Early the next morning.
Gu Zhe was already up.
First, he spoke with the agent he had contacted online about registering a company. For now, its address would be 49 Calm Heart Street.
"Brother Gu, I want it too! I want it too!"
"Brother Gu, I really do!"
"Brother Gu, I was here first! You can't leave me out, Brother Gu. Mmm, mmm, mmm..."
Next door, the sleazy Old Zhang had opened for business, his face full of envy, jealousy... and hatred.
He simply couldn't understand where he fell short. You're just a little more handsome, a little younger, and a little better at making money. You're not much better than me at anything else!
He watched young Zhaodi cling to Gu Zhe.
She's already begging for it?
Then he thought about how this young fellow had conned a few suckers out of millions.
Why does he get all the good things?
He wasn't even in the mood to joke or chat.
He could only wonder what had become of society. Hardworking people were being let down!
On the other side, a certain middle-aged woman also wore a complicated expression.
At first, she had worried that her daughter would be deceived by some pretty boy who clearly wasn't serious about running a business.
In the end, it turned out that her daughter was the one constantly pestering him. Worse still, the pretty boy she had worried about barely paid her daughter any attention.
Having a daughter obsessed with good looks and romance really, truly left her helpless.
Gu Zhe was even more speechless.
Looking at Liu Zhaodi, he felt that this girl he had met upon arriving at the old Calm Heart Street now seemed to treat him like someone she had known forever.
First she had coveted his good looks, and now she wanted supernatural powers like Ming Xiao Fei's.
And she wasn't the only one. After everything was over yesterday, everyone who had been there had wanted them.
After spending a lifetime as an ordinary person, who wouldn't want to become an "unrivaled master"?
Gu Zhe leisurely opened his phone and checked the news and forums as usual.
Meanwhile, he casually humored Liu Zhaodi.
"This isn't about who came first. Xiao Fei really is different. Her innate spiritual sensitivity is astonishing. To put it simply, she's a martial arts prodigy who comes along once in a hundred... well, at least once in ten years."
"I don't believe it. I heard that big-boobed cow say Ming Xiao Fei fails every subject. There's no way she has good comprehension."
"Zhaodi, accept reality!"
Liu Zhaodi couldn't resign herself to it.
She thought of the ghostlike afterimages she had seen yesterday, then of Ming Xiao Fei's melodramatic antics.
She really, really, really... envied her so much!
Brother Gu's "excuses" all amounted to saying it was fate, and that people really were different.
Finally, Liu Zhaodi squeezed out the words, "Hard work makes up for a lack of talent!"
Gu Zhe looked at Liu Zhaodi's unwilling expression.
He smiled and shook his head.
"Well, you could learn the Spirit-Summoning Séance from Ming Xiao Fei. You're right that hard work makes up for a lack of talent. The world is getting stranger and stranger. Spiritual sensitivity and other abilities might really be things you can cultivate yourself."
Liu Zhaodi bit her lip.
She thought for a while.
"Fine. Hmph! Some people learn earlier than others, and everyone has their specialty. I'll pester her until she gives in. I'm going to get my hands on her secret manual!"
"Go on, then!"
Gu Zhe waved her away without even looking up.
He was reading posts on various forums.
His expression grew odd.
"Just as I thought. If Ming Xiao Fei could happen to make contact with an Evil Ghost, then in a world this big, the odds mean other people must have sensed something different too."
"All sorts of bizarre incidents and little details are piling up online. Taken together, they start to paint a different picture."
"Perhaps plenty of people have already sensed the world's accelerating changes, yet the country hasn't directly denied anything. Could it be because they've realized the larger trend can't be reversed? Governments and nations are powerful, after all, but that power looks feeble in the face of changes to heaven and earth."
[Guys, remember how I said someone was bragging about having entered Peach Blossom Spring? It really exists! Loads of people in our town saw it. They say the Peach Blossom Fairy is incredibly beautiful. Unfortunately, the government has already sent people to seal off the entrance. Apparently the fairy is poisonous or something. Anyway, several people I know have disappeared. Guys, should I risk dying for a beautiful woman...]
[I'm in Europe. I've heard Werewolves are showing up. Do you think I should believe it?]
[Heh, I'm in England. I only know a whole mountain more than you lot. Werewolves? Ignorant fools. The world has changed. Druids are nature itself!]
[Heh, interesting. In the United States, where everyone has a gun, I actually saw police stations starting to equip themselves with steel forks. Heh, are they taking lessons from our Dragon Country?]
[I'm studying in Japan. Mount Fuji keeps shaking every day. Should I get out of here? This world feels more unfamiliar by the day.]
[The knife-credit sellers have appeared. Do you think something big has happened? Fuck, I wanted to get a knife on credit and coast along, but it turns out they discriminate! They gave me one look, and a sidelong one at that. They're just a couple of knife sellers. What are they acting so high and mighty for? Is there no fucking law anymore?]
[That's nothing. We've even got cultists in our county town. Two were just arrested. The government said they were running a pyramid scheme. No way. How could pyramid scammers be that fierce? They kept babbling like lunatics about being gods or immortals or something. The government must think we're idiots. And those two were as strong as oxen, jumping two or three meters at a time. If they hadn't been caught in wire nets, they probably would've escaped... I don't understand this world anymore. I'm tired. Let it all burn!]
Gu Zhe read the posts.
He refreshed the pages for a while.
"Normally, some of these posts would turn into 404s after a few refreshes. But now... has our Dragon Country's government stopped bothering?"
"Or... do they feel that policing them won't affect the bigger picture, so they're just letting things take their course?"
Elsewhere.
Inside a small conference room.
Ming Xuan stared blankly at the people in front of her.
Especially when she saw the credentials they handed over.
She looked up at the director.
Her look seemed to ask, Are you sure these people are legitimate? Are these credentials legitimate?
Because the credentials bore the name "Jinyiwei."
What era is this? You're still running a Jinyiwei? Did you time-travel to the wrong place?
The director seemed a little bewildered too, but still nodded.
He indicated that they were indeed real.
Ming Xuan instinctively took the credentials and opened them.
[Jinyiwei. Yuzhou Office. Grade-nine special affairs officer. Zhu Qiang]
She studied this so-called grade-nine special affairs officer of the Jinyiwei.
He had a buzz cut, a square face, bronze skin, and eyes like a hawk's. His fitted black suit made him look exceptionally sharp and capable.
Most notably, he was holding a long object wrapped in cloth.
A sense of absurdity welled up inside her. First the Jinyiwei. Don't tell me that's their Embroidered Spring Saber!
The others beside him lacked his presence, but their appearance and clothing were much the same.
Ming Xuan was curious too.
What did they want with her?
Anyone who had studied history knew the Jinyiwei specialized in monitoring and handling domestic affairs. What, was the State Security Bureau no longer enough? Or had they switched to a trendy name?
Whatever their actual job was.
Ming Xuan considered herself just a salaried worker. She hadn't embezzled anything, wasn't corrupt, and certainly hadn't endangered society.
So she couldn't understand why these people had come looking for her.
Fortunately, they didn't drag things out.
"Ms. Ming Xuan, the country has an important assignment for you..."
Ming Xuan perked up. So they weren't here to cause her trouble.
An important assignment?
Judging by their expressions.
Was it her turn to be a hero?
She saluted.
"Please tell me. I'm always ready to give my life for my country. Are we taking down a criminal gang, or investigating some antisocial organization?"
"Uh, your enthusiasm is commendable, but it's nothing that serious."
He thought for a moment.
A trace of embarrassed hesitation appeared on his face.
"Ahem. We just want you to serve as someone's assistant or secretary, something like that."
"Huh..."
Ming Xuan instinctively looked at the director.
She looked pitiful.
"Director Qin, I don't want to be someone's secretary. Didn't you promise there wouldn't be any casting-couch nonsense?"
Director Qin looked puzzled too.
He sounded somewhat wary.
"Mr. Zhu Qiang, what are you doing? Let me tell you, whatever your background is, if you think you can bully my people, not a chance!"
Zhu Qiang gave a wry smile.
"What on earth are you thinking?"
Then he looked at Ming Xuan.
"Didn't you recently bring a few people from Qianzhou to meet the young heir of the Gu Group? Since you've already met, we were hoping you could keep helping the government find out what's really going on with him."
After saying that, his expression turned serious.
"Comrade Ming Xuan, this is an assignment from the country. We hope you'll agree. Of course, if you really don't want to, we'll have to find another woman. After all, this assistant will need to spend every day with him. If you're opposed to it deep down, the work won't get anywhere."