It's late July, yet traveling from Biyun to Tiandu feels like crossing into a different season.
Biyun is twenty degrees, Tiandu forty degrees; as soon as Tang Rao got off the plane, he felt completely wilted.
As if his body was hollowed out.
"Tang Rao, can you stop acting like a lump of mud?" In the car, Liu Shisan glances sideways at Tang Rao while driving.
Tang Rao is slouching in the passenger seat, his head stuck in the corner between the car window and seat, his mouth wide open, looking utterly despondent.
"I don't want to be like this either..." Tang Rao's voice is soft and weak, "But look."
Saying so, Tang Rao extends his hand, pointing towards the sun in the sky.
The huge, glaring white sphere is quite frightful to behold.
The key problem is, the weather is also stifling.
It's both stuffy and hot; it's lethal.
Tang Rao thinks, thankfully the people of Blue Star were smart enough to invent air conditioning, otherwise, he would have been driven to extremes.
Of course, one could use Spiritual Energy to drive away the heat, but who in their right mind would keep activating their Spiritual Energy all day long? Is that self-torture?
"Liven up a bit, we are almost at the Special Ninth Department, I'm not confident with you like this," Liu Shisan desperately draws on his cigarette, his expression somewhat grim.
Tang Rao: "…"
"Just go ahead and do what you need to do boldly, whatever the problem, I'll handle it," Tang Rao pats his chest, promising confidently.
"Then sit up straight..."
"I won't."
…
After an hour of a car ride that left Tang Rao feeling lifeless, they finally arrived outside the Special Ninth Department.
Tang Rao has a pass for the Special Ninth Department, and as the Chief Instructor, bringing Liu Shisan in was no issue at all.
"Ah! It's good to be here." Entering the underground base, Tang Rao sincerely exclaims.
There's no scorching sun, and the air-conditioning is plentiful.
Liu Shisan is evidently much more well-known in the Special Ninth Department than Tang Rao.
People passing by rarely recognize Tang Rao, but almost every one of them turns to look at Liu Shisan with surprise in their eyes.
"It seems like you mixed well here before, many people know you," Tang Rao teased Liu Shisan.
"You don't seem very impressive as the Chief Instructor; no one even greets you," Liu Shisan's confidence falters, considering Tang Rao is the Chief Instructor of the Special Ninth Department, it feels strange that almost no one recognizes him.
"It's my second visit..." Tang Rao says with a grin.
Liu Shisan: "…"
At this moment, she really wants to curse at Tang Rao. It's your second visit, so why play the Big Head? Making it seem as if you're all high and mighty at the Special Ninth Department.
"So, we're just standing here?" Tang Rao looks at Liu Shisan, remembering her plan to take the lead while he follows up.
"Right." Liu Shisan nods, by now, many people's nerves must be on edge.
Perhaps no one expected that eight months later, she, Liu Shisan, would return.
"Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!" Suddenly, a red alarm blares throughout the Special Ninth Department, extremely noisy and irritating.
People around them start running, some taking cover, others springing into action.
As the alarm blares, figures appear, quickly surrounding Tang Rao and Liu Shisan.
Among these people, Tang Rao only recognizes two, Xiao Shi and Ming Luo.
The rest, I've never even seen before.
But clearly, each one of these people is an old acquaintance of Liu Shisan, you can tell just from the way they look at Liu Shisan.
"Didn't expect me to come back, did you?" Liu Shisan looks around with a cold sneer.
Since I'm already here, might as well get started, can't be showing any weakness.
As for whether Tang Rao is reliable or not, I no longer care.
Worst case, I die!
"The welcome ceremony you've set up for me is quite grand, should I thank you a few words? You bunch of trash!" Liu Shisan curses while smoking, filled with the smell of gunpowder.
The expressions on many of the members of the Special Ninth Department around her darken.
"Thirteen... you shouldn't have come..." A cute chubby woman with black-rimmed glasses and a bit of baby fat can't help but speak up, her eyes full of worry.
"None of your business, get lost! You damn whore, don't think I don't know about your dirty deeds!" Liu Shisan curses directly.
The cute woman's face changes immediately, the worry in her eyes slowly dispersing and turning into resentment and anger.
Tang Rao watches in amazement, wow, women really can't be trusted.
He thought the cute woman had a good relationship with Liu Shisan since she spoke out of concern, but no, it was all an act.
Once the pretense is stripped away, the cute woman turns into someone so sinister, her gaze is terrifying.
"Liu Shisan, seems like you really want to die." A man steps out from the crowd, around thirty-five or thirty-six years old, well-dressed and presentable.
"Wu Changxing!" Seeing the middle-aged man, Liu Shisan clenches her teeth in anger, her cigarette breaking in her mouth.
Clearly, Liu Shisan harbors deep hatred for this man named Wu Changxing.
Wu Changxing's eyes are cold and disdainful, he chuckles slowly, "Liu Shisan, you are no longer a member of the Special Ninth Department, you have been expelled. The Special Ninth Department spared your life, but you were ungrateful and barged in here, it seems we must kill you now."
Liu Shisan doesn't respond, just hatred, fists clenched, nails digging into her flesh.
"Everyone prepare, eliminate the intruder!" Wu Changxing growls, waving his right hand lightly.
Immediately, half of the people present assume an attacking stance.
The other half either step back slightly or remain silent, no one stepping forward to say even a word.
It seems, this Wu Changxing, is not a simple character.
"Come on, kill me! Wu Changxing, fuck your ancestors!" Liu Shisan points at Wu Changxing, eyes bloodshot, and then flips him the middle finger.
"Stubborn fool, kill!" Wu Changxing roars.
"Wait... hold on a second," at this point, Tang Rao had no choice but to step in.
Liu Shisan already escalated the situation, he needed to maintain some control.
"Who are you?" Wu Changxing looks at Tang Rao, frowning.
Tang Rao grins, looking rather amiable.
"Me? I'm also from the Special Ninth Department. It was I who brought Liu Shisan here, so technically, she isn't trespassing. So, let's not get too excited, everything is negotiable! Peace is most precious, peace is most precious." Tang Rao waves his hands.
In the crowd, Xiao Shi and Ming Luo swallow their saliva; they've seen the fierce and domineering side of Tang Rao, 'peace is most precious' really suits this guy to say.
"Liu Shisan was brought here by you? Hmph, colluding with a traitor of the Special Ninth Department, it's a capital offense! Kill them both!" Wu Changxing coldly sneers, his face showing a hint of cruelty.
Where did this garbage come from, thinking he's someone important?
Since you want to stand up for Liu Shisan, fine, I'll kill you too.
Tang Rao: "..."
"Wait, just wait!" Tang Rao yells again.
Then looks at Wu Changxing, speaking softly with a smile, "So, you're Wu Changxing, right? Nice to meet you, I'm Tang Rao, the recently appointed Chief Instructor of the Special Ninth Department. If there's any issue, let's sit down and have a good talk, peace is most precious!"
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