First-Year Internship—And You Went to Site 749 to Contain Monsters?!
Chapter 136: So What, I Hit Her Not You, Just a Casual Thing

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“ROAAARRRR！！！！！”

The earth-shaking roar kept echoing from underground.

With mountain-shattering tremors,

massive cracks stretched outward like veins.

Mud and sand shot skyward, while gold-red energy invisible to ordinary people kept burrowing deeper into the ground.

“ROAARRRR！！！！”

The land kept cracking, as if something was about to burst out from within.

But under the blazing sun, as sunlight poured into the fissures,

“ROAAARRRR！！！！”

The cracks sealed shut, leaving behind only a wrecked mess.

At the same time—

the team from Jinshan 749 arrived. Formation arrays and diagrams were being set up everywhere.

People moved in and out, machinery rolled in, and blue steel panels were raised to block public view. Local departments began evacuating civilians and officially announced:

Mountain demolition in progress!!

Right now, Lu Ding was getting dressed.

Li Kai was rubbing the small-sized Stillwater Lotus Mist fruit in his hand, grinning ear to ear.

“How can I accept this? I didn’t help at all, and you’re still giving me one. This…”

The small fruit was still useful, but the medicinal potency was modest—wouldn’t even count as icing on the cake for Lu Ding.

Might as well give one to Li Kai as a favor.

The remaining small ones, he gave all to Bai Hemen. Lu Ding kept the big one for himself.

Lu Ding grinned and said, “Finders keepers. I can’t split the big one with you though.”

“I don’t have that thick of a skin.”

Li Kai said it with a laugh, then glanced at the Stillwater Lotus Mist tree.

Somewhat sheepishly, he said, “Hey, Lu Ding… do you think I could buy the tree off you? I’ll use Contribution Points. How about 350?”

That price rang in Lu Ding’s ears and immediately got his attention.

Turn it in to 749, and the most he’d get was 300—not a chance of 350.

“I mean… sure. But what do you want with a fruitless tree? Who knows when it’ll bear again?”

Turned into 749, the Bureau had specialists to cultivate it.

But personally owned? Sure, you can keep it alive, but getting it to fruit again? That’s tough.

“My wife’s pregnant. Three months in. Took a lot for us to finally have one. She’s a regular person—body’s not in great shape.”

“Most Rare Spiritual Treasures are too intense for her to handle. They’d hurt more than help.”

“But this Stillwater Lotus Mist—wood-based and water-born—its medicinal effects are mild. Plus it stabilized Feng Shui and served as the formation core. It’s like a well-trained pony—no tantrums.”

“I’m gonna plant it in our yard to nourish her health.”

Lu Ding caught the deeper meaning.

He stepped forward, pulled his shirt over his head, and gave Li Kai a nudge: “The kid got talent?”

“Yeah, it’s a girl.”

Li Kai responded, his face glowing with happiness.

Lu Ding rolled his eyes: “Who asked you that.”

Seeing his lovesick expression—

Lu Ding bent down and picked up the Stillwater Lotus Mist: “Buddy price. 300.”

“No haggling.”

The Bureau would’ve given him 300 anyway. That extra fifty wasn’t gonna make Lu Ding rich.

Besides, they were colleagues in different departments. No need to nickel and dime.

Li Kai received the Stillwater Lotus Mist tree, feeling its weight in his hands.

He and Lu Ding didn’t exactly have a bond.

Lu Ding didn’t owe him any favors—hell, even someone at Si Ming Realm wouldn’t get face in front of Lu Ding.

This was just Lu Ding being a decent human being.

“Thanks, Lu Ding. If you ever need help in Jinshan, just say the word.”

“Pfft—ten years, eight years, I might never even come back here. Enough with the chatter, just send the payment.”

“Hahahahahahahahahaha……”

Li Kai laughed. Even though this was his first day hanging out with Lu Ding, for some reason—

Whether talking, doing things, or just standing beside him—

There was this inexplicable sense of ease.

Like most problems in the world weren’t problems at all.

Everything felt lighter.

It was comfortable. Hard to describe kind of comfortable.

Not stiff. Not distant.

Like they’d really known each other for years.

Time passed quickly.

The staff from Jinshan 749 were racing against the clock. They needed to finish setting up the perimeter and conceal the battle aftermath with arrays before sunset.

So that whatever was beneath the ground could be permanently sealed and wiped out.

Why not just bomb it to hell with explosives?

Because corpse Qi was dangerous as hell. If it got into the water supply and wasn’t handled right, this entire area could be ruined.

They wouldn’t touch that option unless absolutely necessary.

Around 6 PM—

Quan Qing was led over by 749 investigators.

From afar, he spotted Lu Ding’s back and called out: “Lord Lu Taishui!”

Lu Ding turned around, and Quan Qing jogged over respectfully, with a smile that didn’t look the least bit fake.

And it wasn’t.

Now that the Kou Family no longer had a leash on him, he was back to being a proper charming rogue again.

“You’re Quan Qing?”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s me! Quan Qing at your service! Lord Lu Taishui, you actually recognize me?”

“You were the one who gave me that info—how could I not recognize you? If you hadn’t tipped me off, I might’ve actually gotten hurt during that whole Kou Family mess.”

Nobody expected that old bastard to practice Sword Within.

Mouth-born strikes, fall into a trap just from chatting.

So damn sneaky.

“I was just supporting your work—it’s what I should’ve done. I’m sorry to interrupt your mission now, but I have some intel.”

“Might not be a big deal for someone like you, Lord Lu Taishui, but I figured you should know anyway.”

“What’s the news?”

Lu Ding asked.

“Lan Ya contacted me this afternoon, asked about the Kou Family’s situation. You’ve locked down the news well, and there’s no public bounty for the rest of the Kou Family.”

“You’ve only asked the ones outside to report in, so they’re still in the dark about the real situation.”

“Lan Ya questioned me, so I gave her a vague reply—and got her to spill a few things.”

“From the sound of it, that conflict between you and her has already been reported back to the Lan Family by her people.”

“They’re planning to send someone to bring her back. Normally, that’d be the end of it. She obstructed official duty—Lan Family can’t say much. But the person coming to pick her up… might have a temper.”

Lu Ding got the message.

So basically, the Lan Family was sending someone to “stand up for her,” huh?

Alright.

Fine.

So I hit her, not you, right?

Just a casual favor then.

Lu Ding asked, “So who’s coming?”

“Should be Lan Mingli. Started cultivating at eight, now nineteen, already Divine Palace Realm, kind of famous in the Yunmeng region. Calls Lan Ya ‘Auntie.’ They’re really close.”

“Started at eight, Divine Palace at nineteen—and that counts as a prodigy?”

Lu Ding almost laughed.

The bar for Heaven’s Chosen Ones was really low these days.

Sure, nobody truly starts cultivating much at eight. But if you lay the foundation early and start real training when your body matures around your teens,

until now—it’s been, what, at least six years? Maybe eleven?

You can’t compare them to a cheat-code monster like Lu Ding, sure.

But what about everyone else?

Lu Ding turned and looked at Bai Hemen.

“What’s your take?”