Chapter 280: Welcome To Join: Crouching Dragon And Young Phoenix Alliance!
Around 9:20 PM, Senior Student’s exclusive car stopped on the street not far from the Haunted House. Under the dim yellow glow of Alchemy Element streetlights, fine rain lines fell from the sky.
After Yuan Zhu led Nie Yin out of the car, the two shared a large black umbrella and waved goodbye to the Senior Student in the passenger seat.
Once the vehicle gradually drove away, Yuan Zhu turned to look at Nie Yin beside him, who was much shorter and seemed even more petite with her head silently lowered, and said, “It’s getting late. Don’t go back to the school dorm tonight; come with me instead!”
Hearing this, Nie Yin, who had been pretending to have no presence with her head down, instantly bristled. Her inner vigilance maxed out, and she subtly stepped back, ready to flee at any moment.
As a result, she was fully exposed to the rain, with raindrops trickling down her nape into her clothes, making her shiver.
Seeing this, Yuan Zhu considerately stepped back half a pace, using the umbrella to shield her again. His movements were elegant, gentle, and full of gentlemanly poise, with maximum boyfriend energy.
As a result, Nie Yin, feeling she couldn’t escape his clutches, instantly maxed out her Dislike toward Yuan Zhu, her mindset filled with utmost resistance.
We’ve only known each other a few days, and you’re already showing your true colors, trying to keep me overnight in a strange place?
Yuan Zhu, detecting through Anti-Law that this mental patient’s Affection Level had plummeted again, remained outwardly calm, as if nothing had happened and he hadn’t noticed her mindset change.
Instead, he continued on his own: “Perfect timing, let me introduce you to two companions. They’re also Anti-Law Team Leaders I’ve carefully selected, with the same Permission level as you. However, their contracts are even harsher, so I trust them more, and their status is higher than yours. You’ll all be colleagues in the future, so get to know each other.”
The Frog Killer Girl, originally full of disgust and resistance, cleared her doubts instantly upon realizing this garbage Employer wasn’t hinting at her staying overnight for sex but instead planned to introduce “new colleagues.”
Her paranoid “disgust level” instantly reset, and her mindset shifted. She began suspecting if this was rhetoric to lower her Vigilance, lulling her into a false sense of security and tricking her.
Despite such suspicions, her Vigilance still rapidly dissipated. Just like being told not to imagine a pink elephant, the more she mentally urged herself to stay alert, the more relaxed she became.
Yuan Zhu, constantly monitoring the Anti-Law Panel: Group B (Nie Yin) for emotional changes, secretly thought: As expected, easy to manipulate!
He had only spoken slightly, and she had already crumbled on her own.
So he pressed the advantage: “Once you’ve all gotten acquainted, with this long sleepless night ahead, work overtime for me! My Villa stores plenty of Shadow Eggplant Essence. You can pick one for ‘Muscle Modification.’ I’m eager to see the Conflict phenomena between Frog System Pollution and Shadow Eggplant Parasitism.”
Hearing that her Employer wasn’t hinting at sex but planned even worse exploitation—overnight overtime, squeezing her labor without rest—Nie Yin’s Affection Level toward Candle quietly rose again, increasing slightly ↑.
This Exploitation and Squeeze made her feel important and valuable. Amid slight anger and displeasure, she also felt the long-lost sensation of being needed and valued.
Hmm, this feels pretty good!
Meanwhile, Candle, holding the umbrella and leading the way, discussed inwardly with Snake Snake: “Psycho! Her Affection Level fluctuates up and down? She even wanted to backstab me just now!”
Snake Snake, calm and composed: “Just grasp one point: persistently tug and tease her emotions, ending with moderate suppression, to continuously and permanently micro-boost Affection, earning her trust and ultimately turning it into dependence.”
“Is she a masochist?”
Snake Snake: “Not masochistic, just ‘Evil Resonance.’ The worse you act, the more she admires you. But don’t go too evil, or beyond a certain range, it’ll trigger her Vigilance and hostility. Within her ‘Evil Threshold,’ she’ll see you as one of her kind.”
Yuan Zhu, half-understanding: “Oh, attraction between edgelords?”
“Exactly!”
When Yuan Zhu led Nie Yin to a remote unmanned wall, scaled it under cover of night to enter the Villa Area, trampling the Lawn while approaching the Haunted House.
Feeling the novelty and Stimulation, Nie Yin’s Affection toward Candle rose another notch. She liked this sneaky nighttime wall-climbing, like planning a burglary.
At the Haunted House door, without any action, the Villa detected its owner returning and automatically opened the Door.
Stepping into the Room, Nie Yin’s Anti-Law felt like a Mobile Phone suddenly connecting to home WiFi—familiar and secure. Hmm, this feeling… never had it before, not bad.
After entering, Yuan Zhu immediately noticed that the Brother and Sister had cleaned the originally messy Living Room spotless while he was away.
The collapsed Second Floor Floorboards and the numerous Worm Pillars scattered messily in the Living Room… were now neatly stacked in the Living Room corner.
Worm Pillars piled layer upon layer, beside them stood Polluted Mulberry Tree Seedlings. Then large medicine chests containing various Spirit Grass Seeds and Insect Eggs. Finally, one-ton ingots of Bug Gold…
At this moment, the Brother and Sister were squatting beside a pile of scrapped Wood.
These were the collapsed Second Floor wooden Floorboards and the tables and chairs smashed by Worm Pillars in the Living Room… With nothing to do while waiting for Yuan Zhu’s return, the Brother and Sister collected the waste Wood into a pile.
Then each held a Stool Leg, silently putting them in their mouths and gnawing away.
Little Girl’s pretty face with baby fat strained with effort, her small face contorted ferociously, managing only to gnaw a thin layer of Wood Chips from the Stool Leg surface. After laboriously chewing a few times, she spat it out with a ‘Pah!’ onto the Floor in front.
A thin layer of Wood Chips had already accumulated under her feet.
Opposite her, Younger Brother’s teeth were excellent; with a ‘Crack!’, he bit off a small piece. Then, like chewing sugarcane, he crunched the dry Wood block ‘crunch crunch,’ chewed it to bits, and spat it onto the Floor in front, piling a small mound.
This anti-Common Sense scene left Yuan Zhu dumbfounded; he hurriedly shouted, “Stop! What are you two doing? Hungry?!”
Though he knew their lives were tough, he hadn’t realized how tough. He’d only been out one afternoon, and the Brother and Sister were starving enough to raw-chew table legs. Crucially, this stuff isn’t sweet or juicy—what are you even chewing?!
Yuan Tang jumped up in surprise upon seeing Yuan Zhu, excitedly shouting, “Big Brother! Pah pah pah, we’re not hungry!”
Younger Brother looked up, nodded solemnly, and replied, “Mm!”
Yuan Zhu looked at the already chewed-up chair and asked, “What are you doing?”
Little Tang pointed at the pile of scrapped Wood, marveling, “This is Pure Wood, untouched by any ‘Miasma Pollution, Immortal Zombie Tendrils Erosion, Iron Poison Corrosion.’ Though badly damaged and unusable, discarding it is too wasteful. So we’re chewing it up, mixing with saliva to ferment—it makes top-tier culture medium for growing Pure Mushrooms to eat!”
The thrifty Little Girl couldn’t stand seeing such Treasures wasted. After tidying the Living Room, she led her brother to chew tables, chairs, and Floorboards, creating ‘mouth-chewed Wood Chips’ for their Big Brother to cultivate premium edible Mushrooms.
In Insect City, such Pure Wood chips are only available in limited quantities to Lower Urban Area residents.
“…”
Yuan Zhu was satisfied with Little Girl’s initiative but speechless at their specific behavior. In his previous life, he’d only heard of mouth-chewed wine; now this life offered mouth-chewed mushrooms?
“Stop gnawing. The Present World and Insect City are different; this scrap Wood isn’t valuable. Your physical strength, labor, Time, and Energy are far more precious—gnawing Wood is too wasteful, just spit it out. Come, let me introduce a big sister.”
Yuan Zhu stepped aside, revealing Nie Yin, equally full of curiosity and confusion at the siblings’ bizarre behavior.
Seeing both sides eyeing each other curiously but unsure how to start, Candle took the initiative: “Get acquainted; you’ll be companions from now on. This is Miss Nie Yin, who will handle Frog Factory’s technical Production, Farming management, Potion crafting, Frog System Modification, as well as Extreme Warrior maintenance, repairs, Upgrades, and refurbishing…”
Yuan Zhu’s words left the Brother and Sister baffled yet impressed. This sister is amazing—no trace of Cultivation in her, yet handling so many roles.
“Little Tang, this sister isn’t talkative and dislikes socializing. So future Frog Factory external Sales, negotiations, dealings; Warrior management, and Broker work will be your responsibility.”
Little Girl, whose mind had never conceived of Factory or Broker concepts, pointed at herself in bewilderment.
Me?!
Her big bright eyes widened, staring fixedly at Yuan Zhu. Thrilled by his recognition and approval, yet bewildered and fearful of the blank new job.
Are you putting me in a tough spot?
Just from eye contact, Yuan Zhu instantly understood her concerns and reassured, “Relax, all simple work that won’t affect your daily Cultivation and studies. I’ll arrange professional Mentors for one-on-one tutoring. You’ll master it quickly.”
Little Girl had grievances but kept them to herself, choosing silent endurance and Digestion.
In the Underground World, she hadn’t even had opportunities. Now with this heaven-sent duty, no matter how outrageous—even eliminating Tang Seng and his three disciples—she wouldn’t utter a single ‘No!’ Instead, she’d attempt to assassinate Tang Seng, review failures, and do better next time!
Seeing Little Girl’s Fighting Spirit brimming, Yuan Zhu turned to Younger Brother: “A Tiao, from now on, teach the Extreme Warriors basic Martial Arts, using them as sparring dummies for your daily Martial Arts practice. Enrich their beating and reaction Experience through ‘suppressive beatdowns.’ Plus, handle Frog Factory’s security and cargo transport.”
Looking at his personally selected ‘Anti-Law Group Leaders,’ despite their flaws, they were indispensable right and left hands for his future Undertaking.
These three were the most outstanding talents he could currently access. None better—not even Nie Yin, who could only ensure secrecy, not loyalty.
The Brother and Sister had higher Loyalty and reliability but were heavily Polluted lives smuggled from the Bubble Layer. They were ‘Otherworld Dangerous Species’ slated for cleanup. Reliable, but extremely risky.
Yuan Zhu: “That’s it, get familiar with each other.”
He handed the scene to the eldest, Nie Yin. But the Frog Killer Girl curiously eyed the ‘Otherworlders. Two Siblings’ while entering ‘autistic mode,’ refusing communication.
She just stood opposite the Brother and Sister, head silently lowered, silently confronting with sidelong glances.
Little Girl smiled ingratiatingly, tried greeting first but hit walls repeatedly, then adapted with poise, politely meeting Nie Yin’s gaze, extremely well-mannered like a newbie facing a Senior at a Company.
Finally, Younger Brother routinely trailed his sister pretending to bodyguard, unmoving as a mountain, but inwardly super nervous. Yet unsure why? He could clearly one-punch her dead.
Seeing the three frozen in place playing statue game, able to standoff till doomsday, Yuan Zhu had a headache.
Nie Yin’s autistic trait was too limiting; Little Girl was shrewd but lacked Main World Common Sense—needed to fix that; Younger Brother seemed as taciturn as Nie Yin, but that was honest kid personality. His flaw was also lacking Common Sense, plus a bit ‘sis-con.’
Thus, Yuan Zhu retook control, asking Frog Killer Girl: “Little Yin, does your Rain Courtyard have tutoring classes for elementary or junior high students? Or partnered ‘special education centers’? I want one-on-one tutors for the siblings for crash courses on New Federation basics.”
Nie Yin, hearing this, expressed surprise with her exposed emerald left Eye, suspecting Yuan Zhu had mixed up the siblings’ identities.
Their height difference was exaggerated—over three heads? Clearly high school brother and elementary sister.
Then, she caught the oddity in Yuan Zhu’s words. They seemed polite, clever, well-raised—why need tutoring for basics? Could it be… such strong Polluted Aura, are they Different Time and Space smugglers?!
Imagining her Employer not only building such an evil Polluted Haunted House in the Urban Area, hoarding loads of ‘Polluted Eggplant Goblins,’ stockpiling ‘high-concentration Pollution Resources’; but also secretly smuggling from Different Time and Space, trying to raise two ‘humanoid Pollution Species’ to blend into human society.
She inexplicably got excited, finding Yuan Zhu more and more appealing.
Candle: “Weird, why’s her Affection Level rising so fast?”
Snake Snake: “Attracted to your charm!”
At this moment, Nie Yin suddenly spoke: “They’re not Du Ling creatures?”
Implying, was Yuan Zhu performing illegal Sacrifice Rituals in this Haunted House, contacting Evil Spirits, trading Sacrifices for these ‘Pollution Species’—and trying to raise them?
Misunderstanding, Yuan Zhu nodded in admission: “Correct, they come from the Bubble Layer. Extremely high Deviation, high Pollution risk—exposure would draw Security Bureau attention, even repatriation or exile. Now, I need to fill their Knowledge gaps for quick adaptation to Reality; while reducing exposure risk and boosting their environmental Adaptation to Du Ling Star. How can you help?”
