Beast Taming Starts with Ground Mushrooms

Chapter 54 A Practical Identity

The moment Lin Yi stepped out of the factory, he immediately dialed Lao Bai's number.

The phone rang again and again, but no one answered, which made Lin Yi's already uneasy feeling even stronger.

Seeing that he couldn't contact the other party, he searched around the factory but still couldn't find Bai Deheng. Helpless, he had no choice but to give up the search. After all, this was near the city center of Tiannan City, so there shouldn't be any danger to his life. Searching aimlessly like this wasn't going to work, so it would be more practical to go back to school and wait.

With these thoughts in mind, Lin Yi prepared to leave and return to Tiannan Beast Taming University first. On the way, he looked at the intricate alleyways around him and couldn't help but sigh.

At this moment, it would be great to have a canine pet.

These kinds of pet beasts are best at tracking and searching.

Lin Yi subconsciously glanced at the mushroom cub in his beast-taming space. Although he couldn't contract canine beast pets, it didn't seem impossible to teach the mushroom cub a skill similar to a dog's keen sense of smell.

Hmm... that's a good idea. I'll go back and look through those papers on simplified skills for pets to see if there are any similar ones that I can teach.

As Lin Yi was lost in thought, he had already walked several hundred meters away. However, just as he passed a fork in the alley, a familiar voice suddenly entered his ears.

"Big brother, please, give me a little more time, just a little more time. My beast pet [Sword Spirit Grass] has already reached the seventh level of evolution. You won't believe me, just look."

"Once it reaches the first stage, I can go out and make money. I will definitely pay you back with interest."

Hearing that familiar voice, Lin Yi subconsciously looked into the deep alley to the side, and it was indeed Old Bai.

In an instant, a variety of possibilities flashed through Lin Yi's mind, finally settling on three words—【Beast Taming Loan】.

At this moment, it seemed that all the explanations made sense. Lin Yi suddenly realized that behind Lao Bai's constant good news to him, there was something he had never mentioned.

This guy clearly got involved with [Beast Taming Loan]. He had discussed this with Lao Bai when they were chatting before, saying that no matter what, he shouldn't touch that stuff. Unexpectedly, this guy still couldn't resist, and he's obviously been cornered in the alley.

Without hesitation, Lin Yi immediately walked deeper into the alley. Cui Dai was nothing to worry about; he was just afraid he would inevitably receive some "friendly greetings."

As expected, as they went deeper, Lin Yi soon saw more than a dozen figures. They were all burly men, and although they had not summoned any beast pets, most of them were beast tamers.

A dozen or so men surrounded a boy at the end of a dead end. They looked fierce and menacing. The boy had several red handprints on his face, and half of his face was flushed with blood. He was pleading desperately.

"Damn it, you said you could pay it back in a month? Kid, don't think we won't do anything to you just because you're a beast tamer from Tiannan Beast Taming University. Even if the King of Heaven himself came, you still have to pay back the money you borrowed."

The middle-aged man at the head of the group was extremely arrogant, and his imposing manner clearly overwhelmed the young man.

Upon hearing this, the boy looked utterly dejected: "Brother, we agreed to borrow 300,000 and repay 310,000. I was only half an hour late, and my bicycle broke down on the way. It really wasn't on purpose."

The boy's voice dropped several decibels as he spoke: "It's only half an hour late, and you're asking for 610,000? Aren't you making things difficult for me?"

"Damn it, kid, what do you mean? Are you saying we're a loan shark? Bro, it's clearly written in black and white in the contract that if you don't pay back on time, the principal will double. We told you that beforehand. If you can't pay it back, don't fucking lend us any money."

The middle-aged man persisted, his tone becoming even more aggressive.

Listening to the conversation in the alley, Lin Yi roughly understood the ins and outs. This had to do with the grade assessment rewards at Tiannan Beast Taming University. Achieving a grade of seven in the assessment would earn a bonus of 300,000 yuan. Old Bai had clearly advanced this expense in advance.

Of course, Lao Bai did get his money back; he did receive the bonus, but he fell into a blatant trap set by these people. They were betting that he would default on the payment. If he could pay on time, he would earn the 10,000 yuan; if he defaulted, he would make a profit.

Lin Yi frowned. The other party was making money by crossing the line, but they were actually in the right. After all, it was written in black and white and they had informed him of the consequences of breaching the contract. In a sense, they were taking advantage of a loophole.

However, he couldn't just stand by and watch Lao Bai do nothing. In the entire Tiannan Beast Taming University, Lao Bai was the only one who treated him like a brother. Lin Yi wasn't the kind of pushover, but he would never stand idly by.

Just as the two sides were at an impasse, the middle-aged man who was leading the charge raised his hand, and it looked like he was about to give Lao Bai a few more hard blows.

"Old Bai."

Lin Yi's voice rang out at the right moment, and everyone in the alley turned around in response. Old Bai also instinctively looked over.

But then, from the other end of the alley, a handsome young man who looked only eighteen or nineteen years old walked in.

"Lin Yi? You... what are you doing here?" Old Bai was stunned at first, then his expression became extremely complicated. He didn't want the other person to see him like this.

Lin Yi ignored those people and walked towards Lao Bai as if no one else was there. He walked through the dozen or so people and came to Lao Bai's side. He looked at the handprint on his brother's cheek from left to right.

"Hey kid, who are you? What? Trying to meddle in other people's business?" A henchman next to the middle-aged man spoke up, his brows furrowed.

Lin Yi ignored the little Karami and instead turned to stand in front of Lao Bai, his gaze sweeping indifferently over the man in the lead.

"He's my friend. I understood what you were saying earlier. You're still short 300,000, right?"

As Lin Yi spoke, he took out his phone and said calmly, "I'll pay this 300,000 for him."

"Lin Yi...?" Old Bai looked up at the voice and wanted to say something, but Lin Yi stopped him by looking up. He held up his phone and looked at the middle-aged man: "Phone, I'll scan it for you."

The sudden turn of events caught the middle-aged man off guard. He stared intently at the young man who had suddenly appeared, his brows furrowing in disapproval.

He was so calm. Compared to the person behind him, this young man was not at all the same age. He had the air of someone who would not flinch even if Mount Tai collapsed in front of him. Moreover, he seemed to see a faint anger in the other person's eyes, which came from the slap marks on Lao Bai's face.

"What? You don't want it anymore?" Lin Yi continued.

Upon hearing this, the latter hesitated for a moment, composed himself, took out his phone, and soon received a notification that 300,000 yuan had been deposited into his account.

The middle-aged man's heart sank even further upon seeing this; this kid really could sweep out 300,000.

"The contract." Lin Yi reached out his hand.

Seeing this, the middle-aged man gestured to his companion beside him: "Give it to him."

Upon receiving the contract, Lin Yi tore it up on the spot, his gaze fixed on the middle-aged man, making the man feel uneasy. He didn't know why, but when he met those eyes, he felt like he was not someone to be trifled with.

"Kid, you're lucky to have such a good brother who's willing to stand up for you. Next time, think twice about your ability before borrowing money. Let's go."

The middle-aged man felt extremely uncomfortable. After saying a few words, he turned around and walked out of the alley with his men.

Just then, Lin Yi's calm voice rang out.

Did I tell you to leave?

His words were somewhat childish and even had the feel of a scene from a wish-fulfillment novel, but they successfully caught the attention of the middle-aged men and others.

The middle-aged man stopped in his tracks at the sound, puffed out his cheeks, and tilted his head. He just didn't want to cause trouble, not because he was really afraid of the other party. But upon hearing these words, the middle-aged man immediately lost his temper.

If he just leaves like this, how will he maintain his authority in front of his accomplices in the future?

Thinking to himself, he immediately turned around, ready to say a few boastful words, but saw Lin Yi holding a mobile phone with the camera pointed at more than a dozen men.

"Old Wen, record all these people's faces."

Lin Yi's voice rang out, and the dozen or so burly men were stunned. What was this guy doing?

On the other end of the phone, Wen Tao was also completely bewildered. He was having dinner at home when he answered the video call and was about to speak when he saw the dozen or so burly men on the other end. His natural intelligence allowed him to immediately guess what was going on and he immediately started to cooperate.

"Don't worry, Yi-ge, I'm recording the screen."

As Wentao spoke, he actually clicked on screen recording, and his parents immediately fell silent.

Actually, the person Lin Yi wanted to call first was Chen Shiqi, but he accidentally dialed Wen Tao instead. Without thinking too much, he simply called him directly.

This guy must be even more free than the senior student.

In the alley... a group of men also realized what was happening, their faces immediately turning grim.

"Kid, what do you mean? Trying to play dirty tricks on us, huh?"

A man beside the middle-aged man immediately became displeased and rolled up his sleeves to summon his battle beast, but the middle-aged man stopped him with a gesture. He kept looking Lin Yi up and down: "Young man, it's only right to pay back debts. Even at your Tiannan Beast Taming University, that makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Since you've paid off 300,000 for this guy and given him the contract, let's just leave each other alone. Am I wrong?"

Lin Yi: "Paying back debts is the right thing to do. If anyone's to blame, it's my brother for not being able to resist the temptation."

"What do you mean by this, young man?"

After the middle-aged man finished speaking, his eyes pierced as if he could see right through the other person. In his line of work, it was impossible for someone to be brainless or act recklessly. Instead, he realized that something was wrong and that he had probably run into a tough opponent this time.

Lin Yi's lips curled up slightly: "The money matter is over, but you old man have a bad memory, there's something else that's not over yet."

As Lin Yi spoke, he turned to look at Lao Bai: "He hit you?"

"Lin Yi, let it go." Old Bai naturally didn't want to cause trouble.

Lin Yi wasn't the type to cause trouble, but he wasn't one to suffer in silence either. He immediately looked at Lao Bai and smiled, "Didn't you say you'd protect me from now on, so... you slapped me a few times?"

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man and the others instantly realized what was happening, and their expressions turned cold.

After a brief silence, a sinister glint flashed in the middle-aged man's eyes: "Kid, you really think you're something special, huh...?"

Before the middle-aged man could finish speaking, Lin Yi didn't hesitate and directly took out the identity card of the fifth branch of the Beast Tamer Association of Tiannan University and threw it to the man next to the middle-aged man.

After all, this is a world of extraordinary beings, and he dared not gamble on whether the other party would go too far. As early as when he appeared, Lin Yi had already thought of double protection.

The middle-aged man subconsciously glanced at the ID card in the hand of the man beside him and instinctively asked, "What's this?"

Upon seeing the large, gold-embossed characters on the card, the man's expression froze for a moment, then he swallowed hard, lowering his voice several decibels.

"Brother, heavens... Tiannan Beast Taming University."

After speaking, the man swallowed again.

"nonsense."

The middle-aged man was speechless. "Do you even need to tell me this? I have eyes, can't I judge for myself?"

The man licked his dry lips and then dropped a bombshell.

"A member of the Fifth Branch of the Beast Tamer Association, and... he's still a 'selected student'."