First-Year Internship—And You Went to Site 749 to Contain Monsters?!
Chapter 267: I’ll Only Say It Once—Don’t Mistake Kindness for Weakness

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Lu Ding kicked again.

The wall behind them was already starting to give out.

He had zero respect for people who cried the moment something happened.

“Told you to speak.”

Jiang Hai gritted through the pain. Seeing no one stepping up to help, the injustice welled up in him.

In a low voice, he said, “Yes......”

Lu Ding got the answer he wanted: “Feifan, cuff him.”

The moment he heard that, Jiang Hai was truly terrified.

Taking a beating was one thing—but he was a 749 Investigator. He knew full well what the handcuffs meant.

“It’s not... what did I even do, I just said one thing......”

Bang!!!

Lu Ding’s third kick.

Jiang Hai’s body smashed through the wall, tumbling outside, stopping only at the feet of the Bureau Chief who had just arrived.

The man looked down.

At his feet was his own Investigator, Jiang Hai—unconscious, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

He looked up.

The scene came into full view.

Lu Ding’s aura burst.

The damaged wall crumbled further.

He stepped out from within.

The pressure that surged forward felt like a tidal wave swallowing the sky and earth—it was suffocating.

Yan Feifan handed over a pen and paper.

Lu Ding took it, the sound of the pen scratching the paper crisp and sharp. He tore it off, signed it, and slapped it against Bureau Chief Qin’s chest.

Smack!

Just two words.

Compensation.

“This, take it to finance. Send it up.”

Then he wrote again.

Tore it off, smacked it on Qin’s chest.

Smack!

Also two words.

Disciplinary Action.

“This one—submit it yourself.”

Lu Ding extended his hand: “Now, give me your shoulder badge.”

Yan Feifan bent down and tore the badge from Jiang Hai’s shoulder.

This move was for Qin to see.

If you won’t hand it over, we’ll take it ourselves.

And when that happens, don’t blame us for making a scene.

Qin’s hands moved stiffly as he peeled off his badge: “Can I ask why?”

As a direct party involved, he had the right to know the reason.

Perfectly reasonable.

Lu Ding told him, “Your newly recruited external member, Xia Tian—he dug up Ke Ruyu’s grave, stole her corpse, performed dark spells. That’s the first offense.”

“Your subordinate, Investigator Jiang Hai, leaked confidential Bureau intel to someone who wasn’t even officially in the roster yet. That led to Xia Tian robbing the grave and stealing the corpse. That’s the second.”

He took the badge from Qin.

Pulled out his phone, opened the 749 App, scanned it.

Then handed the badge back.

Hearing all this, Qin was in disbelief.

How could something this big happen in just one night, and no one even informed him?

And based on Xia Tian’s conduct over the past few months, he didn’t seem like that kind of person at all.

But the situation was already what it was.

No matter what he said now, it was meaningless.

These people had come prepared, with all the proper paperwork. There was no way they’d fabricate this.

“When you finish the report, be sure to include a written reflection. It’ll be needed for the public reprimand.”

He had thought it was just disciplinary action.

But now hearing it would also involve a public reprimand, bitterness rose in Qin’s heart.

He looked at Hua Qing with a complicated expression.

Lu Ding’s words had been heard by everyone present.

So, one by one, their gazes shifted to Hua Qing.

The emotions behind them were obvious.

This was exactly why Lu Ding was transferring her out.

This place was too small.

In such places, not everything is done strictly by the book. Even if you’re right—

You still lose.

Hua Qing silently lowered her head, not daring to meet those eyes.

Until Lu Ding’s voice rang out again:

“I’ll only say this once—don’t mistake kindness for weakness. You look at her like that again—”

“I’ll take it as a challenge.”

A faint black mist dispersed. The sunlight cast Lu Ding’s shadow onto the ground.

It was the shape of a snarling Sin Dragon, ready to devour.

Hua Qing slowly looked up at the back blocking her path.

Her eyes reddened.

In that moment, she was once again sure—she had done nothing wrong.

She met their eyes head-on.

Firm, clear, with a clear conscience.

Now, it was the other Investigators who didn’t dare look her in the eye.

Because… they might actually get hit.

Lu Ding was somewhat satisfied with how the room responded to his warning.

He swept one last glance around.

Then left with Hua Qing.

Someone like her—

Shouldn’t be buried in some small-town Bureau.

She deserved to shine in a bigger world.

To grow. To thrive.

Like, say—

Looking toward Bao Fan District.

Lu Ding still had a lot to take care of ahead.

Bao Fan District only had Yan Feifan holding down the fort, and that wasn’t a long-term solution.

Hua Qing was smart, principled, and grounded.

She was also competent. Right now, Bao Fan District wasn’t dealing with any internal conflict or violence.

So, having Hua Qing partner with Yan Feifan wouldn’t just lighten the load—it’d let their talents complement each other.

The return trip went without incident.

Safe all the way.

After handing Jiang Hai over to the disciplinary unit,

Lu Ding began preparing for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Meanwhile—

Somewhere in the wilderness.

Twelve noon, the scorching red sun blazed overhead.

Yin births Yang, and the sun births Yin.

The weeds rustled softly.

Zoom in—

A hand burst from the earth.

Sunlight hit the palm, sending up faint wisps of smoke.

That hand, with long black fingernails, slowly flexed its joints.

Then formed a seal and thrust toward the sky.

A voice called out: “Open.”

The ground trembled.

The mountain split to both sides.

Revealing a hidden underground palace.

A crooked-mouthed, slanted-eyed old Daoist stepped out, his robes tattered, whisk in hand sweeping once.

“This poor Daoist is the Crooked-Mouthed Slanted-Eyed Daoist, greetings.”

Talking to himself, the old Daoist flipped his hand and pulled out a compass.

Watching the needle spin,

He smacked his forehead. “No wonder I woke up—Mid-Autumn is coming.”

“Let me check on how my little darlings are doing.”

He gathered Qi and formed a seal, pointing at the compass.

The needle spun and spun—never stopping.

The Daoist narrowed his eyes.

“Something’s off. Why’s it gone?”

He tried a different spell, a new seal, pointed again.

Still spinning. No pause.

“Hey—this one’s gone too?!”

More seals, more points.

The compass needle went berserk, spinning like mad, completely out of control.

Infuriated, the old Daoist hurled the compass to the ground.

Crash!

“Who?! Who’s messing with this old Daoist?!!!”

He rolled up his sleeves. “Nope. I gotta see for myself.”

The Daoist formed a quick seal, pointing at the ground.

Boom!—white smoke billowed, forming a life-like immortal crane.

He leapt onto the crane’s back.

Soaring through clouds, crossing mountains.

Until he arrived at Minshan City.

Looking down.

The ten-mile graveyard where the Spell Corpses had been buried—

Now riddled with holes, already under construction for river tributaries.

No trace of the spell corpse aura remained.

The old Daoist’s face darkened.

He rode the crane onward, arriving at Jinshan, and looked down.

The Kou Family’s ancestral tomb—gone!

His crooked mouth and slanted eyes contorted even further in fury.

Finally, the scene shifted again.

Outside Yunhai.

The old Daoist dared not go in—only hovering far away, observing from a distance.

High above the clouds,

Standing on the immortal crane’s back, the Daoist stomped his feet in frustration.

“This is targeted!! This is a setup!!”