Ji Yanshuang listened carefully to the whole explanation, then nodded, still somewhat bewildered.
"Sis, thank you."
She reached out to hug her older sister, then added, "But next time, you can't go desperately grabbing at any cure you can find like this."
Then she looked over again. "Miss, you mentioned people in the trade just now. What does that mean?"
The story here was still unfolding.
Meanwhile.
Inside a quaint, old-fashioned inn in Baiyao Ancient Town.
The woman in black gauze sitting cross-legged on the bed spat out a mouthful of blood.
A burly, two-meter-tall man pushed the door open and entered.
"Linggu, what happened to you!"
The woman shook her head. "Nothing serious. Someone just broke my spell, and I lost a medicinal catalyst."
The burly man sat on the bed, his face full of concern. "There are plenty of medicinal catalysts. If one's gone, it's gone. Tell me who hurt you. I'll kill him."
"I don't know his name, only that he's a trainee investigator with Bureau 749, with one star on his shoulder. Don't act rashly and ruin things for us. The Flying Centipede will be complete in the next few days. We need things quiet. We'll deal with this later."
Tenderness filled the burly man's eyes as he gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry, Linggu. I'll listen to you. I absolutely won't cause trouble."
At the Bureau 749 base.
Lu Ding and Yan Feifan returned to turn in their mission.
It was already nighttime. Ordinary people's lives had settled into quiet, while the stage belonging to Bureau 749 was only just being set.
Demons and monsters were more active at night, and nighttime had absolutely no effect on qi refiners. They were already refining qi-who couldn't manage a little night vision?
That was why nighttime was when Bureau 749's investigators were most active.
The two walked over and had just stopped at the mission hall steps, about to head up.
Yan Feifan fell behind, his steps gradually slowing.
His gaze swept ahead, and his head slowly lowered.
Lu Ding turned to look. "What are you doing? Come on."
"L-Lu... Brother Lu, I need the bathroom. Could you turn in the mission first, or wait a moment for me?"
Though somewhat puzzled, Lu Ding nodded. "Why would one person turn in the mission alone? I'll wait a bit. Hurry along."
"Okay, okay. Thanks, Brother Lu, thanks. I'll be right back."
Yan Feifan turned and was just about to hurry off when an arm coming toward him hooked around him. "Where are you rushing off to in such a hurry, Brother Feifan?"
"I... I'm going to the bathroom, Brother Sun."
Sun Changming turned him around to face the mission hall. "You're already at the mission hall, and you still want to use the bathroom? Is that any way to behave? Hold it!"
"Hey, Old Du, weren't you looking for Brother Feifan? Look who this is!"
Up ahead inside the mission hall, a young man scrolling on his phone turned to look.
"Well, if it isn't Brother Feifan. Where did you run off to today?"
The young man called Old Du pocketed his phone and slowly walked down the steps with a fake smile.
"What were you making such a racket about this morning? Didn't you know I was out on a mission last night and hadn't slept? And you didn't wash the clothes either. Who were you leaving them for? Me?"
Listening beside them, Lu Ding was speechless.
He'd fucking made it all the way into Bureau 749 and still had to see bullying.
But then again, wherever there were people, there would be conflict.
Besides, people were all different. Awakening wasn't something that only picked model students. Everyone had a chance to awaken.
So it was normal for a few people who bullied the weak to slip in.
But bullying someone he could still make use of, right in front of him-that wasn't normal.
Yan Feifan glanced at Lu Ding, who was still beside him.
Then he looked at Du Guang, his eyes filled with pleading. "Brother Du, I went on a mission today. Can I wash the clothes when I get back tonight?"
At that moment, he wished so much that Du Guang would leave him a little dignity in front of Lu Ding.
Just as Yan Feifan had told Lu Ding, he wasn't good at fighting. He had relied entirely on petty cleverness and exploiting loopholes to get scores good enough to be assigned to a four-person dorm and even receive a reward.
So as time passed, his shortcomings would be laid completely bare.
Within the dorm, he was naturally at the very bottom.
So cleaning, laundry, and all the other chores fell to him.
Who told him to be the weakest?
Yan Feifan had gotten used to it, too. When he was little, his parents had told him that suffering losses was a blessing, that their family was poor, that he shouldn't fight or clash with others. Those words had influenced him as he grew up, right up to the present.
So his disposition was comparatively somewhat cowardly.
But today, for the first time, the urge to fight back rose within him.
Compared with himself, Lu Ding was an existence far beyond reach: absolute combat prowess, absolute talent. Calling him lofty and untouchable wouldn't have been an exaggeration.
Yet someone like that would joke around with him and praise him.
Though he didn't know what Lu Ding thought, Yan Feifan already sincerely considered this person he'd known for less than a day his first friend at Bureau 749.
He didn't want his friend to see him in such a sorry state.
But his plea was ultimately doomed to go unanswered.
Du Guang raised his hand. Yan Feifan could already imagine that light yet deeply humiliating slap landing on his neck, just as it always did.
At that moment, Yan Feifan prepared to resist. If Du Guang dared slap him in front of Lu Ding, he would fight him with everything he had!!!
The next second.
Du Guang, his hand raised, went flying sideways.
Lu Ding stood beside them, slowly drawing back his foot.
He looked at Du Guang in the corner, who had nearly been kicked into a foldable screen.
Lu Ding's voice rang out. "Who the fuck are you trying to impress?"
He turned and pointed at the young man still gripping Yan Feifan's shoulder. "Take your hand off him."
At that moment, though the sky was dark, in Yan Feifan's eyes, Lu Ding seemed to stand in the light, shutting out all darkness.
Who said a white moonlight had to be a woman!!
The young man released both hands and stepped back. "Lu Ding, this has nothing to do with me."
"You know me?"
"That makes this easy, then."
Lu Ding stepped forward with incredible speed, raised his hand, and slapped him across the mouth.
The blow sent the young man spinning three times in the air before he landed.
"You know me, and you still dare bully my assistant investigator? From now on, you two wash his clothes. Understood?"
The young man held his face and nodded. "Okay... I-I-I'll wash them. I'll wash them."
"And you. Do you understand?"
In the corner, Du Guang felt deeply humiliated, his gaze resentful. Though unwilling, he was outmatched now, and he nodded with difficulty.
A light breeze blew past.
Du Guang looked up. Darkness seemed to shroud his vision, and a huge, furry hand tipped with sharp claws tore through that darkness like a curtain, a gaping, blood-red maw emerging from within.
"Go on. Show me that look in your eyes again."
Du Guang curled up in the corner, frantically pushing backward with his legs, but the wall behind him left him nowhere to escape.
He could only raise his hands to shield his face. "I give in, I give in! I didn't mean anything else, really! I really didn't mean anything else! From now on, I'll clean the dorm, I'll wash the clothes..."
Lu Ding truly couldn't understand why anyone would show that kind of venomous look when they knew perfectly well they couldn't beat the other person.
Were they expressing how iron-boned and unyielding they were?
Wasn't that asking to die?!
And most importantly, knowing perfectly well that someone hadn't submitted, some people still wouldn't deliver a finishing blow?
What kind of brain-dead idiots were they?
Lu Ding turned and headed up the steps. "Still need to piss?"
Yan Feifan hurried after him. "No, Brother Lu. Let's turn in the mission."
"A lazy donkey always needs to shit and piss when it's time to work the mill. Empty your bladder beforehand next time."
"Okay, got it, Brother Lu."