But among the countless hells filled with weirdness and terror, where could he find a reliable species to nurture with confidence?
Powerful species like sled dogs had enough destructive force, but they were too difficult to tame and control. And those bizarre, alluring, otherworldly women were too strange, utterly untrustworthy.
The 'good brothers' from Little Cat Paradise were indeed powerful, and Huai Shi knew them well. However, that bastard Little Cat ran faster than anyone when he saw Huai Shi, as if he'd seen a ghost.
It seemed the Paradise Legal Department was doomed to become a thing of the past...
Huai Shi sighed and was about to start over when the Book of Fate suddenly moved.
It directly adjusted the resonance sequence within the Miracle Imprint, bringing an inconspicuous response signal from the back to the very front.
The glow of the Mystic Ritual lit up immediately afterward.
This time, a faint squeaking sound came from within it.
Huai Shi's eyes widened.
He saw a nearly hairless young mouse crawl out, squeaking at Huai Shi as if it were both wailing and trying to curry favor.
A mouse?
Huai Shi was momentarily dumbfounded, his expression blank.
He couldn't understand the Book of Fate's selection criteria at all.
However, right after that, he saw a sharp beak poke out from the light, targeting the little mouse's neck and pecking down swiftly and cleanly.
SNAP. The mouse lay on the ground, motionless.
Then, a giant black bird, larger than a large dog, emerged from the Miracle Imprint. With the small mouse in its beak, it cawed twice affectionately and started running towards Huai Shi on its short legs.
It placed the still-breathing mouse on the ground.
It nudged Huai Shi.
It hopped up and down on the spot excitedly, as if presenting a greeting gift.
"CAW!!!"
The newcomer's blood-red eyes were filled with excitement as it unfolded its pitch-black wings and let out a shrill cry toward Huai Shi.
It looked somewhat familiar?
While Huai Shi was still in shock, the huge Raven that appeared out of nowhere, as if worried Huai Shi would be too polite, picked up the small mouse, placed it in Huai Shi's arms, and nudged him a couple more times.
Signaling Old Pal to eat it while it was still warm.
"Uh..."
Huai Shi's expression twitched, and he quickly waved his hands. "No, that won't be necessary..."
Seeing him refuse to eat, the summoned Raven looked somewhat disappointed. It swallowed the small mouse in one gulp, then hopped a couple more times on the spot, cawing at Huai Shi.
He had no idea what it was saying...
Huai Shi scratched his head, looking down at the unfamiliar bird, which felt increasingly familiar the more he observed it.
The Raven cawed twice more. Realizing Huai Shi didn't understand what it was saying, it started to spin around frantically on the spot. Shortly after, it vigorously shook its wings, and a green seed fell from between its feathers, landing in Huai Shi's hand.
Taking the seed, Huai Shi squeezed and sniffed it, immediately sensing a familiar presence.
This particular kind of seed was rare, even in Hell. The only time he recalled seeing it was in Xiematai Hell's... Ueno Park?
Huai Shi paused for a moment, finally recalling the flock of Ravens that had filled the skies of Xiematai.
That was when he first made enemies with the Lin family. Those local young companions had been very enthusiastic, guiding him and providing navigation. Huai Shi sometimes reminisced about them, never expecting they would meet again.
"So it's you guys!"
Huai Shi reached out to cradle the oversized Raven, examining it with pleasant surprise. "You've grown this big? I almost didn't recognize you!"
Seeing that Huai Shi finally recognized it, the Raven got excited again and turned to caw at the Secret Ritual.
Huai Shi instinctively felt that something was off.
And then, he saw, along with countless sharp cries, a massive tide of darkness spewing from the Mystic Ritual—
Engulfing everything.
In just half a minute, when the fully armed administrators burst through the door at the sound of the alarms, ready for a fight, they saw... a fluttering darkness that had already covered the entire interior of the Summon Dragon Flute.
In the dark, countless crimson eyes turned to stare at them.
Like countless blood-red stars rising in the night sky.
Amongst the specks of dancing red, only the young man, nearly drowned by the flock, managed to raise his head. Struggling under the weight of several hundred excited Ravens, he squeezed out an awkward smile at the administrators.
"Sorry, the recruitment fair has ended," he said. "It's just that... the number of recruits is, well, a bit much..."
Half an hour later, he sat in the principal's office of the main school building, which was now covered by a swarm of Ravens.
"A total of 1,120... you really are something," Luo Su said, looking down at the report on his phone. He took off his glasses and scrutinized the student in front of him. "Did you move an entire family here from some Hell?"
"Uh, to be honest, I didn't expect that many either," Huai Shi said awkwardly, waving his hand. "I just nodded slightly, just a tiny bit... I didn't expect them to bring their entire households."
"Then you're quite lucky," Luo Su picked up a magnifying glass, walked over to Huai Shi, and carefully examined the overly large Raven on his shoulder. He even pulled open its wings to observe the long white stripe along the edge.
"Especially this one, the quality is quite good," he remarked admiringly. "It's already evolved into a Winter's Crow. It seems their tribe really suits you."
"Winter's what?" Huai Shi asked, puzzled.
"You don't know?" Luo Su glanced at him, reached out, and picked up the cup from the office desk, pouring its contents directly onto the Raven's wings. The Raven immediately shook its wings unhappily and cawed at Luo Su.
If it weren't for Huai Shi, it probably would have pecked the old man's eyes out by now.
The water from the cup, after flowing over the Raven, fell to the ground and rapidly solidified, forming bits of frost.
The chilly air was intense.