Guarantee

The rain is getting heavier.

A white mist rose in the air, and from a distance, the entire city gate looked like a continuous expanse of colorful paper umbrellas.

Several long tables were temporarily set up outside the city gate, covered with oilcloth, and that served as the examination shed.

The disciples of the Teruno sect sat behind a table, with booklets piled up beside them, questioning those who had registered.

There are two queues in total.

On one hand, they checked the identity of the person.

While verifying the demon register.

The two lines were not far apart, yet they seemed separated by a ditch.

The human race was impressively long, stretching from the city gates to the main road. Though numerous, they moved quickly. The disciples carrying the registers would ask their names and hometowns, glance at their household registration certificates, stamp them, and let them pass.

When it came to some well-dressed teenagers, they didn't even bother asking.

The elder handed over the name card, and the disciple holding the book glanced at it and said, "Go on, wait for me at the foot of Zhaoye Mountain at dawn tomorrow."

The demon race has fewer people, only a dozen or so.

But the team didn't move for a long time.

Toad stood at a distance, tiptoeing to look ahead.

It's too short; even if you stand on tiptoe, you can't see much of it, you can only hear its voice.

A dog demon stood at the front, surrounded by two disciples holding scrolls, who were asking it questions.

"Have you bitten anyone?"

The dog demon lowered its head, its throat hoarse: "It bit me."

Why did you bite?

"That man used an iron hook to drag my tail, and I couldn't resist."

The disciple holding the book flipped through the thin book in his hand, frowned and said: "Injury with bloodshed, no compensation paid, no punishment received, no guarantor, this item is not acceptable."

The dog demon panicked: "I haven't bitten again since then, I really haven't bitten again. I've even helped the yamen catch thieves three times in the past few years."

It's not in the register.

"What should we do then? The previous selections weren't this strict."

"That was before. Now the situation in Beiyang Prefecture is different. Whichever government office hires you to watch the night, that office will write a guarantee letter."

"..."

The dog demon fell silent.

The disciple holding the scroll looked up at it, then swept the vermilion brush aside: "Step back."

The dog demon could only slowly retreat.

Toad swallowed hard, looked down at its two short arms, and patted its clothes.

Shen Gui stood beside it, still holding the lotus leaf in his hand.

The rain caused the edges of the lotus leaves to curl up, and water dripped down the veins.

The toad suddenly turned around: "Why aren't you in line?"

"Let me take a look."

"You're not going to become an apprentice?"

The toad's eyes widened.

"Zhaoye Sect, do you even know what kind of place Zhaoye Sect is? I heard there's a powerful figure in the City Destroyer Realm on the mountain. City Destroyer! Do you understand? It's the kind of place where one palm strike can cause a city wall to collapse."

Lai Gebao stared at it for a while, then suddenly seemed to understand, leaning closer and whispering, "Are you afraid you won't pass the test? What's there to be afraid of? Be a little thick-skinned! I dare to go, and you, a tall person, are too scared?"

"Don't be a coward, watch me. I'll go scout ahead first. Once I'm through, just tell me what to do, and it'll definitely work."

He patted his chest, pulled his hood down further, and, clinging to the branch, limped towards the demon race.

After taking two steps, it turned back and added, "Don't run away, wait for me."

After saying that, it stood at the back of the line, its back straight, and began to recite.

"No one was hurt, no one was bitten, no child was stolen, no chickens or ducks were eaten, and offerings of fruit do not count."

After reading it once, read it a second time.

A pig demon in front chuckled, "Offering fruit doesn't count as stealing?"

The toad turned its head and glared at it: "It's spoiled. Spoiled things are called picking them up, not stealing them."

The pig demon grunted twice: "It's no use telling me, go tell them."

The toad stopped talking.

An hour later, it was finally its turn.

The disciple holding the scroll looked up and frowned slightly.

"Lift your hat and check your figure, otherwise how can we register you?"

Lai Ge Bao then raised his hand and lifted his hood.

There was a moment of silence under the awning.

It has a round head, bluish-brown skin, big eyes, a wide mouth, and some bumps on its face, making it quite unappealing.

Someone in the next line laughed.

The louder the laughter, the straighter the toad's back became, determined not to lose in terms of momentum.

It refrained from turning its head to curse, placed its two short arms on the table, and recited the answer quickly without being asked:

"I have never hurt anyone, not a single one. When I was a child, I was hit by a child, but I didn't bite. Even after I became intelligent, I didn't bite. When I encountered a Taoist priest chasing me, I just ran away. I eat locusts and poisonous mosquitoes, and I only eat things that gnaw on seedlings."

The disciple looked up at it.

Thinking he had a chance, Lai Gebao quickly added, "I can also go into the water and retrieve babies that have fallen into the pond. I've eaten offerings once, but they were spoiled, really spoiled. Okay, I won't steal them."

Someone nearby laughed.

The disciple asked, "What about the demon register?"

"not yet."

"The person who introduced you?"

"no."

"Did a disciple from a sect bring you here?"

"no."

"Is there anyone to vouch for me?"

The toad opened its mouth and looked back.

Shen Gui stood not far away, still holding the lotus leaf in his hand, rain dripping down the edge of the leaf.

The toad turned its head back: "Can't I protect myself? I'm a demon, and I'm quite trustworthy."

The disciple closed the booklet: "No."

Lai Gebao got anxious: "Why not? That human child just now couldn't even write his full name, but he just pressed his handprint and it was over."

"Humans have household registration, families, and places to be traced, so they can be held accountable if something goes wrong. Demons don't have a good demon certificate, so they can't directly take the exam."

"Then I'm here to apply for a good demon certificate."

"A certificate of a good demon needs to be verified by the local authorities or recommended by a sect before it can be entered into the register."

"???"

Lai Gebao's head was spinning: "Without a master, you can't get a certificate; without a certificate, you can't become an apprentice; without a guarantor, you can't even take the exam. What kind of convoluted system is this?"

The disciple was speechless.

He wasn't a bad person; at least he didn't treat toads as rare or unusual.

He placed his hand on the booklet and said, word by word, "After Zhaoyeshan took you into the mountain, if something happens, someone has to take responsibility. The villages and towns at the foot of the mountain don't recognize you, and you're not even in the government register."

Lai Gebao braced himself on the edge of the table, his voice urgent and soft: "I came from a mud pit, do you need to check that too?"

The disciple sighed softly, not wanting to explain any further.

"Retreat to the No-Registration Demon Shelter and wait. If the review is completed quickly today, we might be able to ask you a few questions. If you can't get a turn, come back in three years."

"Three years?"

The toad jumped up, its twig leg hitting the mud and splashing water. "Just trust me this once, I really won't hurt anyone."

There's a demon urging us on from behind.

Toad grabbed his hood and turned to leave.

Just then, a voice came from the side.

"I'll vouch for him."

The voice was not loud.

The toad slowly turned its head.

Shen Gui was standing outside the shed at some point, holding a lotus leaf in his hand. His gray clothes were half-soaked by the rain, and his black hair hung down over his shoulders.

Lai Ge Bao was a little slow to react. He had only been cognitively developed for three years and hadn't experienced much. He could understand some things, but he was a bit slow to grasp others.

After the disciple in charge of the register saw that Shen Gui was a human, his expression softened: "Young master, acting as a guarantor for a demon is not something that can be done by simply writing down your name. According to the regulations of the prefecture, the guarantor must be at least a ninth-rank official or have a cultivation level of at least the Dust-Observing Realm."

Shen Gui looked at him.

There is no official certificate.

There was no waist tag either.

The next moment, the disciple stopped writing.

The gray-clad man in front of him was still standing in the same spot, yet he seemed to have moved on.

The desk, the city gate, and the sound of rain all receded into the distance.

He felt as if he had been suddenly thrown into a vast ocean, with waves higher than city walls crashing down on him, while beneath his feet lay only a thin wooden plank, as light as could be.

He felt like a lone boat adrift at sea, wanting to shout but unable to make a sound, fear weighing on his heart, his fingers going numb, and his knees nearly buckling.

That feeling only lasted for a moment.

The sound of rain began to fall again.

The desk was still there, the booklet was still there, and the man in gray was still standing in front of the desk.

Shen Gui asked, "Is it ready?"

The disciple in charge of the registration snapped back to reality, quickly averting his gaze; his back was already soaked with cold sweat.

He bent down to pick up the pen, his hand trembling twice before he managed to pick it up.

"Okay, okay, senior."

Those around them only saw that the disciple was still talking about the rules a moment ago, but suddenly changed his expression, stood up straight, and even changed the way he addressed people.

"Please sign your name, senior."

The disciple pulled out a piece of yellow-edged paper from under the table and handed it to Shen Gui with both hands.

Shen Gui picked up his pen.

The pen tip hovered for a moment, then wrote a single character on the paper.

[Shen].

The brushstrokes become more restrained.

The disciple didn't dare ask for the full name, bowed his head to accept the paper, stamped it with the temporary verification seal of the Zhaoye Sect, and then returned the paper.

"Senior, this is the East Gate. Zhaoye Mountain is outside the West Gate. Your little demon does not have a good demon certificate yet, and according to the prefecture's regulations, it cannot enter the city. Please take it around the city and deliver this guarantee at the entrance of the West Gate mountain road."

Shen Gui took the guarantee letter, glanced at it, and handed it to Lai Ge Bao.

The toad was still there.

Shen Gui asked, "Don't you want it?"

"want!"

The toad pounced suddenly, its two short arms gripping the paper tightly.

It looked down at the paper for a long time. There were prints, words, and the character "Shen" on the paper.

Lai Gebao raised his head, his voice a little hoarse, but he still had to pretend to be very loyal.

"Brother Shen, you're really something, truly amazing."

It tucked Bao Xin into its bosom and patted him twice: "Don't worry, when I pass the Zhaoye Sect exam, get my Good Demon Certificate, and eat my first bowl of plain noodles, I'll definitely order one for you too, and I'll pay for it."

Shen Gui picked up a lotus leaf from the corner of the table and said "Okay".

Toad immediately followed.

It took two steps, then looked back at the city gate.

The doorway was bustling with people coming and going.

It still can't get in for the time being.

But we've already overcome the toughest hurdle, haven't we? I just didn't expect Brother Shen to be so capable. I'll ask him what his cultivation level is later.