CH 95

After parting with Xiang Mu, Chen Guoliang smiled and said to Dong Zhi and Liu Qingbo, “Masters, I won’t bother you so late. Please come to Hong Kong when you have time. I’ll definitely greet you both!”

He had seen the two of them subdue demons and monsters twice now and knew that they were from the Special Administration Bureau, so he naturally wanted to chummy up with them.

Dong Zhi said lightly, “Master Chen, we know that you have a high reputation in Hong Kong, but for things like fame, you are only worthy of your fame as much as the ability you have. If your virtue doesn’t match, sooner or later, you’ll suffer the consequences yourself. Do you understand what I mean?”

Chen Guoliang said with shame, “I understand. I’ve learned a lot during this time. I’ll keep your words in my mind. I’ll try to keep a low profile and won’t talk nonsense anymore!”

He knew very well how much weight he pulled, and it was fine to cheat the rich, but if he really ran into a situation like Han Qi’s demon fetus, he would have no one to blame when he died. How could he not dare learn his lesson? What’s more, being able to get to know Dong Zhi and Liu Qingbo was a great opportunity for him. He still wanted to make friends with them, and this was simply another way for him in the future.

Dong Zhi eased his tone and said, “Regarding Han Qi’s case, we want you to do us a favor.”

Chen Guoliang hurriedly said, “Please speak!”

Dong Zhi: “Hong Rui and Dong Qiaolan disappeared strangely after traveling to Thailand and have not returned yet. We guess that these two people will very likely never return.”

Thinking of the bloody scene he saw in the hotel room that day, Chen Guoliang couldn’t help but shudder secretly, feeling that he didn’t want to experience it again in this life.

He heard Dong Zhi say, “But Dong Qiaolan has a best friend named Qi Rui who has a good relationship with her. The police speculate that Dong Qiaolan may have told her something. She may know more than we thought, and she’s likely to be in Hong Kong as to avoid the limelight because she owes a high amount of debt in the mainland. It is said that this person likes to go in and out of high-class social occasions and famous brand stores in Hong Kong. The police are already in contact with them to find out, but Master Chen, you have frequent contacts with the wealthy in Hong Kong. We would like to ask you to help pay attention to it. If you catch wind of Qi Rui whereabouts, please contact us immediately.”

Chen Guoliang agreed immediately. “Don’t worry, Mr. Dong. I will find someone to inquire when I go back, and I will notify you as soon as there is news!”

Dong Zhi sent him his contact and Qi Rui’s photo.

Seeing Chen Guoliang get in the car and leave, Liu Qingbo said, “What are you going to do with this painting?”

Dong Zhi said, “Looking for the stone tablet is an instruction from the General Administration. I will ask the Boss Long first, and then see his decision.”

Liu Qingbo sneered, “He’s your master. What kind of boss are you talking about!”

Dong Zhi was speechless. “Are you offended?”

Liu Qingbo said sharply, “I’m as broad-minded as the vast sea, and I don’t have the same view as you. That’s on you. If I let you act like this, can you still even face Boss Long?”

He first stepped into the hotel.

Dong Zhi touched his nose and followed.

Well, Liu Qingbo wasn’t able to become an apprentice in the end so he could only let him take advantage of him now.

Xiang Mu really kept his promise. When they returned to the hotel, the painting also came back with them.

Dong Zhi and Liu Qingbo spread out “The Travel Map of Shaohua”.

Seeing this painting up close again, the two of them saw at a glance the stone tablet by the stream at the foot of the mountain that most people wouldn’t notice at first glance.

Dong Zhi had to buy a magnifying glass.

Under the action of a magnifying glass, the inscription of the exposed part of the stone tablet was exactly the same as what they had seen before.

The two of them looked at each other at the same time, first with a sigh of relief, and then with a heavy feeling, since the appearance of the stone tablet meant most likely a storm was brewing again.

“You can report to the Boss Long,” Liu Qingbo said.

“Wait, let’s sort out our thoughts first,” Dong Zhi said. “During the Yongle Period of the Ming Dynasty, a painter was playing at the foot of Shaohua Mountain and painted the surrounding scenery. He accidentally included this stone tablet into the painting. In the painting, the stone tablet is already half exposed to the soil. It may be that after being dug up, but since it seemed useless it was ignored. From Ming Yongle to present, at least 600 years have passed. I think that even if we find a place corresponding to the scenery in the painting, the stone tablet is probably no longer there.”

Liu Qingbo impatiently reasoned, “Let’s not worry about this kind of thing. We are now 180,000 miles away from Shaohua Mountain. The General Administration will definitely send people from the Northwest Branch to be responsible for this matter. We can take this picture and compare the position of it on the map. Shaohua Mountain is so big that honestly, I’m not very optimistic, but it’s still a clue.”

Dong Zhi rolled up the painting and then dialed Long Shen’s number.

—

Tang Jing came out of the bathroom and saw the person sitting on his sofa reading comics with relish and couldn’t help rubbing his forehead.

“I haven’t figured it out yet. Why did I bring you home with me?”

Ming Xian raised his head with an innocent expression on his face.

“Because I said I was scared, and the stalker insisted on coming back with you. By the way, Tangtang Ge, I also want to do an interview with you for material for the male protagonist of my new novel.”

“You will go back tomorrow, and don’t call me Tangtang Ge. I won’t do any interviews, and you’re not allowed to write about me in that book!” Tang Jing took out a set of clean pajamas and bath towels from the bathroom and threw them on Ming Xian’s head. “Go take a shower!”

Ming Xian let out a sigh and raised the book in his hand. “I also bought this comic. The author’s drawing is very interesting. Don’t you think that the story in the comic seems a bit similar to your job?”

Tang Jing glanced at the “The Incident Book of the Relevant Department for Subduing and Eliminating Demons” in his hand, and said casually, “It’s similar to so many comics out there. This is an autographed book given to me by a friend. I don’t read domestic comics, but he forced me to accept it. If you like it, take it back and read it!”

Ming Xian frowned then smiled. “Thank you Tangtang!”

With Ge being omitted, it made it even more tiring hearing just the rest of his name.

Tang Jing moved his mouth and endured the urge to correct him.

With outsiders present, he couldn’t do any business. Anyway, he didn’t usually come back to this room, and there would basically be nothing related to the Special Administration Bureau here.

Picking up the comic that Ming Xian was reading, Tang Jing lowered his head and turned a few pages before he heard Ming Xian shouting from the bathroom, “Tangtang, you forgot to give me underwear!”

Tang Jing: ……

He accepted his fate and got up and went to the bedroom to get a pair of underwear and delivered it. Ming Xian shyly opened the door of the room and stretched out a hand.

Tang Jing said annoyed, “Is it possible that you’re still a woman dressed as a man?”

He pushed the door open and walked in.

Ming Xian didn’t move an inch. With drops of water and heat on his body, he watched in a daze as Tang Jing walked towards him and his face flushed red.

Tang Jing walked towards him step by step. The other party had already removed Yu Ji’s makeup and outfit at the venue and had put on casual clothes. Under the disguise of the female dress, that figure that seemed slender was actually pretty sturdy and well-built.

There was nowhere to escape.

Ming Xian was a little nervous. Swallowing his saliva subconsciously, his eyelashes trembled slightly, and finally lowered his eyes, almost closing them to compromise.

Then a huff came in his ear.

Ming Xian raised his eyes again, watching in surprise as the other party’s hand passed through his ears, grabbing the toothbrush and water cup behind him.

“Do you have any bad intentions towards me?” Tang Jing seemed to be smiling.

“You’re teasing me!” Ming Xian’s ears were red, and he grabbed the underwear in his hand and was about to leave, but he was stopped by the other party first.

Tang Jing pinched the other party’s chin and leaned over to kiss him.

“Satisfied?”

Seeing Ming Xian’s stunned stupidity, he couldn’t help but tease him, and kissed him again, but his neck was hooked by the other party and was suddenly pulled closer.

Their lips collided with each other, which was the way people would think of expressing their love, though it was too early for them to talk about love as Tang Jing felt he was just attracted to just the face.

It was actually a wonderful experience to be able to celebrate a Spring Festival in the evening with the owner of such a face.

It was just…

“Are you sure?” leaving the other party’s red and swollen lips that he had sucked on, Tang Jing asked.

Ming Xian answered him by directly pulling his neck down. His eyes were beautiful and docile with a bit of expectancy behind those timid eyes.

It was like waiting for someone to go in for a kiss, or rather, to ravage.

If a beauty took the initiative and didn’t cater, it would be extremely harmful to reason and nature… and Tang Jing never did anything that would hurt reason and nature.

—

After a night of love making, even for Tang Jing, it was inevitable that he slept a few minutes longer than his usual biological clock before slowly getting up from bed.

The sheets and pillows were a mess, showing how fierce last night battle was. There was no one next to him, and even Ming Xian’s backpack wasn’t there.

When Ming Xian left, Tang Jing knew, but he didn’t stop him. It was originally a chance encounter and they both wanted it, so there was no need to talk about regrets.

There was a text message Ming Xian had left him: [I have to go back to class. See you later.]

There was also some cute emojis at the end.

Tang Jing glanced at it but didn’t reply. He scratched his hair remembering that Dong Zhi and Liu Qingbo might have already reported to work at the branch now. He got up and walked to the bathroom, ready to take a shower before setting off.

On the other side, Dong Zhi and Liu Qingbo got out of the car and looked at the building in front of them for a few seconds.

Although the two of them didn’t communicate, they invariably had the same thoughts in their mind.

Really rich!

Although the situation was different from place to place. For example, the appearance of the General Administration was dilapidated, but in fact there was a universe inside. Or for example, the Lucheng office was underfunded, so it was originally rented in a dilapidated community. There wasn’t even a serious office space, but they didn’t expect…

The East China Branch was actually so dignified. It was located in the center of Shencheng’s most prosperous business district, in a high-rise building in Lujiazui. The signboard of the South China Branch of a certain environmental management company was hung outside. It was a bit similar to Master Chen Guoliang who had walked rivers and lakes under the guise of feng shui.

Not only was the rent here expensive, but even the facade decoration revealed a fashion-forward style. At first glance, that was what it really looked like.

The receptionist at the front desk saw someone coming in and got up to greet them. “Hello. Do the two of you have an appointment?”

Dong Zhi went through the address in his mind and confirmed that he had not gone to the wrong place.

“Hello, we have an appointment with President Tang, his name is Tang Jing.”

“Dong Zhi, Liu Qingbo?” The beautiful young girl lowered her head and checked her notepad to confirm with them.

Dong Zhi: “Yes.”

The receptionist said, “Please show me your work permit.”

After receiving the documents handed over by the two of them, the front desk took them to the machine to scan and verify. When the green light lit up, she nodded calmly. Her face remained the same as she led the way in front with her hand.

“Mr. Tang hasn’t arrived yet. Please follow me.”

Dong Zhi and Liu Qingbo looked at each other and had to keep up with the receptionist’s footsteps.

Passing through the spacious office space, they saw many people sitting at their desks, tapping on computers, or lying on the desks for a nap. There were also many empty seats, which was no different from white-collar workers in an ordinary office building.

As if noticing their gaze, the receptionist turned her head and whispered to them, “There was a small incident at the Anime Convention yesterday. They all just came back from working overtime last night.”

“What’s the incident?” Liu Qingbo asked.

The receptionist said, “Two soul-eaters took advantage of the crowd to mix into the venue, sucked a lot of anger, and caused two deaths. Mr. Tang, ah, Boss Tang wiped them out, but he suspects that there’s someone behind it. Recently, Shencheng has frequently held international events. Boss Tang is worried that the mastermind behind it will use the same technique again, so it’s necessary to strengthen security.”

With an urban beauty dressed in a glamorous suit telling them about soul eaters; it created quite an absurd scene.

The receptionist took them to the conference room.

“Sit for a bit. I’ll inform Assistant Shu first.”

She smiled and closed the door before Dong Zhi had the chance to refute.

The conference room was also composed of glass doors and windows, which was transparent inside and outside, seemingly making the sense of space more vast.

Even a young master like Liu Qingbo couldn’t help being speechless.

“You said that if we were transferred to a branch, will our treatment increase several times?”

Dong Zhi grinned. “I didn’t expect that the dignified Young Master Liu would bend his waist for five buckets of rice*?”

*Reminder: Metaphor for flattery. Basically, lose one’s backbone for profit.

Liu Qingbo curled his lips. “I’m just speaking aloud. What is a soul eater?”

Dong Zhi said: “I heard Chaosheng say that that thing only eats dead souls, and it generally doesn’t hurt the living. It’s not as terrifying as the name. I don’t know what’s going on this time…”

The door of the conference room was pushed open and a man walked in.

“Dong Zhi and Liu Qingbo, right? Welcome, I’m Shu He!” The other party smiled kindly, and before anyone arrived, he stretched out his hand towards the Dong Zhi.

“Hello, Shu Ge, we have already spoken on the phone—” Dong Zhi was about to shake hands with him, but suddenly his face changed, and he backed away quickly.

Liu Qingbo was inexplicable. Before he had time to ask, he saw two colors of red and gold flying out of Shu He’s cuffs, turning into two monsters with sharp horns and long hair, landing steadily and staring at him and Dong Zhi.

“Your response is very fast!” Shu He smiled at Dong Zhi. “Boss Tang hasn’t come yet, let Fengsheng and Huosheng play with you for a while!”

With a snap of his fingers, his figure disappeared instantly.

The two monsters roared in a low voice and opened their mouths to spit out white energy at them, one was wind and the other was fire.

The wind amplified the fire, causing a raging inferno that ignited the conference room. The heat wave swept across their faces. Dong Zhi and Liu Qingbo flashed quickly, and one drew out his sword while the other turned over and jumped two corners.

“What the hell! Are we in the wrong place?!” Liu Qingbo wiped his face. He was almost disfigured just now.

Dong Zhi didn’t have time to answer him, and he couldn’t come up with a suitable answer within a few seconds. The two strange beasts had turned their heads and rushed towards them again. With a kick of their hind feet, the beasts made wind and fire causing another wave to swept through the air. Even the conference room table was burning, and the entire room was filled with fireworks, almost suffocating the two of them.

Liu Qingbo had a lot of hidden swords in his family. After the Feijing Sword was lost, he changed to the Yinxiu Sword1. The name didn’t sound as majestic as the Feijing Sword, but the Yinxiu Sword was bigger than the Feijing Sword— It was said to be the sword used by Zhao Kuangyi2, Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty.

1Yinxiu means hidden. Lit. translation is Hidden Sword.

2Second emperor of the Song Dynasty. He succeeded the throne in what was rumored to be fratricide. You can read more about him in the Wikipedia.

Although the Feijing Sword was stained with Cao Pi’s1 imperial luck, but after all, Wei had three kingdoms and didn’t unify into one country. Compared with that, the dynastic luck of the Song Dynasty was naturally even more extraordinary2. Although Zhao Kuangyi was not the founding emperor, he was also the emperor who had followed his brother to the east and fought in the west. The emperor who started with martial arts, coupled with Liu Qingbo’s increasingly refined understanding of swordsmanship, the Yinxiu Sword was extraordinary in his hands. The white aura lingered, as if there was a “hidden world refined by hundreds of rivers into the sea”.

1First emperor of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period. He was the second son of Cao Cao. He’s also an accomplished poet and scholar. You can read more about him in the Wikipedia.

2Basically it’s saying that the Feijing Sword was under Cao Pi which hadn’t had a unified country yet because it was during the Three Kingdoms period where essentially (ancient China) was split. During the Song Dynasty, the country was mainly united, thus the power/luck behind the Yinxiu Sword is greater because of the era.

The wind was extremely fierce, but when it encountered Liu Qingbo, it found that the violent wind it was spewing couldn’t stop its opponent. Instead, Liu Qingbo took advantage of the wind and used the sword qi to cut countless scars on it.

The temperature in the room was getting higher, the two of them were sweating profusely. Their vision was blurred by sweat causing their eyes to sting from saltiness, and their clothes were soaked.

“Hurry up and put down that fire-breathing one! Destroy it, no matter how strong the wind is, it’s useless without it!” Liu Qingbo roared.

Huosheng needed to take a break every time it finished spraying fire. Dong Zhi took the opportunity to approach and wanted to jump on its body to control it. Who knew that as soon as his hand touches the long hair of the strange beast, he retracted it in an instant.

“It’s so hot!”

This place was obviously sealed by an enchantment and the glass doors and windows were blurred for some time. The outside scene couldn’t be viewed at all. Otherwise, with such a big movement here, the outside world would’ve known about it a long time ago.

During this time, Dong Zhi two fingers pinched a sunlight talisman and threw it at the strange beast. The talisman turned into a little light rain of fire in the air and fell.

But for Huosheng, fire was equivalent to it playing with a feather. The strange beast raised its head and opened its mouth wide and ate it. Most likely it was still playing around with Dong Zhi.

All it took was for this moment!

A figure leaped high from behind it. The Changshou Sword was slashed into the back of the beast from top to bottom!

The expression of Dong Zhi’s ambition stagnated.

In the brilliance of the sword, the strange beast shattered like fragments, like phantom bubbles, looking like flowers in the fog.

In another corner of the conference room, fireworks condensed in the air, and little golden lights flew from all directions. The golden wheel was spinning like a sun and was dazzling and brilliant until a fire-born beast was reborn in an instant from it. It shook its head and roared into the sky and rushed towards Dong Zhi again!

“What the fuck is going on!”

Looking at Liu Qingbo’s side, it was almost the same situation. His Yinxiu Sword had obviously been inserted into the body of the strange beast, but it was empty.

If the strange beasts were just illusions, the wind and fire they brought couldn’t be more real!

Dong Zhi and Liu Qingbo were sweating wildly. They suspected that if they went on like this, they would have to be roasted alive before they were burned to death!

Liu Qingbo roared, “Hurry up and get some heavy rain to extinguish the fire!”

Dong Zhi panted, “I’m not a dragon!”

Liu Qingbo said angrily, “Water talisman! Use a rain talisman! The sea talisman! Don’t you have any of those? Hurry up and get one out!”

Dong Zhi was speechless for a moment, and he joked casually, “Your name is Qing and Bo*. There’s enough water there so this heavy responsibility will be handed over to you!”

*Qing (清) = clear. Bo (波) = wave. Combined together becomes clear wave. || The joke here is that his name is related to water so he should handle the responsibility of finding said water.

Liu Qingbo: …

He felt that he was about to die, either by being roasted or being pissed off to death by Dong Zhi.

Neither of them expected that someone was monitoring their every move in the conference room next door.

The other side of the glass wall was simultaneously transmitting what was happening inside the conference room.

Shu He glanced at his watch and said calmly, “It’s been an hour, Boss Tang. Let me remind you that if you don’t let them out, you will be charged with mutilating the newcomers of the Special Administration Bureau. Especially when one of them is a disciple of your immediate boss, Boss Long.”

“Wait a bit longer.” Director Tang Jing of the South China Branch sat lazily in his director’s chair with his legs crossed as if he was watching an American blockbuster. “If Long Shen’s disciple have such little potential, then I would be quite disappointed.”

Shu He rolled his eyes secretly. “If you want to test them, don’t let me do it. They will now have a bad impression of me when they see me in the future!”

Tang Jing glanced at him. “Don’t tell me you don’t want to see what kind of apprentice Long Shen has accepted.”

Shu He legs were sore from standing so he sat down.

“I am curious as he was just an ordinary person before he became an apprentice. You asked me to set up this test, but you didn’t even leave them a way out. If it’s one of our people, most likely only a few would be able to break through. In all fairness, he was able to reach this level in such a short time, which is beyond my expectations. It’s not incomprehensible that Boss Long accepted him as a disciple.”

Tang Jing shook his head and looked at Dong Zhi and Liu Qingbo, who were jumping around in the sea of fire, and suddenly said something that was seemingly irrelevant. “There has been a gap in the world, and demons are coming from all directions, and the crisis is imminent.”

Shu Gou nodded. “Yes, not only in our country, but the whole world has been troubled in recent years.”

Desire give birth to demonic energy which flowed in the world and amplified the desires deep within the hearts of others. Disasters were always reincarnated with time. Light and hope were the most precious virtues in human nature, but darkness and destruction always accompanied growth and survival, never to disappear.

It was rare for Tang Jing to say just serious words. “There is too little time left for us, and these group of people must grow up quickly.”

Just as Tang Jing was talking to Shu He, Liu Qingbo was about to be driven crazy.

The phantom beasts that couldn’t be killed kept coming back to life and there were no weapons that could restrain them. If this continued, they could only be consumed alive here. Even if this could be a test, Liu Qingbo was absolutely unwilling to fail.

He leaned against the wall and gasped, and the flame-scorched wall transmitted an unbearable high temperature.

Liu Qingbo suddenly remembered the unforgettable zombie city test that they experienced when they were training in the General Administration.

At that time, he boasted of his extraordinary abilities and didn’t want to be held back. He simply ran back to the General Administration alone, but he was surrounded by zombies and didn’t have the imagined killing spree. If he hadn’t been lucky enough to find a hiding place, he alone wouldn’t be able to survive until the end of the trial. At that time, alone, hiding in a corner, he silently counted his heartbeat and refused to bow his head due to his pride and stubbornness.

Now, even though he had learned to cooperate with his companions and give trust to his partners, his pride and obsession had never changed. He was Liu Qingbo, and he would definitely be able to get out of trouble.

Kinky Thoughts:

So the side CP, which was just established a few chapters ago already rolled around in the bedsheets but the main CP still hasn’t even went up to bat yet let alone cross first base? I mean I’m all for more gay stuff but common!

Seeing as how it developed, I’m assuming Tang Jing is the gong and Ming Xian is the shou, which is surprising since usually danmei sets up the shou to be the girly(ish) one. I’m all for it though. Or their vers (that’s even better). What would actually be better if I could read what happened in that room…