Gu Yuan headed straight for Team Three's area.
Along the way, he ran into several members of Team Three, all of whom greeted him like an old friend.
He'd practically lived at the Destiny Bureau for the past ten days. Even the cleaning lady on Team Three knew that Captain Shen had an extremely "devoted" cousin who came by every day to curry favor with her.
Gu Yuan made his way to the captain's office and pushed open the door.
Behind the desk, Shen Tingxue was slumped in her chair.
When she saw Gu Yuan come in, she let out a long sigh and slammed the file in her hand onto the desk.
"Well, this is a rare sight. I've never seen you look so glum before."
Gu Yuan grinned, closed the door behind him, and walked over.
"What's wrong today? Did someone pressure you to get married?"
Shen Tingxue looked up and glared at him.
"Don't ask. I have no idea what those higher-ups have in their heads. They want me to investigate a disappearance? They're just making things difficult for me!"
She rubbed her hair frantically with both hands, looking utterly despondent.
"I wouldn't even bat an eye at being sent outside the city to slaughter ferocious beasts. But make me read these case files, and I'd rather die."
Gu Yuan walked over to the desk, his gaze naturally falling on the file.
The bold words on the cover immediately caught his eye: "Haicheng No. 1 High School Disappearance Case."
He raised an eyebrow.
"A disappearance case? The one at our school?"
He hadn't expected the case he'd just discussed with Zhang Yining to end up in his cousin's hands.
"Yeah, your school." Shen Tingxue irritably grabbed her phone, her thumb flying across the screen.
"I'm good at clearing out ferocious beasts and arresting martial artists who break the law. Cases where you have to search for clues? Just looking at all those words gives me a headache."
Knock, knock.
While the two of them were chatting, someone knocked on the office door.
The door was pushed open right after, and a young woman with a chin-length bob poked her head inside. A bright yellow compass hung at her waist.
Gu Yuan's eyes widened. Above her head, he saw a purple entry: [Spirit Sense].
There were still no conditions for obtaining it listed below.
Seriously? Another one?
He'd run into two purple entries at the Destiny Bureau today. It seemed the Bureau really was full of high-quality entries, but having no conditions for obtaining them was torturous.
The entry made Gu Yuan itch with envy. He wished he could pluck it right off her head and stick it onto his own.
"Captain, you wanted to see me?"
The moment Shen Tingxue saw Sun Miaomiao, her eyes lit up.
"Perfect!"
Shen Tingxue sprang out of her chair, snatched the file off the desk, and hurried over to Sun Miaomiao, stuffing it straight into her arms.
"Miaomiao, you're finally here! I'm leaving this to you. You Warlocks are the ones who are good at handling delicate cases like this!"
Sun Miaomiao looked down at the file in her arms, then back at Shen Tingxue. She clearly hadn't caught up yet.
"Huh? Captain, what's—"
She had just opened her mouth to say something when Shen Tingxue placed both hands on her shoulders and pushed her toward the door.
"Come on, Miaomiao! I believe in you!" Shen Tingxue's voice brimmed with encouragement. "Once you solve the case, all the credit goes to you! Your captain definitely won't try to take any of it!"
"But, Captain, I—"
Bang!
Shen Tingxue moved with remarkable efficiency, shoving Sun Miaomiao out and slamming the door shut in one fluid motion.
Gu Yuan stood beside the desk, staring at the scene in astonishment.
She was way too good at dumping work on other people!
Click.
"Oh, right!"
Shen Tingxue opened the door again and stuck her head out, speaking at lightning speed.
"You can assign anyone on our team whatever tasks you need. No need to report to me! Good luck!"
With that, she slammed the door shut again.
Shen Tingxue even locked it for good measure.
In the hallway, Sun Miaomiao looked at the weighty file in her hands and resigned herself to her fate.
"Ugh, looks like another all-nighter drawing Tracking Talismans. I'd only just gotten rid of my dark circles!"
She sighed, hugged the folder, and headed to her desk, where she began carefully studying its contents.
Inside the office.
Gu Yuan looked at his cousin, who had slumped back into her chair, unable to hold back his curiosity.
"Cousin, is this disappearance case really that serious? Wouldn't the Public Security Bureau's Enforcement Division normally investigate something like this? How did it end up with you?"
Shen Tingxue got annoyed as soon as she heard that and slapped the desk.
"It's not a big deal at all! The higher-ups didn't take it seriously at first, either. The Public Security Bureau has already been investigating for two days, but they haven't found a single lead."
She picked up the cup on her desk and took a big gulp.
"If the missing girl's family didn't have connections with the higher-ups at the Destiny Bureau and call in a favor, there's no way this case would've landed with us."
"The higher-ups suddenly dumped it on me. I guess they figured our Team Three was the only squad in the entire Sea City Destiny Bureau with a Warlock on it."
Warlocks really were good at tracking people and finding things. That explanation did make sense.
"Anyway, I'm no good at solving cases." Shen Tingxue leaned back in her chair, completely unapologetic.
"Let the professionals handle the things they're good at. I'll just give Miaomiao a hand. If we run into a fight, then I'll step in."
Gu Yuan was taken aback by that.
It was the first time he'd heard of a captain assisting her own team member. The workplace culture on Team Three of the Destiny Bureau really was eye-opening.
Shen Tingxue shot him a sideways glance.
"Enough about the case. What did you come here for today?"
"Come on, don't put it like that."
Gu Yuan immediately put on an ingratiating smile and stood up, walking behind her.
"Of course I came to help you relax! You've been working so hard lately. It pains me to see you like this, as your cousin."
Shen Tingxue looked up at Gu Yuan again.
"Fine, give me a massage, but don't call it helping me relax. That sounds so sleazy."
As she spoke, she stood up, stretched broadly, and walked over to the sofa against the wall, where she flopped down on her stomach.
"Mm, go ahead. Give me a good massage."
Gu Yuan immediately hurried over.
He skillfully helped Shen Tingxue take off her jacket.
Gu Yuan took the essential oil he always carried out of his pocket, poured some into his palm, and rubbed his hands together to warm it before pressing them to her shoulders and kneading firmly.
His technique really was impeccable.
His thumbs found the pressure points precisely, pressing and massaging them.
Shen Tingxue let out a long, satisfied sigh.
"Mm... Xiaoyuan, why are you still going to school with hands like that?"
Her eyes were closed, and her voice was a little slurred.
"You should just open a massage parlor. With your skills, you'd be better than all the professional therapists at the Destiny Bureau. I'd come by every day."
Gu Yuan's hands paused at her words.
Some cousin she was.
"Would you stop talking?" Gu Yuan pressed harder.
The pressure hurt a little, so Shen Tingxue stopped teasing him. As she felt the warmth spreading across her back, her body gradually relaxed completely.
Within minutes, she had fallen asleep.
As he continued massaging her, Gu Yuan stared fixedly at the top of Shen Tingxue's head.
Half an hour later.
Gu Yuan stopped moving his hands. Where were the attribute boosts?
Why wasn't there anything this time?
What was going on?
He'd massaged her for half an hour today and hadn't gotten so much as a single hair! It looked like this entry didn't come with any attribute boosts after all.
He'd actually become a free massage therapist, working for someone else for half an hour without pay! What a loss! An absolute disaster!
He looked at Shen Tingxue, sleeping soundly on the sofa, and got angrier the more he thought about it.
"Smack!"
A sharp sound rang out through the office.
Before you continue