The comments said I was deeply affectionate, I just added points by using an alternate account.

The man stared at him for a few seconds, and a bit of ash from his cigarette fell onto the counter, but he didn't flick it off.

"You're a very tactful person when you speak."

"Those who have survived to this day know how to speak with tact."

The man chuckled, "You're an interesting one. Okay, wait a minute."

He stood up from behind the counter and walked to the back of the shop.

Chen Guan sat on the low stool without moving, his gaze casually sweeping across the interior of the shop.

The hardware on the shelves was arranged haphazardly, some of which were covered in a thick layer of dust, and didn't look like things that anyone would buy. The whole shop was more like an empty shell, and its real purpose wasn't to sell goods.

Apart from that, there doesn't seem to be anything special.

The cheetah's ears twitched, pointing towards the back of the shop.

The person behind him spoke a few words to someone in a very low voice, so the content was unclear.

About two or three minutes later, he returned.

Another person was following behind him.

He was young, around twenty-five or twenty-six years old, wearing a black hoodie with the hood undone, revealing a angular face with a darker complexion, and a silver earring in his left ear.

He walked to the counter, stood against the shelf, crossed his arms, and looked the coffin up and down twice.

"He Chenguan?"

"Um."

"From the southwest?"

"Um."

"You've come all this way to find work, are there no opportunities back home?"

"There's not much of a chance."

Chen Guan slowed down his speech a little, his tone tinged with fatigue: "It's a small place. The jobs for clearing out the alien beasts have been taken over by a few local teams. Outsiders can't get involved, and there are fewer and fewer jobs for escorting goods. We have to find a way to make a living."

The hoodie looked at him, her gaze lingering on his face for two seconds before shifting to the cheetah.

"Is this leopard yours?"

"right."

"Mutated?"

"Um."

Chen Guan was getting sleepy listening to these largely similar questions.

That's so slow.

The hoodie crouched down, stretched out a hand, and waved it in front of the cheetah.

The cheetah tilted its head, sniffed his fingers, then turned its face away, ignoring him.

"Quite a temper." The hoodie stood up, a slight smirk playing on his lips.

"He's been with me for too long, so he's not very friendly to strangers," Chen Guan said.

The hoodie's gaze returned to his face: "The mask is off."

Chen Guan did as instructed.

Then, he could feel an extremely faint fluctuation of mental energy, as if something was gently brushing against his face, but that energy quickly dissipated, as if it had been bounced off by an invisible membrane.

That spiritual energy came quickly and dissipated just as fast.

The hoodie frowned slightly. The feeling was like taking a bite of something and finding the taste was off, but not being able to pinpoint exactly what was wrong.

"Is there something on your face?"

"What is it?" Chen Guan's tone was a little impatient, the kind of normal reaction after being asked a question out of the blue.

The hoodie stared at him for two seconds before looking away.

"fine."

He turned to look at the middle-aged man behind the counter. The two exchanged a glance, and the middle-aged man nodded slightly.

The hoodie refocused his attention on Chen Guan, his arms still crossed, but his aura relaxed a bit, and his tone became more routine.

"Alright, He Chenguan, right? I'll tell you the rules once, and only once."

"you say."

Chen Guan put the mask back on. The mask was indeed useful; it had no flaws except that it was not sturdy and would break easily.

"First, don't ask what you shouldn't ask, don't look at what you shouldn't look at, and don't remember what you shouldn't remember. All you need to know is that someone pays you to do the work, and once you've finished, you get paid and leave."

Chen Guan nodded.

"Secondly, once you accept a job, you have to finish it. If you abandon it halfway, you will bear the consequences yourself."

"What are the consequences?"

The hoodie smiled and said, "What do you think?"

Chen Guan did not respond.

She didn't even wait for him to answer the hoodie, and continued talking.

"Third, casual workers are not allowed to collude with each other in private, nor are they allowed to inquire about each other's backgrounds. You don't know them, and they don't know you. Everyone is here to make money, and once we've made our money, we'll go our separate ways."

"One last thing." The hoodie held up a finger and pointed it in the air: "Keep your beast under control. If it bites someone it shouldn't, it won't be able to pay for it."

The cheetah lay on the ground, its ears twitched, and the tip of its tail gently patted the ground, looking very docile.

Chen Guan looked down at it.

"It's more obedient than I am."

The hoodie scoffed and turned to walk behind the shop.

"Come with me."

Chen Guan stood up, and Cheetah followed suit.

Behind the shop was a narrower passageway, flanked by the outer walls of a warehouse, covered in rust and unknown vines. The overhead power lines were stretched very low, almost brushing against your hair as you walked by.

After turning two corners, an iron gate appeared ahead. The gate was not locked, but just ajar.

The hoodie pushed open the door, revealing a small room, about thirty square meters, with a cement floor and a corrugated iron roof.

There are already people in the room.

Three.

A bald man sat on the innermost bed, polishing a short knife. The blade had several old nicks, indicating it had been used for a long time.

A tall, thin man leaned against the wall with his eyes closed and his hands in his pockets, it was hard to tell whether he was really asleep or just pretending.

There was another woman sitting on the edge of the bed near the door, drinking water from an enamel cup in her hand; she had short hair.

All three of them glanced at Chen Guan as he entered.

The bald man's gaze lingered on him for less than a second before shifting away to continue wiping his knife.

The tall, thin man slightly raised his eyelids, then closed them again. Chen Guan saw Long Ao's shadow in him.

The short-haired woman glanced at it a few more times, her gaze lingering on the cheetah longer than on Chen Guan.

"The new guy is He Chenguan, a casual worker, a summoner."

The man in the hoodie stood at the door and introduced the situation in a tone reminiscent of reading a list. Then he turned to Chen Guan and said, "Find an empty bed, put your things away, someone will be coming to assign tasks tonight, so don't wander off before then."

After saying that, he left, the iron gate closing behind him with a muffled thud.

Chen Guan stood at the door, his gaze sweeping around the room.

There were two empty beds left, one next to the bald man and the other opposite the tall, thin man.

He chose the one opposite the tall, thin guy.

The cheetah followed him over, lay down by the bed, its tail curled to its side, its purple pupils half-closed, looking very docile.

Chen Guan sat on the bed, took off his coat and draped it at the foot of the bed. His movements were very natural, as if he had already gotten used to this simple living space.

The room was quiet for a while.

"Your leopard, the purple one?"

The one who spoke was a short-haired woman, and her voice was lower than I had imagined.

"Um."

"Mutated?"

"Um."

"What rank?"

"Third tier".