First-Year Internship—And You Went to Site 749 to Contain Monsters?!

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Lu Ding left, leaving Yuwen Longyuan stunned in the Nowhere Room.

Powerless, unwilling.

Lu Ding hadn’t threatened him, nor had he said what would happen if he didn’t comply. Instead, he was straightforward and direct. He gave him the right to refuse. No coercion.

But Yuwen Longyuan understood—it wasn’t coercion, but if he didn’t cooperate, next time he wouldn’t be welcome. Standing alone without support, what was he even doing in the west anyway?

He didn’t actually hold a grudge against Lu Ding. At least Lu Ding was open and aboveboard. People willing to work under him lined up from the west all the way to the east. So many were fighting for a chance and couldn’t even get one.

Not to mention, Yuwen Longyuan had cooperated well with Lu Ding before. Even at this point, neither of them had said certain things outright. That very situation made Yuwen Longyuan even more unwilling to let this connection go.

“Isn’t it just being a double agent? Fine, I’ll do it. I don’t owe Wuwang anything, and I don’t owe anyone else. They’ve always owed me!”

Yuwen Longyuan returned to reality.

On the other side.

Lu Ding’s consciousness returned. He opened his eyes.

Under the watchful gazes of Yan Feifan and Zhan Tingzhou, he stood up and said as his first words: “Done. Get ready. I’m taking you to meet someone.”

Though neither of them knew who.

But in Zhan Tingzhou’s heart, a faint, unbelievable premonition stirred.

It couldn’t be the Red Dust Demon Lord, Yuwen Longyuan, could it...

Then, the two followed Lu Ding’s lead to the meeting point he had arranged with Yuwen Longyuan.

The night was so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.

Inside the forest.

Two sides, four people.

Three facing one.

They didn’t know each other, as if they couldn’t see one another at all.

But in their hearts, all understood tacitly. Some words weren’t meant to be spoken openly or put on the table.

After all, if everything could be so black-and-white, then there wouldn’t be such a phrase as “hesitant refusal.” If it works, it works; if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. What does “kinda works” even mean, right?

Yet Zhan Tingzhou looked at the shadowy figure in the darkness before him, his eyes filled with curiosity. He had never seen the real Yuwen Longzhou, only knew the name. In his past life, he wasn’t worthy!

But in this life, he already had the confidence to stand among such figures.

Neither side wasted words. There were no fools present. Everyone knew what they had to do.

Zhan Tingzhou stepped forward and planted a secret technique. Yuwen Longyuan and Lu Ding both remained silent. The moment the spell finished, they both turned around at the same time, back-to-back, and walked away in opposite directions.

Only after stepping out of the dense forest’s darkness did Lu Ding speak: “Wait. He’ll send word.”

As for how Yuwen Longyuan would manage it, Lu Ding didn’t care. He wanted results.

If Yuwen Longyuan failed, it meant his value ended here. Within his limited worth, if he hadn’t gathered enough leverage to move Lu Ding, only two outcomes awaited him: either get lost and never let himself be found again, or be smashed on the ground beyond recognition.

As for a sneak attack from behind—Yuwen Longyuan had made some contribution. Even if he had to kill him, Lu Ding would let him die knowing exactly why and how.

Speaking, Lu Ding looked at Zhan Tingzhou: “Let the bullet fly for a while. Tomorrow, we’ll settle your matters first.”

The shadows of the three men leaving stretched long.

Lu Ding’s posture was always so proud and unrestrained.

Yan Feifan was introverted and sharp.

Zhan Tingzhou was vicious and ruthless, but because he walked behind Lu Ding, he was always suppressed.

But that wasn’t a bad thing. When you’re an investigator, some things need restraint.

Soon.

Time came to the next day.

Outside the mountain gate of the Purple Cloud Sect.

They didn’t call many people. This wasn’t a mission to destroy the sect. This time, the main force had to stay still for now, conceal their tracks, and avoid alarming the enemy.

Zhan Tingzhou’s witness was only Lu Ding.

That was enough!

As for Yan Feifan, he stayed in Fengkou to memorize maps and information.

Then a voice rang out, shaking the mountain gate.

“New City West 749 Investigator, Zhan Tingzhou, has come to keep the appointment!!!”

Step by step, he climbed the stairs, each one like a memory from his past life—inch by inch, recalled.

Now that he thought about it, that life was long and tedious.

But all the regrets and betrayals would, with Zhan Tingzhou’s rebirth, usher in a phase-ending conclusion!

Up the steps of the mountain gate.

One by one, the disciples of the Purple Cloud Sect treated him like a formidable enemy, retreating step by step.

Ascending, Lu Ding and Zhan Tingzhou brought darkness inch by inch. Above their heads, black clouds slowly pressed closer.

In an instant, a storm brewed. An inexplicable suffocating heat stirred irritation—until they reached the summit, one final step landing.

Where their gazes fell, the Purple Cloud Sect disciples filled the grounds, on full alert.

No one argued, debated, or accused Yu Ci, who had been waiting for some time in the middle, of offending Lu Ding. There was only one word: unity!

Standing before the crowd, Yu Ci held her longsword, clashing with Zhan Tingzhou in an aura confrontation.

The two who had made a three-month appointment now stood facing each other.

Yu Ci gripped her sword tightly, sensing Zhan Tingzhou’s presence.

Last time, when they’d arranged their fight through Lu Ding’s phone, Zhan Tingzhou had said himself that he was only at the second prohibition.

But now, three months later.

Zhan Tingzhou had already reached the fifth restriction, and Yu Ci was also at the fifth restriction.

Yet their starting points were different.

During these three months, Yu Ci had also obtained an opportunity from Su Yun in Black Phoenix Gathering, which allowed her to break through to the fifth restriction.

And yet this man before her had also managed to break through to the fifth restriction in just three months!!!

For a moment, Yu Ci felt crushed.

Just like when she had backstabbed Zhan Tingzhou in her past life—the same thought echoed: Why! Why was it that things she had worked so hard to obtain, others could have so easily?!

Suppressing the emotions within her, she spoke her first words of the day, a question that had tormented her for three months.

“Is... is she still alive?”

The “she” Yu Ci spoke of was the girl she had pushed into the river, only to end up dragging herself in as well. It was during this incident that Yu Ci obtained the Middle Volume of [Sword Drawing Dragon Slaying].

As for the grudge between her and that little girl—it was simply that Yu Ci’s mother had dug up a ridge on the little girl’s family’s farmland, and the little girl’s grandmother had scolded her. Yu Ci then harbored a grudge against the little girl’s entire family.

It ultimately led to tragedy.

She got her opportunity, but the poor little girl’s fate was unknown. The little girl’s blind grandmother, consumed by guilt for not watching over her granddaughter, committed suicide at home.

A perfectly good family was destroyed just like that.

All of it was buried deep in Yu Ci’s heart, numbed and comforted by her own self-deception of “I was young and didn’t know better,” becoming her deepest obsession. Until three months ago, when Zhan Tingzhou, through Lu Ding’s phone, reawakened this self-deceived memory of Yu Ci!

After three months of fermentation, and as Yu Ci’s cultivation advanced rapidly, the moment she reached the fifth restriction, retribution came. That obsession had successfully become her inner demon.

Just like in her past life, but because Zhan Tingzhou had intervened, it was even more ferocious than before!

Under his mask, Zhan Tingzhou laughed.

“I only agreed to meet you in three months. I never said I had to answer that question. Of course, I know the answer, but I don’t want to tell you.”

“I also know this is your inner demon. If the inner demon isn’t removed, the fifth restriction won’t be broken. I will personally reinforce this shackle for you. Aren’t you someone who treats cultivation as life itself? Then let me tell you—your life will be confined to the fifth restriction forever, never to be broken! Hahahahaha.............”