The Fastest Interview in History

"Please, sit." Yue Wen invited the girl inside and had her sit on the old couch before asking, "What should I call you?"

"My name is Zhao Xing'er." Once seated, the girl smoothed her hair and answered with easy confidence.

"Congratulations, you passed the interview. You can officially start tomorrow. When a commission comes in, you'll have a trial shift, then become permanent after that one shift. Does that work for you?" Yue Wen said smoothly.

"I... huh?" Zhao Xing'er seemed to have prepared something, but she froze after getting out a single word.

Wait.

I passed just like that?

Is your only interview requirement being able to say your own name?

Even getting into kindergarten was harder than this. Back then, I had to give my parents' names too!

For a moment, the girl began to wonder whether this was some criminal hideout-the kind that would take her on a team-building trip somewhere in Southeast Asia after a month, then have her invite all her friends and relatives after two...

Of course, Yue Wen hadn't lowered his standards because she was pretty. His standards had always been this low.

There was no room to lower them any further.

He wasn't looking to hire some formidable fighter, just an assistant to fill out the head count. When a commission came in, he would still be the one dealing with the evil spirits.

If she actually wanted to help kill evil spirits, he would like that even less.

So all he needed was for her to be a cultivator.

The girl's eyes shone with spiritual light, and she was full of vitality. One look told him she had cultivation, and that was enough.

"Um..." Success had caught Zhao Xing'er off guard. She gathered her words again before saying, "Don't you need to ask me anything else?"

"Haha, all right. I'll ask one more question, then." Yue Wen said, "Ms. Zhao, are you satisfied with our agency?"

"Me?" Zhao Xing'er thought for a moment before replying, "Our agency has a discreet storefront and a down-to-earth feel. The furnishings inside are chaotic but organized. You can tell at a glance that it's an energetic startup team. I'm very satisfied."

Yue Wen immediately nodded. "Here's to working together."

He hadn't prepared any interview procedure at all. There was no need to spend much thought on this assistant. As long as he had someone to fill the position so he could get the agency's business license, that was enough.

Looking at Yue Wen's smile, Zhao Xing'er even had a rather strange thought.

Aren't things moving too fast between us?

We're already at this stage?

The fastest interview in history was over, but she still looked dazed when she left the agency. Only after walking a block did she take out her phone and send someone a message.

"I got the job! The process was a little strange... but it went pretty smoothly. I deliberately found a tiny agency with no reputation, a shabby storefront, and an office messier than a dog kennel. It looks exactly like an unlicensed business, so it definitely won't attract attention."

A little while later, a reply arrived: "That's great! Now you can get established in River City."

Zhao Xing'er added, "The agency might be a dump, but the boss is seriously handsome."

"Hehe, even better," the other person replied.

Zhao Xing'er asked, "There's nothing wrong with the identity and documents you arranged for me, right?"

The other person replied confidently, "Just go to work and school without worrying. If there's even the tiniest flaw, may ten muscular hunks grab me and lock me up for three days and nights!"

Zhao Xing'er: "Are you sure you're not making a wish?"

"You're the one who needs to be careful. Don't beat your coworkers so badly they end up seriously injured again," the other person said, changing the subject.

Looking troubled, Zhao Xing'er quietly replied, "I'll try."

Having found the new assistant he wanted, Yue Wen rode his little electric scooter to East City Cemetery again toward evening.

This time, however, Old Huang wasn't the only one who came out to greet him.

Old Huang approached with a broad smile, followed by a stern-looking young man.

The young man wore a white martial arts uniform. He was about six feet tall and slender, with long, side-swept bangs covering his right eye. His eyes were small, and his skin was clear. He wasn't especially handsome, but he had a cool, cocky air about him.

"Yue," Old Huang greeted him, "thanks for coming all this way again. I hadn't had time to let you know, but you won't need to clear out the evil spirits tonight. The higher-ups hired someone new."

"They hired someone else?" Yue Wen frowned slightly, looked at the young man opposite him, then asked, "Why?"

"It's not because they're dissatisfied with you. You mentioned a monster appearing last night, so I hurried to report it to the department above us. They were worried you might not be able to handle it, so they specifically hired an immortal sect disciple to oversee things," Old Huang explained.

An immortal sect disciple?

Yue Wen sized up the young man again. No wonder he's so aloof.

Even someone from the smallest, weakest immortal sect had backing and resources that ordinary independent cultivators couldn't compare with.

For unaffiliated cultivators whose techniques for each realm were a patchwork and who couldn't scrape together even one intact magical artifact, immortal sect disciples cultivated faster and more safely. At the same realm, their combat strength was overwhelmingly superior. There was simply no comparison.

Of course, Yue Wen wasn't a conventional independent cultivator.

He only looked unaffiliated.

"This is just a public cemetery. Why spend so much?" Yue Wen asked curiously. "Hiring an immortal sect disciple must cost a fortune, right?"

Old Huang chuckled. "Well, it certainly isn't cheap. The higher-ups agreed to hire him purely because they value our East City Cemetery. It should have absolutely nothing to do with the head of public security in the eastern suburbs being my son."

"That explains it." Yue Wen nodded, then patted his scooter seat. "Have a seat while we talk, sir. Don't tire yourself out."

"Oh, I'm fine." Old Huang waved a hand. "Anyway, you don't have to return the money. You just get to work one day less. Pretty good, right?"

Not good at all.

Do you think I'm here for the money? Yue Wen thought. I'm here for the Lantern Monsters!

Why else would I charge so little?

After a brief pause, he said, "No."

"Hm?" Both Old Huang and the young man looked at him.

Yue Wen wore a solemn expression. "As the saying goes, if you take someone's money, you take care of their troubles. Since I accepted payment to clear out the Lantern Monsters, I have to personally clear this entire cemetery for you! Old Huang, that's my principle, and I hope you can understand."

"Well..." His words left Old Huang silent for a moment. Then he scratched his sparsely haired head and sighed. "Ah, Yue, there aren't many youngsters these days with such a strong

sense of integrity."

He could have taken the money and left without doing a thing, yet he insisted on finishing his share of the work.

In a word: honorable!

The young man's gaze gained a measure of appreciation too. He stepped forward of his own accord and said, "I'm Qi Dian of the Riverside Gate. You may be an independent cultivator, but principles like yours deserve respect. I'll stay here and watch over you tonight. If any troublesome evil spirits appear, I'll step in."

In the minds of immortal sect disciples, most independent cultivators had mediocre cultivation but were sinister and cunning.

Having no backing also meant having no restraints.

Their elders often reminded them to be especially wary of independent cultivators when traveling. Out in the wilderness beyond the cities, they could be even more dangerous than evil spirits.

That was why Qi Dian had initially treated Yue Wen so coldly.

After hearing Yue Wen's words, however, Qi Dian felt that he seemed to have decent character. His opinion changed, and only then did he willingly initiate a conversation.

"Thank you." Yue Wen nodded. "My cultivation is only at the late unity realm. With you here to watch over things, Fellow Daoist Qi, I'll certainly feel a little safer."

The Riverside Gate was a local sect in River City. It hardly amounted to anything in the wider cultivation world, but locally, it was already considered a major sect.

After all, Northern Sky Province had always been known as a "cultivation desert."

Apart from the people at the Supernatural Affairs Bureau, this was Yue Wen's first encounter with a cultivator with this sort of formal training, so he naturally held the young man in higher regard.

But after hearing him speak, Qi Dian's gaze visibly flickered.

Old Huang was pleased with how things were going and said with a smile, "This is good. Working together will be more fun for you two youngsters. Qi comes from an immortal sect, so he can cover you if anything happens. Qi, what realm were you at again?"

What realm am I at?

I'm at the middle unity realm, already one of the best among my fellow Riverside Gate disciples of the same intake.

This independent cultivator looks about my age, and he's already at the late unity realm? With enough resources behind him, wouldn't he have a very good chance of breaking through to the astral realm?

You hired someone like this for a thousand yuan?

Qi Dian was astonished inside, but outwardly remained silent.

Although he was one minor stage below the other man, he was confident that his combat strength far surpassed Yue Wen's. Still, being an immortal sect disciple whose cultivation was lower than an independent cultivator of roughly the same age wasn't exactly flattering.

While he stood speechless, Old Huang pressed him again. "Eh? Qi, why aren't you saying anything? Hehe, do immortal sect disciples have to keep their cultivation secret?"

Questions, questions, questions.

At your age, can't you read the room?

Qi Dian silently gritted his teeth. After holding it in for a long while, he finally said, "I'm ordering takeout. Do you guys want fried chicken?"