Chapter 1605: Chapter 942: Return to Rongcheng (Part 3)
And he was about to head to Jiangbei Province Office for his new appointment, becoming the Deputy Captain of the Provincial Office Law Enforcement Team before turning thirty, with the rank of Second-level Full-time Director, a truly promising future.
Yang Xiao didn’t know if such a story could be written in a novel, but he had truly achieved it, navigating through stormy weathers entirely on his own sweat and effort, this was his deserved achievement.
After returning to Rongcheng, Yang Xiao immediately traveled back to Xiang Ma Town, first taking gifts to visit Second Demon Uncle and Senior Brothers Qingfeng and Ming Yue, and then stayed in the town for a few days to mingle with Tong Hansui and the others.
During this time, he was not idling either, inspecting the recent developments within the sect. One cannot deny, with Sui, this former Mercenary Captain, the management became more scientific and efficient, with a complete reward and punishment system, everyone’s enthusiasm for building achievements was at an unprecedented high.
Of course, an important reason is that the people below fear Sui’s strength, as strength is highly respected in the Apostles circle.
Tong Han was also doing quite well, almost stepping into the threshold of Ghost-level, given her talent, she likely won’t take long to grow into a true Ghost-level Apostle.
In short, after not seeing him for two months, even Sui couldn’t help but be amazed at Yang Xiao’s growth speed, already sensing his significantly increased strength, now being a legit Mid-stage Ghost-level Apostle, with spiritual power intensity almost comparable to his own.
Yang Xiao explained that he had accidentally ventured into a Secret Realm and had some fortuitous encounters there.
He did not mention that it was the Yi Sect that invited him, not because he distrusted Sui and Tong Han, but because he had promised Yin Ji of Yi Sect and accepted their benefits, keeping the secret was the right thing to do.
Furthermore, telling Sui and Tong Han too much was pointless, as neither was familiar with the Yi Sect.
"Now that you’ve returned, stay for a few more days. We now genuinely have strong forces, we’ve certainly not let you down," said Tong Han over dinner, having sipped some red wine, in high spirits, with a complexion of white mixed with redness.
Yang Xiao had already seen the sect’s developments, and now the fame of Pingxi Marquis from Xiang Ma Town had spread widely, attracting many masters to join.
He checked the roster, and now within the sect, counting Sui, there were truly 3 Ghost-level masters, and 5 others, like Tong Han, who were halfway towards Ghost-level, forming a significantly formidable force around Rongcheng.
Their range of influence had expanded to the surrounding areas of Xiang Ma Town, they also had a base within Rongcheng. Besides, under Yang Xiao’s command, a group of masters were incognito within Rongcheng Apostles’ Union, who were Fu Qingzhu’s helpers, secretly protecting him.
With Yang Xiao’s Patrol Defense Office connections, and Fu Qingzhu’s Union connections, their activities in Rongcheng were reasonably convenient.
Nalan Shuo naturally knew about this but turned a blind eye, allowing it as long as no major incidents occurred, since everyone was well-behaved without excessive actions.
Additionally, their presence was beneficial to the Patrol Defense Office, as they could cooperate in some actions, handling tasks the Patrol Defense Office found inconvenient to directly involve themselves in.
Of course, ultimately, these matters were pinned on Evil Cultivators, as the Patrol Defense Office had the final word on who was considered evil, since they were the authority.
Indeed, he spent a comfortable few days in Xiang Ma Town, until on the morning of his departure day, Daoist Qingfeng sent a message, mentioning the recent appearance of many Apostles of uncertain origin near Rongcheng.
Although these people weren’t extraordinarily strong, they were numerous, preliminarily estimated to be in the dozens, their purpose still unclear.
But Senior Brother Qingfeng reminded him to be cautious after returning to Rongcheng, as this was what the Master intended, during these turbulent times, extra caution was needed.
Upon hearing this, Sui wanted to return to Rongcheng together with Yang Xiao, to watch out for each other, but was gently refused by Yang Xiao.
After all, the sect’s development just got on track, many formidable newcomers arrived, quite a lot being outlaws who couldn’t survive outside, without Sui there, Yang Xiao worried Tong Han alone couldn’t manage them.
Such management issues were not suited for overly bothering Senior Brothers Qingfeng and Ming Yue.
However, Daoist Qingfeng also stated that if Yang Xiao encountered trouble in Rongcheng that he couldn’t resolve, he should send a message, and Senior Brother Ming Yue would come to aid, ensuring Yang Xiao had no worries.
Yang Xiao knew this was definitely the intention of Second Demon Uncle, as he and the senior brothers cared for him most.
Returning to Rongcheng, Yang Xiao resumed work, and was dumbfounded on the first day. Within less than two months, the clocking-in method at Rongcheng Patrol Division had changed again, now requiring facial and fingerprint recognition, along with iris scanning, making it stricter than a prison.
Distracted, Yang Xiao inadvertently walked to the Investigation Team’s office door, reminiscing about what he missed most at the Patrol Division before leaving Rongcheng, aside from Director Nalan, it was his brothers in the Investigation Team.
Stopping at the half-open office door, he lifted his head, staring at the "Investigation Team" sign on the door, his thoughts drawn back to a few years ago, recalling the time he first stepped in here as a clueless newbie.
On his first day, he ended up taking over Beibei’s position as Acting Captain, almost suspecting it was an unreliable scam company.
Time really flies, memories of being hunted by Granny Hong were still vivid, and now similar Fierce Grade Apostles like her wouldn’t even require his intervention, the Mirror Ghost could easily take her down repeatedly.
Soon he would take up his new position at the Provincial Office, reducing opportunities for everyone to meet again, partings were always fleetingly abrupt, leaving Yang Xiao somewhat melancholic and sentimental.
Just as he raised his hand, before pushing the door open, a voice from inside caught his attention.
"Xi Menxiu, what do you mean by saying the Captain ran away?" Da Xiong’s distinctive voice sounded.
"Ah, isn’t it because of the exposure of those matters with Chi Dan," Xi Menxiu’s cheeky voice replied, followed by secrets being shared, "I’ll tell you guys a secret, but remember, don’t let it spread - the Captain actually has a spouse now, that villa was prepared for his wife, but she got married instead, and the groom wasn’t our Captain."
"I feel it’s a bit convoluted," Da Xiong scratched his head, momentarily puzzled.
"What’s convoluted? Are you saying our Captain liked a married woman?" Beibei’s gossiping instincts awoke.
"Not exactly, it’s complicated, originally his wife was good with our Captain, but some issues arose in between, back then our Captain was just a penniless boy and his mother-in-law married his wife to someone else, but later when the Captain got better, he took her back along with the child," Xi Menxiu said, lounging casually.
"Child?" Beibei’s ears perked up, seizing the key detail, "Whose child?"
"The Captain’s, of course, who else? I remember him taking me to buy gifts for our nephew, our stingy Captain, buying clothes and toys from top brands, one piece costing over a thousand," Xi Menxiu described vividly.
"Really? Don’t trick us," Da Xiong always took Xi Menxiu’s words with skepticism, but this time the details seemed so genuine.
"Hey, who am I, Xi Menxiu? I won’t dare say about other things, but when it comes to these matters, ask around all of Rongcheng, who’s more informed than Xi Menxiu?" Xi Menxiu argued, feeling challenged.
As he said, Beibei and Da Xiong remained silent. Indeed, Xi Menxiu’s eyes were famously sharp among paparazzi, rumored to measure DNA, nicknamed Xi Menxiu’s dog eyes.
Xi Menxiu sighed, adopting a wise post-mortem tone, lamenting, "The Captain’s well in all areas, except stubbornness, I remember once begging him not to buy that villa, I almost knelt, but he refused to listen, insisting on buying. You tell me, is Hengjiu Grand’s property worth buying? I wanted to whip him with a belt!"
Listening from outside, Yang Xiao was so furious his lungs almost exploded, pushing the door open to confront Xi Menxiu, "Damn you, Xi Menxiu, did I want to buy that villa? Wasn’t it you begging me to buy it? Said you had insider info, buying it would be a profit, and less than a year later it depreciated by 2 million. I’m... I’m going to fight you!"
