Under One Person: The End of Technique, Company Building

The afternoon sun on Longhu Mountain beat down on the bluestone slabs, and the cicadas on the old locust tree in the distant square were chirping loudly, making the air seem slightly hot from their noise.

The "encounter" in front of the mountain gate lasted for about three or four seconds, but to Lü Ci it seemed to be exceptionally long.

His black cloth shoes remained firmly planted on the ground. His gaze briefly met Zhuge Qi's in mid-air before quickly shifting away, as if looking at him any longer would bring trouble.

He didn't greet them, but simply turned his face slightly away, his gaze passing over Dou Le's sparse hair and landing on the mountain path further away.

"Director Dou, I know the way to the Celestial Master's Mansion well, so I won't trouble you to show me around." Lü Ci's voice was very flat, like a pebble that had been washed by a stream for many years, without any sharp edges, but hard as a rock.

As soon as he finished speaking, he took a step forward, and the eight members of the Lü family immediately followed him like shadows, their footsteps so synchronized that they sounded like they were all made by one person.

Dou Le's smile was abruptly cut short before it could fully bloom. He rubbed his smooth forehead with his mouth slightly open, then turned to look at Zhuge Qi with a hint of "I told you so" in his eyes.

Zhuge Qi smiled at Dou Le, his smile as steady as a steelyard weight: "It's alright, Senior Lü is straightforward, we'll just follow our rules."

At this moment, Wang Bing, who was standing over there, moved.

He had long noticed the subtle tension between his own convoy and the Lü family's convoy as they moved in and out, and he also saw Lü Ci's almost rude disregard.

His gaze lingered on Lü Ci's retreating figure for a moment before returning to the young man standing by the mountain gate, wearing a light blue shirt with his cuffs neatly rolled up.

Before Wang Bing could retract his bow to Lü Ci, he casually raised his chin towards Zhuge Qi, guessing that he was someone from the company, and then ignored him.

Zhuge Qi took a half step forward unhurriedly, meeting the other person's gaze. Seeing that the other person ignored him, he did not take the initiative to start a conversation.

"You must be Zhuge Qi. I heard there was quite a commotion in Tianjin. After the old master of the Lü family went back, he cleaned up the family within three days, even crippling a master from a collateral branch." When Wang Bing mentioned the word "master," his tone carried a carefully crafted playfulness, as if he were talking about something new that had nothing to do with him. "Section Chief Zhuge is indeed a master of tactics."

Zhuge Qi maintained his indifferent expression: "It's all part of our duties, there's no question of any special methods. Since Young Master Wang has come to Longhu Mountain, he is a guest, please come in."

He turned to the side, slightly raised his hand in a "please" gesture, his movements natural and fluid. He showed neither displeasure at the teasing in the other person's words nor excessive enthusiasm because the other person was a member of the Wang family.

Wang Bing stared at him for two seconds, seemingly judging something, then chuckled softly, as if it were just a breath exhaled from his nose: "Alright, then I won't be polite."

After he finished speaking, he strode toward the mountain gate, followed closely by the old man who looked like a steward, and then by the several stern-faced retainers.

Finally, the man carrying the long, rectangular sword case passed by Zhuge Qi. He didn't look at Zhuge Qi, but as he walked past, Zhuge Qi clearly felt an extremely restrained, subtle sharpness, like a strand of hair brushing against the ground.

Ma Hong had somehow ended up standing beside Zhuge Qi. Watching Wang Bing and his entourage walk into the mountain gate, he muttered to himself, "Section Chief, this young Master Wang is quite arrogant."

Zhuge Qi's gaze followed that figure.

He didn't say anything more, and turned to Dou Le: "Director Dou, let's go. The hosts haven't all arrived yet, let's sit down first."

Dou Le nodded quickly: "Yes, yes, I've already had tea prepared in the same room where we had the meeting yesterday. It's well-ventilated and bright."

He took out his phone and glanced at the time.

The group walked back along the mountain path.

As Zhuge Qi passed through the moon gate, he caught a glimpse of a figure in a gray hoodie flashing past under the osmanthus tree not far away. It was Feng Baobao.

She was squatting on the ground, staring intently at something. When you got closer, you'd realize she was watching a caterpillar that had fallen off a tree trunk and was turning its belly up.

The caterpillar tried to turn over several times without success, but she actually reached out and gently straightened it with her fingers. Then the caterpillar wriggled back onto the tree trunk.

Liu Yanyan had also wandered over at some point. She stood behind Feng Baobao, her expression quite complicated: "...Sister Bao, what are you doing?"

"It can't turn over," Feng Baobao replied without looking up.

Upon seeing this scene, Zhuge Qi's tightly pursed lips involuntarily curved into a slight smile. He then withdrew his gaze and stepped into the side door of Guanyun Hall.

The room on the second floor of Guanyun Hall has been rearranged today.

The long table was replaced with two square tables side by side, covered with dark blue velvet cloth. Several plates of dried fruit and pastries were placed on the tables, with two purple clay teapots in the middle and several clean white porcelain cups on the side.

The window was half-open, and the warm afternoon breeze, carrying a faint scent of incense, blew in through the window, making the pages of the documents spread out on the table rustle.

Zhuge Qi sat down in the chair furthest inside, a position with his back against the wall, from which he could see the layout of the entire room.

Dou Le sat down to his left, took out his notebook, turned to a new page, and began to write and draw on it, noting down the composition of the Wang family's convoy.

About twenty minutes later, footsteps came from the other end of the corridor. First, a few light steps, then a slightly aged but strong voice: "The Zhuge family's young master has arrived?"

He was wearing a clean gray Taoist robe, his hair was neatly combed, and he was followed by only two young disciples, one on the left and one on the right, much more low-key than he had imagined.

Zhuge Qi immediately stood up and went to greet him: "Grandpa Lu, you've arrived too. You must have had a long journey."

Lu Jin's gaze lingered on his face for a moment, then she smiled and nodded: "It's not hard work, it's not like it's my first time coming to Longhu Mountain."

He walked into the room, looked around, and his gaze lingered on the tea and snacks on the table for a moment. "Are we the only ones who arrived first?"

Zhuge Qi smiled and said, "Old Master Lü and the young master from the Wang family have already arrived and are resting in the guest room in the side courtyard. The Celestial Master's Mansion said that the Old Celestial Master has something to do this afternoon and will come to see the guests later. Let's have a seat first, there's no need to wait."

Lu Jin didn't stand on ceremony. He sat down in the chair next to the main seat, took the tea Zhuge Qi offered, took a sip, put it down, and then his clear old eyes seemed to casually fall on Zhuge Qi: "Kid, I heard you really got that old fox Lü Ci scratched?"

Before Zhuge Qi could speak, a cold snort came from outside the door: "Hey Lu, can you please retract that thorn in your tongue?"