Chapter 44

As soon as he finished speaking, the car, which had been joyful just a moment ago, suddenly became silent.

Yu Tu didn't expect that he would step on a landmine after picking and choosing. Just as he was about to apologize, Meng Ziqiu seemed to see through his intentions: "No need, you don't know."

Looking at Lu Yayin's shocked expression, Meng Ziqiu laughed: "You dare to join Group 7 when you don't know anything?"

Lu Yayin whispered: "When I first started out, I had some minor friction with some groups, but Group 7 was willing to take me in, so I came."

Qin Fei glanced at her and said speechlessly: "Don't you feel guilty when you say this?"

Relying on the fact that she had learned a lot of strange and bizarre spells, when Lu Yayin encountered difficult people during her missions, she would appear to be friendly on the surface, but would secretly throw mischievous spells at them.

If you meet a two-faced villain, throw the [Truth-telling Talisman for 24 hours]; if you meet a cheating scumbag who plays PUA, throw the [Cheating Will Make You Ugly Talisman]; if you meet a sea king who shows off how awesome he is, throw the [Rotten Peach Blossoms Talisman]; if you meet an old man who takes advantage of his age and scolds and beats people on the bus, throw the [Taliants that will make you get scolded twice as much if you scold someone]... Although these talismans do not last long, they are very effective. Anyway, the people who have been thrown the talismans have learned a profound lesson and have restrained their arrogance a lot.

Although Lu Yayin was doing it secretly, most of the annoying people in the tasks she carried out, big or small, were dealt with. One or two cases were just coincidences, but if every case was like this, it could only be man-made.

The team that Lu Yayin was in at the time had a very serious atmosphere. Although they couldn't stand those rubbish, they didn't approve of Lu Yayin using this method to punish others. After severely criticizing and educating Lu Yayin, Lu Yayin vowed never to make the same mistake again. As a result, one time on their mission, they encountered a human trafficker. When the child was found, he was permanently deaf in both ears due to a high fever. Lu Yayin was so angry that she pasted several [Nightmare Talismans] on him. Because she pasted too many of them, they were discovered. At the end of Lu Yayin's internship, her internship report was marked as unqualified. If the internship is unqualified, if no other team is willing to accept you, you can only be sent to the group after the 20th to intern again, and you can never return to the first 20 groups.

Lu Yayin, who had just graduated, could not bear such shocking news. She said proudly on the surface, "You don't care about me, and I don't care about you either." But secretly, she cried in the woods behind the General Administration until her eyes were swollen.

Meng Ziqiu, who was supervising Qin Fei's physical training in the woods at the time, was startled by the earth-shaking crying sound, and then he found Lu Yayin, who was crying like a cat in the woods.

Later... Lu Yayin joined Group 7 and gradually stopped using those strange spells. After working officially for nearly two years, she suddenly understood the hidden meaning behind the harsh criticism from the leader of Group 4—

If you punish someone based on your own mental standards when you encounter something you don’t like, it will easily become a habit. Maybe at first you may punish a criminal who has made a mistake or a villain who has done something wrong… but what about in the future?

Will some people be punished for making a minor mistake? Will they tease others for having a different opinion from them? Will they attack others just because they feel uncomfortable?

No one is a dragon from the beginning, and the bottom line is lowered invisibly as the day goes by.

After Qin Fei finished speaking, Lu Yayin's eyes drifted away guiltily. She had already realized her past mistakes, but it was still a little embarrassing to speak them out.

She decisively looked at Meng Ziqiu for help: "Boss..."

Meng Ziqiu laughed, but still saved the face of their youngest member: "A Fei."

Facing several other pairs of curious eyes, Qin Fei made a zipper-like gesture: "Okay, okay, I'll shut up."

"Yayin, you came to Team 7 because Team Leader Zheng strongly recommended you," Meng Ziqiu said. "Two years ago, the night I met you in the woods, Team Leader Zheng called me for a long time. She told me a lot, saying that you are a talented and kind child, enthusiastic, lively and cheerful. She likes you very much, but is also worried that you will go astray."

The more gifted children are, the more attention they need to pay. Once they go astray, the damage they cause is incomparable to that of ordinary people.

Meng Ziqiu leaned back, with a hint of nostalgia in his eyes: "I have worked with Team Zheng for so many years, but this is the first time I have heard her talk so much."

Lu Yayin, who had no idea this would happen, was stunned: "It's hard to imagine... It always feels a little unreal..."

In her memory, Director Zheng was always serious, but extremely reliable, conscientious and responsible. She always felt at ease when working with her, so she felt very aggrieved when she received an unsatisfactory internship report.

"Alas, some people are just lucky. Someone appreciates talent, one plays the good cop and the other plays the bad cop, and they managed to make you the right one." Qin Fei tore open a bag of spicy strips, his expression melancholy and depressed, "Why didn't I have such good luck back then? I wanted to join Team 7, but I followed the boss for four months before he agreed."

"Ah~" he exaggerates, "I am so pitiful!"

"Forget about it." Meng Ziqiu pushed his glasses and said, "I didn't even plan to recruit team members back then."

All the members of Group 7 except him were wiped out that year, and Meng Ziqiu couldn't get over it for a long time. Two rounds of replacement notices within half a year had been issued, but Meng Ziqiu was still unwilling to recruit new members.

As soon as he closed his eyes, the scene from the B-rank mission [Greedy Spring] appeared in his mind. After the five people formed a formation, they left him the chance to survive. On his way away, the five names on the life detector on his wrist turned gray one by one, like a nightmare that could not be awakened, the shadow of a maggot attached to his bones.

"Eh? Boss, you weren't planning to recruit anyone back then?" Qin Fei really didn't know about this. He asked curiously, "Did you let me join because you were moved by my sincerity?"

Facing his expectant eyes, Meng Ziqiu hesitated for a moment: "...I guess so."

Qin Fei: “……?”

He protested: "What do you mean by count? Is it so difficult to admit it?"

The others burst into laughter, and the atmosphere in the car became much warmer than the initial silence.

Meng Ziqiu also smiled.

In fact, his words were not entirely false. Qin Fei's perseverance was certainly part of the reason why he agreed, but more importantly, it was the words of others that woke him up.

It was a scolding that hit him in the face. Even after so many years, he still remembered it clearly—his future was built on the lives of five people. Even if he wanted to degenerate and become decadent, he should do so after he had avenged himself.

Qin Fei also laughed along, but his eyes were filled with worry. He only had a vague idea of ​​what happened back then from rumors. He thought Meng Ziqiu had let it go over the years, but now he was shocked to realize that the knot in his heart had never been untied, but had been hidden, and was hidden deeper and deeper as the years went by.

Every school has a connection with the Alien Bureau. When Qin Fei was in school, Meng Ziqiu's name was well-known. He could defeat enemies with one sword and rarely lost. Since then, he wanted to join Group 7. However, the year he graduated, he heard that Group 7 was almost wiped out in a B-level mission, and only Meng Ziqiu survived.

Qin Fei didn't know where he got the courage to persevere, and he was forced to join Group 7. However, after joining Group 7, Meng Ziqiu almost stopped using the sword unless it was necessary. The style of defeating the enemy with one sword that he had heard of seemed to only exist in legends. In the end... it was a bit regrettable.

"You guys continue to play." After this burst of laughter, Meng Ziqiu said, "I'm old, I'll take a nap for a while."

He pulled out a blindfold from the invisible drawer of the seat and put it on, then erected the folding soundproofing board to avoid disturbing their interest. The folding soundproofing board was specially made by the Foreign Affairs Bureau. When it was erected, the sound outside was completely eliminated, creating a quiet place of its own.

*

"Team leader, don't sleep, don't sleep!" Meng Ziqiu felt someone patting his shoulder. He slowly opened his eyes and saw a familiar face with a Morgan perm and a few gray marks on his face, as if they were painted on by hand. Seeing Meng Ziqiu looking at him, he laughed and said, "Dinner is ready!"

In the distance, a clear female voice called out, "Tanjue, don't be lazy, come and help! The fire is about to go out!"

“I’m coming, I’m coming—” the boy named Tan Jue turned around and replied, then stood up and ran towards the source of the sound. After running a few steps, he turned back again, “Boss, hurry up and catch up!”

Meng Ziqiu stood up subconsciously following him.

The cooking place is not far from the stream. There is a strangely shaped pot on a simple stove made of piled stones, and dried branches and leaves are stuffed underneath. It looks a bit like the house stove that children play with.

The wrinkled old man stood by, drinking soup from a bowl, and said with a smile, "Lili, the soup is a little bland."

Qi Li was busy managing the pot and the stove at the same time: "Uncle Zhao, there is a piece of salt stone over there, please use your words to synthesize some salt for me!!"

"I told you to let me cook, you just wait and eat." Uncle Zhao looked for the salt rock she mentioned and laughed at her. "Before we left on the mission, you insisted that I guarantee that you would be responsible for the team's meals. We've been following you and we've been running out of food."

"Ahem———" Qi Li coughed awkwardly at first, then said angrily, "After we finish this meal and spend the night, we will be able to walk out of the mountain tomorrow morning! I'll treat you to a big meal after you receive the mission bonus!"

She said proudly: "Order whatever you want to eat!"

"So, our Lili is ready to lose her wallet!" The woman who was walking back with a bunch of dead branches and leaves happened to hear this, "I'm waiting for it!"

"What wallet? I'm not afraid!" Qi Li said with his head held high. He then realized that his strange-shaped pot was tilting to one side, so he quickly reached out to save it. "No, no, no, no————"

A hand reached out from behind and held the pot for her, thus preventing the pheasant egg and mushroom soup from spilling.

"Huh———" Qi Li heaved a sigh of relief, "Luckily I have Yanyan!"

"Lili." The girl who was holding the pot for her asked, "Is the scallops in your pot cooked?"

"High temperature and high fire, it should be cooked, right?" Qi Li held her chin with her hand, the black ash on her hand imprinted on her face, turning her into a funny little cat. Her eyes rolled around and she glanced at Meng Ziqiu who was standing not far away, "Boss Meng, why don't you come over and eat some mushrooms!"

Uncle Zhao paused while drinking the soup, and the old man said cheerfully: "Lili, no matter how healthy our sword cultivators are, it's not a reason for you to be so ruthless."

"Ahem—" Qi Li coughed guiltily and asked Meng Ziqiu for help, "Boss—Team Leader—Team Meng—"

Her voice was drawn out and the way she addressed him changed again and again, revealing a kind of lively flattery. Meng Ziqiu stood a little distance away from them, staring at this scene in a daze, and the familiar yet strange feeling gradually dissipated.

He remembered that they had just finished the end of the C-rank mission [Mist]. Due to the special location of this mission, they couldn't drive in, so they had to hike up the mountain with their equipment on their backs. Qi Li, as a half-kitchen killer, had to act coquettishly and take on the task of cooking. Then the five of them followed Qi Li and lived a life of having no food to eat, and spent most of the time on compressed dry food during the mission.

Qi Li served Meng Ziqiu half a bowl of soup and picked up half a bowl of mushrooms. Although the color of the mushrooms was not bright, from the cut surface... there were many different types.

Meng Ziqiu was silent for a moment, then he picked up the chopsticks they had cut with tree branches and ate everything clean under Qi Li's expectant gaze.

"Very good, it's not poisonous." After observing for a while, Qi Li announced with a sense of relief, "Let's eat!"

After she finished speaking, the five people, including Meng Ziqiu, simultaneously took out the last bag of compressed dry food from their bags and started to chew it.

Qi Li: “……?”

She grabbed the cleaned wooden bowls beside her and filled them one by one. She smiled sinisterly and said, "Come, drink the soup~"

"No one! Think! of running!"

…

After a lot of trouble, everyone had their meal. They arranged the cooking location to avoid causing a forest fire, then packed up their bags and set out at night. After climbing over another small hill, the group decided to take a break.

Qi Li took out his water bottle from his bag, stood up and poured it out: "No water."

"I'm out of water too." The girl who was previously called Yanyan stood up and looked around. "Behind those trees, there is a clear spring."

"That's not right!" Qi Li stood up with a thud, "I just came from there, there's only a patch of grass there!"

The members of the seven groups never doubted each other, but when Qi Li said this, the others became alert.

Tan Jue: "Is there a sequel to the C-level [Mist]?"

Qi Li: "...I suggest you not to be crow-mouthed."

The seven groups looked at each other and walked towards the clear spring cautiously. When they got closer, the spiritual power fluctuation detector did not send any alarms - this meant that there was no supernatural power.

Qi Li was puzzled: "Is it really that I didn't see it?"

From the first moment Meng Ziqiu saw Qingquan, his heart began beating very fast, as if a voice was urging him to leave quickly.

He blurted out: "Don't get close to the spring, don't take pictures, note the location, and we'll leave immediately."

Although the others did not understand why Meng Ziqiu reacted this way, the tacit understanding between the group made them choose to retreat. Qi Li, who was closest to the spring, was about to leave when a fruit suddenly fell from the wild fruit tree above the spring. The fruit fell into the spring water, and a few drops of the splashing water fell on her.

———The spiritual power fluctuation detector suddenly emitted a sharp explosion.

“Lili!!”

The others screamed and rushed towards her. Qili subconsciously dodged for a moment, then smiled helplessly: "It was just a splash of water. Why are you so nervous?"

"Don't worry." She turned around in front of everyone, "I'm fine."

The few drops of spring water that splashed onto her body quickly evaporated and disappeared without a trace.