The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#184 - Strange Things

Chapter 183: Records of Strange Objects

The man in blue took out a copper coin and said to Lu Jing, "Let Amu stand before the Judge. Within five steps is fine."

The little wooden figure, Amu, glanced at Lu Jing upon hearing this.

Lu Jing looked at the Pixiu statue, which had a body like a tiger or leopard, a head and tail like a dragon, and wings on its back, poised to pounce. He couldn't help but worry and asked, "Will there be any danger?"

"No," the man in blue shook his head. "The Judge only judges the good and evil of strange objects; it is not aggressive."

So Lu Jing nodded to Amu as well.

Only then did the latter cautiously take a few steps forward, arriving in front of the two-person-tall Pixiu statue.

As Amu approached, the black cat that was originally lying on his bamboo hat suddenly stood up. Then, its fur stood on end, its eyes fixed on the Pixiu statue, and a low whimper came from its throat.

It was only when the little wooden figure patted the bamboo hat that its emotions calmed down slightly.

Lu Jing asked again, "Should I take the cat off its head?"

"No need. The Judge only judges strange objects and doesn't care about other things," the man in blue said with certainty.

So Lu Jing took back the foot he had half-stepped out.

He saw the man in blue throw the copper coin into the statue's large mouth.

The next moment, the originally motionless Pixiu suddenly came to life, leaped forward, and jumped in front of Amu.

Then, it brought its ferocious face close to Amu's face.

Its two fist-sized eyes looked up and down at the trembling little wooden figure.

After that, it brought its nose close, moving it up and down, as if sniffing something.

Perhaps because it was frightened by the suddenly revived statue, the black cat on Amu's head, which had just managed to stabilize its emotions, bristled again and meowed at the Pixiu.

And the Pixiu's pair of large eyes also stared at the black cat.

After a moment, the Pixiu suddenly retracted its head, as if it had lost interest in Amu, and returned to its previous position. Then, it resumed its poised-to-pounce posture and remained motionless.

"Congratulations," the man in blue said. "Your strange object has passed the judgment."

"That's it?" Lu Jing asked. "So fast?"

The man in blue nodded. "The Judge's judgment is always quick, but its accuracy is very high. There has never been a mistake in the records, and no strange object can escape its eyes. Whenever an evil strange object appears before it, its tail will point upwards."

"And like just now, it means the strange object in front of it is innocent. Alright, next, you just need to have a painter create a portrait of your Amu, and then you can put it away."

After the man in blue finished speaking, he led Lu Jing and Amu to the painting room next door.

Because painting would take some time, the man in blue excused himself and left after the painter arrived to attend to other matters.

Lu Jing sat for a while and felt bored, so he also walked out of the room.

The painter was probably focusing all his attention on sketching Amu at the moment, vowing to record every texture on Amu's wooden body on paper. Therefore, he didn't react to Lu Jing's departure.

Lu Jing wandered around in the corridor for a while, occasionally hearing strange noises coming from some of the rooms. In between, there seemed to be some mournful cries of cattle and sheep. For safety's sake, he decided to stay a little further away from those rooms.

But after wandering around for a while and returning, Lu Jing saw the room where the Pixiu was again.

Probably because there was nothing dangerous inside, and because the Pixiu statue was so big that it was unlikely to be taken away by anyone, the room didn't even have a door.

→

Lu Jing stopped outside the room and peeked inside. There was no one inside at the moment.

Then, he took a few steps forward and came to the Pixiu.

Lu Jing was still slightly nervous. When he discovered the existence of strange objects in this world, he had also wondered about his own identity. After all, his dantian was clearly different from others.

The inexplicable internal energy that appeared out of nowhere was like a law of causality and could not be explained by common sense.

So, taking advantage of this rare opportunity, Lu Jing also wanted to verify the conjecture in his heart.

As a result, after he finished inserting the coin and stood in place for a while, the Pixiu statue remained motionless and did not react at all.

So Lu Jing took two more steps forward.

He was almost pressing his face against the Pixiu's chest.

And he kept staring at the pair of big eyes above his head.

However, after a moment, the Pixiu still maintained its poised-to-pounce posture without any movement, as if it hadn't swallowed a copper coin just now.

Lu Jing breathed a sigh of relief, but inexplicably felt a hint of disappointment.

If he wasn't a strange object, then how could the situation in his dantian be explained? Was it because he accidentally came into contact with some strange object and was affected?

This possibility certainly existed, but Lu Jing knew it wasn't very likely.

Because if similar strange objects existed, the Department of Celestial Observation would definitely not be unaware, and the martial world would inevitably be filled with bloodshed.

It was impossible for it to be so calm now, especially since there were many martial artists near Wujiang City. There was no reason why he was the only one who had broken through so quickly.

Could it be that this abnormal situation on his body was really just a bug that came with the transmigration?

While Lu Jing was thinking wildly, he returned to the painting room.

The old painter had finally finished sketching Amu. He put down his brush and admired it with satisfaction, then left with the painting. After a while, another man in blue, who looked like a scholar, walked in from outside, holding a thick book.

He flipped to one of the pages, ran his finger from top to bottom, and muttered at the same time.

"Let me see, Amu, right... Got it, [Rank B, Number 519] is its number in the 'Records of Strange Objects'. Now there's a portrait too."

"Threat assessment is tentatively set to Low-grade, holder is Lu Jing, um, the rest of the place is blank. You can come back to fill it in whenever you want. Alright, the registration has been completed. Is there anything else?"

"Is that the famous 'Records of Strange Objects' in your hand? Can I borrow it to take a look?" Lu Jing asked curiously.

"Oh, this is just the Rank B volume of the 'Records of Strange Objects', and it's a draft volume, so it can't be borrowed," the scholar-like man in blue said.

After a pause, he added.

"You must be a newcomer recruited by the academy. The academy's library also has the 'Records of Strange Objects'. You can read it there if you want. Of course, it's been censored. It only contains strange objects with a threat assessment of Low-grade."

"As for Mid-grade strange objects, you have to wait until you become an official inspector, and a Second-Order inspector or higher to see them. As for High-grade and even the most terrifying Supreme-grade, you either have to be a Fifth-Order inspector, or you have to get approval from the Vice-Director. This is also for your own good, to prevent you from coming into contact with powerful strange objects too early and losing confidence."