Chapter 37: Come Play Whenever You Have Time
“Ah—autumn!” Zhang Qian touched his somewhat itchy nose, “Hmm? I, a majestic Foundation Establishment big shot, shouldn’t catch a cold, right?”
Ever since taking the yellow pill refined by Ghost Hand, Zhang Qian felt that he had left the category of Qi Training newbie and officially stepped into the Foundation Establishment realm.
True Qi had brought very strong enhancements to his body, even somewhat deviating from the human species.
After all, now he might not be able to pull up mountains and rivers, but at least he could lift a cauldron. Previously, hugging a bucket of water was strenuous, but now he should be able to cosplay as Dian Wei, treating people like toys with one hand.
This was just the power in his normal state; if True Qi was factored in, it was even more terrifying. Even without systematic training, the protagonists in those urban soldier king novels wouldn’t be enough for him to beat.
In short, he was very strong. As long as he didn’t encounter those old things, he should be able to strut around.
Probably…
Zhang Qian held the golden box in his hand, walking through the dark stairwell.
He didn’t use any lighting equipment; with True Qi boosting him, the darkness here was just like a filter to him.
The walls around him weren’t just charred black; there were also inexplicable mottled marks, like patterns carved with a chisel.
These patterns were neatly aligned, perpendicular to the window, clearly man-made.
But these marks covered every corner of the building, even the ceiling wasn’t spared. Who would be so idle, stuffed full?
“These marks don’t seem related to ghost fire. If the charring was left by ghost fire, then these marks were left by that Ghost Controller called Fang Shiming?” Zhang Qian looked around and deduced in his mind, “It seems his supernatural power can easily cover the entire building, and suppress ghost fire over a similarly large area. Definitely not to be underestimated.”
Large-area AOE, as long as it doesn’t graze, is always a divine skill no matter the time.
“Hmm… I wonder if doing this counts as breaking and entering?”
He planned to pick a place in the residential building to store the fierce ghost. The first floor definitely wouldn’t do; too easy for people to stumble in.
In Zhang Qian’s view, the third or fourth floor was most suitable.
“How about right here?”
Zhang Qian stopped, looking at the fairly intact security door in front of him.
The twisted door plate had “34#” crookedly written on it, probably indicating this was the fourth floor of Building 3.
Across was 341, but that side’s door didn’t know where it had flown off to; it felt somewhat unsafe.
Slightly grayish True Qi surged out, wrapping around Zhang Qian’s palm.
He reached forward, his fingers sinking deep into the iron door like a laser knife, then with a slight twist, he dug out the security door’s lock core.
However, the environment inside formed a stark contrast with the outside.
Clearly the corridor was all charred black, yet this room wasn’t affected at all.
The tiles on the floor had a thin layer of dust, but otherwise no damage.
The other furniture showed no signs of fire damage, not even the most flammable leather sofa was harmed.
Zhang Qian didn’t use the ready-made cabinet inside; instead, he dug a few pits in the floor under the bed and buried those boxes inside.
“This way, they shouldn’t be found.” Zhang Qian moved the bed back to its original position and nodded in satisfaction.
Good thing that ghost skeleton was traded to Wang Xiaoming; otherwise, there really wouldn’t be a place to put it.
For insurance, he also painted the box containing the fierce ghost red, and printed “Radiation Hazard” in big letters on it with ink. Any normal person shouldn’t open something like that.
After all, it was just temporary storage; he didn’t want to cause deaths due to his own negligence.
If something went wrong with this batch of fierce ghosts, it would be hard to claim from headquarters later.
“Hmm… fourth floor, doesn’t seem that high…” Zhang Qian lay on the window, suddenly having an immature idea.
Moments later.
“Bang!”
A muffled giant crash startled the night owls sleeping.
Zhang Qian straightened his waist excitedly, patting the dust off his body.
Fourth floor and nothing happened; I’m really awesome.
He drove the van, slowly leaving the residential area.
The residents of Building 3 also watched Zhang Qian leave.
They didn’t come out, just quietly standing by the windows in the aisles of each floor.
Three figures per floor—two tall, one short—adding up to exactly thirty-six people.
Resentful gazes followed Zhang Qian out of the residential area, as if complaining that he didn’t give them a chance to see him off.
In the end, the hospitable residents could only dissipate one by one, waiting for the next visiting guest.
……
“Beep beep beep—”
Just as Zhang Qian was driving, a call came in.
But he just glanced at it and ignored it. Not answering calls while driving was a matter of principle.
Moreover, his social circle was almost zero; unknown numbers calling him were either sales or insurance—answering would just waste time.
The ringtone persisted for a long time without stopping, only quieting after nearly a minute.
Not long after, it called again persistently.
“Are harassment calls this persistent nowadays…” Zhang Qian said helplessly, finding a place to temporarily park, then answered the call: “Brother, don’t speak.”
“I know you might have been kidnapped and forced to do this. Here’s the deal: if you’ve been kidnapped to Northern Myanmar, keep selling to me; if not, just hang up.”
The other side fell silent.
Zhang Qian checked the caller location; this person wouldn’t really be in Northern Myanmar, would they? Wonder if they’d get beaten with a stick for these words.
He was wondering if he should call the police when a voice finally came from the other side.
“Hahaha, Zhang Qian… I didn’t expect you to still be so interesting.”
Zhang Qian raised his eyebrows; unexpectedly, it was a woman, and her voice was quite pleasant.
Since it was a woman, it probably wasn’t selling insurance.
“Sorry, I thought it was a harassment call. May I ask who you are?”
“Guess…”
“Beep beep beep.”
Zhang Qian hung up without hesitation, feeling speechless inside.
Guess my ass; I can’t even recognize the voice—how am I supposed to guess? I’m not a Taoist; how would I have remote fortune-telling skills.
The girl on the other end didn’t expect Zhang Qian to be so decisive; she paused for a moment before calling again.
Answering the call, the voice on the other side carried a bit of apology.
“Sorry, Zhang Qian, I wanted to joke around. Are you mad?”
“Get to the point.” Zhang Qian was getting a bit impatient; this woman was so hard to communicate with.
“I have no money to buy tea, and I don’t want to hear how hard your tea farmer grandfather has it.”
“Um… I’m Yu Xin. We just met not long ago; do you remember?” The girl’s voice was a bit dejected, as if scared by Zhang Qian’s tone.
“Oh~ Do you need something from me?”
Yu Xin on the other end was a bit shy and annoyed; this was basically not remembering at all.
But she still asked in an almost coquettish tone: “Want to ask you out to play; do you have time?”
Worried Zhang Qian would refuse, she quickly added: “Not just the two of us; there are some other classmates too. We haven’t gathered in a long time—how about coming out for a meal?”
“Oh~” Zhang Qian finally recalled who she was and gladly said, “I refuse.”
