Old Xi actually wanted to raise a little ghost to help with chores; it would make things much more convenient. At the very least, every time he needed to use his real skills, he wouldn't have to set up a miniature altar and open the Heavenly Eye first.
There was nothing left for him to do here, and with the sun about to rise, he started directing a few junior disciples to pack up their things and leave quickly before more people showed up outside.
The tools of the trade—altars, incense burners, and other stuff—got loaded onto the car. Anything valuable was re-packed carefully into boxes.
Once things were about ready, his senior disciple sidled up and whispered a question.
"Master, you just gave that jade away? Didn't you say you'd nurtured it for several years, should be worth at least a few hundred thousand. How come you didn't say…"
"Say what? What do you know, der? Who goes around bragging about how much their own things are worth? Is it about the money? It's about time and effort—it's about sincerity, you get it? How can you put a price on sincerity? Vulgar! So vulgar!"
Old Xi snapped at his disciple irritably. Someone like him, without any fancy mountain lineage or prestigious heritage—did he get this far just by relying on his abilities?
If it was about abilities, could he ever outdo those big-shots with proper imparted teachings, dressed in their dignified purple robes?
No way. Some of those bosses don't even need to set up an altar—they can just conjure up a thunderbolt in their palm. Never mind those guys—even among the sturdy middle rank, he can't compare.
Old Xi thought for a second: when they got back, he really needed to straighten out these disciples. These punks followed him around doing little rituals every day, but all they could see was pocket change. Too shallow.
Why not broaden their horizons a bit? Like, think about bigger money?
…
Wen Yan, on the other hand, didn't think too much about it. He couldn't even tell good from bad when it came to valuables.
He just thought Old Xi was a decent guy. If he ever met any clients who needed that kind of help, he could recommend him; local demand was probably not lacking.
As for right now, what he was thinking was—the nurse with the cavities had helped him a lot, so if he could do her a favor, he'd try his best.
He held the jade pendant in his hand, went upstairs, and extended his hand toward the nurse with the cavities, clutching the jade.
"Let's go."
The nurse with the cavities, with a trace of expectation and a hint of anxiety, reached out. The moment she grasped the jade pendant, her body transformed into a stream of light and disappeared into the pendant; the white jade also turned into an icy, cool blue-white.
This chilling sensation was much like what he'd felt before with ghosts—except without that invasive or stabbing pain. Touching it was more like grabbing an ice-cold Coke straight from the fridge.
He put the jade pendant away and walked back downstairs. All the equipment in the first-floor lobby had been packed up, everything was back to normal, and the Scorching Sun Department folks had also disappeared. Only Feng Yao and Old Xi, now in plain clothes, were still there.
Wen Yan took out his temporary Scorching Sun Department ID and handed it to Feng Yao.
He wanted that ID just as an insurance policy—to have an official, legitimate excuse. With it, whatever Wen Yan did about Feng Dongmei would all be reasonable, legal, and procedurally airtight.
Given what Feng Dongmei had done, if she resisted arrest, it'd be fine to kill her on the spot—didn't even need to write a report.
With an arrest warrant and the associated sanction file, it was all standard procedure. Everything done by the book.
This was a necessary way to avoid issues with the rules of the Domain.
Feng Yao looked at the ID, shook his head, and didn't take it.
"You keep it. The ID says 'Special Task Force,' but it's actually valid long-term. This 'special project' doesn't refer to a specific case, but a whole type. You're already registered as a specially-appointed Field Agent, and you're on the Funeral Home roster. Everything's in order."
Feng Yao was dead serious; he wasn't dumb, after all.
Whatever he'd thought before didn't matter now. At this point, the first person to jump if someone said Wen Yan wasn't qualified to hold this ID would be Feng Yao himself.
Anyone who, as long as they're inside a Domain, is guaranteed to enter it—and is obviously immune to some powers of the Domain—absolutely HAS to get this ID.
He and the other regular Scorching Sun Field Agents—once they entered the Inpatient Department's Domain, no matter what precautions they took, when the time came they'd instantly fall asleep. No resisting it.
Or else, they'd just get kicked straight out.
But Wen Yan could stay awake and not get kicked out. Just that alone made him way, way more valuable than the other standard Field Agents.
Without Wen Yan, lacking crucial intel, they'd most likely have gone ahead with the old plan—move the hospital and blow up the inpatient building.
After that, the Inpatient Domain would go rogue, because the Scorching Sun Department records would log it as destroyed, and Feng Dongmei would be considered "deceased."
Trying to confirm, in a hospital where people die daily and all the paperwork is in order, whether someone died abnormally? The workload would be so huge it'd be impossible to screen out.
Just in Virtue City, this little town in Wei State, tens of thousands die normally every year. Across the county's dozen or so states, the numbers are much higher.
By the time Feng Yao and the team tracked this down, it'd be a race against time—not nearly enough to draw up a careful new plan and bulldoze through.
If Wen Yan hadn't been here this time, what likely would have happened is—a "dead person" with their danger level grossly underestimated, but growing at alarming speed, would go even deeper underground. And by the time they were really exposed, it would definitely be a real disaster.
The Scorching Sun Department has always had one attitude toward evil ghosts who level up by killing people.
If you can kill them on the spot, do it—otherwise, suppress them until they die.
Wen Yan started to say something, but Feng Yao pushed the ID right back into his hands.
"Now that this event's wrapped up, the Scorching Sun Department will award a bonus.
Also, while officially you're on the Funeral Home roster, meaning you don't have a Scorching Sun Department salary—
these payments come to you as subsidies and bonuses.
Plus, you still get 100% medical reimbursement; the Siyang Spleen Strengthening Soup is covered.
And if your uniform was damaged, that's reimbursed too."
Wen Yan hesitated, then asked,
"So, how much a month? Is there a year-end bonus?"
"When you're not on field duty, the minimum monthly subsidy, varies by rank, is at least five thousand, and five social insurances plus two retirement funds are directly reimbursed at the highest rate.
When you have a case, the bonus is separate, and yeah, there's a year-end bonus—all standard.
For example, this time, you contributed the most. By my estimate, your bonus for this job will be at least eighty thousand—probably more. If it's less, I'll double it out of pocket!
Last year, in our Nanwu County branch, the Field Agent with the highest annual bonus was Tuoba Martial God from Yu State—he got a five-story luxury villa in Yu State as his year-end prize. Fully furnished, elevator, move-in ready."
Wen Yan was a bit stunned. That high? Yu State's real estate prices are tops in Nanwu's various states—even if not in a prime spot, a five-story villa has to start at eight figures at least.
He fiddled with the ID in his hand and unconsciously put it back in his pocket.
"You can get a year-end bonus like that?"
"It was his own choice. You can pick money, or goods."
Wen Yan thought, this carrot was pretty well-painted—in fact, it wasn't just for show; he could actually smell a little flavor from it.
And it really felt like he just might be able to get a taste of it. He focused on the new info that had just popped up in his head.
"First Inherent Ability: I Am Your Dad (2%)
Temporary Skills: none."
After using that ability to stall to death Feng Dongmei, it finally changed, but much less than expected—only a 1% increase.
How many freaky cases will it take before he can level up again?
He figured, just using a taunt ability like this, he probably couldn't level up on his own.
The Scorching Sun Department's various gadgets really were useful, and their logistics were top-notch too.
If he had the chance to level up and got paid too, that sounded pretty damn good to him.
He hadn't forgotten about that incident at the bus stop. Maybe it was just that his Yang Energy was low at the time and he was more prone to encountering weird stuff. But come on—barely two minutes after, a car crashes in, big fire burns everything down? That's not normal.
The director hadn't said anything, and the Scorching Sun side hadn't given any deeper info either.
Wen Yan didn't buy that it was coincidence. He was well aware that whoever was behind this would rather let people know there was definitely a problem here, than have someone actually trace the clues and dig up something real.
Feng Yao saw Wen Yan eating up the carrot, looked relieved, and after a while, someone delivered a bag, which he handed to Wen Yan.
"Inside is a new work uniform, jacket and trousers, sized for you. It's a set, reimbursed for you.
The bills inside are all limited-edition old large bills—each one has circulated hand-to-hand a hundred times in the real world, never tainted with blood or filth. They're saturated with Yang Energy and carry traces of Divine Land's divine might blessing.
For most evil objects, this will be more than enough protection."
After finishing, Feng Yao paused, then added,
"Just the raw cost of this set is about thirty thousand."