One person said: The essence of Wuhou Qimen lies not in Qimen, but in Wuhou.

His voice was filled with exhaustion and grievance, a complex mix of emotions that had been brewing from being overwhelmed by work for too long and being singled out by his superiors: "I'm almost dead from exhaustion, I can't stop worrying about everything. My jurisdiction covers the East China region—Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Shandong, and Taiwan, plus Shanghai, seven provinces and one municipality."

At the same time, this region has the highest concentration of supernatural sects in the country, bar none. Zhejiang province alone has several large families with centuries-old histories, Fujian has overseas supernatural forces infiltrating it, and Taiwan is even more complicated. Every day I open my eyes to a mountain of reports to process, and close them to a pile of unsolved cases. Half my hair has turned white, and you still have the nerve to tell me about 'highest efficiency'—my efficiency is because I'm overworked, do you think I want it that way?"

He became more and more agitated as he spoke, his voice rising a half-octave: "And what happened today? I was singled out by the leadership again. In front of everyone, Director Zhuge called me out first. 'Comrade Dou Le, you have a heavy responsibility on your shoulders'—do you know how I felt at that moment? I almost lost my balance. You, Xu Si, wouldn't understand this feeling, being singled out by a young man more than ten years younger than yourself, and not daring to object, having to stand ramrod straight and answer 'I will obey without question'."

Xu Si chuckled twice as he listened to Dou Le pour out his grievances.

He took his hand off Dou Le's shoulder, took out another cigarette from his pocket, twirled it between his fingers twice, but didn't light it; he just held it in his hand and played with it.

His gaze towards Dou Le held a newfound sincerity, one of mutual respect. His tone, no longer the playful banter of before, was now unusually serious: "Old Dou, the boss values ​​you. As the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility. We all look up to you."

He abruptly changed the subject, a meaningful smile playing on his lips. His eyes narrowed into slits, and his tone suddenly became sly: "Besides, who doesn't know you? I, Xu Si, know you too. You, weren't you trying to take advantage of the chaos at the beginning? With the emperor far away, were you planning to run off to Taiwan, work there for a month or two, and wait out the storm?"

Dou Le's expression changed in an instant.

It was a truly genuine shock—not anger, not offense, but a pure, unadorned, heartfelt astonishment.

His pupils dilated slightly, his mouth opened and closed, and his expression was as if his secret had been exposed in public.

He stared into Xu Si's eyes, his voice tinged with disbelief: "How did you know? Xu Si, you investigated me?!"

Xu Si was so amused by his reaction that he almost snapped the unlit cigarette in his hand.

He chuckled, a smug "I knew this would happen" kind of laugh: "Get lost! Investigate you? Do you think I'm that bored? What a coincidence! The other day when I delivered tea to Chairman Zhao, I saw your report lying on the table, practically gathering dust. And you want to go to Taiwan on official business—what are you thinking? I laughed as soon as I glanced at your 'Request Report on Coordinating Affairs with People from Other Regions in Taiwan.'"

"Don't you know the situation in Taiwan better than I do? You think you can escape Director Zhuge by running off to Taiwan? Didn't you hear what Director Zhuge said? He has dual leadership; he's also a first-level inspector of Jiangxi Province in the government. You, a regional head for East China, think you can hide forever in Taiwan? One word from them and you're back—no, they don't even need to say a word, just one transfer order and you're back. You'd better face reality, Lao Dou."

Dou Le's face went from shock to embarrassment, and then from embarrassment to a deep weariness.

He lowered his eyes to look at his leather shoes—the surface of the shoes was covered with a layer of dust, and he hadn't had time to wipe them off yet.

He was silent for several seconds, then spoke in a low voice, almost as if talking to himself: "Do you think I'm trying to hide? I'm really tired. Endless worries, never-ending work, living in constant fear that something might happen in some region. And now this big shot has arrived, I..."

He didn't finish speaking, but his meaning was already quite clear.

Xu Si patted his back, a little harder than before, with a sense of brotherly comfort.

Then he changed the subject, his tone suddenly becoming serious, unlike Xu Si: "By the way, brother, let me remind you of something—your temporary worker is Xiao Zizai. You should keep an eye on him."

Dou Le's expression changed when he heard the name "Xiao Zizai".

It wasn't surprise, nor anger, but a deep, long-suppressed sense of helplessness.

He let out a long sigh, the breath slowly being expelled from his chest, as if he were trying to expel all the stale air from his lungs.

He looked at Xu Si, a rare hint of frankness and helplessness in his eyes: "That's the problem. You know, temporary workers don't have any rank. To put it bluntly, they're just unofficial staff directly under our command, kind of like mercenaries in ancient times. The reason Xiao Zizai listens to me is because I tacitly allowed him to do one thing—to allow him to release his bloodlust by hunting those vicious and ruthless superhumans, thus suppressing his inner demons. That was the condition for him becoming a temporary worker. Without that condition, he wouldn't have come to the company at all. That person of his..."

Dou Le paused here, as if searching for a suitable word to describe Xiao Zizai, but ultimately couldn't find one.

He simply shook his head, a bitter undertone in his voice: "Now we have such a high-ranking leader parachuted in, constantly talking about the Party and the country, constantly talking about the rule of law, constantly talking about zero tolerance—how am I supposed to explain this to Xiao Zizai? You go and tell Xiao Zizai, 'From now on, no more killings, you must obey the law, you must win people over with virtue'—what do you think Xiao Zizai's response will be? He'll probably give me a polite smile, then turn around and tear the next target I've assigned in half. He doesn't care about laws and regulations at all; he only cares about one thing—killing. He's not doing it for money, not for power; he simply wants to kill. How am I supposed to control someone like that?"

Dou Le's voice grew softer and softer until it finally turned into a powerless sigh.

He rubbed his temples, as if suddenly remembering something, and leaned closer to Xu Si, whispering, "Xu Si, do you think I should smooth things over? Give him a gift or something? Try to build a relationship with Director Zhuge, at least so he won't keep such a close eye on things during his inspections... What do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Si paused for a second, then smiled.

It wasn't a smile, it wasn't a chuckle, it was a burst of laughter that could no longer be contained.

He laughed so hard he almost fell over, squatting on the ground, one hand clutching his stomach, the other pointing at Dou Le, tears welling in his eyes, glistening in the setting sun: "Hahahaha—Old Dou! Stop making me laugh, okay? How could you say such cold and ridiculous things with your 36-degree mouth? What were you thinking? Huh? Giving gifts? Giving gifts to Director Zhuge?"