Regenerative Mutation

Longchang Escort Agency was a rather prominent escort agency in the southwestern region of Linzhang Prefecture. After years of operation, it had opened up many escort routes, its reach extending across three prefectures and eighteen counties.

The owner of the agency was Xia Yin'gong, now just over forty. Since childhood, he had clawed his way through the escort trade, living on the edge of a knife. Relying on his talent and quick wits, he gradually made a name for himself in the business. Later, he married the daughter of Longchang Escort Agency's original owner, and after the old owner died, the agency passed into his hands.

That had been more than ten years ago. That day, after dinner, Xia Yin'gong was heading to his study as usual to drink tea and review the accounts. He had just entered the corridor when his gaze sharpened abruptly. Staring into the shadows at the far end, he barked, "Who's there?!"

His body immediately tensed, and he flicked out a shuttle dart. A flash of cold light streaked into a patch of darkness in the corridor.

"It's me."

As that familiar, low voice sounded, a figure wearing a conical hat stepped into the boundary between light and shadow. In his hand, he held the shuttle dart Xia Yin'gong had just thrown.

Xia Yin'gong looked at the figure under the dim lamplight, his eyes shifting. Without saying a word, he walked to the lantern hanging in the middle of the corridor, pushed open the study door himself, and entered.

Xia Yin'gong blew the tinder alight and lit the lamp in the study. When he turned around, the study door had already been shut, and the lean figure in the conical hat was standing there.

The man removed his hat, looked at Xia Yin'gong, and said,