At the front desk, Zhao Xintong was低头 playing on her phone, her slender, delicate fingers dancing across the screen: "Master Yuan Shi came to the hotel earlier. He's fine, unharmed—everyone can rest easy." The hotel's business was steady but modest, with guests often not filling the rooms completely. Throughout the day, Zhao Xintong had only welcomed three groups of visitors, giving her ample time to browse her phone. Her colleagues in the group were deeply concerned about the matter, even though Xiao Yuan had already informed them that Master Yuan Shi had safely returned to Songhai unharmed—though she hadn't provided further details. ——In fact, Xiao Yuan herself wasn't entirely certain. [Fang Aun: Good to hear. Master Yuan Shi has been a real lifesaver this time. We should find a chance to thank him—how about we all make a point of visiting the hotel sometime soon?] [Bang Bang: What a great guy! Men like Master Yuan are absolutely irresistible to me.] [Sweet Heart Red Mage: @Bang Bang, we're here to thank Master Yuan, not to punish him. Go sit by yourself, you.] 】 【Zhao Xintong: @Aunt Fang, he won't be going out for the near future. We'll see how it goes from there.】 【Aunt Fang: Anyone targeted by the Overseeing Authority will naturally choose to stay low-key.】 Aunt Fang expressed her understanding. 【Zhao Xintong: Also, I'd like to inform everyone of another matter—the root cause of this incident is that the malevolent organization aims to use me to lure out Yuan Shi Tian Zun. It appears that our team members' personal information has already been compromised. Everyone should urgently move out and change jobs—quicker is better.】 This news sent everyone into shock. 【Yang Bo: Why didn't Xiao Yuan remind us?】 【Zhao Xintong: Don't worry, Yang Bo. We've only just figured this out. The entire process—from Yuan Shi Tian Zun arriving at Bai Xie branch in the morning to his escape and return to Song Hai by afternoon—has taken less than a day.】 【Lin Chong: Damn it, how did the members' information get leaked?】 【Zhao Xintong: The leak was orchestrated by Liang Chen, who betrayed his master. He has already fled the 【Human wanderers: Don't rush—there aren't many people in the group who actually have serious jobs. Just resign and move on. As for someone like me, who's always on the move, it really doesn't matter.】 Zhao Xintong set down her phone and looked at Xiao Yuan, who was staring blankly, speaking softly, "I've already informed everyone. What are you thinking about? You've been preoccupied since Master Yuan Shishen left." Zhao actually knew—Xiaoyuan, now a middle school student, wasn't a child anymore. During their last stay at the hotel, Kou Beiyue had subtly mocked the growing romance between Xiao Yuan and Master Yuan Shishen. It must be this that had strained their relationship. "Nothing!" Xiao Yuan replied calmly. "I'm just thinking about how to avoid future dangers. With Master Wenhun no longer here at the hotel, we need to be more careful—not to burden Master Yuan Shishen again." "Okay..." Zhao Xint tong nodded, her lips pressed together. From Xiao Yuan's tone, she knew she was right. She sighed gently. There was little she could do—children couldn't really speak Zhao Xintong lowered her head again, opened the delivery platform, and said, "It's nearly mealtime, Aunt Xiao Yuan. I'll place my order." "Isn't dinner always brought back by Kou Beiyue!" Yuan Shang Tianzun's voice interrupted her. Zhao Xintong looked up in surprise, and saw starlight rising from the hall. Aunt Xiao Yuan's eyes brightened slightly. Zhang Yuancheng stepped out of the starlight and came to the front desk, looking at the junior high student, "I have something to tell Xiao Yuan. You go up to your room first." Zhao Xintong turned her head toward Aunt Xiao Yuan, a youthful smile appearing on her slightly innocent face: "Alright, you two talk." She picked up her phone and hurried into the hotel. Upon hearing the elevator door open with a soft chime, Aunt Xiao Yuan spoke up, her elegant demeanor unchanged: "You should know that things outside are not safe, including the traceless hotel." "Shouldn't Master Wuhen have given you his life-saving backup before he left?" Zhang Yuancheng said casually, walking past the front desk and sitting down on the lounge Neither of them spoke. After a few seconds of silence, Zhang Yuanqing broke the quiet, "Didn't you want to tell me about the wanderer from the human world last time?" His tone was casual, as if chatting casually. Xiao Yuan faced away from him, her expression invisible. She didn't have the immediate intention to speak, but after a moment of preparation, she began to recount: "He came from a small rural village under the jurisdiction of Nanming City—backward and poor. Even before the year 2000, the village didn't have electricity. People had to ride ox-carts for two hours to reach the city; the only three-wheeled motorcycle belonged to the village secretary. Farming could barely keep them afloat. To earn money, villagers had to transport white flour or grow opium. His mother was from the provincial capital, having graduated from high school—she was expected to have a bright future and would never intersect with that wild, impoverished village. She was taken there and sold for eight thousand yuan." A woman who has read books would certainly not content herself in a poor mountain village, day after day thinking of escape since she was brought there, only to be caught and beaten every time. "Half the women in the village were brought back from outside—without this method, they simply couldn't marry. When one wife runs away, the whole village chases after her, and the authorities look the other way. This has gone on for many years, until the 'wanderer from the world' is born. "Since he can remember, his mother has been confined in a small room, eating only one meal a day, which he carries to her—just like... feeding a dog! Yes, that's exactly what he said himself. "His biological father was a rough, brutal man. Every day, after returning from the fields, he would beat him and then go to the small room to satisfy his desires for the poor woman. To men, he needed only a child to carry on the family line and a strong young worker to carry out the labor—fatherly love, however, was something they simply didn't care about. "So the human wanderer had never experienced his mother's love nor received paternal care. His very birth was the culmination of a series of crimes. His mother detested him, seeing him each time as the most repulsive thing in the world. His father beat him and forced him to work in the fields, and he named himself 'the human wanderer,' feeling only that he was passing through life, belonging nowhere. Later, the year after his mother's death, a local criminal syndicate came to their village, paid five thousand yuan, and bought him—treating him like a mule to transport flour. During one such transport, he was arrested by the Nanming District Public Security Bureau when he was just thirteen years old. It was this experience that introduced him to his future adoptive father—the head of the Public Security Bureau, a dedicated and serious officer who deeply sympathized with the boy's plight. Moved by his suffering, he led the team to arrest the man and brought the human wanderer home." "This experience transformed his life. He received both paternal and maternal love, no longer having to endure beatings and hard labor, no longer having to carry flour sacks. Finally, he wore new clothes, carried his schoolbag, and could attend school like a typical child. He gradually struggled out of loneliness and suffering... "Yet this period of good fortune did not last long. The goddess of fate bestowed upon him kindness and love—only to later intensify her trials. At the age of sixteen, his foster father's informant betrayed him, and a group of fifteen criminals stormed into their home, killing his foster parents outright. He leapt from the balcony and survived by sheer luck." "He lay in the hospital for three months, fighting desperately to reclaim his life from the brink of death. Upon waking, his nature had changed entirely—his childhood experiences and the profound suffering he endured had warped his spirit. He became a villain, a shadowy drug enforcement officer who wandered along the borders, vowing to avenge himself against the drug traffickers until the very end of his life. Yet he didn't just hate the traffickers—he also hated the world, the society. He believed his very birth was a powerful testament to societal darkness, and thus, he felt compelled to repay that society with his life. Yet his foster father, a peace officer, devoted his entire life to upholding order, and so, he had to constantly suppress his inner rage and malice, simply to not disappoint him." Miko spoke softly, "That's all." "It's no wonder he and the Pursuer of the Poison are brother and brother by different fathers. Without the hardships of his childhood and youth, he would have become a lawful, conventional professional as well. Zhang Yuanqing sighed and said, "Do you know why I wanted to hear his story?" Xiao Yuan turned her back to him, making a soft "hm." Zhang Yuanqing gazed at her silhouette, his voice low and earnest: "My sergeant once told me that evil professions are the very fires born from humanity itself—eradicating evil professions is like putting out a fire. When the flames grow too fierce and the fire cannot be contained, it's humanity's own fault. I initially agreed with his perspective, until I encountered 'a man who feels ashamed to be a father.' His story deeply moved me. Since then, I've often wondered—should all evil professions perish? Most certainly, yes. But what about someone like 'a man who feels ashamed to be a father'? What about someone like my uncle Zhang? Their descent into darkness stems from societal injustices—humanity has driven them to the brink, pushing them into the abyss." Yet even so, they were still striving for self-redemption, striving to reconcile with the world. "When facing someone like this, protecting, redeeming, transforming, understanding, and guiding—these are the very duties of a lawful, orderly profession. I saved Zhao Xintong not because of your personal favor; this has always been my principle." Zhang Yuanqing stood up, positioning himself behind her, and spoke softly: "Xiao Yuan, you know me well. Why then do you say you need to 'compensate' me? You've deeply disappointed me. I thought I knew you well—yet you seem utterly unaware of me." At that moment, Zhang Yuanqing instinctively mastered the PUA techniques. Xiao Yuan gazed steadily at the hotel entrance, her side profile elegant and resolute, her lips slightly pressed. Zhang Yuanqing seized the momentum, his voice firm and increasingly assertive, pressing forward: "Whenever challenges arise, your first instinct is to not owe me anything, to compensate me—so that you may continue to uphold your dignity and maintain the air of being cold and composed in front of me." "I've always been an outsider in your heart. I've always been someone who doesn't quite belong. I ask you—what if someone else from the team had to save Tōtō at great personal cost? Wouldn't you think of compensating them first? Because, in your mind, they're family, companions who've stood by each other through life and death. You're stepping in to compensate me now—this alone shows that you've already begun to distance yourself. Don't rush to defend yourself. Just listen to your own heart. 'And now you're silent,' I see you're not saying anything. I sigh. 'Then shall I go?' As I speak, I lift my hand, making the gesture to snap my fingers. According to my mentor's analysis, at this moment, a woman would feel guilty and anxious, stepping in to urge me to stay. If she doesn't, then the mentor—especially one of great skill—has further moves in reserve. 'Are you doing all this to make me feel guilty, so that I'll be completely obedient to you?' she turns to look at him. ...His expression instantly stiffens. His raised hand freezes in place. Xiao Yuan shifted her gaze, once again turning her attention to the hotel entrance, and said calmly, "Your script works well when you're just trying to manage Tung-tung. But right now, it's a bit much." "...” Zhang Yuanqing felt a bit embarrassed. His mentor had only taught him how to handle situations where he either tried to persuade someone to stay or to let them go. Now, the person had simply launched a full-scale appeal—what was he supposed to do? A firm, decisive approach was definitely out of the question. It seemed he’d have to simply walk away. If his mentor were here, he’d surely handle this smoothly. But Zhang was still a beginner at these social maneuvers—still not at the point where he could outthink the situation with no strategy. In such an unexpected scenario, he felt completely at a loss. At that moment, Xiao Yuan glanced at the sky and said softly, "I'm feeling a bit tired. I'd like to go back to my room and rest." She then pulled out her phone, dialed Tung-tung’s number, and asked her to come down and take a look at the store. With a composed expression, she walked past Zhang Yuan "May I ask something?" Zhang Yuanqing paused and said, "Let me tell you a fairy tale. A fox becomes infatuated with a hen and tries to manipulate her—yet the hen isn't easily fooled. She immediately sees through the fox's cunning intentions and storms off in anger. Now, does the fox still have a chance?" Zhao Xintong shook her head sadly. Just as Zhang Yuanqing was about to speak, a soft chime sounded from his phone pocket. He had expected Guan Ya to remind him to head home for barbecue, but it was a message from Xiao Yuan. [Xiao Yuan: Do you still count as someone who prefers older women?] ... Fujiawan. As the sun set, the rabbit-dress women moved back and forth in the lush courtyard, carrying ingredients, grills, wood charcoal, tables, and chairs. They even took on the role of electricians, connecting wires and bringing in xenon lights—truly versatile. Sun Miaomiao hurried to assist, showing no hesitation or pretense, and was genuinely eager to help. Xie Lingxi was much more lazy—she crossed her legs on a small stool, wildly sending messages, complaining, “Why hasn’t Yuanshi Brother come back yet? I’ve sent him messages, but he hasn’t replied.” Sun Miao Miao just opened a package of steak, lifted her eyes and said, “He says he has urgent matters to attend to and will return later. Let’s go ahead and start grilling.” “What kind of matters?” Sun Miao Miao shook her head, “Seems like a business deal with a courier company—something worth billions.” …… The plump boy rode his small electric bike straight toward the city center, checking into a five-star hotel. After parking his bike, he easily secured a hourly room using his illusionist’s disguise and mental manipulation techniques. He took the elevator to his room, removed his dream-inducing helmet, lay down on the bed, and connected with the Southern Branch Grand Elder.