Chapter 32 The Essence of Humanity_1

"Name?"

"Huai Shi."

"Age?"

"Seventeen... Wait a minute, does the Astronomical Society also recruit Cowherds?"

In the silent office, the youth scratching his chin behind the desk looked baffled at the emotionless inquirer opposite him, "I mean, Uncle, you've asked and investigated, and I've even eliminated a menace for the Astronomical Society, right? Why am I being treated like a traitor?"

"Routine investigation, please cooperate."

For the umpteenth time, the inquirer uttered these words, then followed up with, "Can you describe your fight with Red Gloves again?"

"Forgot, can't remember." Huai Shi rolled his eyes, "Maybe a bald caped Peppa Pig Hero passing by killed him with a slap? Really, I just walked in and saw him hitting Red Gloves..."

"Oh, bald caped Peppa Pig Hero... How is that different from what you said last time?"

"I can't remember!"

"Then, can you explain how you, as a newly Sublimated individual, managed to kill Red Gloves, a Third Stage? According to our previous investigation, you seemed to have been a student specialized in music and haven't even fought before."

Huai Shi rolled his eyes again, "I have natural super strength!"

"Next question…"

Two hours later, the inquirer calmly organized the thick stack of records at hand and stood up to say goodbye as if it were routine, "Thank you for your cooperation, and thank you for the contributions you've made to the world."

After shaking hands formally, he turned and left.

Huai Shi stood at the door, completely dumbfounded.

"Finally done? I'm saying, isn't the Astronomical Society out of their minds? Sending someone to repeatedly ask the same questions over these days..."

Ai Qing, who was reading, was unbothered, "Normal procedure, it's about Green Day, there has to be a thorough record. They are all documentation officers. It's their job to record whatever you say, no matter what, and then archive it."

"Is such superficial recording really useful?"

"It's just following protocol," said Ai Qing calmly, "If nobody wanted to cause trouble during the process, it should be fine."

"Hm?" Huai Shi looked over, "Cause trouble?"

"Standard operation, sit down."

Ai Qing sipped her coffee, served by a female attendant, unperturbed, "Where there are people, there's conflict. The position of Inspector is so important; it's always more wolves than meat. Being held by a cripple who's a few months shy of twenty, everyone's going to feel disgruntled. If stirring up some trouble could free up a position, I wouldn't mind stirring things up myself."

"..."

Huai Shi inhaled sharply, "The Astronomical Society really is in deep waters."

"One last reminder—"

Finally, Ai Qing looked up, glancing at the tag in front of Huai Shi, "It's not 'you guys', it's 'us'—of course, I don't mean to give you a sense of collective pride, but if I get into trouble, you won't fare well either."

"Ah, I get it, you mean we're all in the same boat, right?"

Huai Shi sighed. Over the past several days, he had almost gotten used to Ai Qing's way of speaking, but why couldn't he hear a single positive word from her?

If he himself was a Negative Energy Producer, then Ai Qing could definitely run a factory—her output was on a completely different level.

How on earth did this woman manage to live up to now?

"Of course by strength,"

Ai Qing replied without lifting her head.

Huai Shi was startled, then felt a chill run down his spine. Could this woman read minds too?

"I'm not a Sublimator, so I don't have those weird abilities. If I were you, I wouldn't wear all my questions on my face."

"Uh..."

Huai Shi subconsciously touched his face, "Is there something written on my face?"

"Yes," Ai Qing looked up from her book once more, giving him a pitying glance, "It vividly exemplifies the essence of humanity."

"Eh? Is it a pigeon or a parrot?"

Huai Shi asked, curious.

"..."

Ai Qing didn't even want to bother with him anymore.

Under Huai Shi's relentless noise assault, she finally showed a hint of impatience, closed her book, and sincerely doubted her sanity for recruiting this person as her secretary.

"What are you really trying to do?"

She raised her finger to pinch her bridge of the nose and narrowed her eyes, "If you've finished your report and have nothing to do, why don't you check out the Xinhai Top Ten Haunted Houses spread by the do-gooders online, so we don't have more bored people going crazy from exploring Haunted Houses like you."

"Don't even bring that up!"

Huai Shi banged the table, enraged, "That ranking is crap! The first place is my house!

How did my house become a Haunted House? Just because it's a bit rundown and poor? If I had the money, would the door still be unrepaired? The past two days I've chased away four groups of nutjobs wanting to take pictures!"

"..."

Ai Qing, at a loss for words, "So what are you really trying to say?"

"This... I just wanted to consult..." Huai Shi suddenly became shy, rubbing his hands together and squeezing out a flattering smile, "Boss, can you give me an advance on my salary?"

"..."

Ai Qing took a deep breath, resisting the urge to slam her book on this fool's face, "Didn't I already advance you over twenty thousand?"

"Gone." Huai Shi held back tears, glancing out the window at the dead raven on the tree, recalling the unbearable past, "In short, it's a long story.

School is about to start, I'm almost four thousand in debt on my credit, not to mention tuition, I can't even afford to eat, boss, can you maybe advance me some salary to get through the year?"

"It's only the end of September now, there's still half a year until the New Year."

Ai Qing looked at him expressionlessly for a long time before pulling out her phone, "How much do you need?"

Huai Shi's eyes immediately lit up, and he leaned in closer, "Hey, just give me five or six thousand, I'll pay you back once I get my salary."

Ding!

"Payment received for 4,000 yuan via Alipay."

Ai Qing indifferently put away her phone, "This is your basic salary for this month. Take it, unless there are any other temporary tasks, you're going to have to survive on this until the 15th of next month."

"There's actually four thousand for a month's salary!"

Huai Shi was overjoyed, considering he used to play the violin in bars and orphanage performances rain or shine, where would he get this much money.

"Ah, perfect, Old Liu is being discharged from the hospital tomorrow, I can even treat him to a meal."

"Since when did you two get so close?"

"Ha, jealous, huh?" Huai Shi began to get carried away, "The friendship between men is just that simple."

"Is it?"

Ai Qing calmly took a sip of her coffee and asked seemingly casually, "So, have you figured out how to explain to him about you setting fire to the car he bought with a loan of over a million yuan?"

"..."

Soon after, watching Huai Shi leave the office with a pained expression, Ai Qing finally welcomed some peace and quiet.

In the silence, she let out a sigh and looked at the substantial transfer amount displayed on the bank page on her computer screen— a total of 3.4 million US dollars.

Forget it.

Maybe it's better not to tell him about the bounty on Red Gloves for now, right?

.

.

"How can a perfectly good house turn into a haunted house?"

Huai Shi stood at his own front door with hands on hips, looking at the lush towering trees around, the wall covered with green moss, and the ivy.

Behind the rust-covered gate, wildflowers and green grass bloomed in the courtyard, and broken statues reflected white light under the sun...

"No matter how you look at it, it's a picturesque scenery with bright sunshine!"

After spitting a few curses in his mind at those who recklessly ranked stuff online, Huai Shi selectively ignored how spooky his house got at night and swaggered through the squeaky gate.

"I'm home!"

There was no reply, only the sharp sound of the gate slowly closing behind him.

See? How considerate! Even the gate is fully automatic!

Do other places have this? Do they? Do they?

People who say such a nice place is haunted must be truly wicked at heart.

Huai Shi snorted coldly, then, stepping on the creaking floorboards, he pushed open the main door of the house and returned to the dusty hall, where he picked up a cup on the table, drank a couple sips of hot water, and went back to his room to start packing the things he needed for school.

But for someone like him, who basically guessed his way through academic subjects, the high school curriculum was pretty much abandoned, and what he prepared more for was the material and textbooks for the professional performance examination he would take next month.

The ABRSM professional performance certificate was accepted as a diploma in most countries around the world. With this in hand, as long as his college entrance examination scores weren't disastrously bad, getting an acceptance letter from an arts university shouldn't be a problem.

"So, does this really mean anything to you now?" Raven asked.

"Hm?" Huai Shi didn't understand.

Raven asked again, "Do you think a diploma has any significance for a Sublimator?"

"Sublimators don't need to eat? Sublimators don't need to work?" Huai Shi rolled his eyes, "Money doesn't just fall from the sky if you're sitting at home, does it?"

"..."

Raven sighed, "What I meant is, for most Sublimators, money isn't usually a concern. They may not be rich, but they are definitely beyond worrying about food and shelter."

"Where do Sublimators get their money from?" Huai Shi looked at her skeptically, "Murder and arson? How is that different from robbery? Can't one live a peaceful life and earn a living honestly?"

Truth be told, although the Astronomical Society did pay a generous salary for his work, earning a base salary of 4,000 yuan each month even if he did nothing, a little thought made it clear how dangerous work could be when it came up.

Just look at Liu DongLi.

A Cowherd leading a good life, not content to keep to himself, came to be his bodyguard. He kept his guard until something went wrong! Not only was he forced to join the old ladies' sunset red yangge dance team, but he also got stabbed in the back by a second fifth.

If Huai Shi had any feelings about the world of Sublimators in these days, it was summed up in one word: danger.

A vast number of Border Relics scattered in Current Circumstances—unclear in function, threat, and purpose—everyone's Soul Ability was distinctly different, along with the bizarre Stigmata fused into the bodies of High Stage Sublimators...

Any one of them could easily end a person's life.

Even a Cowherd like Liu DongLi, who sold his appearance, could use his prime beauty (self-proclaimed) to enchant onlookers, making them forget to breathe and suffocate to death.

And as for Huai Shi himself, he was nothing more than a weak, pitiful, and helpless Negative Energy Producer.

Just finishing off a crippled Red Gloves nearly cost him his life on several occasions.

Life and death?

Forget it.

Better to find a way to be financially independent as soon as possible, then resign from the Astronomical Society and honestly work towards his dream of playing the violin in Vienna.

Worst comes to worst, being a music teacher would be fine, too!

"...Although the life of a Sublimator may be dangerous for most people, there are still those who are self-reliant, okay? Don't assume that all Sublimators in the world are bandits,"

With a sigh of resignation, Raven raised a paw to show him the phone, "Take a look at this message first."

"What's this?"

Huai Shi leaned in to look at the draft article from Tomorrow News, "Rome Auction House sets a new record, Dusk Genealogy Fifth Stage Stigmata Nidhogg sold for forty-three… one two three, holy crap that's a lot of zeros!"