Chapter 127.1: A Beginning and an End Part 1
Xu Jun grabbed Chen Yubo by the head and screamed, “Motherfucker, we all earned this money. Why should this bastard take it all for himself?! Mr. Lin, Chen Xingzhou is already dying, what the hell are you still stubborn for?! Can you even hold this together?! Split the money and let everyone go their separate ways, wouldn’t that be better?!”
Mr. Lin wiped the blood from his hands on the tablecloth, expressionless. “No. What belongs to you, you can take. Take it without guilt. What isn’t yours, you must not touch it. Touch it even once, and you invite disaster. You’ll die without a burial place[1].”
“Die, my ass! I’ll send this bastard to meet his brother right now!” Seeing no hope of survival, Xu Jun’s face twisted fiercely. He decisively pulled the trigger. “Go eat shit!”
Unfortunately, there was no deafening blast, no spray of blood. Only the dry, hollow sound of a jammed weapon.
Click. Click.
He kept frantically pulling the trigger, but under Ji Jue’s gaze, it was useless. Xu Jun’s shifting expressions of rage and terror turned into blank shock. He stared dumbly at Mr. Lin walking up to him, finally realizing something. He dropped the gun, sneered coldly, and was about to say something, but a hand clamped around his throat.
Black smoke and sparks burst from his mouth and nose.
In an instant, the struggling, terrified man was burned to ash in Mr. Lin’s grip. Faint flames, like thin streams, flowed into Mr. Lin’s mouth and nose. His eyes were pitch black, like caverns leading into an underground furnace, and a flash of crimson fire flickered briefly within before vanishing.
Then everything returned to normal. Mr. Lin turned his gaze toward Ji Jue.
Ji Jue pointed in a direction and sighed. “Since you’re so capable, you shouldn’t stop here. If that wasn’t fun enough for you, there’s another guy on the mountain behind us, taking photos with a camera pointed this way. The resolution’s pretty good.”
Mr. Lin nodded and vanished in a flash. The room fell silent.
Everyone exchanged uneasy glances before looking at Ji Jue. Ji Jue said nothing, so they didn’t dare speak either. Only Chen Yubo, who had narrowly escaped disaster, slumped into his chair, gasping for breath. He wiped away the black ash clinging to his body in a panic.
A few minutes later, Mr. Lin returned. In one hand, he carried a camera with some kind of massive lens attached. In the other, he held a phone whose casing was partially melted from heat. He placed both on the table in front of everyone. The impact rang out clearly in the silent room.
“Everyone can rest assured. Those with guilty consciences will have a horrible death, but those who stay will remain brothers of the same family. We’ll share life and death, wealth and glory. When the boss returns, we will handsomely reward our own people!”
For the first time since the meeting began, Mr. Lin showed a warm and gentle smile.
But as the saying went, distant water could not quench immediate thirst[2]. Even if fermented into kvass[3], it still wouldn’t help. After demonstrating the brutal consequences of betrayal, it was time for the rewards.
Mr. Lin clapped his hands, and assistants pushed in small carts each holding one black box. Everyone who chose to stay received one. Even Ji Jue got a share, and it felt heavy in his hands. The density made him raise an eyebrow.
Gold bars?
That was quite an extravagant gesture.
With the encouragement of real gold and silver, plus those distant promises, morale seemed to lift all at once. Not to mention Mr. Lin’s assurances that once the boss was out of the hospital, even if they didn’t do business in Cliff City anymore, they could rebuild elsewhere like the Thousand Island region and rise again.
The previously low morale quickly recovered.
After the meeting wound down, the first one to jump up was that clueless Blondie guy. Unlike the others who were full of schemes and hidden agendas, he was strikingly stupid, uneducated, and clear-eyed, still clinging to talk of loyalty and brotherhood. Truly, he was a simpleton.
He came over first with an enthusiastic grin, full of curiosity. “Hey, damn, that was impressive, bro. How did you figure it out? Are you a hacker or something?”
Ji Jue waved it off with a smile. “It’s just a little trick. Once you explain it, it’s not worth much anymore. When it really comes down to action, we still need everyone’s help.”
“Hey, no problem! Anyone who dares touch the boss’s younger brother has to get through me first!” Blondie grinned, thumping his chest and laughing carelessly.
His attitude was honestly enviable.
After Mr. Lin sent the business staff away, he sat down next to Ji Jue. “Mr. Ji, how do you feel about all this?”
Ji Jue simply shook his head. “I still can’t accept your way of doing things.”
He took heads at the drop of a hat, or he’d kill with no intact corpse left behind. It was terrifying.
Mr. Lin sighed. “That’s how societies like ours are. White Deer is different from Origin. When someone makes a mistake, you can’t just fire them and be done with it. If you do something wrong, you have to bear the consequences.”
“Then just don’t do anything in the first place,” Ji Jue replied indifferently.
When a tree fell, the monkeys scattered[4]. Chen Xingzhou’s ship was clearly about to sink, so could he really expect everyone to die loyal and uphold their integrity? At times like this, those who claimed disloyalty were definitely disloyal, but those loudly declaring loyalty might not actually be loyal at all.
Everyone was a sly fox who had crawled out of filthy gutters. Who would be soft-hearted enough to shed tears over Liaozhai[5]?
Out of every ten people who said they believed in the boss, eight or nine were actually stalling and acting against him behind the scenes, just waiting for Chen Xingzhou to take his last breath before seamlessly switching to their next job.
Some of them probably already had their next employer lined up.
And more importantly...
“Is this enough people?” Ji Jue glanced around the dining hall. Aside from him and An Ran, the only Chosen Ones left were A Yi and Blondie. A Yi was clearly the type with a timid, useless personality. Blondie was the complete opposite; he was reckless to the point of stupidity.
If Lei Yaoxing really decided to turn on them, were they supposed to protect Chen Yubo?
Seriously?
Even if Mr. Lin was made of iron, how many people could he possibly take on alone? What about Chen Xingzhou? Was he just going to ignore him entirely?
“Don’t worry. Young Master Yubo’s situation has nothing to do with the Wasteland Assembly. As long as we get through this period, everything will be fine. Besides, when it comes to bodyguards, quality matters more than quantity. I’ve already called in outside help.” Mr. Lin looked down at his watch. “Based on the timing, they should be here any minute now.”
As soon as he finished speaking, dust and smoke rose from the mountain road. A muddy off-road vehicle swerved and lurched its way toward the estate. Ji Jue only glanced at it before shaking his head. Only someone who consumed at least half a jin of alcohol would drive like that.
In the end, the vehicle skidded dangerously close to the iron gate, scraped through, and came to a drifting stop in front of the villa. An empty liquor bottle was tossed out of the window as a tall, broad-shouldered figure staggered out.
His skin was deeply tanned, but one could still tell his original complexion was fair. His eyes were a striking green, carrying clear imperial features, though his brows and facial structure also had hints of Federation lineage. His black curly hair, along with the ornaments on his body and the curved blade at his waist, all carried a strong Central Lands aesthetic.
He raised his head and grinned toward the people upstairs. Across his teeth, colorful totemic patterns of the Thousand Island style were clearly visible.
Ji Jue was stunned. What kind of ultimate chaotic fashion sense was this?
So trendy. Way too trendy. So trendy it is honestly a little scary.
Mr. Lin, waiting at the entrance, took a deep breath and reluctantly addressed the man. “It’s been a long time, Mr. Muhammad Wayne Tom Barlovsky.”
The unsteady middle-aged man, stubbled all over his face, slapped Mr. Lin on the shoulder. “Hey, come on, we’re all old acquaintances here. Just call me Tom. Didn’t you say I was guarding the hospital ward? Why am I here instead? This isn’t what the contract said.”
Mr. Lin smiled. “This side needs someone of your caliber more urgently.”
“Whatever. Guarding a yard or guarding a door, it’s all the same. Even if there’s no pay, it still counts! Meal allowance... ahem, fuel subsidy, high-temperature hazard pay, injury compensation, you’ve gotta include all that!” He paused, slapped his head. “Night shift overtime too!”
“Don’t worry. We’ll discuss it later. Everything’s negotiable.”
Mr. Lin smiled and led him inside, introducing him to Chen Yubo. The moment Ji Jue met his eyes, both of them froze.
Ji Jue’s shock came from the fact that, in his perception, the man’s spirit matter fluctuations were like a stock market K-line chart[6], rising and falling erratically without an actual pattern. At its peak, it was so overwhelming it bordered on terrifying. His power almost fully reached level six, with half a step into the Rebirth Realm, and he was clearly a top-tier powerhouse. At its lowest, it was even weaker than Ji Jue, a mere level two novice, almost nonexistent.
As for the man’s stiffness, it was because he saw An Ran beside Ji Jue. It was as if he sensed something from the boy. All his body hair stood on end.
Tom rubbed his eyes, completely dumbfounded.
What the hell. Something’s seriously off here! What kind of bodyguard job is this supposed to be? I walk in and there’s a White Deer hunter kid already here? What the hell?! What kind of decent household has a White Deer hunter kid just sitting inside?!
First confusion, then shock, then doubt, and finally a sense of regret that Ji Jue was all too familiar with. He almost thumped his chest and stomped his feet in anguish.
Shit. I asked for too little money!!!
The moment Tom snapped back to reality, he instinctively turned around.
“Can we increase the pay?”
Mr. Lin was still smiling. “Don’t worry. When the boss comes back, you can negotiate with him.”
Only a fool would believe you.
At this point, the contract was already signed, and he’d even used his main account to take on this quest. It felt like he’d fallen straight into a trap with one careless move.
Given how many times he’d broken contracts before, his reputation score was already hanging by a thread. If he screwed this one up too, life would become impossible; forget next month, he might not even survive until tomorrow without going broke.
The helpless wage slave could only resign himself to fate and ask for more money.
1. “死无葬身之地” is a verbal phrase in Chinese. Its literal meaning is “to die without a burial place.” In modern usage, it is often used as an object or figuratively, referring to an extremely tragic fate or used as a curse, implying that someone will come to a miserable end. ☜
2. “远水不解近渴” is a Chinese idiom. It is used metaphorically to describe that slow or long-term solutions cannot solve urgent problems. ☜
3. Kvass is a fermented, cereal-based, low-alcoholic beverage of cloudy appearance and a sweet and sour taste. Kvass originates from northeastern Europe, where grain production was considered insufficient for beer to become a daily drink. I’ve attached a picture for your reference. ☜
4. 树倒猢狲散 is often used as a metaphor to describe how, once a powerful or influential figure falls from power and loses their backing, the thugs, followers, or vested interests who depended on them will immediately fall apart and scatter, each going their separate ways. ☜
5. Liaozhai zhiyi, sometimes shortened to Liaozhai, known in English as Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, Strange Tales from Make-Do Studio, or literally Strange Tales from a Studio of Leisure, is a collection of Classical Chinese stories by Qing dynasty writer Pu Songling, comprising close to 500 stories or "marvel tales" ☜
6. A K-line chart, widely known as a candlestick chart, visually represents the price movement of an asset over a specific time frame. Here is a picture for your reference. ☜
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