Under One Person: The End of Technique, Company Building

Zhuge Qing's smile faded slightly. He looked at Zhuge Qi seriously for a moment, then nodded: "Understood. I will be careful."

"That's good." Zhuge Qi stood up, patted off non-existent dust from his trousers, and said, "Alright, you must be tired from your journey. Go and settle down first. I've had someone reserve a room for you on the east side of the inn; the window faces south, so it'll be well-lit."

Zhuge Qing stood up, stretched, and asked, "Cousin, what are your plans for tonight?"

"Tonight?" Zhuge Qi thought for a moment. "There's another meeting to attend."

"Who?"

"Xu San, Xu Si, and Zhang Chulan from the North China branch."

Zhuge Qing's expression froze slightly. Of course he had heard that name before, and more than once.

Recently, there have been so many rumors about Zhang Chulan in the world of supernatural beings that they're almost drowning out the entire community.

"Alright, you go ahead and get busy." Zhuge Qing didn't ask any more questions, but simply patted Zhuge Qi on the shoulder. "If I'm free tomorrow, I'll contact you again."

"it is good."

Zhuge Qing turned and walked towards the courtyard gate, his steps still light and bouncy, but as he stepped through the moon gate, he turned back and glanced at Zhuge Qi.

There weren't many complex emotions in that glance, just a tiny bit.

Zhuge Qi waved his hand at him, indicating that he could rest assured.

Zhuge Qing then lingered and strode away into the twilight outside the moon gate.

The courtyard fell silent again.

The cicadas' chirping hadn't completely stopped; one chirp after another stretched out its last note, as if trying to prolong the tail end of summer even further.

Zhuge Qi didn't rush to leave. He sat on the stone bench for a while longer, reviewing the information he had gleaned from various parties that day.

Lu Ci's attitude, Wang Bing's probing, Lu Jin's stance, the Old Master's trump card, and Zhang Chulan's impending situation—these clues, like scattered chess pieces, are slowly piecing together a complete picture in his mind.

He took out his phone and called Ma Hong.

"Section Chief, Zhuge Qing has seen you, hasn't he?" Ma Hong's voice came through the receiver, slightly out of breath, as if he were walking. "There's something else. I just saw people from the North China Branch at the mountain gate."

"Xu San or Xu Si?"

"Yes, and Zhang Chulan too, they've arrived as well. Xu San is talking to the guest master of the Celestial Master's Mansion, and Xu Si is smoking next to him."

Zhuge Qi nodded, "Okay, I understand. Tell them I'll be there soon."

He hung up the phone, stood up, put the lid back on the empty purple clay teapot on the stone table, and then walked slowly towards the courtyard gate.

When Zhuge Qi walked along the stone path behind the mountain to the guesthouse area, it was already quite dark.

The streetlights in the mountains lit up sparsely, casting long, orange glows on the bluestone slabs.

In the distance, the outline of the Celestial Master's Mansion had blurred into a dark blue silhouette, with only two lanterns under the eaves of the main hall still lit, like two red eyes, silently watching the mountain.

Ma Hong stood at the entrance of the guesthouse waiting for him, finally lighting the cigarette in his hand, the smoke dissipating quickly in the evening breeze.

"Section Chief, everyone's inside. It's Director Xu Si, Deputy Director Xu San, and Zhang Chulan. Xiao Li poured them tea and then came out to say that he'd like to prepare some fruit."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work."

Zhuge Qi entered the courtyard of the guesthouse, passed through a blue brick screen wall, and arrived at the entrance of the reception room in the east wing.

The door was half-open, and warm yellow light shone from inside, along with faint voices.

He didn't knock, but simply tapped lightly twice on the doorframe with his knuckles before pushing the door open and going inside.

There were three people in the room, sitting at a table near the window.

Xu Si sat in the seat closest to the door, legs crossed, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, the smoke blurring the light from the fluorescent lamp.

When he saw Zhuge Qi enter, he immediately stubbed out his cigarette, stood up, and gave a slightly ingratiating smile: "Oh, Section Chief Zhuge is here. Please, have a seat."

Xu San sat in the innermost seat, his expression much more restrained than Xu Si's; he merely nodded slightly as a greeting.

His gaze lingered on Zhuge Qi's face for a moment, as if trying to gauge the other's mood today through this brief encounter.

Zhang Chulan sat in the innermost seat against the wall, facing the door.

He looked more robust than he had been in Tianjin a few months ago, with noticeably broader shoulders and a more composed posture while sitting in his chair.

But his eyes still held that keen ability to read people's expressions. The moment Zhuge Qi entered the room, he had already scanned him from head to toe, then lowered his gaze, picked up the teacup in front of him, and took a sip.

Zhuge Qi's gaze swept over the three faces in turn, then he said with a smile, "Sit down, don't stand. This isn't a company meeting, no need to be so polite."

He sat down at the head of the table, directly opposite the door, while Ma Hong naturally stood by the door behind him without taking a seat.

Xu Si was the first to sit back down, and casually pushed the ashtray to the corner of the table: "Section Chief Zhuge, you must have had a hard journey. We felt like our bones were about to fall apart just coming from Tianjin, and you had to go through all that trouble to come all the way from Beijing."

"It's alright, I'm used to it," Zhuge Qi replied. "How was your journey? Did you encounter any trouble along the way?"

"No, no, the journey was smooth." Xu Si waved his hand. "The Old Master sent a car to pick us up. We went straight up the mountain after getting off the high-speed train, and we didn't even have to carry much luggage ourselves. It's just that the mountain roads on Longhu Mountain are a bit winding, and Zhang Chulan almost got carsick."

Zhang Chulan raised his head and twitched his lips: "Fourth Brother Xu, I didn't eat breakfast, it has nothing to do with motion sickness."

"Fine, if you say it's okay, then it's okay." Xu Si smiled and didn't argue with him.

Xu San didn't say much, but Zhuge Qi could tell he was listening and observing.

Xu San's personality is not as outgoing as Xu Si's; he is deep-thinking, but he hides it well.

Zhuge Qi picked up his teacup, took a sip, and got straight to the point: "The reason I asked you to come up the mountain ahead of time is twofold. First, the Celestial Master wants to meet with Zhang Chulan in advance to go over some procedural matters. Second, our company also needs to do some simple coordination, since someone has to take the lead in coordinating security, logistics, and information sharing during the Luo Tian Grand Ceremony."

Xu San finally spoke up: "Does Section Chief Zhuge mean that the company will be fully involved in this Luo Tian Grand Ceremony?"

"It's not intervention," Zhuge Qi corrected. "It's cooperation. The relationship between the company and the Celestial Master's Mansion has always been mutually supportive. The company will not interfere with the process or his decisions in organizing this grand event, but it will provide full support in terms of external security. This does not mean that we are going to meddle in the internal affairs of the Celestial Master's Mansion."

Xu San's eyes flickered slightly, as if he were weighing the weight of those words.

Xu Si changed the subject at the right moment: "Hey, let's not talk about these heavy things. Section Chief Zhuge, what do you think about the manpower arrangements for our North China branch for this Luotian Grand Ceremony? We brought five brothers with us, all of them experienced, and they are at your command."

Zhuge Qi thought for a moment and said, "You can make your own arrangements with your own people. I won't give orders beyond my rank. However, I have a suggestion. Since Zhang Chulan has already gone up the mountain, the Old Master will definitely arrange for someone to contact him. You don't need to follow him too closely, but you also can't stay too far away. Maintain a distance that allows you to look out for him without appearing to be spying on him."

"Understood." Xu Si nodded vigorously.

Xu San then added from the side, "What about Feng Baobao? Is she still with you?"

The question seemed casual, but Zhuge Qi could sense that Xu San's gaze shifted slightly the moment the words left his mouth, as if a string had been quietly plucked.

"Baby is still with me, currently operating with the company's team," Zhuge Qi answered frankly. "She's one of the participants in this Luo Tian Grand Ceremony. According to the Old Master's arrangement, she will provide some support to Zhang Chulan on the field. The specific details will be finalized before the competition begins."

Xu San didn't speak, he just nodded, but Zhuge Qi could tell that he was still not truly at ease about the fact that "Feng Baobao is in someone else's hands".

On the contrary, Zhang Chulan's expression shifted slightly when he heard Feng Baobao's name, it was hard to tell whether it was affection or something more complicated.

"Alright, it's getting late. You've had a long journey, so get some rest." Zhuge Qi stood up. "The Celestial Master might see you tomorrow morning. I'll have Xiao Li inform you of the exact time."

Xu Si quickly stood up and said, "Alright, alright, thank you for your trouble, Section Chief Zhuge. We won't bother you any longer."

Xu San also stood up and nodded slightly to Zhuge Qi.

Zhang Chulan was the last to get up. He glanced at Zhuge Qi, seemingly wanting to say something, but in the end he only said, "Section Chief Zhuge, see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow." Zhuge Qi nodded to him.

The three filed out of the reception room, their footsteps fading into the distance on the bluestone slabs of the courtyard. Through the walls, Xu Si's signature loud voice could still be faintly heard: "Hey Chu Lan, why are you walking so fast? Wait for me..."

Zhuge Qi stood at the doorway, gazing at the narrow strip of sky cut off by the door frame. Night had completely enveloped the entire mountain. The last vestiges of twilight on the horizon had vanished, replaced by a deep blue dotted with sparse stars.

"Section Chief." Ma Hong approached from behind. "You should get some rest too, there's a lot to do tomorrow."

"Okay." Zhuge Qi responded without turning around. "You go back first, I'll stand here for a while."

Ma Hong didn't try to persuade him any further and quietly left the courtyard.