"Shh!" Mao Xiaoqian, bursting with the desire to perform, made a shushing gesture and even looked around in a pretentious manner, as if the great demon they were talking about might suddenly appear at any moment.

Ruan Bei was confused and frightened by his sudden outburst. She covered her mouth in fear and dared not say anything more.

“The Great Demon King… we can’t mention his name.” Mao Xiaoqian said with a serious expression. Ruan Bei was so frightened that he nodded blankly, covering his mouth with both hands and not daring to let go.

In that instant, his mind flashed through a series of famous villains from various movies and TV shows he had seen, and all of them together formed the shadow of the Great Demon King.

The three people standing to the side had conflicted expressions. Yin Kai was speechless, while Lao Bai had his head down, his fist clenched in his mouth and biting it, his shoulders shrugging. You would have thought he was crying.

Conan rolled his eyes several times, but Ruan Bei, who was to his right rear and focused intently on Mao Xiaoqian, didn't see Conan's disdainful looks at Mao Xiaoqian for fooling the newbies.

"What does that great demon king look like?" Ruan Bei asked in a low voice.

He thought that even if he didn't know the name, he should at least find out what the person looked like, so that he could avoid them if they met.

"He... his face was ferocious!" Mao Xiaoqian clenched his right fist and slammed it into his left palm, rattling off a string of adjectives: "Leopard head and bulging eyes, pointed mouth and monkey cheeks, broad back and thick waist, a fierce and evil-looking man!"

Ruan Bei was stunned. Do people really look like that in real life? It really does sound a bit strange.

Yin Kai hesitated for a long time before reluctantly adding a positive word: "tall and mighty."

Ruan Bei subconsciously heightened the image of the villainous figure in his mind, and thinking of the phrase "broad-shouldered and burly," he simply widened the image a bit as well.

"Alright, alright, stop scaring him." Conan couldn't stand it anymore and stopped Mao Xiaoqian from continuing his performance.

Mao Xiaoqian licked his lips, still savoring the taste, then downed his water in one gulp. After setting the glass down, he summarized to Ruan Bei, "So remember, if you encounter the Great Demon King, don't think about anything else, just turn around and run, the farther the better. Otherwise, if he hits you in the face with a lightning talisman, you won't die, though..."

Old Bai chimed in with resentment, "It hurts, fine, but his face is all black and his hair is curly, like he's a different race. It's so embarrassing."

It's extremely undignified. They are respected as masters and immortals in public, and to look like this is utterly shameful.

Fortunately, the boss treated everyone equally, and everyone had a dark expression, so it wasn't too embarrassing. Otherwise, at least one-tenth of the contestants would have been gone this year.

Ruan Bei was afraid of pain and didn't want to lose face, so he became even more frightened. He reviewed the description of the great demon king's appearance that Mao Xiaoqian and the others had given him, and made up his mind that he would run away without saying a word when he saw him.

But from what they said...

"Does the Great Demon King also like to use thunder talismans?" Ruan Bei asked curiously, as his son Kunkun also liked to use thunder talismans.

Mao Xiaoqian said casually, "Of course! Thunder magic naturally suppresses all evil, so thunder talismans, thunder-based spells and incantations are very popular. Many people learn them and use them. I love to use them too."

Whether it's good or not is another matter.

Conan bluntly exposed his mistake and added some more knowledge to Ruan Bei: "However, there are also some people who, due to their bloodline, cultivation methods, or physical constitution, will find that learning and using other types of Taoist arts is more effective, so they will abandon thunder magic and learn what is more suitable for them. But under normal circumstances, everyone will learn one or two thunder magic techniques for backup, and thunder talismans are also one of the most commonly used talismans."

"The Great Demon King is the kind who uses lightning magic to its fullest extent, and he especially loves to throw lightning talismans at people. Someone as tender as you..."

"Slap!" Mao Xiaoqian slapped Ruan Bei's hands together in front of him, startling him so much that he almost jumped up.

"He'll smash you to pieces in one hit, so remember what your brother said: when you run into him, stay back a bit. When we start fighting the Great Demon King, we won't be able to take care of you."

Ruan Bei was terrified by their string of descriptions and asked tremblingly, "We...we're going to fight him too..."

Why don't we just run?

"Not fight? How can we get first place if we don't fight!" Mao Xiaoqian said with his head held high and his spirits high: "We are the team that is going to get first place. Although the big boss is fierce, he is just a stumbling block on our road to the championship. You have to have faith in your brothers, Xiao Ruan!"

"Oh, okay then," Ruan Bei replied listlessly, her voice lacking confidence.

Mao Xiaoqian wanted to say something more to him, but seeing the child's handsome face scrunched up with fear still lingering in his eyes, he wondered if he had said too much and scared the child.

No, it's not his fault. It's all because Qin Ninggu, that great demon king, is too terrifying, which is why this poor, newly-graduated child was so frightened.

The Great Demon King is truly guilty of heinous crimes!

Mao Xiaoqian sighed inwardly and reassured them with a sense of goodwill, "Don't be afraid, your brothers will protect you. We will never let the Great Demon King touch a hair on your head, unless he has to step over me!"

Ruan Bei was deeply moved and thanked him excitedly: "Thank you, Brother Mao, and everyone else. I'm so glad I met you. You are all such good people."

Feeling guilty for intimidating the newbie, the good guys all said they didn't deserve Ruan Bei's thanks, since they were all teammates and brothers, and there was no need for such polite words.

Ruan Bei felt that he had been taken care of and wanted to make some contribution to the team. He had asked his senior brother before, and his senior brother said that there was no need to hide the information he had been told.

So he told the others that the mission might be a backlog of missions from the Special Affairs Bureau, saying that he had overheard it by chance and that it might not be accurate.

Upon hearing this, Conan clapped his hands and said, "That's it! I was wondering where they got so many missions for us to use in the competition. Now I understand."

Everyone praised Ruan Bei highly, saying that the news was very useful, at least they could study the Special Affairs Bureau's backlog of tasks in advance and select suitable targets.

Otherwise, with the Special Affairs Bureau's app, once the competition rules are officially announced, trying to log in will likely drive them all crazy.

Of the five people in the team, neither Lao Bai nor Yin Kai joined the Special Affairs Bureau. Lao Bai did so because what he learned did not match the requirements of most of the missions assigned by the Special Affairs Bureau.

Generally speaking, feng shui masters earn money from wealthy ordinary people, and they have no access to the Special Affairs Bureau, let alone be assigned missions.

Yin Kai's training methods are different from those of ordinary cultivators. When he tries to catch ghosts and exorcise evil spirits on his own, he almost always fails because he can't outrun ghosts.

Mao Xiaoqian took out his phone, opened that bright green app, and started playing it back and forth, enjoying himself immensely.

With the interface so laggy, Conan and Ruan Bei didn't want to take out their own phones and suffer through this ordeal anymore, so they all huddled together to look at Mao Xiaoqian's phone.

Ruan Bei glanced at Mao Xiaoqian's code name while he logged in; Mao Xiaoqian's code name was Flying Star.

Ruan Bei found it strange; this code name was clearly not in the same style as his and Kun Kun's code names.

He was a little embarrassed to ask directly, so he said, "I've heard of those that use ancient mythical beasts as code names, which are different from yours."

While tapping on his phone, Mao Xiaoqian said enviously, "Those are all big shots, or future big shots, like the Great Demon King, he is one."

Ruan Bei couldn't help but shrink back. In the past, his master, uncles, and senior brothers all praised him, saying that he was amazing and talented. But even Mao Xiaoqian from the champion team didn't have that kind of nickname. Could it be that his senior brother gave him special treatment?

He was determined to keep his code name a secret.

After looking at the missions with Mao Xiaoqian for a while, they had a general idea of ​​what to do. However, the Special Affairs Bureau had accumulated too many missions over the years, and the refresh rate was very slow. After a while, they became impatient.

Conan frowned and pondered for a moment, then suggested that everyone search the areas where the mission was relatively concentrated.

Since they are competing as a team, they know that completing only one task will not get them a high score. They need to complete as many tasks as possible, which makes it necessary to reduce the distance they have to travel back and forth.

His idea was reasonable, so this task was issued as the team's first mission.

Since only three people had the Special Affairs Bureau's login ID, they were divided into two groups of two, leaving one person in a separate group.

Conan originally planned to search on his own, but Ruan Bei, wanting to keep his code name hidden, said he would do it himself.

So Mao Xiaoqian and Lao Bai are in one group, and Conan and Yin Kai are in another. They need to draw a rough area tonight and discuss it together tomorrow.

After some playful banter and a bit of struggling through the app, the afternoon was over.

The group went downstairs for dinner together. When they came back, they didn't go back to Mao Xiaoqian's room. Lao Bai followed him and started collecting information about the task area according to the group's division.

After returning to his room, Ruan Bei logged into the app and glanced at it. Feeling less full, he took a shower. When he came out, he found that Qin Gu had called him twice via video, but he didn't answer because he was in the shower.

He called back, and the other end answered quickly.

Ruan Bei rested her phone on the pillow, knelt on the bed, and dried her hair while talking to Qin Gu on the phone.

Even though he knew that he had lived two lives, and that he had been an adult for many years in his previous life, Qin Gu still couldn't help but worry when the person left his sight.

The first thing I said when the video call connected was to ask him how his day was.

Ruan Bei had just finished showering, and his face was flushed from the steam, looking very appetizing.

His face was beaming with a bright smile as he happily reported the day's events to Qin Gu.

He said he was lucky to meet a kind person as soon as he went out. The man introduced him to several other friends, and everyone was very friendly and did not mind that he was a newcomer. They even invited him to join their team.

Qin Gu listened, but his eyes and attention involuntarily fell on Ruan Bei's face. In the area not covered by the camera, his fingers twitched a few times, as if he wanted to grasp something.

As Ruan Bei got into the conversation, he slowed down the way he was wiping his hair.

He wasn't wearing the hotel bathrobe; the room's air conditioning was set high enough, so he was just wearing a large crew-neck T-shirt as loungewear. Judging by the size, he had most likely taken Qin Gu's clothes by mistake.

The collar of the clothes, which were a size too big, was also looser than the normal size. When Ruan Bei bent over to look at her phone, the collar fell down, and a drop of water from her hair fell into the collar and disappeared instantly.

Qin Gu's Adam's apple bobbed, and he hurriedly said, "Wait a moment."

Ruan Bei's side is no longer visible on the screen.

After a while, Qin Gu returned with his hair still slightly damp.

Ruan Bei teased him, "Did you just go wash your face? Did you see from the camera that your face wasn't clean? I didn't see that."

"No, I went to get some water. I accidentally knocked over the glass, so I washed it while I was at it."

Ruan Bei pursed his lips and reluctantly accepted the reason.

Qin Gu didn't want to dwell on this any longer, so he asked him, "You just said that you've already teamed up with someone?"

"yes."

Ruan Bei knew what he was worried about, and before he could ask, she said, "They are all very nice people, and none of them are the difficult ones you mentioned."

Qin Gu had already made a list of all the people with bad character or those who had a grudge against him and could never get along with him, and made Ruan Bei memorize it. Hearing him say this, Ruan Bei was relieved.

As for when Ruan Bei announced his teammate's name, his attention was entirely focused on Ruan Bei's face and the drop of water, busy tracing the trajectory of the falling drop.

The name sounded familiar, but it didn't catch his attention. He must have known it as just another random passerby.

Just as he was thinking this, Ruan Bei continued rambling on and on.

He lowered his voice mysteriously, as if afraid of being overheard: "Kunkun, have you heard of the Great Demon King?"

"The Great Demon King? Who?" Qin Gu didn't react for a moment.

"I don't know either, I heard it from the older guys in the team."

Ruan Bei was very nervous, as if he were telling some incredible secret: "He's a big demon king who likes to slap people's faces with thunder talismans, looks very, very strange, and extremely scary!"

When Qin Gu heard the words "slap the face with a thunder talisman," he sensed something was wrong.

Even cultivators cannot withstand ordinary thunder talismans. For example, a Five Thunder Talisman, if struck directly in the face, can cause serious injury.

The small thunder talisman was too ineffective. As far as he knew, he was the only one who had ever used a thunder talisman to slap a contestant, and he used a specially made, weakened version of the thunder talisman.

But Ruan Bei's subsequent words made him suspicious. He looked very strange.

“Repeat their exact words to me,” Qin Gu said.

Ruan Bei has a good memory, and it's only been a short time since it happened this morning, so it's impossible for him to forget.

He repeated almost everything Mao Xiaoqian and the others had said, especially the adjectives, without omitting a single one.

Qin Gu: "..."

"Tell me, how could anyone look like that? No wonder he's called the Great Demon King. I thought about it carefully after I got back and I think I have a general idea now. Wait a minute, I'll find you a picture."

Ruan Bei shrunk the video, searched for a picture of Zhong Kui on his phone, and sent it to Qin Gu.

"Look, I think it's roughly like this, but the pointed mouth and monkey cheeks don't quite match up. Leopard eyes paired with a pointed mouth and monkey cheeks, isn't that a bit too strange?"

Qin Gu: "..."

Qin Gu took a deep breath and tried to keep smiling: "What did you just say your teammates' names were? I didn't quite catch them."

Ruan Bei was completely unaware of the danger hidden beneath his smile and cheerfully announced the names of his new teammates.

"Mao Xiaoqian, right? Okay, I've got it." Qin Gu smiled and uttered the name through gritted teeth.

In the next room, Mao Xiaoqian, who was huddled with Lao Bai looking at his phone, felt an itch on his nose and sneezed loudly.

He tore off a tissue, rubbed his nose, and muttered, "Who misses me?"

Old Bai, his eyes glued to his phone, casually replied, "You're overthinking it. I think someone might be insulting you."

"Bullshit, I'm so popular, Xiao Ruan even praised me today, you're just jealous."

After exchanging a few jokes, the two went back to studying the mission.

Meanwhile, Ruan Bei, who was completely unaware that he had betrayed his teammates, was earnestly instructing his stubborn childhood friend to stay away from the Great Demon King and never confront him head-on. The Great Demon King was too ruthless, and it was best for ordinary people like them to just stay away.

Qin Gu: "..."

Qin Gu felt a lump in his throat, unable to swallow it, and wished he could drag Mao Xiaoqian out right now and give him a good beating.

Last year, that bastard was chasing after him, calling him "big boss" and being incredibly obsequious. But behind his back, he actually badmouthed him to Xiao Bei!

The Great Demon King, huh? You want to slap me in the face with lightning talismans? Just you wait.

After comforting Xiao Bei and hanging up the phone, Qin Gu couldn't fall asleep, so he took out his tools and started drawing talismans.

Originally, Xiao Bei was planning to participate in the competition, so he had to be more careful this year and not use the Thunder Talisman to pave the way.

Since they are so persistent, he has to fulfill Mao Xiaoqian and the others' wishes.

Qin Gu spent the whole night drawing talismans, the kind that could be used to smash people. They were a little less effective than the Five Thunder Talismans, but he had infused them with more spiritual energy than the ones he used last year, ensuring that this time the darkness on his face would be even greater.

Ruan Bei didn't sleep after hanging up the phone. He took out a notebook and diligently recorded the mission targets and locations, searching for nearby mission zones on the map.

Perhaps because they had all stayed up late the night before, the team didn't meet at the restaurant until almost noon the next day.

During the meal, we casually exchanged information about our respective task progress. After finishing our meal, we went to Mao Xiaoqian's room together to discuss the task circles we had drawn and the goal plans we had written.

In the end, they selected two mission areas, both located in relatively remote provinces with poor economic conditions.

That's normal. In general, those places are relatively scarce in resources, and there are fewer cultivators. With fewer people and more tasks, there are more backlogged tasks.

The bonuses for special missions are not entirely paid by the special missions bureau. The government will allocate a portion of the funds, and if the local government is in a hurry and is willing to increase the bonus, that will also be included. This is not a mandatory regulation.

In some wealthy places, high rewards are offered for any incidents. Cultivators are also human; without money, there are no resources, and without resources, how can one cultivate? Therefore, when such tasks are seen, people rush to take them on.

But few places are willing to pay extra; the journey is long, and the round trip is already quite a hassle.

Being unfamiliar with the area and the dangers of their line of work, many people prefer to take on tasks in familiar territory. Firstly, it's easier to get things done when they know the area well; secondly, it's safer, and they can ask for help promptly if anything happens.

However, they were after missions. These circles had a lot of missions, ranging from difficult to easy, and all levels were available. It was perfect for the team to get used to each other first, and then gradually increase the mission level to earn points.

It's impossible for them to choose both mission circles. They can wait for the specific rules to be announced and then choose one based on the situation.

They agreed that the event organizers would arrive the next day, a senior monk leading several younger monks, and some other people who looked like officials.

Mao Xiaoqian quietly explained to Ruan Bei that those were all managers of the Special Affairs Bureau, one of whom was even the deputy director.

Perhaps Ruan Bei was so frightened by the Great Demon King that the impression he left on them was too deep. Mao Xiaoqian and the others thought Ruan Bei was a coward and even comforted him, saying that although those people were leaders, they were just ordinary people and he shouldn't be afraid of them.

Ruan Bei blinked and obediently said "Oh," thinking to himself that he wasn't afraid at all; his senior brother was much more powerful than these people.

Although he himself isn't very good, being a complete newbie, he has powerful connections!