Chapter 238 - 237: Xia He: Old Qin, You Work Eight Hours a Day and Slack Off for an Average of Six?

Fuhai District.

The Jianghai monsoon had arrived, bringing several consecutive days of rain. The world outside the window was a blur, and large trees swayed in the fierce wind.

"Master, what on earth are those guys planning to do?"

Xiaobai lay before the floor-to-ceiling window, sensing the densely packed Star Martial Police Bureau personnel outside. It left a sour feeling in her heart.

It was like having tiny bugs crawling all over...

’With these guys holding me back, I can’t do anything.’

And more importantly!

Xiaobai glanced back at the instant noodles in Qin Yang’s hands, and for no reason at all, her nose tingled.

’Master is actually eating instant noodles now?’

’This is an insult to my entire existence as a fox!’

’It just doesn’t feel right now that I’m not cooking for Master. He can’t even eat this Fairy’s cooking. My poor Master...’

"It’ll probably be like this for a while longer. We’ll just have to bear with it."

Qin Yang didn’t mind. He slurped his instant noodles. After getting used to eating Xiaobai’s cooking every day, having a cup or two of instant noodles once in a while had its own unique charm.

Besides, having these people from the Star Martial Police Bureau watching from outside wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

’I don’t have to worry about Cultivation. It’s time to go back to living like a normal person.’

With this in mind, he sent a telepathic message to Xiaobai. "For the next few days, don’t keep thinking about revealing your true form. Just behave and be a fox."

"Oh, okay."

Xiaobai’s fox ears drooped. She took tiny steps, climbed onto the sofa, and curled her body into a ball, sulkily becoming a little furball.

「In the days that followed.」

Time flowed like water. Qin Yang continued to clock in for work as usual.

He spent his days scrolling through trending videos, taking Xiaobai to the park for a fox-walk after work, and occasionally cooking for himself. It was a simple, happy life.

He used to be constantly exhausted by the need to increase his power.

But now, under surveillance, he felt as if he had returned to the pure, carefree life of an ordinary person.

Many officers from the Bureau had infiltrated the library over the past few days. They changed their appearances in countless ways to avoid detection, but none could escape Qin Yang’s eyes.

But he remained calm.

His life was a simple, repetitive routine: slack off at work, rest after work.

It had the air of someone who remains steadfast, no matter how the storms of the outside world may rage...

「One day, Qin Yang was slacking off in his office.」

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—

A knock sounded at the office door.

"Come in!"

Qin Yang put down his phone, grabbed a pen, and expertly put on an act of being busy.

Li Qinghe walked in from outside.

But today, she wasn’t in her female form. Instead, she was using her "Li Qing" disguise, holding a file and looking just like a regular library employee.

She walked slowly to his desk.

"Steward Qin, I have some documents here that need your signature."

Li Qinghe placed the files on the desk, displaying them one by one as she carried out the usual handover procedure.

"Is that all?"

Qin Yang took the documents and glanced over them.

"Mhm."

Just then, Li Qinghe’s voice suddenly spoke.

"Master, has someone been watching you recently?"

As she arranged the files, Li Qinghe sent a quiet telepathic message. "The aura outside the library feels a bit off. It seems like there are a lot of people out there."

"Oh?"

Hearing this, Qin Yang remained impassive and continued signing the documents on his desk. "You can sense it too?"

"Yes, I can sense some of it."

Li Qinghe said softly, shuffling the files on the desk, "The flow of people in the library has been strange these past few days. There are many disguised visitors... Are they here for Grandmaster? Do you need your disciple to take action? I can use some of the Li Family’s methods..."

"Use the Li Family’s methods?"

Without a second thought, Qin Yang shook his head and waved his hand. "Let’s not."

The situation outside was currently unstable.

The Li Family was still on the sidelines, and it wouldn’t be right to drag them into this mess.

"It’s fine. Just carry on as usual. No need to go to any great lengths."

Qin Yang bent over his desk, signing the documents as he replied calmly, "I can handle these matters. You don’t need to worry, and more importantly, don’t get recklessly involved. Think before you act, understand?"

"Alright."

Hearing this, Li Qinghe said worriedly, "If there’s anything your disciple can do to help, Master, just give the word."

「After Li Qinghe left.」

Qin Yang stood up, stretched, picked up a cup of water, and casually walked over to the potted Earth-Surging Golden Lotus in the room to water it.

’That silly girl really means well.’

’But these are troubled times. There’s no need to drag the Li Family into this.’

’Besides, judging by the time, those guys have been waiting for so long. They must be getting impatient by now, right?’

Qin Yang turned to look out the window. The heavy, misty rain fell, and he lay in wait, biding his time.

...

...

On the rooftop of a tall building.

The Star Martial Police Bureau’s surveillance post.

"Captain Xia, this week’s surveillance report is out!"

A team member brought a paper report to Xia He, showing him the analysis on it. "This guy does nothing but slack off! He barely does anything at all!"

[Workday: Eight hours. Average time slacking off per day: 6.5 hours.]

"Captain! Is this guy really at work?"

"..."

Xia He took the report and glanced at the information. The corner of his mouth twitched, and he was rendered speechless.

’Old Qin’s slacking-off skills...’

’...are getting more impressive by the day!’

’Being a Steward... isn’t this job a little too easy?’

’Damn, I really made the wrong choice. Listening to the old man and coming to this godforsaken place to suffer...’

Staring at the slacking-off ratio on the paper, Xia He’s composure finally cracked!

’He’s so idle every day, doesn’t have to do a thing!’

’Isn’t that hundreds of times better than my job?’

’It’s like heaven and earth. There’s no comparison at all!’

"The men are here working their asses off, day and night, and this is what he does?!"

At this, the surveillance team member’s hands trembled with anger. "Captain! I’ve never seen anyone slack off this much! He comes to work for a day and does nothing but goof off! The Bureau is going to all this trouble just to watch this lazy..."

Before he could finish,

SLAP!!

Xia He smacked him right across the face!

The blow made him see stars!

"Hey, Captain, what did you hit me for...?"

The team member clutched his head and looked at Xia He, aggrieved. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Tch. How does his slacking off affect you?!"

Xia He lowered his fist and looked toward the Jianghai Library, snapping, "We’re here to carry out a surveillance mission, not to hold a performance review for you. Just do your job."

"Yes, Captain..."

"You’re right to lecture me."

The crew-cut team member held his head, glanced at Qin Yang on the monitor, and then asked in a low voice, "So, how much longer do you think we’ll have to keep this surveillance up?"

"You’re asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?"

Xia He rolled his eyes, annoyed. "I want to be done with this more than you do. But the higher-ups are pressing us, so we have no choice but to keep watching."

"Well, how about this, Captain Xia?"

The crew-cut member looked at Xia He and cautiously suggested,

"Why don’t we just arrest him and interrogate him directly? With his slacker personality, he’s probably spineless..."

"We could put him through a round of the ’Great Memory Recovery Technique’... and we’d get all the information we need, wouldn’t we?!"

"..."

"Heh heh..."

Hearing this, Xia He gave a stiff laugh and sized up the team member.

That look...

...was like he was looking at an idiot...

’Arrest Old Qin?’

"Go on, you try arresting him."

’With his heaven-defying abilities, it’s hard to say whose memory would be the one getting "recovered"...’

’If we really fought him, this entire team would be wiped out. Not a single one of us would survive. The man could literally rip the memories right out of your head!’

The reason they were holding back now... wasn’t to protect Qin Yang, but to be responsible for the safety of these team members.

’Sigh. The ignorant are fearless...’

But on second thought, Xia He’s brow furrowed again, a trace of worry in his eyes as he looked at Qin Yang on the monitor.

’So much time has passed, but the higher-ups show no sign of letting up. It seems they really don’t plan to let this go.’

’If this continues, it won’t just be my team. In the future, more officers will join this surveillance operation.’

’When that time comes...’

’...will I still have control over the situation?’

"Sigh..."

Xia He let out a sigh.

’I have to find another way. I need to get Old Qin out from under their watch as soon as possible...’

...

...

「Time flowed like water. Two days later.」

It was the day of Guyu.

A steady drizzle enveloped Jianghai City, washing the dust from the streets, the curtain of rain connecting heaven and earth.

Liu Wushuang and Qi Qingshan still stood atop a skyscraper, looking down at the umbrella-carrying citizens below.

They easily spotted the figures of Qin Yang and Xiaobai.

"Why is there still no movement at all?"

Qi Qingshan’s expression was grim. "It’s been a week now, and we haven’t seen so much as a ghost?"

"After waiting all these days, this kid surnamed Qin is a real freeloader! He just wanders the streets with that little fox every day, eating and drinking, not even bothering with Cultivation... Is this man really a disciple of the Sword God?"

As he spoke, he flicked away the curtain of rain and said,

"Perhaps the Sword God’s sect only has two people in the Venerable Realm: him and the Arrow God?"

"Only two?"

Liu Wushuang frowned, shot him a glance, and scoffed, "Are you willing to bet on that? If you lose, you’ll be facing a Venerable Level self-detonation.

Qi Qingshan, if you have the guts, why don’t you go and test it?"

"I..."

Hearing this, Qi Qingshan was at a loss for words.

’Of course I don’t dare test a self-detonation.’

’The power of a Venerable Realm self-detonation is immense. Forget me, even the Venerable Alliance Leader wouldn’t be able to handle it.’

’I worked so hard to reach the Venerable Realm. If it was all destroyed, my Divine Soul annihilated, the loss would far outweigh any gain...’

"Then what’s your plan?"

Qi Qingshan caressed the hilt of his sword, watching Qin Yang and Xiaobai below. The man and the fox shared an umbrella, strolling through the rain and crossing a crosswalk.

"We can’t just wait here forever, watching this kid walk his fox every day, can we?"

"Three days."

Liu Wushuang sighed. "If no one from his sect shows up after three days, we’ll give them a little push and force them to appear."

"Good!"

Hearing this, the corners of Qi Qingshan’s mouth curved into a smile, and the Sword Intent in his eyes surged eagerly.

"That’s what I was waiting to hear!

We’ll give him three more days. If we still haven’t found any trace of them, I’m making my move."

As his words fell,

DRIP, DRIP—

The curtain of rain within several meters of his body came to a sudden halt.

The drops linked together into lines.

A majestic Sword Intent gathered within these lines of water, forming invisible swords that shot upward, piercing the heavens.

"If there’s still no news in three days, perhaps... doing things my way will be more effective!"