I'm Just a Beast Tamer

Chapter 37: Chapter 35: Great Black’s Descendants

However, Jiang Zuo didn’t dare to proceed while Subai and the others were home. He could only wait for them to leave.

After waiting for over a month, Subai and Granny Mei left again.

By now, Jiang Zuo had four incomplete Beast Patterns in his possession.

After confirming no one was around, Jiang Zuo dug up the stone stele that had been buried under the vegetable patch in his yard for several years.

Despite the years, the stele looked almost exactly the same as when he had first buried it—ancient and unadorned.

He carried the stele back into the house, took out one of the incomplete Beast Patterns, and gently placed it on the stone.

SZZT.

The incomplete Beast Pattern dissolved into a puff of green smoke and was absorbed by the stele.

’It really reacted!’

Jiang Zuo’s spirits lifted.

Jiang Zuo placed the remaining three incomplete Beast Patterns onto the stele as well.

The stele absorbed them all, but aside from absorbing the incomplete Beast Patterns, it showed no other special reaction.

’Was it too few?’

After some thought, Jiang Zuo decided to bury it again for now. He would try again next time after collecting more incomplete Beast Patterns.

But to his surprise, just as he took it outside, Jiang Zuo discovered the stele was absorbing sunlight.

’It was sitting in the sun when I dug it up just now, but it’s only reacting now. Is it because it absorbed the incomplete Beast Patterns?’

As it absorbed the sunlight, the stele emitted a faint glow, but there were no other strange phenomena.

About half an hour later, the phenomenon vanished, and the stele stopped absorbing.

’Is the stele absorbing the essence of the sun and moon?’

’If that’s the case, will it absorb moonlight at night?’

’The possibility is very high!’

Jiang Zuo decided to wait until night to check.

Night fell.

Jiang Zuo took out the stele and bathed it in the moonlight.

Faint white light cascaded onto the stone, causing the stele to emit a faint, sacred white glow.

As expected, the stele also absorbed moonlight.

It absorbed the moonlight for half an hour as well, then stopped.

Just as Jiang Zuo was about to put it away, he noticed the stele was pulsing with a dim light.

’What does this mean?’

Jiang Zuo pondered for a moment.

After a moment’s hesitation, Jiang Zuo pricked his finger and let a drop of fresh blood fall onto the stele.

As the drop of blood landed, the stele immediately stopped pulsing.

To Jiang Zuo’s surprise, he felt a faint, indistinct connection form between himself and the stele.

’This is the refining process!’

A flash of understanding entered Jiang Zuo’s mind.

However, Jiang Zuo soon felt that something was wrong.

Sensing something, he quickly looked at his attribute panel. His lifespan had been reduced by a year!

Since returning to Red Fox Town, Jiang Zuo had raised three generations of Great Black, starting with the Ninth Generation Great Black. This brought his lifespan to 113 years.

After offering a drop of blood to the stele, his lifespan had decreased by one year.

’Refining this stele actually consumes lifespan!’

’This stele... it couldn’t be something malevolent, could it?’

Jiang Zuo became vigilant.

’If its only goal was to consume a person’s life, this whole process seems far too troublesome,’ Jiang Zuo reasoned.

The last time he’d dripped Great Black’s blood on it, the stele hadn’t reacted at all.

’The stele absorbed the Beast Patterns, probably for the power contained within the tadpole script on them. Then it absorbed the essence of the sun and moon, and only then did it absorb my blood and a year of my life.’

Jiang Zuo felt that the tadpole script was what the stele truly desired. Without absorbing it first, the stele wouldn’t even absorb the essence of the sun and moon.

And when it finally absorbed his blood... Jiang Zuo recalled carefully, the stele had even seemed somewhat reluctant.

Jiang Zuo decided to try again the next day to see what would happen.

The next day was bright and sunny.

Jiang Zuo had no more incomplete Beast Patterns. He didn’t have the stele absorb any, instead placing it directly in the sun.

The stele showed no reaction.

Jiang Zuo tried dripping another drop of his blood on it, but again, there was no reaction.

At this point, Jiang Zuo was more or less certain of his theory.

What the stele needed most was the tadpole script on the Beast Patterns.

The essence of the sun and moon was secondary, likely absorbed just to enable him to refine the stele.

The stele was clearly extraordinary. Otherwise, how could a mere mortal like him possibly refine it?

But to be safe, Jiang Zuo decided not to let the stele absorb any more of his blood and lifespan for the time being.

He planned to wait a year or so to see if his body underwent any changes.

If there were no changes, he would slowly continue the process then.

Burying the stele back in the vegetable patch, Jiang Zuo went about his daily life as if nothing had happened.

Several more months passed. It had now been nearly four years since Subai and the others had arrived.

Subai was almost fifteen, and Jiang Zuo was now over twenty-one.

Subai had grown into a beautiful and refined young lady. Matchmakers had begun to visit, but not many.

In the eyes of many in Red Fox Town, Subai’s identity was too mysterious, her background unknown.

The only thing they were sure of was that Subai’s family wasn’t short on money, which suggested her background was probably impressive.

Therefore, most ordinary families knew she was out of their league and wouldn’t hire a Matchmaker to test the waters.

As for the wealthy families, they wouldn’t rashly consider a marriage alliance without knowing her family background.

Only a few, with the attitude of ’nothing to lose even if it fails,’ sent a Matchmaker to their door to try their luck.

As for Jiang Zuo, he had fully matured.

Nearly six feet tall with a strong, well-built physique, he exuded a sense of security.

In his daily life, Jiang Zuo never showed a brutish or violent side. On the contrary, his conduct was humble and reserved.

Moreover, writing novels for Night Cat’s Eye and constantly drawing Beast Patterns over the years had given him a scholarly air, lending him a refined elegance.

Crucially, the Great Black dogs Jiang Zuo raised had been auctioned for over one thousand taels each in recent years, and he also earned money from selling meat buns on the side.

Including the Eighth Generation Great Black that had previously sold for five thousand taels, in many people’s eyes, Jiang Zuo’s net worth was over ten thousand taels.

In reality, it was close. Jiang Zuo’s current net worth was over nine thousand taels. While he couldn’t compare to the truly great families in town...

...compared to an ordinary family, he was undeniably wealthy.

And Jiang Zuo was still single. Even the sons of the town’s great families couldn’t compare to him in terms of wealth.

Aside from not having a prominent family background, Jiang Zuo was the dream lover of countless young women in the town—the biggest catch in all of Red Fox Town.

Unlike with Subai, whom ordinary families felt they were unworthy of and didn’t dare approach...

...there were no such concerns when it came to Jiang Zuo.

Even a girl from an impoverished, ordinary family could hope to become his concubine.

Thus, for the past two or three years, Matchmakers had nearly beaten a path to Jiang Zuo’s door.

Everyone from thirty-year-old women to young girls of fourteen who had just come of age wanted to send a Matchmaker to try their luck.

Jiang Zuo was endlessly annoyed and could only repeatedly put out the word that he had no intention of marrying yet.

But it was useless. Eventually, Jiang Zuo was forced to close his doors to all visitors just to get some peace and quiet at home.

...

The thirteenth-generation Great Black was about half a month away from being 100% raised.

One day, someone came looking for Jiang Zuo. He followed the person to the Government Office.

"Steward Luo, what can I do for you?"

The one who had sought him out was Steward Luo.

Aside from the time the Ding Brothers caused trouble, Red Fox Town had been peaceful and stable under Zhang Bingjun’s governance for the past few years, with no major incidents.

Jiang Zuo and Steward Luo hadn’t seen much of each other, so he didn’t know why he had been summoned this time.

"It’s about Great Black. There’s a small matter I might need your help with," Steward Luo said, looking troubled.

"What’s wrong with Great Black? Is he misbehaving?"

Jiang Zuo was a little surprised. ’That doesn’t seem right,’ he thought.

That glutton, the Eighth Generation Great Black, was always easy to deal with as long as there was food.

"Not exactly. You’ll understand when you go take a look."

Steward Luo led Jiang Zuo into an inner courtyard.

"WOOF! WOOF!"

Great Black was living in a corner of the inner courtyard. When a servant tried to approach his doghouse, Great Black shot to his feet and barked fiercely at the servant, refusing to let him get close.

’How did Great Black become like this?’

Jiang Zuo frowned as he watched. This was truly strange.

’No, wait!’

Jiang Zuo focused his gaze and saw a tiny black puppy underneath Great Black’s belly.

Judging by its size, it was probably less than a week old.

’Is that Great Black’s son? He doesn’t want anyone near his pup?’

However, a puppy this young should normally be nursing from its mother.

The puppy under Great Black looked extremely weak. If this continued, it was only a matter of time before it died.

"The night before last, Great Black went out and came back carrying this little one. He’s been very aggressive ever since, not letting anyone near."

"I had someone investigate the areas where Great Black usually roams. They found the body of a female stray dog in a bamboo grove on the outskirts of town."

Steward Luo sighed.

Great Black was usually very obedient at the County Magistrate’s Office and was well-loved by everyone there.

After raising Great Black for a while, they discovered that they only needed to give him a command, and he would go out to run and play on his own, returning by himself when it was about time.

It had been like this for the past two or three years.

Because Red Fox Town was so large, many areas within it were like the wilderness, and with a bit of caution, stray dogs could survive within the town’s limits.

Then, Great Black must have taken up with some female stray, and she eventually gave birth to this little black puppy.

But for some unknown reason, the mother dog died in the wild.

That was why Great Black had become so unusually aggressive.

His aggression was one thing, but more importantly, Steward Luo and the others could see that the puppy was not in good condition. They feared it wouldn’t live long if they didn’t intervene.

But Great Black wouldn’t let anyone get close, so Steward Luo had no choice but to send for Jiang Zuo.

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