He noted that Jiuyue's sharp fox teeth would probably hurt a lot if she bit soone.
"Mr. Mingyuan, is going to school fun?"
After so ti, Jiuyue broke the silence, her eyes seemingly filled with longing.
"It's nothing special."
He answered without a second thought, at least for Duan Mingyuan, high school life hadn't left him with any fond mories, though that was also because he had put all his energy into starting a business back then, considered a freak by his classmates, he made no friends.
"But I heard that you can make a lot of friends here, and play together every day."
"Rumors."
In recent years, Yunlong City's population had doubled, and the influx of people led to a shortage of educational resources, intensifying student competition. According to younger colleagues who later joined the company, current high school exam questions are several tis harder than before, what we did in our exams are now practice material for middle school students.
As more people crowd onto the bridge, many are inevitably pushed into the water.
Given Duan Mingyuan's understanding of Jiuyue, this little fox would likely be among those who fall in.
"I think so too." Jiuyue believed Duan Mingyuan unconditionally, and the last bit of her longing vanished, "What are they doing? Why can't I see a single person?"
"They're all in that building."
Duan Mingyuan pointed to the distant red building. No. 1 Middle School had a long history, and many legendary figures had erged from there.
Legends that they would hear about more than three tis a day when they were studying.
"What are they doing in the building?"
"Doing exercises."
"What kind of exercises?"
"Classmate Jiuyue, please listen to the question."
After so thought, Duan Mingyuan said, "Which of the following is the founder of modern Life Energy science? A, Lu Yi; B, Lu Er; C, Lu San; D, Chai Ke."
"C, that's too easy."
"Then let's increase the difficulty..."
"Wait a minute!"
Jiuyue raised her hand to interrupt Duan Mingyuan's questioning, the back-and-forth dialogue successfully piquing her interest, "I heard that there's a reward for answering correctly."
"What reward would you like?"
"That one!"
Jiuyue pointed at the most conspicuous sign in the store—the Green Vine Pepper Crispy Chicken Leg, on sale for a limited ti for 7 Bei.
She had been eyeing the sign for a long ti, and the Fried Chicken Family Feast Mr. Mingyuan had just ordered did not include this limited-ti new item. Worried that Duan Mingyuan might refuse, she offered a perfectly reasonable justification, "When I went to get the al just now, I heard it calling , saying it had been waiting here for
all this ti."
Nothing could stop a person from answering a friend's call.
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Looking at Jiuyue's hopeful eyes and his ears that had regained their vitality, Duan Mingyuan decided to change the test question on the spot. Instead of the "Life Energy Calculation Formula" he was pondering, he posed a simpler question, "What does Sichuan peppercorn crispy chicken leg taste like?"
"Like Sichuan peppercorn."
"Correct, go buy it."
He handed a ten-Bei note to Jiuyue, who broke into a delighted grin and bounced towards the counter, tail wagging.
Duan Mingyuan had learned so things about the Companion Demon Plan from Da Jiang. Encased in a glass bottle was a part of Da Jiang's Life Energy which also contained so of his mories.
This concept was proposed by the higher-ups of their organization. They believed that instead of brainwashing through pyramid sches, it would be better to have real monsters appear before the potential targets, and Jiuyue was brought up the mountain by the organization for this reason.
The original Companion Demon Plan was different from what it had beco.
Rather than being guides and partners, the first batch of trained monsters resembled more of servants, trained to obey human commands to the letter.
The partner of a Companion Demon was only one person. Once the contract was established, they would have to stay by the side of their human counterpart at all tis. Companion Demons couldn't unilaterally break the contract, and even today, the power to dissolve the contract still lay in the hands of the human partner.
It wasn't until a turmoil a few years ago that the training of Companion Demons began to have a bit more "humanitarian concern."
The upper echelons of the organization suffered heavy casualties, and the few survivors scattered. The heads of each city struggled to maintain the normal operations of the organization, but it was ultimately unsustainable.
Ever since the organization's collapse, Da Jiang had almost used up all his personal savings, but this still couldn't stop the dwindling number of mbers in Yunlong City. The contact stations had also sharply decreased from four to one.
This company... was going to go bankrupt sooner than Duan Mingyuan had thought.
"Mr. Mingyuan."
Jiuyue was back, holding a al box with an extra-large chicken leg on the plate.
"You eat first."
Though sowhat reluctant, she began to tear the skin and at off the chicken leg with her hands.
When Jiuyue got the al, she asked the server for an extra al box; half of the chicken leg was ant for Mr. Mingyuan.
"I'm not hungry."
"That won't do, good things should be shared by everyone."
Without arguing, Jiuyue pushed the al box with the portioned chicken towards Duan Mingyuan, urging him, "Try it, it's really tasty."
Duan Mingyuan no longer demurred and put a piece of the torn chicken leg into his mouth.
The numbing and spicy taste of the Sichuan peppercorn spread over his taste buds, but his mind drifted to other matters.
Chicken was Jiuyue's favorite food, and in an attempt to show she was easy to care for, she claid that eating just one chicken every three days was enough. However, this was far from enough, whether for an adult human or a monster.
dical journals emphasized the importance of a diverse diet.
He made a decision. It looked like he would have to do so research when he got ho tonight. He wondered if he could find resources like "Auspicious Fox Breeding Guide" online.
As for the agreent to stay at his place for three days... he might as well forget that.
The company was on the brink of bankruptcy, and Da Jiang had also spent almost all his savings. It was likely that they would no longer be able to reimburse the monsters for their activity expenses.
"Jiuyue."
"Hmm?"
"Eat slowly, you've got it all over your mouth."
"Hmm..."
Jiuyue didn't wipe her mouth because both her hands were holding the bones.
But then she suddenly had an idea, stood up, bent down, and leaned her face towards Duan Mingyuan, "wipe it for , will you?"
Her eyes curved into crescent shapes, and her lips turned up slightly.
Suddenly, Duan Mingyuan felt that the healing smiles described in fictional works were probably referring to scenes just like this one.
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