I Was Like a Security Guard

Ten times guarding the gate? Gu Yuan's mind started racing.

How could he find a perfectly legitimate reason to come to the Destiny Bureau and guard the gate?

Should he tell his cousin that he'd suddenly awakened the soul of a security guard, developed a passion for the security business, and wanted to contribute his humble strength to the Destiny Bureau's front gate?

She'd probably slap him so hard he'd stick to the wall.

The off-road vehicle drove out through the gate, leaving the guardhouse behind.

Gu Yuan turned to look at Shen Tingxue, who was driving with great concentration.

"Cousin," Gu Yuan suddenly said, his tone extremely sincere.

"What?" Shen Tingxue replied without looking back.

"I suddenly feel that, as a martial artist of the new era, I can't spend all my time sheltered in a greenhouse."

Gu Yuan wore a solemn, righteous expression.

"I need to temper myself, get in touch with society's grassroots, and experience the hardships of grassroots work! Only in the most ordinary jobs can the strongest martial will be forged!"

Shen Tingxue turned to give him a once-over, looking at him as if he were crazy.

"What kind of crap are you trying to spout?"

Gu Yuan rubbed his hands together.

"You see, the Destiny Bureau's been short-staffed lately, right?"

"That old man in the guardhouse is getting on in years. His job must be so exhausting. I've made up my mind: starting tomorrow, I'm going to work as a security guard at the Destiny Bureau! For free!"

"..."

Shen Tingxue slammed on the brakes.

Gu Yuan lurched forward, nearly smashing his head against the windshield.

"Gu Yuan, you really have nothing better to do, do you?"

Shen Tingxue pressed the accelerator again.

"One minute you say you want to go outside the city and clear out ferocious beasts to improve your combat skills, and the next you want to help Miaomiao investigate a case."

"And now you want to be a security guard? Are you Martin Morning or something?"

Gu Yuan heard Shen Tingxue's question and scratched his head in confusion.

"Martin Morning? What's that supposed to mean? Is that some old meme from your generation?"

His mouth outran his brain, and Gu Yuan blurted out, "Come on, sis, young people these days don't understand—"

Before he could finish speaking,

a fist shot from the driver's seat toward his head.

Thud! Thud!

Two solid, muffled blows.

Gu Yuan clutched his head and curled up in the passenger seat. His skull was still ringing, and for a long while he couldn't get a word out.

"Hmm? Xiaoyuan, what did you mean just now by 'old meme'?"

Shen Tingxue slowly withdrew her hand. "I'm not sure I understood. Why don't you explain it to me again?"

Gu Yuan's scalp prickled, and his survival instincts kicked into overdrive.

"Ha! Cousin, you must've misheard!"

Gu Yuan shook his head like a rattle drum, frantically denying what he'd said. "I clearly said it was a good meme! I'm just behind on the times, so I didn't recognize it right away! Yes, that's it!"

"Oh, so you're the one who's behind on the times."

Shen Tingxue looked straight ahead, the corners of her mouth curling into a smile. "Just get online more often. Stop letting your low IQ show."

Satisfied with his answer, she pressed the accelerator and continued toward Gu Yuan's home.

The car drove smoothly along the main road.

Gu Yuan rubbed the rapidly swelling lump on his head. Seeing that Shen Tingxue had mostly calmed down, he shamelessly edged closer to her again.

"Um... Cousin, about what I mentioned earlier..."

Taking a beating was worth it for that purple entry. He had to get the gate-guarding job settled today.

Shen Tingxue gave him a sidelong glance and sighed.

"Let me make one thing clear first."

"Uncle Zhou's a veteran who retired from the front lines at Beast-Burial Mountain. He's not exactly easygoing. If you make him angry and he beats you up, I'm not going to stop him."

No wonder an old security guard had such a conspicuous purple entry above his head. He was a veteran who'd retired from Beast-Burial Mountain.

Gu Yuan had studied the Battle of Beast-Burial Mountain in his history textbooks.

It was where humanity and the ferocious beasts had fought their bloodiest battle. The fighting had lasted three whole years, and they'd filled in a defensive line with human lives.

Everyone who'd fought on that battlefield had been at least a second-tier Meridian Clearing martial artist. They were all elite veterans who'd crawled out of piles of corpses.

None of that really mattered to Gu Yuan. All he cared about was how much of a boost he'd get from acquiring that purple entry.

As long as he could get close enough to claim the entry, he didn't care if Uncle Zhou had a bad temper. Even if he were Little Wisdom's Charizard, Gu Yuan would still go up and pluck out a couple of whiskers.

"Don't worry, Cousin!"

Gu Yuan waved his hand. "I just want to experience the hardships of grassroots work. I definitely won't cause trouble! And I'll help reduce the security guard's workload! I'm there to spread warmth!"

Shen Tingxue snorted.

"I think you're just going to make trouble for Uncle Zhou."

She turned the steering wheel, pulling up downstairs from Gu Yuan's apartment building.

"Fine. I'll tell the higher-ups tomorrow. You can start in a couple of days. Consider it a winter-break job. The Destiny Bureau really is short-staffed lately, and having another person watching the gate can't hurt."

"Thank you so much, Cousin!"

Gu Yuan immediately broke into a beaming smile. "If you tell me to go west, I won't go east. If you tell me to chase chickens, I won't chase dogs!"

Shen Tingxue waved dismissively, looking exasperated.

"Enough, enough. I've lost count of how many times I've heard you say that since you were little. Just behave yourself when the time comes."

Gu Yuan turned and gave her an OK sign.

It was settled.

Gu Yuan pushed open the car door and hopped out, waving at Shen Tingxue.

"Cousin, drive carefully!"

Shen Tingxue ignored him, hit the accelerator, and roared away from the street.

Gu Yuan turned around and hurried upstairs, taking the steps two at a time.

He had just opened the door and hadn't even changed his shoes when he heard his parents discussing something on the living-room sofa.

The evening news was on TV, but the volume was low.

"There've been more and more ferocious beasts outside the city lately."

Gu Yuanzheng was sprawled across the sofa. "Today, when I was delivering supplies to the Destiny Bureau's out-of-city camp, I ran into three Red-Armored Beasts. I haven't seen anything like that in a long time."

Gu Yuan froze when he heard that.

Red-Armored Beasts?

The adults were as big as small cars, with thick, tough hides. They usually roamed deep in the wilderness. How had they ended up on the road along the outskirts of the out-of-city camp?

Gu Yuan changed into his slippers and headed into the living room.

"Dad, you weren't hurt, were you?" Gu Yuan looked Gu Yuanzheng up and down.

Gu Yuanzheng's lips curled up.

"Hurt? Give me a break!"

"A martial artist from the Destiny Bureau was riding in the passenger seat. Those three brutes suddenly charged out of the woods and went straight for the truck's tires."

"And then?" Gu Yuan prompted him.

"And then? The Destiny Bureau's man jumped right out." Gu Jianguo mimed swinging a blade.

"There was a flash of light, then a few swishes, and the three brutes were chopped into pieces before they could even cry out. Hurt, my foot!"

Shangguan Yi slapped Gu Jianguo across the back without holding back.

"You've still got the nerve to brag! If that person from the Destiny Bureau hadn't been there, you'd have been done for out there!"

Gu Yuanzheng slapped his thigh again. "Heh, good thing the Destiny Bureau's man stepped in. Otherwise..."

He paused, then continued, "Otherwise, I would've taken care of them myself!"