The immortal is beside me

Chapter 2: Before I go out with my sword...

The door of the conference room opened, and the commissioners with solemn expressions filed out one after another. Soon the room returned to silence, leaving only Li Yulan in front of the screen and Qin Jiajia standing silently aside.

"Xiao Qin, you've heard everything you need to hear. Tell me what you think..."

Li Yulan paused, glanced at the subordinate who had no reaction over there, and after pondering for a while, she slowly placed her hand on her shoulder, causing her to shiver.

"Listen, Xiao Qin, I know this may be a little hard for you to accept."

She looked directly into her subordinates' dull eyes and spoke each word clearly.

"But you've already seen it. What you've seen so far is just the surface of the Environmental Sanitation Bureau. What you've just witnessed is our department's true mission—to eliminate all hidden threats to the public, whether they be natural disasters or man-made disasters."

Although the gaze was not meant to threaten her, Qin Jiajia suddenly had the illusion of being oppressed, as if her boss in front of her could see through her whole body.

"These jobs are so important and so eye-catching that we need to carefully consider the selection of new people."

"According to your file, you've previously interacted with Cultivator No. 25892. If your goal is to approach him and negotiate with him, you have an unparalleled advantage. That's why I've invited you to attend this meeting today."

"From a cultivation perspective, your physique is exceptional, one of the most outstanding in recent years. We've been observing you since your first day at the bureau, and over the past three years, you've demonstrated convincing abilities. That's why I'm making an exception and promoting you."

"The situation with the Immortal Cultivator is getting worse and worse. Everyone in Liangzhou City is taking action. As the new blood, you must grow up as soon as possible. Now that you have joined the game, you must not make any mistakes."

Qin Jiajia's lips trembled as she stammered and nodded, "Yes... I understand, Director Li."

Li Yulan saw that look and felt a little disappointed.

She had originally intended to set up this meeting as a special test to test the endurance of this promising young talent, but now it seemed that Qin Jiajia's test scores were indeed somewhat unsatisfactory.

He hadn't even seen the scene of the incident, only heard about the deeds of the immortal cultivators, and was already so frightened? Although shock was inevitable when encountering the extraordinary for the first time, this expression was really not flattering.

"Don't be too nervous. The department won't force employees to work in confidential positions. Whether you want to do this job is up to you."

Li Yulan sighed softly, withdrew her hand from her shoulder, and took out a paper contract from the file bag and placed it on the table.

"This is an information confidentiality agreement. Sign it here, and you will officially become a confidential personnel. You will be exposed to more extraordinary work in the future."

"And if you choose to give up, we will send someone to erase your memory of what just happened, and then you will be placed in a superficial position in the Environmental Sanitation Bureau, doing social management work, just as you knew it before."

"Is there anything else you want to ask?"

There was a long silence. Qin Jiajia in front of him looked down at the floor, her shoulders rising and falling several times before she slowly spoke.

"Director Li, regarding the 'Zhou Qing' mentioned in the meeting just now, I mean, that immortal cultivator..." She tried her best to suppress her trembling voice, "How will the department deal with him in the future?"

"We will handle this according to the newly revised Monk Management Act. This serves as the reference for most of our department's actions and is also China's fundamental policy regarding this group."

Li Yulan said, "If nothing unexpected happens, the nation will respect the monk's subjective will and adopt a peaceful negotiation approach. However, considering that No. 25892 has recently committed murder, if he makes threatening moves against the public, we cannot rule out the use of armed force to suppress him."

Use armed forces to suppress? !
A chill ran up her back, and Qin Jiajia felt as if her whole body was frozen in an instant. Her legs went weak and she almost fell to the ground.

"These aren't things you need to worry about right now." Li Yulan seemed to see through her emotions and softened her tone. "If it really came to that, the department wouldn't let a newbie like you confront him. Instead, they would send experienced senior specialists to handle the situation and minimize the impact he would have."

Qin Jiajia responded woodenly, watching the director's figure disappear in front of the gate. She rubbed her cold fingers twice, then took out her mobile phone with some trembling, opened WeChat, and saw the name that frightened her at a glance.

That man named Zhou Qing, the old classmate she'd been eating face-to-face with just a few hours ago, was he a transcendent being from the realm of immortal cultivators? And a ruthless warrior who could change the world with a wave of his hand and kill people as easily as eating or drinking water?
No, no, no, this is ridiculous. Compared to this, even those netizens claiming to be Qin Shi Huang seem so believable.

Maybe it's just a name? Maybe there really are two people in the world with the same name and the same face, and they both happen to be in Liangzhou, both happen to work in the street office, and both happen to play League of Heroes and Fate God...

With a ding, a WeChat message popped up. She clicked on it reflexively. The sender's avatar was a red plum blossom, with the note "Second Aunt." "Jia Jia, have you finished dinner with Xiao Zhou? How was it? If you think it's okay, I'll ask him to invite you back later."

Boom! Like an incendiary bomb exploding, an air raid sirens blared across the sky.

"No, no, no." Qin Jiajia typed and sent it at the fastest speed in her life. "The food was delicious, but I won't eat it next time."

There was silence on WeChat for a while. Perhaps a few minutes, perhaps ten minutes, before another message arrived.

"Oh, Jiajia, I know you have high standards and look down on other young men. But when it comes to life, you have to be realistic, right?"

"You're almost 25. Back home, people your age should have kids. Girls, after all, have to get married. What's the point of working so hard out there?"

"Listen to me, don't be so picky. I recommended you a well-educated and wealthy guy before, but you insisted that his personality wasn't suitable. Although Xiao Zhou's conditions are a bit inferior, he is still a very honest and decent person. As the old saying goes, marrying a man provides clothes and food, but living a down-to-earth life is the most important thing..."

This time the chat box was filled with messages, and she could imagine the earnest expression on the other side's face even through the screen.

She slowly typed a few words and then deleted them immediately. The cursor flickered in the empty input field like the beating light of an electrocardiogram monitor.

The introduction of that person at the meeting just now was still ringing in her ears. Just thinking about it made her feel a chill down her spine.

She was a newly-appointed specialist, but she encountered someone who even her superiors in the department had to be on high alert for.

The sword was not properly equipped, and when I went out, I found that the boss of the novice level was Ashina Isshin.

At this point, she no longer had the energy to think about the ins and outs of this series of events. Every inch of her rationality was urging her to run away and get away from all this. A small person like her would be crushed into slag in front of such an existence.

That’s right, if she didn’t do something, Zhou Qing might have to face what the director called “armed suppression.” But what does this have to do with her?
She and Zhou Qing were just old classmates. Although she had a slight crush on him, that fondness was just a random chewing of gum to add some flavor to a dull life, but it couldn't be eaten, not to mention that the object of her affection might just be a fake identity.

If that's the case, why risk your life to get involved in his affairs? Whether he continues to play the role of a lazy salted fish or plays a game of CrossFire with the official, it won't affect his life at all.

Ultimately, her original motivation for this job was simply to secure a job in a major city. Her ultimate goal was a stable, secure job. What transcendental? What immortal cultivator? What armed means? Such things should be confined to the settings of third-rate online novels!
Since we already know these principles, there is no need to say what to do next.
"Gudong." Qin Jiajia's throat rolled, as if she had swallowed a piece of old chewing gum.

Her whole body began to tremble as if she had been electrocuted. She raised her finger on the screen, put it down, raised it again, and put it down again. When this process was repeated for the fifth time, she finally typed out a sentence with difficulty.

"Aunt, I understand. I will continue to see him later."

"Hey! Our Jiajia is really obedient!" The tone on the other end suddenly brightened. "Then I'll go tell Xiao Zhou that you're very satisfied with him and ask him to ask you out again later."

"No, that's not necessary." Qin Jiajia's fingers moved quickly. "Don't say anything more. Just tell him that I will come to see him in a couple of days.

"You went looking for him again? Isn't that a bit too much?" The other party was obviously not expecting her sudden change of attitude. "We can have some contact, but girls should be more reserved. Being too proactive makes you look like a pushover..."

"It's okay, just tell him that. I'll take care of the follow-up matters myself."

Putting down the phone, Qin Jiajia took a deep breath, cleared all distracting thoughts from her mind, then suddenly reached out and grabbed a pen, quickly signing her name on the paper.

She pushed open the door of the conference room, grabbed the contract and trotted down the corridor, finding the middle-aged woman in formal attire at the end of the corridor.

"Director Li, this is my agreement. Also, regarding the actions of No. 25892..."

She gritted her teeth, as if it took all her courage to say these words.

"Please let me be responsible for negotiating with him."

(End of this chapter)