Tianjin, starting with unorthodox methods to achieve immortality

In the distance, in the shadow of several old locust trees, three heads were desperately trying to shrink back.

Shen Bao lay crouching behind the locust tree, his face almost touching the bark.

Behind him, Fang Cheng and Ah Xiu didn't dare to move or even breathe.

The three of them huddled in the shade of the trees, but their eyes couldn't help but keep glancing towards the playground.

"Did he glance this way just now?" Shen Bao asked the two in a low voice.

"It seems...maybe?" Fang Cheng wasn't quite sure.

"Did he see us?"

"I don't think so?"

Ah Xiu didn't speak, but just stared at Chen Mo's back in the distance, her eyes filled with complex emotions.

The group met on the tram; he was wearing a police inspectorate uniform and sitting by the window.

The morning sunlight streamed in through the car window, falling on his profile.

Ah Xiu's first thought at that time was: This person is really good-looking.

It's not the kind of beauty that's flashy, but the kind that's quiet and understated.

His features were clear and bright, his nose was straight, and his lips had a slightly aloof quality when he pursed them.

I never expected that he would be so strong when I saw him make a move for the first time today.

No wonder they were able to get into the inspection bureau so early.

After holding it in for a while, Shen Bao finally couldn't help but blurt out, "I...I...was I seeing things?"

He rubbed his eyes hard, then pinched his thigh hard, wincing in pain. "Is this not a dream?"

Fang Cheng swallowed hard, his voice trembling: "If you're seeing things, I'm probably seeing things too. That second son of the Wang family was sent flying in an instant?"

The three looked at each other in bewilderment.

Shen Bao suddenly slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Holy crap!"

The shout was particularly loud at the edge of the quiet playground, startling Fang Cheng and Ah Xiu.

"Keep your voice down!" Fang Cheng scolded him in a low voice. "What if someone hears us?"

"What the hell did you hear? They've already gone this far."

Shen Bao pointed in the direction Chen Mo had left, her face flushed with excitement, "Did you guys see that just now? That speed, that presence, it's even more awesome than my master's!"

Fang Cheng stared at Chen Mo in the distance, his expression complex.

After a while, he suddenly spoke, his voice very soft, "He's been hiding it all along."

The two looked at him.

Fang Cheng lowered his head and looked at the half-eaten pastry he had somehow taken out and crushed into crumbs.

He gave a wry smile. "We've been sharing a room with him for almost a month now. I thought he was just an ordinary member of a cult, practicing some kind of summoning spirits and talismans, and that he was even weaker than us."

"And then?" Shen Bao chimed in, "Then he took on four opponents single-handedly. Those punches landed on his shoulder—did you hear the sound? It was like hitting a wall!"

"One punch weighs at least two or three hundred pounds, damn, it would shatter the bones in our bodies."

Shen Bao became more and more excited as he spoke, "Damn it, I feel like all our kung fu training has gone to waste."

Fang Cheng glanced at him sideways, "Just talk about yourself, don't drag the two of us into it."

Shen Bao suddenly remembered something and slapped his forehead: "Hey, do you remember what happened in the cafeteria last month?"

Fang Cheng clenched his fists; even now, thinking about it, his blood still rushed to his head.

"At the time, I thought he was just being pretentious." Shen Bao scratched his head, a little embarrassed. "Two hundred silver dollars, enough for the three of us to eat for two months."

"I even criticized him in private, saying that he's all talk and no action, and that he's not making money when he can. What's he pretending for?"

Fang Cheng smiled wryly: "I've had that thought too."

The two looked at each other and suddenly felt their faces getting hot.

"Now it seems they have the confidence to back it up," Shen Bao sighed. "Don't you think he looks down on us?"

The three fell silent again.

Shen Bao scratched his head, then suddenly remembered something: "Hey, where did he learn this skill? Aren't the unorthodox sects just learning some low-level, unorthodox techniques? How come he's so good at fighting?"

"Who knows?" Fang Cheng shook his head. "Everyone has secrets, and it's not appropriate for us to ask."

Just then, soft footsteps sounded behind them.

The three of them shuddered in fright and turned around to see two figures appear behind them at some point.

The visitors were none other than A-Xiu's classmates, Fang Yingxia and Liu Ruyan.

"What are you three doing squatting here?"

Fang Yingxia lowered her voice and curiously peeked towards the playground, "What kind of show are you watching?"

"Shh." Shen Bao waved his hand frantically and pointed into the distance.

Fang Yingxia followed his finger and immediately spotted the disheveled figures in the sunset.

She was taken aback at first, then recognized the person.

"The second son of the Wang family?"

"What... what happened? Who was so stubborn as to beat him up?"

Shen Bao couldn't hold back any longer and quickly recounted what had just happened.

Fang Yingxia's eyes widened even more after hearing this.

"What did you say? He beat up Wang Lao Er's three henchmen all by himself? Wang Lao Er's legs were even broken?"

Shen Bao nodded frantically.

Fang Yingxia stood there stunned for several seconds, then suddenly slapped her thigh, exclaiming, "What a loss!"

This shout was even louder than Shen Bao's earlier, startling all four of them into shrinking back.

"What a huge loss!"

Fang Yingxia was heartbroken. Her voice was low, but her frustration was still there. "If I had known he had this ability, I should have spent two hundred yuan to have him watch us eat in the cafeteria last time. It would have made me look so good later."

Upon hearing this, Liu Ruyan rolled her eyes, both amused and exasperated, finding it hard to understand her best friend's thought process.

"Come on, it's not like they only cared about your two hundred dollars back then."

Fang Yingxia was speechless for a moment, opening her mouth but unable to utter a word.

After a long pause, she pouted in disappointment and said, "That's true."

. . . . .

Back in his dorm, Chen Mo rubbed his nose and sneezed repeatedly. "Damn it, who's thinking about me?"

Apart from Shen Bao and Fang Cheng, everyone else was packing their things on their beds.

"Some girl must be eyeing you." He Songling, who was in the opposite bunk, turned around and said with a grin.

Before Chen Mo could retort, the burly man in the upper bunk of He Songling suddenly slammed the Shen Bao newspaper he was holding onto the bed and asked the question everyone was holding back: "Graduation is tomorrow, have you decided where you're going yet? Any inside information?"

Upon hearing this question, several people in the room who were tidying up and picking their toes all perked up their ears.

Chen Mo threw his luggage onto the bed and plopped down. "I don't know? It's okay, who can I ask?"

"If you don't know, then we're even more clueless." The dark-skinned man sighed and shrank back into the upper bunk.

"Tsk." He Songling stared at Chen Mo for a while, his eyes a little complicated. He clicked his tongue and said, "Brother Mo, you and Young Master Li are so close? Didn't he give you a heads-up?"

"If we could get him to help us stay in the Zhenyi Division, we'd be in for a treat."

Chen Mo didn't reply.

The room fell silent for a moment.

Since the incident in the cafeteria last month, their relationship with Li Jinrong has cooled down.

Outsiders didn't know the specific reason, they only knew that after that, Li Jinrong rarely slept in the dormitory, and usually only had contact with Chen Mo.

He Songling's words hit a nerve.

Seeing that he remained silent, He Songling assumed he was too embarrassed to speak, so she continued speaking to herself, her tone tinged with a hint of sour envy.

"If I had your connections, I would have shamelessly clung to you long ago. You wouldn't believe it, but I've asked around, and the best position for this year's graduates is staying at the headquarters of the Zhenyi Division."

"The place under heaven is the safest and the most lucrative; the bonuses given out during festivals are more generous than elsewhere."

He crossed his legs and counted on his fingers, "The next level is the inspection bureau that stays in Jinshi."

"There's not much to do, and it's not tiring. I don't have to deal with those shady things every day, and I can even receive tributes from the local gangs."

At this point, he lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "The worst thing is being sent down to the countryside. If they kick you to some county branch bureau, you'll really be left with no one to turn to."

"Go down there, and that's the crematorium. The county has all sorts of things, mountain spirits and monsters, wandering ghosts. If you're not strong enough, you won't even make it past the seventh day after your death."

The burly, dark-skinned man, who had been silent until now, asked in a muffled voice, "What if we're assigned to the most dangerous area?"

"Then just accept your fate."

He Songling shrugged. "I've signed the death warrant, so what difference does it make where I go? It's just a matter of whether I live for a year or ten."

His words were crude, but no one in the room could refute them.

It is now the year of the Coalition Government in 1912, a time of chaos and rampant evil.

The name "Zhenyisi" sounds intimidating, but it's actually a business where people risk their lives for food stamps.

With a tap of the fingertip, one is instantly transported to the wonderful world of Chapter 112.