New Beginning

Year 784

Harbor City, Hargeon

A young man in black hanfu stepped off the train. His deep eyes and long, silky black hair made the girls from the same carriage unable to look away.

Some bold, enthusiastic girls even invited him to visit their homes.

"Whew, that was terrifying. It was so awkward for a socially anxious person like me."

Qian Guang rubbed his bangs with a slight headache. This time, he had accepted a job to treat a wealthy merchant's curse.

He figured that Natsu had gone searching for the Fire Dragon some time ago, which meant the story had begun.

But his memories were too distant. He only remembered that it was a harbor city, so he had taken this job to see whether he could run into the beginning of the plot.

After searching around, he did not find Natsu. Instead, he ran into plenty of enthusiastic young ladies.

Qian Guang had never liked grooming himself. Usually, Mira kept an eye on him and dressed him up. He felt that if it were not for Mira, he would have become a second Gildarts by now.

Gildarts might have looked pretty handsome in the anime, but what kind of grooming could anyone expect from a drunkard? He only cleaned himself up when he was chasing girls.

When Mira heard that Qian Guang, who had stayed home for nearly a year, was going out to take a job, she brought out everything she had learned to dress him up. He changed outfits more than a dozen times.

In the end, they chose a custom-made hanfu robe with gilded patterns, and his hair was carefully styled as well.

"Ah, looks like I won't be running into Natsu after all. Still, this job won't turn out to be something ridiculous again, right?"

Honestly, Qian Guang's job completion rate was probably near the bottom of the guild.

Mainly because he rarely took jobs. He had already earned plenty just by treating people.

Besides, whenever he took a job, it felt as though some inexplicable force was preventing him from succeeding. Either the target disappeared, the person he was meant to save kicked the bucket, or whatever he found got eaten by an animal.

And it was not just like this when he worked alone. The same thing happened when others worked with him.

It was so absurd that the Guild Master had even considered making him stop taking jobs and focus on improving the guild's reputation.

But this involved a curse, so it should be fine, right? What could possibly go wrong with this thing?

Following the instructions in the request letter, Qian Guang arrived before a castle. "Rich people really are the root of all evil."

A maid was waiting at the entrance. When she saw Qian Guang, she stepped forward. "Hello, esteemed healer of Fairy Tail. My master is waiting inside."

???

Damn, how did you know I'd arrive at this time?

The maid seemed to see through Qian Guang's confusion. "Ever since my master posted the job, he has had us waiting at the entrance."

Oh, rich people really were the root of all evil. Was that how maids were supposed to be used? If he did not know how to use them, Qian Guang could help!

"Sorry to trouble you."

"Please follow me."

Beyond the entrance was a magnificent hall. Its golden appearance made it look especially tacky, but Qian Guang had to admit that he was jealous. He wanted to be tacky too.

"Ha ha ha ha ha! Sir Qian Guang, you've finally arrived!"

A particularly greasy voice rang out. Just from the sound alone, one could tell it belonged to a rich fat man.

And that was indeed the case. A plump, shiny-faced man in a small suit walked down from upstairs with a wineglass in hand.

He was Mr. Wip, the client for this job.

The instant Qian Guang saw him, he released his magical perception. He did not care whether it was polite or not. The sooner he finished, the sooner he could have fun, and it was unlikely that anyone would notice anyway.

After scanning the area, Qian Guang's brows furrowed slightly, but the expression quickly vanished. He smiled and stepped forward.

"Mr. Wip, I've heard so much about you."

There really were traces of a curse, but this curse was quite subtle.

After exchanging pleasantries with Qian Guang for a while, Mr. Wip brought him to the dining hall, where a lavish welcoming feast had already been prepared.

Seeing the table full of food and fine wine, Qian Guang did not stand on ceremony. He sat down and started eating.

"Hehehehe... Hey, Sir Qian Guang, would you like to attend a party tonight?"

It was very strange. Wip was not in a hurry to resolve the curse at all. Instead, he was inviting Qian Guang somewhere.

"Oh, doesn't Mr. Wip have a curse? Let me remove it for you first."

As he spoke, Qian Guang stretched out his hand, pretending that he was about to examine him.

The smile on Mr. Wip's face froze, and he subtly shifted his body backward.

"Ahahahahaha, no rush, no rush. This curse has been with me for so long already. Let it stay a little longer."

"To be honest, this curse causes me pain, but if someone harbors ill intentions toward me, they will be hurt as well. There is a special party tonight, and I still need this curse."

Qian Guang looked at Wip with interest, his smile slightly teasing. He did not believe that nonsense. If it worked like that, it was not a curse at all.

But he did not expose him. Instead, he feigned surprise and said, "Oh? There's such a miraculous curse? Then wouldn't it harm other people too?"

"Ha ha, no. It only causes a little pain. However, my curse acts up at night, and the party will be at sea, so I hope Mr. Qian Guang can come with me."

Qian Guang pretended to hesitate.

"I'll increase the reward by another fifty percent."

"No problem, Mr. Wip. As doctors, we will do our best to satisfy our patients' requests!"

"Hahaha, then I'll have the maid arrange a place for Mr. Qian Guang to rest first. This maid of mine is very fond of you, Mr. Qian Guang."

The maid beside him blushed and swayed her hips as she walked over to Qian Guang.

"Mr. Qian Guang, this way, please."

"Hahaha, then I'll see you tonight."

Qian Guang turned and followed the seductive-eyed maid away, while Wip turned to attend to his own matters. Yet the moment they turned around, the warmth in both their eyes became cold smiles.

Once they reached the room,

Qian Guang was still inspecting the sinful golden room when the maid began taking off her clothes.

She moved so quickly that Qian Guang did not even have time to react before she was left wearing only her underwear. The maid gazed at him seductively, her fingers sliding along her swanlike neck before slowly moving toward the enormous, pale temptation on her chest.

Her small lips opened and closed invitingly. "Now then, Mr. Qian Guang."

Bang

The moment the maid spoke, she collapsed face-first onto the floor.

"Whew, that was terrifying. I only froze for a moment, so why were you about to strip completely?"

Qian Guang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead as he looked at the maid, who had barely any fabric left on her. Using space magic, he tossed her onto the bed. Seriously, this was far too tempting for a young man in his prime.

But Qian Guang resisted the temptation. Another Qian Guang simply could not hold back!

Qian Guang teleported directly, appearing in the castle's warehouse the next second.

"Hehehehehe."

Looking at the dazzling array of gold coins and collectibles, Qian Guang let out a foolish laugh.

He had already realized that something was wrong with Wip. He would not expose him yet; he wanted to see what Wip intended to do next.

But this job was probably going to fail again. In that case, he could only make up for the loss another way.

Qian Guang opened the Four-Dimensional Pocket and sighed as he stuffed things inside. "It wouldn't be bad if I got a few more jobs like this. As expected, treating the sick and saving lives is only a hobby. Robbing the rich to help the poor is my real profession."