Director's Office.
Xia Tianqiong sat on the sofa with her legs crossed, her face showing an expression of complete indifference.
Director Qin, on the other hand, looked like he was trying to persuade someone with great sincerity.
"After a meeting and discussion, we have decided on four punishments for you. First, admit your mistakes and apologize to the public."
Basically, it's just the management bureau issuing a public statement, saying you've realized your mistake and sincerely apologized to the public. How about that? That's not too difficult for you, is it?
Upon hearing this, Xia Tianqiong smiled faintly, "Hehe, the Management Bureau is quite considerate of me. I'm very curious about the other three punishments."
"The second penalty is that you will be required to provide compensation to the families of the victims. Of course, the Administration Bureau will pay for it on your behalf, but you will be told to the public that you paid for it yourself."
After Director Qin finished stating the second point, seeing that Xia Tianqiong had no reaction, he continued, "The third point is that you will be transferred away from Lin'an City. The people here have the greatest dissatisfaction with you, so it is not suitable for you to stay here for the time being."
"Transfer me? Where do you want me to go?"
"Go to the capital. That's where you can truly shine, and the resources there are far superior to those in Lin'an City. You'll be highly valued there."
Upon hearing this, Xia Tianqiong unconsciously fell into deep thought.
It's like I suddenly understood something!
Several days ago, before Director Chen Qiao was transferred, the Imperial Capital Bureau had already planned to transfer Xia Tianqiong to the capital.
The mission was nominally to hunt down the supernatural in the capital and take on more missions.
But in reality, they wanted him to go to the capital to extend the lifespans of various leaders and dignitaries.
Most of the powerful and influential people in the country are in the capital, and they have long heard that a ghost hunter who can extend people's lifespan has emerged in Lin'an City.
The wealthier and more powerful people are, the more they want to live to be a hundred. But things are not peaceful now, so they are unwilling to come to Lin'an City to find Xia Tianqiong, and therefore want to transfer him to the capital.
But he's not part of the system, so whether he goes or not depends on his own wishes.
When Chen Qiao asked Xia Tianqiong about it, he immediately refused.
It's not that I don't want to go, but that I can't go for the time being.
Trading his lifespan for a large number of points and resources is a very worthwhile deal for him, but the capital city is too treacherous, and he could easily get caught up in it.
Despite having numerous contracted spirits, including three evil spirits, Xia Tianqiong is capable of sealing even ferocious spirits.
But even in the capital, one must be careful in dealing with people.
The headquarters of the Bureau of Mysterious Affairs has always been in the capital, and its strength is unfathomable, far surpassing that of the Lin'an branch.
Keep in mind that the Administration Bureau has existed for thousands of years. Even a wild monster could have leveled up several times in that long.
Take a few ancient families, for example. Every family has its own powerful and cunning members, yet they still obediently accept the supervision and management of the Administration Bureau and dare not act recklessly.
In the previous life, even after the arrival of the Ghost General and Ghost King in the human world, the entire world order completely collapsed, and dead cities or ghost cities were everywhere.
Yet the capital city, with its tens of millions of inhabitants, remained as stable as a mountain, filled with singing and dancing, like a paradise on earth.
Before his death, Xia Tianqiong visited the capital once, and he understood a principle then.
Never underestimate a nation's millennia-old heritage.
Xia Tianqiong doesn't want to go to the capital yet, unless he has enough strength.
Director Qin kept staring at him, wanting to see his reaction.
In fact, this punishment is the real purpose.
"How about it? The third point isn't too difficult for you, is it? This one can't even be considered a punishment."
"Is there a fourth one?"
Xia Tianqiong did not answer; her expression remained calm, revealing nothing of her thoughts.
"The fourth option is even simpler: hand over the Fenggui Chessboard and return it to the Liu family."
As Director Qin spoke casually, Xia Tianqiong suddenly frowned, her eyes turning cold and sharp.
"Why return the Fenggui Chessboard to the Liu family? What does this have to do with the Liu family?"
"Haven't you been paying attention to the online discussions? The Liu family is saying you killed someone and stole a magical artifact, and that's caused quite a stir online. It's just an ordinary magical artifact, so give it back to the Liu family. I can make the decision that once you go to the capital, you can choose any two magical artifacts from the General Bureau's inventory."
Director Qin was unaware of the special nature of the Sealed Demon Chessboard. In his eyes, it was just an ordinary magical artifact. Compensating Xia Tianqiong with two of them for one was not unfair to him at all.
In fact, anyone with a discerning eye can see that the four penalties are not penalties at all.
After all, no one in the Administration Bureau wanted to offend him; they just wanted him to back down so they could transfer him to the capital.
This is Director Qin's real purpose.
As for sealing the mysterious chessboard, it was merely a favor done for the Liu family.
He just didn't expect that Xia Tianqiong would find it most unacceptable to admit his mistakes, let alone hand over the Fenggui Chessboard.
"Director Qin, I cannot accept any of the four punishments you mentioned."
"Xia, you need to think this through. I'm doing this not only to quell public opinion, but also to help you. You're a hero the authorities have made of you, don't you want to salvage your image?"
If you refuse to accept the punishment, you will no longer be able to accept missions from the Administration Bureau, nor will you be able to exchange for supernatural information and supplies. Have you considered how huge that loss would be?
Director Qin spoke sincerely, as if he genuinely cared about Xia Tianqiong's well-being.
Xia Tianqiong shook her head, her face showing disdain.
"I do like being called a hero, after all, it's every man's childhood dream, but I don't really care about being seen as a villain. Times have changed, and only villains with hearts of iron can live better lives."
Regarding the strange information and supplies you mentioned, I can obtain them through other channels; it doesn't necessarily have to be from your Bureau. Since things have come to this, starting today, I will no longer come to the Bureau and am withdrawing from the cooperation agreement.
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