CH 116

After the news of the competition was sent out, Fu Xingchuan slept peacefully for a long time.

Rather, to be precise, he slept for nearly a day.

Near the evening of the next day, Minister Fu woke up in his room at his old house. The setting sun cast the swaying shadows of the trees onto the ceiling, and the outline of the branches and leaves stretched diagonally, swaying in the orange-red halo.

Time seemed as if it were frozen.

Fu Xingchuan spread himself out on the bed and stared at the shadows of the trees without blinking. His phone was buzzing incessantly under his pillow. Based on Minister Fu’s past experience, he had at least a few hundred messages to deal with.

But Fu Xingchuan didn’t move.

After knowing that Yin Ren was most likely Zhong Yi, the boulder-like sense of crisis in his heart strangely disappeared. Even if he knew that Yin Ren was an evil being, he still couldn’t give birth to a heavy sense of crisis.

Ever since those two little brats entered Shian, Shian had been paying close attention to them…

As it turned out, the “popular idol” of the metaphysical world, the Great Celestial Master Zhong, once again appeared in the world, and not only did he not show any bitterness or deep hatred, but he didn’t delay in eating, drinking, and playing around.

Yin Ren was the kind of person who went out to the night market to buy snacks, came home to play games and watch third-rated dramas, and had a shopping list full of strange and cheap things that were “okay, but not necessary” to buy online. He was even dating a younger man.

If Yin Ren really wanted to tear up the spirit contract and unilaterally declare war, the flames of war would spread throughout Haigu. While the metaphysical cultivators would risk their lives and Shian wasn’t completely powerless in such a battle… facing such a “hypothetical enemy” really made him feel quite helpless.

Fu Xingchuan clamped the kicked blanket between his toes, wrapped himself up, and continued to lie on the bed.

As the genius of the Fu family, he had emerged in the metaphysical world since he was 14. At the age of 18, he officially joined Shian and was directly signed to an A-level special team. He had experienced countless metaphysical cases, large and small, and had passed through blood and fire in peaceful times. After running around in the dark for so many years, Fu Xingchuan experienced the real sense of “vacation” for the first time.

Ah, the situation was too difficult, and what he could do was too limited, so there was no point getting nervous.

Fu Xingchuan yawned and closed his eyes.

“Teacher roll call. Teacher roll call—” A special alarm rang, causing Fu Xingchuan to dip his hand under the pillow.

“Lao Li?”

“The investigation in Gengsheng Town is temporarily over. All the corpse samples in the Ant Nest have been transferred to the underground laboratory. A batch of information should be available in the near future.” Li Nian’s voice sounded a little suspicious. “What’s the matter with your voice? You haven’t gotten up yet, have you?”

“I’m still on annual leave.”

“…..” Li Nian was silent for a while. “Are you serious?”

“Weren’t you always nagging that I’m going to die suddenly? I’m just making up for it.” Fu Xingchuan yawned. “Why? Do you have any objections?”

“No,” Professor Li said. “Regarding Zhong Chengshuo, I asked Hao Wenzhe to coordinate with the police. This person isn’t simple. The only good news is that he and Yin Ren are semi-bound and don’t need to be monitored separately.”

“For the follow-up observation of those two people, do you have any other ideas besides the league?”

Fu Xingchuan pursed his lips and said, “Just watch the league. If they win, don’t we have a reason to give them a promotion and raise?”

Li Nian: “……?”

“They are not openly hostile to us now, and they are not pawns that can be controlled by external forces. It’s best to pursue peace.”

“You mean, an evil thing that has been famous for thousands of years that entered Shian incognito may have no purpose?”

“It’s hard to say.” Fu Xingchuan looked in the direction of the ancestral hall. “We can’t use decades of life experience to speculate on the thoughts of the super-elderly, can we?”

Thinking about it another way, Yin Ren seemed to have a normal mind for the time being. When he was discovered by Shian, he couldn’t necessarily shout at them, saying, “I’m the Ghost King who can control evil spirits” or “I’m the legendary Great Celestial Master Zhong Yi”—his destination would be either the bed in the underground next to Shian’s Evil Spirit or a special ward at Haigu Mental Health Center.

At least now they had data related to the “imitation” of the mountain town, so they wouldn’t be bumping around headlessly.

“Okay.” Li Nian didn’t delve further. “Has the league training location been set?”

Fu Xingchuan: “My home. I have trained here since I was a child and am familiar with the place.”

“…..” Li Nian was speechless.

Professor Li had a vague feeling that his partner had given up something very important in his life. As for what it was, he couldn’t tell at the moment. Li Nian thought for a few seconds, and when he spoke again, there was more hesitation in his voice.

“Fu Xingchuan, have you recently had a major conflict with your family?”

Considering the momentum of Unit 9 blowing everything up wherever they go…

“It’s fine. Look, they come into work every day, and isn’t the Shian campus still standing?”

The #1 Ghost General was answering in a tone similar to “believe in science and get rid of your superstition”.

“Speaking of which, today is a workday. Hao Wenzhe should have reported the situation of those two to you…”

“Yes, they went out for dinner.”

……

“Cheers!”

Lu Xiaohe held a glass of orange juice and spoke passionately.

“Congratulations to everyone in Unit 9 for your safe return!”

A group of people gathered in the hot pot restaurant where they had eaten before their departure. There were a lot of people this time, so Lu Xiaohe specially booked a private room…

In addition to the five members of Unit 9, Luo Bin and Qin Lele of Unit 8 also joined, and even Liang Shan and Sun Qi’an were also there—hearing that it was Lu Xiaohe’s treat, Yin Ren deliberately pulled a few more “outsiders” so he could find an excuse to pay the bill.

After all, Lu Xiaohe still had her mother to take care of, and her expenses were like flowing water.

…And strictly speaking, he and Zhong Chengshuo didn’t pass their “execution mission” smoothly. Yin Ren took a sip of his Coke, feeling desolation in his heart.

Fu Xingchuan really didn’t plan to let them go on living in peace. He and Zhong Chengshuo had been sticky all night. When they got up together, they saw the competition notice.

Amidst Dog Thing’s glowing barks, the warmth in Yin Ren’s heart instantly cooled.

Sure enough, Lu Xiaohe mentioned this in her next sentence. “Congratulations to our Unit 9 for qualifying for the league—Xiao Luo, Xiao Qin, don’t mind.”

Luo Bin and Qin Lele, the former who joined as a science post in Shian at the same time as Yin Ren, were assigned to Special Investigation Unit 8 and were now only a basic three-team group.

“Hey, you should go.” Lao Bin smiled and sandwiched a beef tendon ball between his chopsticks. “The work Unit 9 has done is impressive, and we admire it—we’ve been busy unclogging the sewers, but I actually discovered a new hallucinogenic fungus. I’ve been busy writing my dissertation paper and don’t have time to be an audience…”

The doctor in health toxicology mentioned his thesis with eyes full of brilliance.

Qin Lele had nothing to say. As an orthodox corpse servant of the Qin family, he was busy stuffing himself with beef tendon balls. “Look, candied hawthorns!”

Lu Xiaohe’s expression was complicated for a second.

Ah, this was a normal C-level investigation team. What the hell was she stuck with?

“Ms. Fang Yuanyuan came to me alone before.”

After Lu Xiaohe sat down, Ge Tingting quietly approached and turned her AI’s voice to a minimum.

“She asked me how I felt and if I wanted to transfer out to Unit 8 instead. She said that Unit 8 lacked combat strength and needed me very much. She even said Minister Fu had specially instructed her about this matter… Xiaohe Jie, does Shian think I’m not good enough? Is it because of my unauthorized actions before?”

Ge Tingting looked sadly at Luo Bin, whose hair was thinning, and at Qin Lele, a burly man who was holding two skewers of beef tendon, with rejection written all over her face.

Lu Xiaohe’s heart soured.

“It’s not your problem. Your previous performance was very good. I have been watching!” She patted Ge Tingting on the back. “What did you say?”

“I refused. I said that Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo are very good. They are obviously newcomers like me, but they are much better than me. I want to use them as my goal to catch up and continue to work hard.”

Ge Tingting’s AI whispered.

“So I don’t want to transfer away until I reach this goal.”

Knowing that two were good enough to be assigned an “execution mission”, Lu Xiaohe: “……”

Huang Jin, who knew even more, said, “…Why doesn’t Fang Yuanyuan ask me if I want to transfer?” He even dreamed of being transferred away.

“It’s not good to eavesdrop.” Lu Xiaohe picked up a slice of beef with her chopsticks.

“I can see what you’re thinking.” Huang Jin pointed to his eyes with a numb face.

Lu Xiaohe made a face at Huang Jin from a position he couldn’t see and didn’t respond back.

“What is this league you guys are talking about?” Sun Qi’an asked curiously. “Is it like a competition between different units to evaluate their performance?”

“Almost.” Lu Xiaohe took the opportunity to change the subject. “Oh, that’s right. Not everyone knows about what’s going on.”

Now that the competition was only tentatively determined to be held, the details hadn’t been released yet. It didn’t involve a confidentiality clause for the time being, so it was fine to talk about it.

Sure enough, upon hearing what she said, the newcomers simultaneously cast their gazes over.

“Shian has nearly 100 branches in different cities. There are no nominal headquarters, and the small branches are uniformly managed by larger branches.”

Lu Xiaohe picked up a piece of beef neck and dipped it in sauce.

“For example, in Gengsheng Town, where you went before, there’s a small branch in Luotian, the city closest to it. This Luotian branch is under the jurisdiction of Haigu—there are three such large branches in the entire country.”

“The Yandu branch in the capital, the Linnan branch in the south, and of course the Haigu branch. Every three years, these three major branches will hold a joint exercise competition, mainly composed of B- and C-level investigation teams in their division.”

Yin Ren picked up a piece of lean meat with his chopstick for Zhong Chengshuo. “A-levels aren’t participating?”

“A-level investigation teams have big cases to follow, and they can’t get away.” Lu Xiaohe shrugged. “Sometimes the whole department is busy, and there may be a shortage of players. Our Haigu branch didn’t participate for the first two seasons, so it’s not a big deal.”

Zhong Chengshuo tentatively picked up a few meatballs for Yin Ren. “It doesn’t sound very important.”

“Don’t underestimate it—if you pass and win the league, the C-level investigation team can be directly promoted to the B-level. The winning group will also have a bonus of two million per person, and the division will also receive more funds.”

Zhong Chengshuo: “That sounds good.”

Yin Ren bit the meatball bitterly and thought that Fu Xingchuan and his promotion plan had arrived—he had no doubt that if it weren’t for worrying about attracting attention, Fu Xingchuan would just directly promote them to an A-level investigation team.

“Two million…” Luo Bin showed a fascinated expression for a few seconds. “Forget it, forget it. This kind of fighting and killing is really unsuitable for us. If we have to go on another business trip, my girlfriend will break up with me.”

Speaking of this, he winked at his fellow member of the same period, Yin Ren. “Yin Ren, you should also pay attention to your personal affairs. You Unit 9 are busy every day and can’t get in touch with outsiders. You and Xiao Zhong are both handsome guys. It’s such a waste to just sit here.”

Yin Ren smiled at him. “I—”

“This is exactly the issue we’re talking about.” Zhong Chengshuo swallowed a piece of vegetable with a serious expression. “The situation is appropriate now. In order to reduce possible troubles and misunderstandings in the future, and to ensure…”

“Zhong Ge and I are in a serious relationship.” Yin Ren interrupted his lover’s tirade.

Crack.

Huang Jin’s sauce dish fell to the floor and broke in half.

Those who knew, like Lu Xiaohe and Sun Qi’an, controlled their facial expressions well, while Liang Shan whistled. Ge Tingting looked at the two in confusion before she finally realized.

Huang Jin: “You..he…you…fuck me…!”

Didn’t Zhong Chengshuo know that Yin Ren is an evil being? King Yama’s interest in evil things had reached this point?! Wasn’t this quite perverted? Wasn’t there any relevant law stopping this?

Luo Bin: “Come on, brother. It’s the modern era. Let’s be more open-minded. Anyway, we don’t have any restrictions on office romance.”

Huang Jin looked sadly at this doctor, who was full of “it’s so good to be in love”, and a small whimper escaped from his throat.

Fortunately, Sun Qi’an’s phone rang, temporarily rescuing Huang Jin, who was on the verge of collapse.

“Hello?”

Sun Qi’an picked up, and the smile on her face disappeared a little.

“…What? Slow down… I see. I’ll go back immediately.”

Sun Qi’an hurriedly picked up her purse and nodded to the crowd.

“Sorry, something urgent just happened at the hospital, so I have to go back immediately.”

Zhong Chengshuo: “Urgent?”

Sun Qi’an didn’t hide it and sighed. “It was a coincidence. The patient in our special ward suddenly had heart failure, and at the same time, his grandson was hospitalized for a heart attack. What can you say about this family… haa.”

She shook her head and made another call, speaking as she was walking out.

“Hello? Do you still have the number for Elder Qiu’s family? The hospital needs it…”

Yin Ren’s and Zhong Chengshuo’s chopsticks both froze at the same time.