Lin Jin seized this moment to recite what Daojun had written about Tiger Taoist in his hieroglyphic. These were Daojun’s thoughts, spoken from Lin Jin’s mouth. Immediately, tears welled up in Tiger Taoist’s eyes. It didn’t seem like an act; his reaction felt sincere.
Simply put, without discord, there would have been no concord between the two. After getting to know each other, they found their temperaments to be similar. They even had Daojun as a common acquaintance and shared a common enemy.
“It was Corpse Taoist who injured me back then,” revealed Tiger Taoist.
Lin Jin soon came to learn how ruthless Corpse Taoist was. It didn’t take much to figure out that Corpse Taoist must have wanted to capture Tiger Taoist and turn him into a zombie tiger.
Fortunately, Tiger Taoist wasn’t a weak foe. Even after being ambushed, he managed to severely injure his attacker and fled at the first opportunity.
Out of fear of being discovered by Corpse Taoist, Tiger Taoist kept a low profile by barely leaving this cave all these years. Hence, even if many have heard about Dark Wind Cave’s cave master in Arid Continent, no one knew about Tiger Taoist.
Since they were now sworn brothers, Lin Jin didn’t plan on feeding the monsters of Dark Wind Cave the monster-locking pills anymore. Number one, it wasn’t necessary as Tiger Tiger could control them perfectly fine. Secondly, monster-locking pills were incredibly rare. The ingredients in the Feed Mill were limited too so he would save as much as he could for himself.
“Right, Brother Tiger, how much do you know about Arid Continent’s Water God Cult?” After all the random topics, Lin Jin directed the conversation to a serious one after taking a sip of wine.
Lin Jin was going to retrieve the Four Ocean Gourd from Five Palm Mountain. Since Tiger Taoist had been hiding in Dark Wind Cave for several years, he must know something about them.
Sure enough, upon hearing Lin Jin’s question, Tiger Taoist revealed a look of contempt.
“The Water God Cult? Hmph! They’re just a bunch of nobodies. It was around the time I arrived here, a few foreigners from West Continent came to spread their religion, but I didn’t care for that. All was fine until their idiotic cult leader came to fight me in an attempt to establish power here on the continent. I bit off his arm, and he ran away. If I wasn’t trying to avoid getting in trouble, I would have wiped them out a long time ago. Later on, they seemed to have learned their place and they sent me some gifts, so I couldn’t be bothered with them anymore.”
This was the first time Lin Jin had heard about this.
Tiger Taoist wasn’t the type to lie so that must have truly happened. Looks like the Water God Cult wasn’t that strong after all. They might even be weaker than Dark Wind Cave.
If that was the case, this would be easy. Even so, Lin Jin had to keep an eye out, especially since the Water God Cult had been established here for several hundred years now. They must have something to prop up their organization for them to have lasted so long.
Lin Jin wasn’t afraid when he was alone. Now that he had the support of Dark Wind Cave, there was no reason for him to fear that cult anymore.
After a thought, Lin Jin said, “Your master has left a magic treasure here in Five Palm Mountain, and I am here to retrieve it. Will you give me a hand, Brother Tiger?”
“Master’s magic treasure?” Tiger Taoist’s eyes lit up.
He nodded at once.
“Since Master has recorded his possessions in his hieroglyphic, he must have left it for the successors. Since your master can understand the hieroglyphic, he must be the successor my master mentioned so I have no problems with you taking it. I’ll gladly help you.”
Lin Jin nodded. He was surprised by how well this plan was coming along.
With someone as powerful as Tiger Taoist to help him, this mission was partially accomplished.
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After giving it some thought, Lin Jin asked, “Brother Tiger, how are your old injuries?”
Tiger Taoist fell gloomy at the mention of this.
“Forget it. Heavens know what methods Corpse Taoist used. Even though the injury is several hundred years old, no matter how I try, I can’t seem to recover from it. It’s getting worse, and I feel it will get out of hand soon.”
Lin Jin nodded. When he accidentally touched Tiger Taoist earlier, the museum was triggered, so Lin Jin had a clear picture of Tiger Taoist’s current condition.
As Daojun’s disciple, Tiger Taoist knew some beast appraising and treatment methods. Even after all these years, the fact that the wound wouldn’t heal proved just how unique it was.
Still, no matter how unique or amazing the ability was, the museum would have a cure for it.
“Brother Tiger, if you don’t mind, I can help you take a look at it!” offered Lin Jin. Since he and Tiger Taoist were now allies who had to face Corpse Taoist and the Demonic Appraisal Association one day, treating Tiger Taoist would be beneficial for their cause.
“Haha, I don’t mind it at all. If you’d like to take a look, go ahead.” Tiger Taoist chuckled and then parted his shirt to reveal his well-toned upper body.
On his back was a two feet long laceration. The strangest thing about this wound was the fact that it wouldn’t close. The blood was still fresh, but the skin surrounding the wound was starting to darken. This reminded Lin Jin of the skin texture of the zombie he had previously faced.
Those who didn’t know might find themselves at a loss for how to diagnose a wound this strange, much less treat it. However, Lin Jin knew how it was formed.
The wound was a normal one but the reason it couldn’t close all this while was because of the corpse energy around it. Unlike regular corpse energies, the museum labeled this as an ‘Immortal-Corroding Corpse Refining Energy’. Should normal humans be tainted by it, they would be killed by this corrosive energy and transformed into zombies. Even strong experts would find themselves in a devastating situation.
Tiger Taoist was one of Daojun’s disciples, a member of the Six Beast Taoists. He was already strong hundreds of years ago, but even he was forced to endure this corpse energy for so many years. Forget purging it, the energy was about to enter his organs, which placed him in a critical state.
Even if immortals were alive, they might not be able to rescue Tiger Taoist. If Lin Jin didn’t have the museum, he would have been just as powerless.
Forget Rank 4 appraisers, even Rank 5 and possibly Rank 6 appraisers couldn’t help with the situation.
What’s more, based on Lin Jin’s understanding, there wasn’t a Rank 6 appraiser in this world yet. Even if there was one, Lin Jin thought that only Shu Xiaolou qualified for that status.
Back to the wound on Tiger Taoist’s back. The wound itself wasn’t the problem but the zombie component was. How to remove the zombie components was the key question here.
The museum offered several treatment methods.
To Lin Jin, only two methods seemed practical and one of them was to use the Body Recast, Psyche Refining Needle to force the corpse energy out of the patient’s body.
However, if he did that, the corpse energy that was forced out would become a problem. Whoever gets tainted by it would instantly turn into a zombie, and Lin Jin was no exception.
Even if he evaded the energy, it would start to spread and corrode the environment. This cave would be turned into a gas chamber. If the corpse energy got outside, that would be worse.
The other treatment method was relatively risky but in Lin Jin’s opinion, it could solve their problems once and for all.
This method was to fight poison with poison. Ordinary living creatures, be it humans or monsters, couldn’t live harmoniously with corpse energy, much less suppress it. It was much more possible to be overwhelmed by the corpse energy instead. However, what if it was a zombie who suppressed the corpse energy.
Coincidentally, there was one powerful zombie locked up inside Shu Xiaolou’s painting.