Non-Human Sub-district Office Chapter 14

The Emperor's Shelter.

Lin Mu took some information about the Relaxed Emperor out, looked at the time, and wasn't in a rush to go down, so he stood on the platform and flipped through the information.

As soon as he started to look through it, he saw a slightly familiar picture.

It was a scroll. On the scroll was a painted picture of a large green tree, with lush foliage that covered the sky.

The knotted roots and the lateral branches resembled black pine. A lush and green plain of gra.s.s and flowers stretched across the entire valley, and on top laid some strangely shaped creatures, sleeping soundly with their paws in the air1. Most of them were species that Lin Mu didn't recognise.

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There was a clear mountain spring flowing through the valley, winding down from behind the mountain, and it looked very similar to the fuzzy dreams that still remained in his memory.

Lin Mu could even hear the sounds of the flowing mountain springs and the chirping of birds.

It was even clearer than what he had seen in his dream.

There wasn't much information available about the Relaxed Emperor, so little that there were only one or two sentences mentioned in the volumes.

Most of them were just pa.s.sing mentions when mentioning other events or monsters.

And the thing that was mentioned was usually the fruit.

The more popular and common name of the Relaxed Emperor was the worry-free tree.

Its leaves were somewhat like those of the poplar tree, with its branches and leaves freely extending in five different directions. The flowers were a tender yellow, and the fruit that emerged was heavy and dark.

The preserved fruit at home was the fruit of the Relaxed Emperor. After eating it, one could forget about their sorrows, and it was considered priceless by monsters.

The number of fruits available was very small, and they were all monopolized by several forces.

So ordinary monsters and creatures could only lie outside the valley, piously and humbly begging the Relaxed Emperor within to mercifully give them some good news.

All beings suffer, and they all look forward to forgetting their sorrows.

Even if one wasn't able to get the fruit, if they were touched by the power of the Relaxed Emperor for a moment or two, they would be able to abandon their troubles and be happy for a short time, which was something difficult to attain.

Da Hei also knew a little about the truth of the matter. That is, individual differences. Some monsters like to do whatever they wanted regardless of others, while some out restrain themsleves with reason.

But in the eyes of humankind, they were all nine-tailed foxes, and they couldn't tell if they were the same one or not, so they were all collective refered to as nine-tailed fox in the records.

Although the records weren't entirely through, but it can be used as a reference to roughly judge some habits of mosnters such as nine-tailed foxes.

For example, they like to stir up trouble, liked to socialise everywhere, and also liked to slying play little tricks behind someone else's back.

This is something that Da Hei could completely understand. But what he couldn't understand was how Yan Xuanjing could hide his beast-like aura and act in a rigetous manner, as if this whole fox was indifferent and holy, unstained by anything, and had nothing to do with bloodshed.

Even the Morning Dusk that was the hated and was the most sensitive to anything demonic related was tricked

Da Hei looked at Yan Xuanjing and his brain was ringing.

He wanted to remind Lin Mu to be careful, but he didn't dare to move under this great monster's gaze.

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What's more, the Relaxed Emperor's fruit had more effects than just enabling people to forget.

For monsters, being confused, falling into deviation, having too much blood on their hands….. and so on, a series of such problems that might cause major consequences, could all be solved by the fruit from the Relaxed emperor.

Lin Mu flipped through the information for a long time, but did not obtain anything about the Relaxed Emperor gaining spiritual awareness, and only found out that a few select forces had been in charge of monitoring and controlling the valley.

The valley was in the middle of the Great Wilderness, located in a mountain called the Mountain of Hards.h.i.+p, and these monsters strictly controlled it in order to prevent other monsters from entering.

Only on certain occasions would great monsters step into the valley to stay for a while, because not only do the fruits of the Relaxed Emperor contain a soothing effect, but the entire tree itself did.

And in the place where the Relaxed Emperor rested, the vegetation would grow strongly without any struggle, and even the most precious of spiritual medication could be grown.

Lin Mu looked through the records of the valley, and there were these words written on it: The Relaxed Emperor grew very well under the care of several great demons, and was not damaged or refined like other rare and ancient trees. This was until thirty years ago, where the Relaxed Emperor's whole tree mysteriously disappeared. However, the great monsters who often went in and out of the valley didn't get angry, and instead ordered for the news to be blocked and took it as if nothing happened.

After that, there was no more news about the Relaxed Emperor.

Lin Mu flipped here and there, but never found any information about the Relaxed Emperor gaining spiritual awareness. Not to mention how the Relaxed Emperor looked like after gaining spiritual awareness.

If Lin Mu hadn't seen how the Relaxed Emperor's original tree in that photo, plus the fruit that had been madly scrambled over, Lin Mu wouldn't dare to recognise the Relaxed Emperor as his father.

Flipping through the rest of the information, Lin Mu found that there were no more relevant information.

But Lin Mu could guess the location the Relaxed Emperor had disappeared to 30 years ago after leaving the Great Wilderness. He was probably in the Central Plains, in the deep mountains that his mother discovered, and it was then that his father met his mother.

As for how he had reached there, and when he had obtained spiritual awareness, Lin Mu didn't know at all.

Maybe some of the great monsters that often went in the out of the valley would know, but Lin Mu didn't know a single one of these great monsters.

Only one of them was slightly familiar, Yan Xuanjing's father, the nine-tailed fox Yan Gui, the current emperor of Qingqiu Country.

Unfortunately, after that single glimpse, Lin Mu had never seen that super beautiful fox spirit again.

But the gains were great.

Both Da Hei and Milky maintained a high quality silence.

Lin Mu looked over here then looked over there and was even more confused, “why not…… let's go back first?”

So Yan Xuanjing took the lead in retracting his line of sight, and didn't seem put Da Hei's existence in his heart.

Lin Mu pushed his little etectric scooter, and thought about what Da Hei had said before about the possbility of a fierce and great monster that had entered his house, and couldn't help but observe his yard a little.

As a result, after a few seconds, he only saw a bunch of red ginseng seeds* sprouting out from the ground, spinning in circles around the yard.

According to the party concerned, this is nuturing the soil.

The meaning of nuturing the soil is to get the land get spiritual energy. In places where plant based spirits and monsters stay and move around for a long time, the land will get stained with their spiritual energry, resulting in the land's vegetation growing much more luxurious compared to normal places.

Lin Mu looked at the diligent Ginseng Baby and began to consider if he should plant some plants in his yard, so he could give the little Ginseng something to do.

If If it continues on being like this now, a string of red ginseng seeds drilling around to loosen the soil, he's afraid that one day a pa.s.sing villager would pull him out and make him into soup.

…… No matter what, it doesn't seem like there's any great and fierce monster.

What type of great monster would go to someone else's home to help with farming.

Lin Mu opened the door, “I'm back.”

The string of red ginseng seeds stopped for a moment, and the next second the white and plump ginseng pulled himself out of the soil and ran with two roots to Lin Mu's legs.

He turned and looked at the pair of black and white monsters behind Lin Mu and pulled a couple of ginseng strands out and jumped around as he gave it to Lin Mu, “Lin Mu, Lin Mu, brew some tea!”

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Lin Mu flipped through the first scroll, looked at the lush trees depicted, then looked down at himself.

It was good that he understood what he was.

Looking at this, the other half of his blood weren't from some humble origins.

It's no wonder that his mother died without mentioning a single word about his father, Lin Mu thought.

Looking from the viewpoint that his father could only have been protected by several great monsters joining hands, it was better to keep his mouth shut about his blood.

As for the fruit left behind, Lin Mu had a not-so-happy guess.

The fruit was used to make people forget their sorrows.

His father gave this fruit to his mother, which meant that he probably knew his mother would have an unforgettable sadness. At the same time, his father would not be able to accompany his mother to take care of her, so his father gave his mother this fruit that would easily gain attention or get s.n.a.t.c.hed away, in hopes that she could eat it and forget about her sorrows.

As for what sorrow his mother needed to forget?

She didn't care about the pressure that her father had placed on her, she didn't care about money, and she could become very happy for a long time just having potted plants to plant everyday.

The only thing that Lin Mu could think of that caused his mother to be sad were her red eyes every time she opened the photo alb.u.m.

Lin Mu went silent for a while and didn't want to think about it anymore. He closed the file, gave his thanks to the monster in the reference room and placed the information back onto the bookshelf. As he went down the stairs, he took out his phone and sent a message to his mother's mentor.

He wanted to get a list of the projects that his mother had partic.i.p.ated in, and if there was a chance, perhaps he could go and find out the truth himself.

Who knew what would happen in the future.

Lin Mu sent the message, kept his phone, and opened the stairwell door.

Downstairs, Da Hei had already arrived. He had turned into his original form and laid on the ground curled up into a ball, motionless.

Lin Mu walked over to him and squatted down, “what are you doing?”

“I'm closing myself up.” Da Hei said, sullenly.

Lin Mu looked at the dog that was curled into a ball, “why are you closing yourself up for?”

“The old lady's family started to issue her obituary and prepared invitations for funeral, but I have no part in it.” Da Hei said, feeling wronged. He raised his head to look at Lin Mu then froze for two seconds, poking his head over to sniff, he asked, “what happened to you? Your monstrous energy suddenly increased, and it smells quite good.”

“Ah?” Lin Mu looked down at his own hands and sniffed, “I can't feel anything.”

“You've just stepped into this world so obviously you can't feel it.” After the Da Hei said finished, he couldn't help but move over closer to sniff, and as he sniffed, his mind became blank and he went soft and limp and he slumped down.

It was a very comfortable smell, just like lazily lying under the warm sunlight, wrapped in a soft blanket.

There was an aroma of gra.s.s and flowers with the sound of the wind rustling across treetops. There also seemed to be a ringing sound in the distance, with the sound of clear flowing water. Music made by traditional chinese musical instruments echoed in the distance, accompanied by wonderful singing.

This smell was so comfortable that the dog couldn't help show his belly, and embrace this wonderful world his softest and most vulnerable place.

This feeling was too sudden and ferocious, and Da Hei was very close to Lin Mu, so this smell hit him straight in the face, causing Da Hei to slump onto the ground, slightly squinting his eyes. Every single fur on his body had the ‘comfortable' word written on it, and he even revealed his belly.

He looked like a cat that got the catnip, so comfortable until it looked it he was going to heaven.

This looked a bit familiar.

Just like in the picture that Lin Mu saw, with the monsters lying on the ground with all paws facing up under the shade of the Relaxed Emperor.

— Really no different than a cat on catnip.

Da Hei laid on the ground and only felt refreshed.  What closing himself up, what troubles, what sorrows? All of them were gone, his mood was bright and the world was a beautiful place.

But his reason was still there, so he asked lazily, “did you encounter something?”

“En, I figured out my own blood lineage.” Lin Mu said.

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Da Hei became interested, “oh? What is it?”

Lin Mu shook his head.

Da Hei understood. It probably was a blood lineage that wasn't too convenient to say out.

There were a lot of different bloods that had to be kept secret, just like how the Ginseng Baby always needed to hide, the existence of a lot of monsters would lead to plundering and killing, so keeping it a secret was normal.

Da Hei also didn't mind, and under the influence of Lin Mu's clean and enchanting monstrous energy, he yawned comfortably. Seeing as it was time to officially start work, Da Hei prepared to change back into his human form when he was interrupted by a knock on the door.

Da Hei looked up and sniffed, “a human smell.”

Lin Mu nodded and turned to open the door.

There was a middle-aged man wearing a black suit with a few gray hairs outside. His hair was well groomed, and he was very gentle and elegant. He smiled at Lin Mu and asked, “h.e.l.lo, is Mr. Da Hei here?”

After having the experience with the woman yesterday, Lin Mu also realised that some humans were aware of the existence of monsters.

He nodded his head and opened the door, “he's here.”

The middle-aged man lifted his foot and stepped into the office. After looking around, he didn't see the person he was looking for, and finally made eye contact with large black dog lying on the ground.

The smile on his face froze, and with a look that showed some horror, he exclaimed with a higher pitch, "Da Hei?!?

The large black dog made a ‘Woof' and didn't speak.

The middle-aged man was stunned for a long time, and let out a long sigh as he turned to Lin Mu and hesitatingly said, “my mother died the day before yesterday. Last night, she came to my dream and told me to come here and find Da Hei, and thank him2他 (Him)… him3它 (it). Both sounds the same, ta..”

Lin Mu blinked and realised that this person probably was the son of the old lady who saved Da Hei.

No wonder Da Hei didn't say anything.

“If it's here, there's only one Da Hei.” Lin Mu said.

“……” The middle-aged man went silent for a while, then looked at Da Hei, and after a while, sighed a little and said, “my mother's funeral is going to be this afternoon.”

Lin Mu looked at Da Hei.

Da Hei woofed once in his direction, and turned to take the leash from the cupboard, running towards Lin Mu with his tail shaking like an electric fan.

“……”

Lin Mu closed the door, and with a sense of guilt, took the dog and followed the middle-aged man to their home.

There were a lot of people who came to see the old lady off, and the atmosphere was quite dull.

At the door, Lin Mu gave the leash to the old lady's son, then stood outside and didn't go in.

He never really liked such scenes of parting, as it always reminded him of lonely scene when his mother pa.s.ses.

Lin Mu found a flower bed outside and sat down. After spending some time in a daze, he heard someone call him.

He turned around and saw a gray-haired old man walking towards him. He was the mentor that Lin Mu had just sent a message to, asking for the projects his mother had partic.i.p.ated in.

He was also an old man that took care of Lin Mu's business, and was a good person.

“Teacher Tan?” Lin Mu stood up, “why are you4polite version of you here?”

“The old lady who just pa.s.sed was my cla.s.smate.” The old man said, and pulled Lin Mu's hand as they walked over to the side, “just in time, I was going to find you for something.”

“What's the matter?” Lin Mu asked.

“Aren't you good with handling flowers and plants?” The old man patted Lin Mu's head, “I'll introduce to you a big customer.”

As the old man and the young man talked, they walked to the door of a house. At the door stood a man in a suit, tall, with one hand in his pocket, smoking a cigarette in his mouth. His eyes were narrowed and he seemed to be in a daze.

The old man walked over with Lin Mu and said, “Xiao Wu5小屋. Nickname. — this is the Lin Mu I told you about.”

Lin Mu was gently patted on the back by the old man and couldn't help but stand straight.

The man who was called looked over slightly. His face was cold, and there an undisguised killing intent and fierceness around him.

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Lin Mu was shocked by the little Ginseng's action of pulling out his own roots. He bent down and looked at the little Ginseng which was only the size of the his palm with heartache, “does it hurt?”

“It doesn't hurt.” The little Ginseng said with a sweet and childish tone and place the ginseng strands into Lin Mu's hands, “take it to entertain the guests.”

Lin Mu thought for a bit, and still accepted the strands of ginseng.

Da Hei was silent and looking down as he followed behind Yan Xuanjing.

He just didn't understand the reason why Yan Xuanjing, a majestic nine-tailed fox, would go over to a half-monster's house.

Although it seems that there weren't any malicious intentions.

And luckily there wasn't any malicious intentions.

Da Hei's eyes drooped, and simply didn't understand.

“I bought two pigeons and an old hen today,” Lin Mu said.

Yan Xuanjing heard Lin Mu's words and raised his head to look at the plastic bags and live chicken in Lin Mu's hands. His eyes brightened.

Lin Mu was happy to see that Da Hei and Milky didn't fight.

He trusted Da Hei, so he simply picked up the things on the seat and turned to the two dogs, “the old hen is a little troublesome to handle, I'll go and make dinner first, you guys chat first?”

Da Hei: “?”

No.

What!

What's going on!

You actually want to let a dog like me face a nine-tailed fox!

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Lin Mu's whole body went still, and almost immediately, he noticed the abnormality of this man's aura. Vigilantly, he took a step back and was ready to escape at any time.

The man's eyes narrowed the minute he looked at Lin Mu, and after carefully scrutinising him, he snuffed out the cigarette in his hand.

The old man introduced this man to Lin Mu, “this is Di Wu6帝屋. Lit. Emperor's Shelter, I'll go inside for a bit, you guys talk.”

The man nodded and waited until the old man went far away and said, “half-monster?”

This voice was cold, and it was very different from Yan Xuanjing's cold. Just listening to it sounded like a tip of a knife that was covered in blood,drilling with bone-chilling cold into the mind of the listener, and Lin Mu couldn't help but s.h.i.+ver.

The man leaned closer slightly, and raised his hand to hold the shoulder of Lin Mu, who wanted to run. He sniffed a little and he raised his brows, “Di Xiu?”

The author has this to say:

帝屋 (Dì wū). Lit. Emperor's Shelter: Thirty miles to the north, Baijiang Mountain…… there is a tree, famously called the Emperor's Shelter, with leaves like the pepper plant, with tree bark the colour of dark red, able to defend against bad omens and violence.

Comes from the same family as Di Xiu (Relaxed Emperor) [rubs hands together

The translator has this to say:

Click for important notes about the names in this novel.

Monsters in the wild don't have names, like the little Ginseng, who cutely took Lin Mu's surname and called himself Lin Ginseng. Yan Xuanjing is an exception because he's from a big clan of nine-tailed foxes, and the child of royalty, same with his father Yan Gui. Also, they're both from the Great Wilderness.

Some names are also incredibly lazy, like Wu Gui aka Old Turtle, whose name is a potayto, potahto situation.

On the other hand, Di Xiu (Relaxed Emperor) and Di Wu (Emperor's Shelter) are the sole members of their species. Making their situation a legendary Pokemon name situation, where the name of their species is their name.  So, I'll be using  Di Xiu/Relaxed Emperor, and Di Wu/Emperor's Shelter interchangeably, the English version when they're talking about their species as a whole, and the hanyu version when they're talking about the individual.

A sleepy, sleepy couch potato that adores BL. Only second to sleeping.