"Hoo~~"
A thick puff of smoke was exhaled, obscuring the job-hunting page on the computer screen.
[Hello, your qualifications do not match our requirements. We are not moving forward with your application. Thank you!]
A hint of anxiety flashed in Su Jin's eyes as he expressionlessly closed the pop-up window.
Just as he was about to continue searching for the next company, his phone vibrated. He turned, picked it up, and answered.
"Hello? Is that Xiao Su?"
Hearing that familiar, slightly hoarse voice, a trace of mockery broke through Su Jin's wooden expression. "Old Li? Did you miss me, or can the company's business not run without me?"
"What kind of attitude is that?! I sent you to negotiate with a client, and you beat him up! Wasn't I right to fire you?!" Old Li's voice rang out, laced with suppressed anger. "President Wang was just having a bit of fun with Xiaojing, and even Xiaojing didn't think it was sexual harassment. Do you still think you were acting like a hero?!"
"The company chased this deal for half a year! Millions in profit, all ruined by you!"
"Didn't I bring in this deal? Didn't I negotiate it?"
"What do you mean 'negotiated by you'? What could you negotiate without our platform? Hasn't the company taken enough blame for you?! I ran my legs off for your sake, skipped sleep, and threw up over a dozen times just from drinking with them! It's a miracle I didn't send you to jail! Who the fuck did I do all this for?!"
Over the line, Old Li took a deep breath.
"I finally managed to get President Wang out tonight. Now, he specifically demands that you come and apologize. As long as you apologize, everything can be discussed. I can even give you another chance. You know I've always admired you the most..."
Bzzzt!
The light bulb overhead suddenly flickered. Su Jin squinted and looked up.
When he lowered his head again, an abrupt pop-up window had appeared on his computer screen.
[System Recommendation: After screening, you meet the requirements for our company's "Special Risk Management" position. Would you like to submit a detailed resume immediately? Yes/No]
Assuming it was spam, Su Jin instinctively reached to close the window. But with Old Li droning on in his ear, his hand paused, and he let out a scoff.
"Old Li, plenty of companies want me. Do you think I'm desperate for your job?" With that, he clicked the mouse, casually hitting 'Yes'.
"I know you've got guts, but there's no need to be stubborn. You've earned a solid income at the company all these years. You know what the job market is like right now. The economy is chaotic, and everyone is scrambling for work. Fresh graduates are cheaper than pigs. I'm sure... you wouldn't want to lose this job, right?"
Su Jin exhaled a cloud of smoke. After a moment of silence, he said, "You're all together, aren't you? Let Xiaojing answer the phone. I want to say a few words to her."
Soon, a soft, timid female voice came through the receiver. "Su Jin, it's me."
"That night, you were crying and begging me to save you... and now you've reconciled with that bastard Wang? How much did he pay you?"
"Su Jin, you misunderstood. I was just panicking at the time. Who knew you'd act so fast..."
"Fuck you, I can't believe you actually have the nerve to spout that bullshit!" Su Jin cursed loudly.
But then he deflated with a sigh. "Heh, I'll take the loss this time. President Wang is with you, right? I can apologize, but we have a deal: I'll lower my head and admit my mistake, but tomorrow you must let me back into the company with my previous compensation."
"I'll get President Wang right now. As long as you appease him, I'll let you back into the company immediately. You'll need to formally apologize to him in person later. After all, a smile at meeting erases old enmity! Maybe we can even hand this deal back to you." Old Li's eager voice, accompanied by the sound of footsteps, echoed in Su Jin's ear.
From the ambient noise, it was obvious the call had been put on speakerphone.
After a brief pause, another man's voice faintly transmitted through the phone.
"Hello...?"
"Hello your ass! Wang, do you think you can mess with me just because you bought off that bitch? I have a video of you two dogs! If you dare provoke me again, get ready to trend online! Apologize my foot! You pair of lowlifes!!!"
After his outburst, Su Jin hung up immediately and viciously stubbed out his cigarette.
He sighed and sank into despondency.
Acting heroically, only to be bitten by the one he saved, and losing his job in the end... getting caught up in a mess like this was truly disgusting.
But he didn't regret it.
After all, his female colleague's clothes had been torn open that night, and she was squealing like a slaughtered pig.
If he hadn't stepped in during a situation like that, he might as well castrate himself, buy a plane ticket to Japan, and apply to be a 'useless husband.'
It was just a pity that the old pervert had acted so fast. If only he had been more cautious and actually recorded a video.
Then he wouldn't have to put on a tough front now to ward off their retaliation.
Good deeds go unrewarded. What a fucked-up world.
After venting for a bit, Su Jin adjusted his mood and sat up straight again.
Just as he reached for the mouse, a sudden knock came from the front door behind him.
It knocked twice, then fell completely silent.
"Who is it?!"
Su Jin shouted over his shoulder. He stood up, a fresh cigarette dangling from his lips, and walked to the door.
He opened it... and his gaze slowly drifted down to the floor.
A package sat quietly on the ground.
Picking it up, Su Jin turned back into the room, a sliver of doubt rising in his heart.
He didn't remember ordering anything, and it was almost eight o'clock. What kind of courier delivered at this hour?
Seeing his correct address and name on the label, Su Jin brushed off his suspicions, assuming it was just a cheap box of tissues he had bought for pennies using an online coupon.
Grabbing a pair of scissors, he sliced the tape. The first thing that caught his eye was an A4 piece of paper covered in tiny print.
He casually tossed the paper aside, revealing an exquisite black briefcase and a transparent mask hidden underneath.
"Huh?"
Su Jin was utterly bewildered.
Having worked in the corporate world for years, he had seen his fair share of briefcases, and the one in front of him definitely wasn't cheap.
It boasted a simple, elegant style and possessed an indescribable sense of premium quality that was genuinely eye-catching.
But who would send him a briefcase like this? And what was the deal with the mask?
Puzzled, Su Jin lifted the briefcase to inspect it.
As soon as his hand brushed the inside edge, his fingers grazed the cold, hard touch of metal. It felt like a grip.
When he finally saw the object's full appearance, Su Jin's eyebrows shot up.
A gun? A pistol, entirely bright silver, exuding an air of elegant luxury.
He hefted it in his palm; it had a solid, heavy weight to it.
Oh, does buying a bag come with a high-end novelty lighter now?
Without overthinking it, Su Jin casually pulled the trigger.
Bang!
A deafening gunshot rang out, and a burst of flame erupted from the muzzle.
The bullet tore through the air diagonally, drilling straight into the ceiling.
Wisps of blue smoke curled upward from the barrel...
"What the...!"
The sudden explosion made Su Jin instinctively duck his head, his mind short-circuiting to a complete blank.
The gun... was real?!
Su Jin mechanically turned his neck, staring fixedly at the Silver Gun in his hand.
He took two trembling breaths. When he finally snapped out of his daze, he lunged toward the bed, violently yanked the curtains shut, and shoved the pistol deep under his blankets.
He stumbled back several paces. Only then did the violent trembling in his chest subside slightly.
An intense wave of confusion and terror washed over him.
The mafia? Did they get the wrong guy? Was it meant for the previous tenant?
No, his exact name and phone number were printed on the label. It couldn't be a mistake.
He considered himself a bold man, but in a heavily regulated society, firearms were a massive deal. It was highly likely he had just been unwittingly dragged into something extremely dangerous.
Just as Su Jin's thoughts were racing, someone knocked on the front door again!
Startled, Su Jin spun around, snatched an empty beer bottle from the floor, and rushed to the entrance in two massive strides, gripping the door handle tightly.
With his heart in his throat, he peered through the peephole. Seeing the person outside, he finally let out a sigh of relief.
It wasn't a hitman. It was Sister Zhao from next door, who also happened to be his landlady. She was usually quite friendly, albeit a bit overly nosy, always eager to stick her head into whatever commotion was happening in the neighborhood.
She had most likely heard the gunshot just now.
The situation was completely unknown, and there was no telling what might happen next. He absolutely couldn't drag her into this mess.
Forcing his racing heart to calm down, Su Jin cleared his throat and asked, "Who is it?"
"Xiao Su? It's Sister Zhao... Did something explode in your room?"
"Ah..." Su Jin stalled for a moment before replying in a steady voice, "I was distracted while fixing some pipes and left the stove on. The pressure cooker blew its lid. It's fine, I'm cleaning it up right now."
"Oh dear! You kids these days... you need to be more careful when cooking..."
Hearing Sister Zhao's flustered grumbling fade away down the hall until it completely disappeared, Su Jin exhaled a long sigh of relief.
Turning back toward the room, his pupils constricted the moment his gaze landed on the package resting on the table.
He dashed to the table in a single stride and snatched up the 'scrap paper' he had previously dismissed as a junk-mail flyer.
His anxious, frantic eyes scanned the page. As he processed the lines of text, a jolt of electricity seemed to shoot through his entire body!
[Congratulations, the resume you submitted has been received and approved by our company. Primary office supplies have been issued. Your internship assessment will commence shortly.]
[You will be transported to a Dying World in two hours. Please immediately contact and protect the client, ensuring they safely survive the initial stages of the Apocalypse. Once the client gains the ability to survive independently in the Apocalypse, the mission will conclude, and the company will recall you.]
[During the mission, our company will provide you with necessary foundational assistance, including but not limited to language translation, currency exchange, and identity integration... Do not disclose any company information to outsiders, and strive to maximize your ability Potential.]
[Mission Success: You will be formally hired and granted elevated company permissions.]
[Mission Failure: Fend for yourself.]
Just as he finished reading, a glowing red line of fire ignited at the top edge of the notice. Yet, there were no visible flames, not a single trace of smoke, and he couldn't even feel any heat radiating from it.
The paper simply burned in an eerie, silent progression from top to bottom, without leaving a single speck of ash behind.
As the paper burned past the halfway mark, Su Jin's fingers went slack, letting the dissolving notice flutter gently toward the ground.
Under his horrified gaze, the line of fire finally consumed the signature at the very bottom... Heavenly Dao Infinite Liability Company.
.....
(Thank you for the support of all the old readers. Sorry for the long wait, I hope you enjoy this book! This is the third independent work, with a brand new world view, and it is not connected to the previous two works. Feel free to play with the references, but please don't take them too seriously.)11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsZojGexWyq
"Vein Qi, three stages!"
Staring at the glaring characters carved into the Qi Testing Stele, a bitter, self-mocking smirk tugged at the corner of the young man's otherwise stoic face.
He clenched his fists. His knuckles jutted out, white as bone, as his fingernails bit deep into his palms. A sharp, stinging pain grounded him.
"Ye Changfeng: Vein Qi, three stages. Level low. Unqualified!" the elder presiding over the Qi Testing Stele announced, his voice devoid of any warmth.
The moment the elder's judgment echoed out, the sprawling plaza below erupted into a torrent of sneers and whispers.
"Three stages... heh. Just as expected. The grand genius hasn't moved an inch."
"What a piece of trash. Why did he even bother showing his face? He's dragging the clan's name through the mud!"
"Hmph! If the clan leader wasn't shielding him, he would have been tossed to the streets long ago."
"The sheer audacity! How does he have the nerve to stand up there and test?"
"Keep your voices down. Ye Changfeng used to be an unparalleled genius. He's just fallen on hard times..."
"Hard times? Bullshit! How many years has he been crippled now? Why are you still licking his boots with that 'genius' title?"
The malicious jabs and disdainful laughter cut through the air, every single word piercing Ye Changfeng's ears.
With a flick of his wrist, his wide sleeves billowed. Ye Changfeng descended the stone steps, a bitter smile lingering on his lips.
Snobs. Vipers, the lot of them.
He had endured this exact same spectacle from his own blood too many times to count. In this cold, fickle world of cultivation... what was left to say?
Ye Changfeng retreated to the courtyard wall, folding his arms across his chest to quietly observe the crowd.
A young girl stepped forward from the masses and pressed her delicate hand against the Qi Testing Stele.
"Ye Yuan! Vein Qi, seven stages! Level high!"
The plaza roared to life, drowning her in thunderous applause.
Ye Yuan stood upon the dais, her face flushed and radiant with unconcealed joy.
Tch. A mere seven stages. She hasn't even crossed the threshold to become a Novice... Ye Changfeng lowered his gaze, shaking his head slightly as he watched the wind rustle the dry grass.
"A mere seven stages... Big brother, you don't even have four. How do you have the gall to mock a Junior?" A dripping, sarcastic voice slithered in from the side.
Ye Changfeng looked up, his eyes narrowing into cold slits as he fixed his gaze on the newcomer.
"Ye Zhiheng. Watch your tone."
"Watch my tone? And if I don't? Are you still trying to pull rank on me?" Ye Zhiheng sneered, stepping closer. "If I were you, I'd hide in the darkest corner I could find instead of parading my disgrace. You are the laughingstock of all Jiuyuan City. If your father wasn't the clan leader, you would have been beaten to a pulp and thrown into the gutters years ago."
"I came to test my Qi. Is that a crime?" Ye Changfeng's expression remained placid. "You don't need to bark at me, Ye Zhiheng. My meridians may be damaged, but thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river. It is not impossible for me to rise from the ashes. On the path of cultivation, anything is possible."
"Thirty years? Still whining about those thirty years?" Ye Zhiheng burst into raucous laughter, jabbing a finger toward the young crowd.
"What, do you still think you're a prodigy child? Didn't you turn thirty last year? Rubbing shoulders with a bunch of thirteen-year-old brats to test your Qi... I admire your thick skin. How many years have we had to listen to that tired catchphrase? It's pathetic!"
Ye Changfeng's stoic facade finally fractured. A dark, ugly emotion bled into his eyes.
He was right. He was thirty years old, standing in line with children, and worse—he was losing to them.
In his youth, he had been the clan's brightest star, an unparalleled genius destined to take the mantle of clan leader.
But the moment he turned fifteen, the heavens cursed him. Advancing his Vein Qi even half a stage became an insurmountable mountain.
His body refused to gather Vein Qi; instead, it relentlessly bled away his power. The pathetic scrap of strength he clung to now was bought with madness and blood-sweat cultivation.
Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river. He had been choking down that empty comfort for fifteen miserable years.
"Ye Zhiheng, get the hell out of my sight!!!"
"Look at you, barking like a stray." Ye Zhiheng practically beamed, reveling in the broken man's fury. "If you just kept your head down and accepted your lot as trash, no one would bother with you. But you refuse to know your place. You brought this universal disgust upon yourself. Don't you ever reflect on your own arrogance?"
"Reflect on what? That I am surrounded by a pack of sniveling opportunists?"
"Tch. There are plenty of eyesores in this world, but none stink quite as badly as you. Even toddlers spit at your feet. Your own father has abandoned you. It's genuinely pathetic."
Ye Zhiheng circled him like a vulture, his voice dripping with venom. "The elders have reached a consensus. Tomorrow morning, the Yin family arrives to formally handle breaking off an engagement with you. By tomorrow afternoon, the Qu family will be here to finalize my marriage contract. Care to guess the bride? Heh. Qu Mutang. A woman ten thousand times superior to that little bitch of yours."
"Qu Mutang?" Ye Changfeng fired back, his voice frosting over. "As if a woman of her caliber would ever look twice at a toad like you. I heard she already gave her heart to another."
"So what? Since when do personal whims override the decree of the clan?" Ye Zhiheng sneered. "You know exactly what an alliance with the Qu family means. The second I take the seat of clan leader, my first act will be purging you from our ranks. If you have a shred of survival instinct, you'll pack your rags and vanish. Don't force me to cleanse the clan myself."
"I welcome you to try." Ye Changfeng turned his head slowly, his dead eyes locking onto Ye Zhiheng's without a fraction of retreat. "Looking at the wretched scum you've become, my only regret is not snapping both your legs when we were children."
"Fine. Keep acting tough. Consider this your final warning!"
With an arrogant flick of his sleeve, Ye Zhiheng spun on his heel and stalked off.
...
A heavy, silver-plate moon hung against a canvas of scattered stars.
Ye Changfeng sat alone in his desolate courtyard, staring up at the cold night sky. Shielded by the shadows, the masks fell away, and a profound, suffocating grief carved itself into his features.
The faint rustle of fabric broke the silence. He instantly smoothed his face into an impassive mask.
A slender figure draped in robes as pure as driven snow drifted onto the patio, taking a seat beside him.
"Brother Changfeng."
"Qingqing, you're here." Ye Changfeng's voice spiked with desperate hope. "I... I heard rumors today. The clan said the Yin family intends to break our betrothal. Did you... did you not oppose them?"
"I..." Yin Qingqing bowed her head, refusing to meet his gaze. "I didn't. I had no power to oppose them, Brother Changfeng..."
"Do I even have the right to let you call me that anymore?" All the color drained from Ye Changfeng's face, leaving him looking like a corpse.
"You used to tell me that a true man knows when to endure the weight of the world, and when to set it down. You said that, sooner or later, a true man always rises," Yin Qingqing murmured softly.
"Look at me. Look at this decaying hovel I live in. Do I look like a true man to you?" Ye Changfeng let out a hollow, broken laugh. "This cultivation world... perhaps I was never meant for it in the first place."
"Brother Changfeng, your father... has he truly forsaken you? Is the Ye family truly cutting off all your resources?"
"Mn. We had a massive fallout last month. The rift is permanent. Every single resource he funneled to me has been severed. But I still have a tiny stash hidden away. I'll fetch it for you before you leave."
A flash of visceral disgust flickered across Yin Qingqing's eyes. Ever so subtly, she shifted her weight, scooting her body an inch further away from him on the stone bench.
"Qingqing! Let's elope!" Ye Changfeng lunged forward, desperately seizing both her hands. "Leave with me! We'll flee Jiuyuan City. I swear, the rot in my meridians can be cured. I'll fight my way up, I'll plunder enough resources to keep you draped in luxury for a hundred lifetimes! You've been my anchor all these years. If I lose you now, I have nothing left to live for!"
Yin Qingqing violently snatched her hands out of his grip. Crocodile tears shimmered in her eyes. "Brother Changfeng, please don't do this! The clan's absolute decree... I cannot defy it, and neither can you."
Ye Changfeng froze as if struck by heavenly lightning. His empty hands slumped to his sides.
In the crushing depths of his despair, a pair of soft, warm lips briefly brushed against his. The faint, sweet scent of Yin Qingqing washed over him, accompanied by a silken whisper in his ear.
"Brother Changfeng, I will be a wife to another man... but my heart will forever belong to you. I believe in you. You will always be the unrivaled genius of my youth. I know that one day, you will conquer the heavens again... I will wait for you."
The white-clad silhouette melted away into the night, leaving behind nothing but cold air and two lines of silent tears sliding down Ye Changfeng's cheeks.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm9NTy6VxG2
and then Add to home screen.